Amazing sand art dots the coastline on Australia’s Gold Coast
I love a good beach day. No matter the destination I am traveling to, my first thought is usually “Is there a beach involved?”. When I found out I was headed to Australia on a Contiki tour along the Gold Coast, I couldn’t have been more excited.
It was early September when the weather in the US is typically cooling off, but in sunny Australia it’s just starting to warm up. The tour began in Sydney, and traveled up the coast through Byron Bay, then on to Surfers Paradise. Our tour bus landed in SP at night, so I didn’t see much of the coastline until morning.
My bunkmate was one of the brave souls on our tour to sign up for skydiving in the morning but, being the earth dweller I am, I was content to lay on the beach and cheer her on from afar. Not that the idea of skydiving over the Gold Coast wasn’t tempting, I mean if you are ever going to do it that would be the place!
Shameless beach selfie!
I trekked to the beach, only two blocks from my hotel, and was stunned by just how beautiful it was. It was early morning, so I had a huge stretch of sand all to myself and nothing but time. I buried my toes in the soft white sand, played in the waves, watched wakeboarders and surfers do their thing and listened to my playlist while I relaxed.
View from the shops in Surfers Paradise
When I started to get hungry I met up with a few of my tour mates and we walked downtown to the restaurants and shops along the water. I had no trouble finding some amazing souvenirs to bring home as I shopped the afternoon away.
After spending an embarrassing amount of money on frozen yogurt (don’t judge!), it was time to head back to the hotel to get all fancy to go out for the night. We were all excited to check out the night’s venue: Dracula’s Cabaret. Our trip manager was raving about the place all week, and it did NOT disappoint!
Dracula’s is a comedy dinner theater with a dark, gothic theme and while probably not for everyone we had an amazing night there. Before dinner and the show even began, we had to enter through a haunted house which was full of scary stuff that jumps out at you. And not to spoil much, but if you go don’t be camera-shy…!
After the show our bus continued on to a few clubs in downtown Surfers Paradise, and let me tell you they know how to party on the Gold Coast! All night long. While the entire tour was a blast, our night out in Surfers Paradise was a definite highlight, and I can’t wait to travel down under again some time soon.
Find out more about the amazing Gold Coast (and grab more than a few awesome deals) here!
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