Coolangatta

Yesterday The Water Ladies and I made our way down to the Gold Coast, at long last. None of us had been yet, which was kind of a scandal to most locals - it's where people go for weekend trips to the beach around here, after all. The public transport has a pretty decent setup where after 10 trips have happened within the week, the remaining trips are free.

The Gold Coast is a good 2-hour train ride from Brisbane, so let's say it's a great deal to go on the weekend once a full week commuting to school has happened.

We opted to not go to Surfer's Paradise, the most popular beach on the Gold Coast for people to visit. The area has a reputation for being too-touristy, and a bit "plastic-like" for those looking for an urban respite. It's where all of the major casinos are in Queensland (kind of like a seaside Las Vegas in Australia), and tall skyscrapers create a city shadow on the coast.

Everyone says Surfer's Paradise is a must, but only for the sake of saying that I've seen it. Personally, I'm not completely sold on their congested beachscapes.

Being bookworm ladies with an interest in natural beauty, we took Kylie's advice to go as far south on the Gold Coast as we could - to the last stop in the state (before hitting New South Wales). She told us of a beautiful and cozy beach called Coolangatta.

(All I'm thinking is that I'm "cool, and gotta...")

Early Sunday morning - after a night with a themed party hosted by my roommates - Meg, Denise, and I hopped onto the Gold Coast Line and sleepily rode to the very end, under a gorgeous, clear sky. We then took a long, windy bus from the train station along coast. We rode past the reputable Currumbin Sanctuary (but didn't go, sadly), and finally let ourselves off once we saw "Welcome to Coolangatta" signs. We found ourselves on a pristine white beach with some of the most dazzling blues I've ever seen in liquid form.

Wow.

Something Australia has really impressed me with is the amazing blue-ness of the coasts. I thought The Bahamas was the only place the water could be this clear and stunning. But Australia has continued to amaze my eyes and give me a lot of beauty to drink up.

Coolangatta should really be called "a study of blue", because I'm pretty sure that (with the sky's cloudlessness) I saw every hue of blue in every gradient possible. The waves curved colors to change the quality of the blue and mix in greens continuously.

The clean, fine sand squeaked as we shuffled through it.

Something that was also awesome about our visit was how peaceful everything was. The majority of beaches in town seemed hardly occupied by people, and we were able to quietly admire the beaches without running into folks. It was a perfect day of awesome eyefuls, good company, and delightful walks along the coast to different (and incredible) vantage points.

And tasty food, of course. I mean, good food always has to be the case on day excursions.

Of course, I was burned to a crisp and radiant colors of red. In Australia, it doesn't really matter how much powerful sunblock you slather on your person repetitively - the sun dictates just how red you will end up at the end of the day. I swear I had thick tree layers of sunblock all over myself, and I am still tender and resembling more a steamed crustacean than a human on some parts.