New Year's Eve At The Gold Coast

Obviously, this post is way toooo late. Wanna share it with you still . . . before the first half of the year ends!


Our original plan was to stay a couple of days at Byron Bay in New South Wales, and drive back to Gold Coast for New Year's Eve. We left early in the morning only to find out that the place was jam-packed! The traffic was horrible with never-ending line up of cars. Even all the hotels and other accommodations were fully booked. We drove around looking for anything available, but with no luck. Then we walked along the area to have breakfast. Even the restaurants and cafes there were packed. Byron Bay was such a very busy place, especially that time!

We decided to spend the days leading to new Year's Eve at the Gold Coast. We were wondering then if it's gonna be as full like Byron Bay.

Gold Coast. Even finding a parking spot alone took us a long time. We literally have to wait and drive around the car park till someone drives out. We walked along Surfer's Paradise to do some shopping and head out to the beach to show my sister Sheila "Australia's Boracay". Though for me, the Gold Coast's beaches are way better than what we have back home; and it's free! Some may argue that Sydney's Bondi Beach is better than Surfer's Paradise. I haven't been there yet so I can't personally compare. But I can say that Manly Beach is a good one too, just a ferry ride from Sydney. Anyway, back to Australia's beaches, its shores are so wide (not occupied by any resort nor bar) that anybody can have an ample space to stay/lay/play/sunbath in.

After we had our lunch, we started looking for a place to stay. We asked help from the ladies at the Tourist Information booth but the hotels they have were fully booked, unless we wanted to stay at a Penthouse and pay like AU$1,000 per night which was to be booked for at least a week. Not worth it! So we drove around with hotels after hotels, all with No Vacancy signs. We found a fairly new and decent one along the Broadwater at Labrador. It still cost quite a bit but we're all tired so we took the first one we got. And it was peak season so hotel prices really do jump high. Luckily, the hotel was really nice; though only the 1 bedroom is available. We just rested for a few hours and drove back to Surfer's Paradise again.

The following day was spent at the beach, with the little one and my sister having the best times of their lives!

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We went back to our hotel late in the afternoon to have a rest after a very tiring day. Returned to Surfer's Paradise to have dinner at Micky's and just walked along there. Saw some street entertainers that keeps Surfer's Paradise's alive at night, aside from it's usual bars.

The whole day of December 31st was also spent at the beach. We bought tickets for the Duck Boat and waited more than an hour for it; only to know that it broke down and won't be available till the next day. Kaiden was so disappointed but we can't do anything. So we walked back to the beach and were lucky enough to still have our spot available. It was so freaking hot, being in the middle of summer; but that won't stop Kaiden and Sheila from frolicking on the beach! I want to have a dip too but I just got too lazy to walk to the nearest restroom to change. It was quite a walk from where we were to the mall and the sand were so hot. Sheila already have her swimmers on when we left the hotel.

Those 2 only get to rest when it was time to eat; and I took that chance to grab Sheila to do some shopping. Had an awesome time looking around the shops and finding pieces that we liked. We have bought a lot so we went back to the car and dumped our shopping bags there, so we can have more shopping bags to carry on our way back to the beach! LOL!

B fell asleep on the picnic rug, I was reading magazines, Sheila was cam whoring again and Kaiden just played on the sand. We practically waited for the New Year's Eve Countdown like that.

We did not left our spot for dinner since people were starting to crowd the beach. We just had take-away food from Hungry Jacks. There was a fireworks display at 2030H for the kids. It went on for a few minutes. We also lit our own sparklers.

As the night went on, more and more people flocked the beach; most of them with alcohol. Lots were already intoxicated as Police Officers roam around the beach checking the crowd and looking for alcohol; which of course were hidden by those who have it. Sheila and I were laughing as each group try to conceal whatever alcohol they have. You see, drinking was prohibited in the beach to prevent drunken people from swimming in the beach that might lead to drowning.

Anyways, the time has come for the countdown.

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It was such an amazing fireworks display! Everybody were shouting with glee! The crowd was unbelievable! People were standing side by side trying to squeeze in! Sheila just cannot believe the beach awash with people. The long strip of shore were occupied till the whole streets at Surfer's Paradise! It was almost impossible to get out from our little space in the beach because there seemed to be a stampede from people trying to get out too. But it was fun! We loved every moment of it! And we vowed to do it again!

Such a lovely event celebrated with the people I love!

Gorgeously . . .