A Trip to the Beach
Today my host Adam and I went to the beach in Surfers Paradise, about 80 kilometers south of Brisbane. I know it's summer here, but there's something surreal about a 95-degree day in December, and going to the beach during said day. The water is warm enough to swim in, but cool enough that it feels really good on a hot day. I spent a couple of hours splashing around in the waves, followed by a lunch of fish and chips. Fish and chips at the beach is a time-honored Australian tradition.
The trip itself was interesting on a few levels. Many of you know that I'm somewhat of a roadgeek, and I enjoyed observing roads and traffic along the way. The motorway was in very good condition, with better signage than I'm accustomed to. It's a cross between the US, where one navigates by route number, and Europe, where one navigates by figuring out which cities to go through.
Surfers Paradise is a cheesy resort area, but as Adam put it, locals go there in addition to tourists, which lends some authenticity to it. It struck me that if I'd stayed there instead of in a nondescript neighborhood, I'd have a completely different impression of the area. The best thing about this trip so far is seeing how real people live, as opposed to hanging out with other tourists.
The trip itself was interesting on a few levels. Many of you know that I'm somewhat of a roadgeek, and I enjoyed observing roads and traffic along the way. The motorway was in very good condition, with better signage than I'm accustomed to. It's a cross between the US, where one navigates by route number, and Europe, where one navigates by figuring out which cities to go through.
Surfers Paradise is a cheesy resort area, but as Adam put it, locals go there in addition to tourists, which lends some authenticity to it. It struck me that if I'd stayed there instead of in a nondescript neighborhood, I'd have a completely different impression of the area. The best thing about this trip so far is seeing how real people live, as opposed to hanging out with other tourists.