Australian Escapade – Surfer’s Paradise

Welcome to my story style travel blog, featuring my time spent in Brisbane, Australia in the spring of 2025. Normally, I do group tours when I travel but I have an opportunity to use a flight pass from my friend who works as a flight attendant. I first visited Australia in 2009 when I was touring New Zealand and decided to fly over to Sydney for a week. I figured it’s been awhile, and Brisbane is a route my friend usually flies… so we plan to meet up there! I also have many friends who live in and around Brisbane, a result of all of my travels over the years. So here we go!!!

This morning I walk over to the train station…today I am headed to Surfer’s Paradise, a town located on the Gold Coast. My friend Lisa lives here – we met in 2009 on the Contiki New Zealand trip. Lisa and her dog Wolfie meet me at the train station and we go to her place for a bit. Then we walk along beach path next to the ocean. The sand dunes are quite large due to the hurricane that blew through here last week and there are still some fallen trees and debris.

Surfer’s Paradise is a beach town known for its amazing waves and surfing. It’s pretty hot today so we don’t spend too much time on the beach. Wolfie runs around on the beach for a bit…he’s super cute.

Lisa has to work this afternoon so we only have time for lunch. She offers for me to stay the night, but I need to get back since it’s my last day tomorrow. We decide on a beach front restaurant called Elston – fun fact – Elston is the original name of this town before it became Surfer’s.

What I find funny is the tables here are equipped with water bottles to spray the pesky seagulls.

I have the afternoon free to have some fun, so my first stop is the jet boat ride. There’s only 4 of us on the ride….a family of 3 from Australia and me! Our driver Shane says we will get a bit wet today…ok no problem, I’d expect that. We zip away, bouncing over the waves and every so often he stops and we do a spin out which is the funnest part. And it just so happens I get completely soaked. No joke. Good thing it’s really hot and I’m wearing a dress made of material that dries quickly. My hair is a sea salty mess, and shockingly my makeup stays put – a testament to my skills and product used. I’m certain my mascara is running down my face and my eyebrows have been wiped off. But no!!! Awesome!!

As I’m drying off I walk over to the tallest tower on the Gold Coast – Q1.

There is an observation deck so I’m going to spend the next couple of hours up here. The views are amazing !

I sit and enjoy an iced mocha, and hang around for sunset. It is beautiful.

And as my hair has dried, I’m giving off that perfect beach hair look.

I stop at a few souvenir shops, and then walk back through the main area of town. I could head back to Brisbane, but I happen to walk by the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum.. I’ve never been to one, so I figure it might be fun to check it out. Since it’s later in the evening, I pretty much have the place to myself which makes it a little creepy but also awesome that there are no kids running around haha.

I have so much fun in here! The stairs going down make musical note sounds when they’re stepped on.

There is art made from duct tape

From lint and toast

Actual pencil crayons and buttons!

There is the world’s tallest man…he’s sitting down but when I go in for a closer look he comes to life and stands up…scares the shit out of me.

There’s a room of custom coffins, shrunken heads and other fun tribal stuff.

Here is some cool art that is made with written words…

The Presley one is made of only the word Elvis.

Here are some odd looking people.

The final room looks like something out of an old curiosity shop, and there’s so many things to look at in here. There is an invitation to sit beside this man, and I’m not sure if it’s just gonna make some kind of whoopee cushion sound or if this thing is gonna move. I don’t know… Either way I cannot bring myself to sit next to this creepo. Haha.

I pay extra to do two other exhibits in the museum. One is the mirror maze; I have a pretty good time in here and I crush the first round. I go in for a second time through a different entrance, and I get a little bit lost and a tiny bit panicky. Haha

The final attraction is a 4D movie. There is a choice to do the family friendly one or the zombie one so of course I choose the zombie one. You get a plastic gun and you’re shooting the zombies. It’s actually a contest between the other people in the small theater, so it’s game on. I love it, and I end up beating all opponents with my zombie sharpshooting skills.

After I finish the museum, I could hang around for a bit longer, but there’s really no need. It’s very busy and very touristy, and there’s a few undesirables hanging around. I get on the train, and make my way back to Brisbane. Such a fun day! Originally, I had booked a day tour to hit some attractions along the Gold Coast, but the guy running the tour canceled on me and I didn’t have any other days to rebook. So when I found out how easy it is to get here, it made sense to just take the train out for the day!!

This is the final blog in my Australia series… Stay tuned for more adventures!!