We spent about 4 days at Lennox Head just surfing, chilling out, and using the library. There wasn’t much excitement, except for one night when we almost ran over a carpet python! But they’re harmless so we let him be.

But it was now approaching the weekend and we actually had some plans! We were going inland to a town called Lismore to catch up with our friend Micko, a guy we’d worked with last year during the New Zealand ski season in Wanaka.

It had been over a year since we’d last seen Micko! But after arriving at his house and opening a few beers it was like no time had passed at all. We spent the night drinking beers and catching up.

The next morning Micko cooked up a fried breakfast and then he said, “so, what do you guys wanna do tonight?” It was a Saturday, and I hadn’t really thought much about what we’d get up to with Micko, but I figured he’d maybe have something in mind. A few drinks at the local pub maybe. But no, Micko had nothing planned :p

It felt like we just sat in silence for a few minutes, no one putting up any ideas, when Micko said unsurely, “We could always have a night out in the Gold Coast?…” Yes! It was a great idea!  It had been ages since Chris and I had been on a night out or even got drunk! And the spontaneous plans are always the best.

So we spent the next few hours finding a last minute hotel (we were on holiday… we had to splash out on a hotel), packing up our bags, and researching what club nights were going on. Before I knew it we were in Micko’s car and driving 2 hours north to Surfers Paradise.

Before we knew it we were driving along congested roads with high rise buildings towering above us. It felt like Miami, even though I’ve never been to Miami… We found our hotel where we checked in while a valet parked our car. While in the reception area, I took note of the overly tanned, muscly guys parading around in their tank tops, and the girls wearing far too much make up, this was the Gold Coast alright.

We unpacked out stuff in the room and then went out to get our bearings and grab some food to line our stomachs. Micko had spent many a night partying in the Gold Coast in his youth, so he was our guide.

When we got back to the hotel I could see that, although it was a nice hotel, they were more than used to the partying types. It was only 6pm or so but already a group of girls in high stilettos and skimpy dresses were stumbling out the front doors ready for their night out. I got the feeling that no matter what state we returned in later, they’d have seen much worse.

We got the drinks and tunes going in our hotel room before heading out to Cavill Avenue, the main street in Surfers Paradise. I felt like I was on holiday in some trashy Spanish resort. The street was full of brightly lit bars and clubs blasting out cheesy music while people drunkenly stumbled around the street.

We finally found ourselves at Elsewhere Bar, the club we wanted to spend out night in. Pretty much the only place in Surfers Paradise that seemed to have a House music night on.

The first thing I noticed was that there was no queue! So we went to walk past the bouncers only to be stopped when one of them said to Micko, “not tonight mate.” Pointing at his shoes. Micko was wearing skater shoes, and although they were brand new, were not acceptable.

Up until now everything had run so smoothly, the drive here, finding the hotel, getting ready to go out, we couldn’t believe it! I hate these pretentious clubs! So Micko went to talk to an important looking guy with a clipboard, asking if he changed his shoes would he be allowed in. The guy said yes. So we walked 20 minutes back to our hotel, Micko stuck on some old, but fully black shoes, and we made our way back to the only club we wanted to go to in Surfers Paradise.

By now there was a massive queue! I have no idea how long we stood in that line, it was only one in one out, I’m just glad that by this point I was fairly pissed and amused by the people around me, who seemed much worse. Finally we got to the front and the clipboard guy smiled at Micko, approved of his footwear, and let us in.

After all that it was a pretty good club. The djs were as gay as Christmas and played some pretty good music and we had an awesome night.

We came down the stairs in the morning to see the sun had already risen and made our way to the beach to watch the it climb higher in the sky. There were quite a few people on the beach who had also just stumbled out of dark, dingy nightclubs. A few girls ran into the water for an early morning dip but straight away the beach lifeguards were on to them, sirens blearing on their beach quad.

We walked back to the hotel and grabbed some sleep before getting up and enjoying a buffet breakfast, included in the room charge. It had been a while since I’d felt this rough, but it was totally worth it for an epic catch up with Micko and a spontaneous night out partying in Surfers Paradise.