Chronicles of Leisure

It’s not hard to figure out where the passion in this town lies

A seemingly endless stretch of sand from which the Gold Coast gets its name

Apart from lounging in the sun

life here seems all about finding the perfect wave

Ran into this guy Renato who had some pretty good form out there

emailed him these photos so hopefully they are already posted on the fridge.

Down on the beach on a clear night, the Southern Cross looms large, pointing the way to the southern celestial pole. Glad I finally remembered to take a good look at it, pretty impressive. What I didn’t realize is that the stars on the Australian and New Zealand flags (among others), are the stars of the Southern Cross.

Outside of the beach and the heavens, well, as Lonely Planet puts it, “Surfers takes its drinking more seriously than oxygen.” A very laid back crowd enjoying the good life.

For those of you who live or have lived in one of my favorite places in the U.S., does this sound familiar?

Surfers Paradise is on a narrow strip of land separated from the mainland by an inter-coastal waterway and connected by drawbridges. Everywhere you look there is construction going on as old shops and hotels make way for towering new condos

There is an enormous shopping mall called the Galleria

There is a towering Marriot hotel by the beach (where I happened to be staying)

Directly below the Marriot is a Howl at the Moon bar.

For those of you not familiar, I also just described Ft. Lauderdale beach. And possibly hundreds of other beach towns I haven’t been to. Not really sure.

I am sure that I’ll miss my morning coffee on the balcony in Surfers

It’s a paradise I could definitely get used to. But for now, in the words of Soul II Soul, it’s time to keep on movin’, don’t stop.   It won’t be too long before another one of their songs will ring true – back to life, back to reality.   For now, I’m headed back to another big city, leaving in a few hours to check out Melbourne.