Day 15 - Surfers Paradise, Bikini Maids & Club Crawls

Day 15 was spent exploring the commercial zoo that is Surfers Paradise. It's a far stretch from the small town vibe of Cairns, Airlie Beach and Byron Bay. High-rises line the sand beaches and name-brand stores line the streets. It's not quite Times Square in New York, but close. We walked the streets, ate outside and enjoyed the people watching. What Surfers lacks in unique day-time culture, it makes up for in nightlife chaos.


Matt and Dave spent the morning working diligently on the blog.

Surfers Paradise city center.

Greg, Mo and Matt outside the gateway to Surfers Paradise beach.


Mo, Greg and Matt cheer on their LA Lakers - Thursday night TNT basketball on Friday afternoon!


Dave and Greg enjoying the scenery of Surfers Paradise famous meter maids. Yes, Sufers Paradise meter maids wear bikinis!


Of all things found at an Australian souvenier shop...FIGHT ON!

Mo and Matt got foot massages...they were asleep in minutes.

As if we weren't getting enough dancing and partying, we decided to join a pre-packaged club crawl that started at 5pm. We hit five clubs in a six hour period including Twenty 1, Melbas, The Bedroom, CD's and Cocktail & Dreams...and that was to start the night...the rest is a blur!

Mo and Matt from behind bars at Twenty 1...We'll be in the cage!

Greg, Mo and Matt with some female company at Melbas.

Boy band action yet again.

Greg, quite the ladies man.

Day two on the job for Simone, time to celebrate at Melbas.

Dave and Matt take a break from the clubs to grab some quick sushi.

Greg dancing the night away at The Bedroom.

Travel in Sandals getting down at The Bedroom nightclub.

Matt won a special dance contest and got a free hat.

Dave doing his best Mario impression, while Mo is spot on for Cheech!

Travel in Sandals...energized by 5 Hour Enery.

Day 2 in Sufers was long, but certainly fun. One more day in Surfers before heading up to Brisbane for our last full day in Oz.

Day 14 - Goodbye Byron Bay, Hello Surfers - literally!

Our final day in Byron started off with brilliant sunshine and an open schedule. We debated staying an extra night, but after discussing over a delicious Mexican feast at OzyMex, we decided to stick to the plan and head to Surfers Paradise. Along the way we stopped off in Coolangatta for the Quicksilver Pro 2010 surf tournament at Snapper Rocks to cheer on our fellow statesmen.


The Travel in Sandals crew getting some last minute rays in Byron Bay.


Travel In Sandals stops by the 2010 Quicksilver Pro surf contest at Snapper Rock.


View of the crowd taking in the sights and sounds of the competition.


The gang getting ready to paddle out.


Pro surfer Taj Burrow being interviewed after his quarter-finals win. He eventually went on to win the entire thing!


After a scenic Gold Coast cruise, we arrived in Surfers Paradise around 6pm. We walked the town and grabbed a bite at Alfresco Italian restaurarant, a Surfers Paradise staple for nearly 30 years. The Italian feast included focaccia bread, salads, pastas, lasagnas, seafood, sambuca, tiramisu, cappacucinos and of course wine and beer.


Alfresco Italian Restaurant


Matt got the Moreton Bay bugs, which are part of the lobster family and are indigenious to the oceans of Australia.


Surfers Paradise is the nighlife capital of the Gold Coast so we had our work cut out. We started things off at The Bedroom where Thursday nights are ladies night and they drink free all night - AWESOME!!


Matt and Dave about to hit The Bedroom Nighclub for the evening festivities.


The Bedroom was going off.....Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night!


Greg raging as always...table for one - no worries!


Mo and Matt enjoying some personal cocktail assistance from Ida.


Per usual...Greg gorging a late night kabab.


Night one in Surfers Paradise is in the books. Two more to go!

Day 13 - Byron Bay Beach, Lighthouse & Pub Crawl

Day 13 was an all-day exploration of Byron Bay. Let us start by saying we want to move here. Byron combines gorgeous beaches and scenery, an eclectic cross section of people and fun daily and nighly entertainment. It has a small town vibe with a touch of commercialization. The parking lots are filled with hippie vans and the sidwalks have a variety of street performers, but there are also nice high-end restaurants and a vairety of name-brand shops.

The streets of Byron Bay.

With the large amounts of greenery, Byron had the look of a central California town.

Byron Bay in the morning - this was the beach path from our hotel.

The biggest site to see in Byron, other than it's beautiful beaches, is the lighthouse. Sitting atop Cape Byron, the lighthouse is a massive structure, but the highlight is the walk to and from it. The 20-30 minute stroll starts at sea level and slowly ascends through rainforest-covered paths to the peak of the cape. Along the way there are spectacular views of Byron, the sea and beyond.


The start of the Byron Bay lighthouse walk.

Mo and Matt on the treck through the rain forest to the lighthouse.

Travel in Sandals crew taking a look over the cliffs of Byron.

Cape Byron is the eastern most point of the Australian mainland.

East side!

Byron's famouse lighthouse.

The altitude got to us as we started using the lookout viewers as gatling guns.

Dave's wings blowing in the wind.

After our lighthouse walk, we returned to town to start exploring the town. With an abundance of bars, restaurants and clubs to try and only half a day to do so we decided the best way to cover ground was a pub/restaurant crawl!! We started around 5pm at the Beach Hotel across from the sand and made our way inland. We hit the Great Nothern Hotel, The Railway Friendly Bar, St. Elmo, Soul Bowl and finished with sake bombs at the Orient Express.

Byron pub crawl stop 1 - The Beach Hotel. Matt and Mo kickoff the impromptu pub crawl.

Stop 2 - Great Northern Hotel. No alcohol.....NOT!!!

Mo, Dave and Matt hanging with the locals at the Great Northern Hotel.

Stop 3 - The Railway Friendly Bar. Mo, Dave and Matt enjoy Byron's vibrant live music scene.

Stop 4 - St. Elmo Restaurant & Lounge. Money was running short so we took improtu jobs as wait staff. There was no drinking and socializing with the patrons so we resigned immediately.


St. Elmo's zucchini fries alongside a chorizo, harissa (a hot chili sauce) and black olive piadini (flatbread).


We were big fans of St. Elmo's piadinis. Here's the pumpkin, fetta and basil piadini.


Stop 5 - Sake bombs at the Orient Express.


Being our last stop, the sake bombs began to take a toll on Matt and Mo.

After a productive early evening pub crawl, we jumped back to the hotel to hose off and were right back on the town. Our night time destination of choice: Cheeky Monkeys! To give you an idea of this place, instead of a dance floor, everyone dances on tables and furniture...NICE!! Plans for a Cheeky Monkeys 2.0 in Los Angeles have commenced.

Word to the wise - If you challenge a girl to an arm wrestling match in order to talk to her, make sure you win otherwise she thinks you're a panzy. Matt lost and never talked to this girl again.


Mo and Greg enjoying table dancing at Cheeky Monkeys.

Matt and Sarah, a new friend from England.

Greg and a few Cheeky Monkey patrons.


What would a night out be without Greg stopping for a late-night kabab.


Day 14 will include lounging on the beach in Byron in the morning and then driving an hour or so up the Gold Coast to Surfer's Paradise.