72+ hours in... Life on the Gold Coast - DK

View from the elevator!

Hello, DK here. So, today is a small recap of what we’ve seen, accomplished and still have yet to do!  Don’t let the errands, frantic running around, or chaotic race to find housing lead you to believe that we’re not absolutely amazed by Gold Coast!  This place rocks! 

Graffiti Artists at Festival

The first 72 hours have been nothing short of a roller coaster – we began at 8 am, hauling our bags and bikes from a van and trailer.  Our driver dropped us off at our hotel, situated 2 blocks off Surfer’s Paradise beach.  The beach stretches for miles to the north and south.  It’s white sand and post card waves.  Shortly after we arrived, we loaded up a taxi and headed out to the nearest bike shop.  There they assembled our bikes and gave us a quick rundown on the traffic rules – no free left turns, and riding on these roads isn’t exactly for the faint of heart…

With bikes – or “push bikes” as they say here – we travelled about town, crisscrossing the city to begin checking out a few houses and apartments.  It took a little doing, but soon we got used to riding on the left…good practice for driving.  The first few places we looked at were cute, but soon taken…yes, we’ve lost out on about four properties now.

The highs and lows of looking at houses to rent has caused a little anxiety among the household, but now that we’re all nearly recovered from jet leg our spirits are good!  We dropped off four applications today (Saturday) and then took a little time to check out the University campus.  We’ve selectively applied to houses that will allow us to ride to class, while also trying to find a place close to the beach!  We should hear by Monday if we qualify for any of these places…otherwise its back to searching for new properties and a juggling act with the dog!

Following the practical errands – house hunting and mobile phone shopping – we toured Surfer’s Paradise.  Today Surfer’s Paradise hosted a street festival.  DS was busy greeting local artists, and AM was quite happy to snap photo’s of graffiti artists.  It was a good scene, sunny weather and a nice way to wrap up a long day of running around.

Tomorrow is a quiet day...we plan to all work out, run the beach and then barbeque for lunch.  We’re all hoping to have a little more sleep, and a little less running around.  But for less than four days in the country, AM has very promising job prospects (she interviewed Friday!) and I’ve started planning with my company on a contract job.  If all goes well, by next week we’ll be employed, we’ll have an address, and ready for graduate school on the Gold Coast!
Cheers!
DK

Sunset from the balcony!