Number 5. Surfers Paradise Nightlife

Oh Surfer's Paradise...

to be honest the name is a little misleading. 

A more apt name for this city would be Party-animal's Paradise, as everybody here seems to either be celebrating, getting ready to celebrate or recovering from a rather heavy celebration.

Of the eight nights I stayed here, I went out every single one! And I am not even the biggest fan of nightclubs generally, but something about the atmosphere here is infectious, and every night is like a new adventure...

I'll begin with the hostel (linked below) I stayed at which was recommended from some friends and turned out to be a great success.

I had left some friends who wanted to stop in Brisbane, but I felt no need to revisit so I hopped on the bus from Noosa to Surfer's by myself and found myself sitting beside a lovely dutch guy who happened to be a game of thrones addict and the journey passed pleasantly as we discussed characters and potential future storylines and twists.. 

Needless to say the four hour drive flew by and before I knew it I was at the bus terminal with my bags awaiting the hostel's limousine!

A very old, but still extremely cool limousine collected me a brought be the 2 minute drive to the hostel. 

I liked the place immediately once I discovered it only had around 15 rooms I believe. Furthermore, the rooms were small but 2 or 3 shared a small kitchenette and living area.

To top it all off there was a big tv, a lovely pool with several loungers and a very friendly atmosphere.
(This was definitely one of my absolute favourite hostels during my time in Australia, where everything kind of came together, great location, great atmosphere, easy to make friends, lovely staff, brilliant food.. and the list goes on!)

Within an hour or two I had made friends with a bunch of girls and we planned to paint the town red that night.

The hostel begins goon-pong every evening (yes EVERY) at about 6pm, which is super early to start drinking games.. but I wasn't complaining!

Each night the hostel folks bring you to a new club in the city (5 minute stroll) and you get free entry and a free drink, for no extra cost!

This is a brilliant advantage because if you decide to head out yourself club entry can set you back about $10.

So each night generally involved the same routine.. getting ready with the girls for the evening, heading down to chat or join in on the goon-pong, and head out with the hostel crew to a new club.

A couple of my favourite clubs were Sin City, Vanity, Beergarden and Club Liv.

Quite a lot of the backpackers I met on my travels didn't seem to be crazy about Surfer's Paradise. They thought it was tacky and there was nothing much to do during the day.

I would agree with them. But those are some of the reasons I fell in love with Surfers!

When one is partying all night long, one does not need day time activities.. we only need lots of water, a bit of sun, and a comfy spot at the beach.

As for the tackiness, Surfers is called a city, but there appear to be only a handful of busy streets.

The endless kebab shops, bikini stores and promotional street staff might put some people off but for me it just added to the party atmosphere of the place.

As I previosuly mentioned, I am not at all a major club go-fer, but after not seeing a proper nightclub for several months in Australia, I welcomed these ones full force, its simply nice for a change. The music was pretty good, most drinks are really cheap (from $2 to $6 for vodka mixer), and the clubs were fairly fancy - even Justin Bieber visited Vanity and Sin City while I was in Surfers!

All in all I probably wouldnt want to stay in Surfers for several months at a time, but for a party week I thought it just hit the spot, and I would go back in a heartbeat!

My hostel = http://www.sleepinginn.com.au