Day 3 7/8/06 - Australia

Surfers Paradise -> Broadbeach -> Main Beach -> Biggera Waters -> Labrador - > Main beach -> Broadbeach -> Surfers Paradise

Highlight

• Endured Slokky watching motor racing all of last night, then getting woken up in the middle of the night 'cos Slokky had to go to the toilet.
• Slokky suggesting that we go to watch sunrise, and then going back to sleep causing us to miss the sunrise.
• Slokky sleeping through the whole morning so I had nothing to do except play solitaire.
• Slokky didn't let me go to the gym and didn't stick to the plan.
• Time to visit the other shopping centre, Oasis Shopping Centre, where we enjoyed an al fresco breakfast at Madisons cafe. (see review).
• The weather was not so crash hot today, but every time we stepped foot on the beach, it started raining. Despite the weather, the beach is still nicer than any on the Mediterranean though.
• Went to .... for 18 holes of putt-putt. The greens were really worn and all the courses were really similar, not an enjoyable experience. On the plus side though, we had the whole course to ourselves.
• Because of the weather, we decided to do some retail therapy at Harbour Town, a discount outlet. To our dismay, the shops were not cheap at all, and there was no good fine. I managed to do the whole strip in a record 2 hours. The only worthy shop was the Fossil outlet, which I haven't come across in Sydney. We managed to get 2 bags and some cuff links. The other find was a pair of Mavi jeans for Slokky for only $19.
• We went to explore the neighbourhood, thanks to the e-book, and discovered Labrador, a nice coast side town with a great view of the Gold Coast high rises. Alas, all the shops and restaurants there were closed on a Monday in off-season.
• We ended up back at Tedder Ave for dinner, and I'm so glad we did. This time we tried another of the "Best restaurants", Bahia (see review), and we were blown away by the service, the great food, and not to mention the free platter of Turkish bread and dip starter we enjoyed for being the first people to dine in the restaurant that evening. A gem!
• Slokky managed to knock my fork to the floor twice during dinner.
• We wanted to go to the Dracula's Cabaret but being off-season, the shows weren't running on Sundays or Mondays, so we went to our 2nd choice, Tempo Rouge stage spectacular at Conrads Jupiter. We were surrounded by oldies, who all felt the urge to stand up and boogie (the less said about that the better), and besides the few really corny American acts, including a guy who was really up himself, a male lead that couldn't really sing, and a really gross bendy man, the show was very good! Note for the guys - the girl dancers were really HOT!!
• Petrol is so cheap here. We filled up for $122.9/L. We could've got cheaper, but we thought we'd better fill up before we left before 6am the next day. We need not have worried, every single petrol station from Surfers to the airport was opened before 6, offering prices that were even cheaper!
• Another variable shampoo experience... the first night we got one, the second night 2, the third night, none... please explain.

Food

• Breakfast at Madisons:
  • Eggs benedict - bacon, spinach, egg and hollandaise on Turkish toast ($14.85)
  • grilled corn bread - with poached eggs, chicken, roma tomato, rocket and hollandaise ($14.85)
• Large Coffee Club cappuccino ($3.60).
• Boost juice Raspberry Relief ($5.40).
• Boost juice Banana Buzz ($5.40).
• Nandos lemon and herb and chilli chicken ($4.50 each).
• Dinner at Bahia:
  • amuse boucle of seared beef fillet with beetroot and couscous salad
  • toasted Turkish bread dip with sundried tomato, walnut & basil, and cream cheese & mustard (complimentary)
  • pan seared snapper fillet on spring onion mash with brandied scallop sauce ($33.90)
  • twice cooked crispy duck served on chive and potato rosti, tempura bok choy with sweet chilli plum sauce