It rains a lot in Queensland in February

The most fun part of my trip to the Gold Coast was certainly not the trip home. My friends and I got to the airport 3 hours before our flight because there was a little whoopsy regarding our checkout time. We had to vacate our accommodation at 10am; our flight wasn't until 2pm but we didn't know what 8 people with luggage could do with themselves for a few hours during a day of torrential rain pour on the Gold Coast. It seemed the logical thing to do would be to just get to the airport early and kill the time there. 

Little did we know that our flight would be delayed by 2 hours thanks to the atrocious weather. In the end we were lucky to be flying the day we were booked to be. The airport was packed with young families and people waiting to collect loved ones but for most of the 5 hours we were waiting, no planes were landing or taking off. At one point there wasn't a single plane at the airport. As increasingly planes were being diverted to Brisbane and cancelled all together, we were very relieved to get out of the Gold Coast.

We arrived home to Melbourne at about 7.45pm to the warmest, driest weather we'd had all week. 

Whilst it pissed down with rain for most of the time we were in the Gold Coast, it was a great week. Thankfully, unlike all the surrounding areas, the Gold Coast did not flash flood whilst we were there. I really needed a break and it was interesting to go to a place that I would not ordinarily have chosen to go to. I overcame my fear of water slides, until last week I had avoided them since I was about 7 when I got stuck face down on one and was afraid I would drown. 

Despite my initial fear, I absolutely loved Wet N Wild. It was a really wet and stormy day when we went which turned out the be a great thing because it kept the crowds away. I just about chickened out of the very first water slide, but after I got through that and was a little underwhelmed by it I went berserk and had at least one turn on everything. That day was a real highlight for me. 

I wasn't able to have quite as an eventful trip as I would have liked. After a few busy days I became very fatigued and had to take a couple of rest days. Whilst this was disappointing, I was very thankful that I didn't have to stay home all together to have surgery earlier. That being said, I still went to 2 theme parks, went out to a somewhat nasty Gold Coast nightclub, went running 3 times during the week and eat way too much Nutella! I also got introduced to my new favourite TV show thanks to the one and only Kate Hardy, Misfits, and had the kind of bus to the airport sing-a-long to Kate's ipod that has to be good for the soul (and probably not the ears of the driver).

Going out at night in the Gold Coast is something I can tick off life's "to do" list but it is not something I need to repeat. It was "ladies night" the night we went, so girls got in for free and drank for free until midnight. That, along with having a much needed dance with some great friends, was the good part. However, there are many images burned into my retinas from that nightclub that simply will not budge from my memory. Most involved strangers dancing so "dirtily" that they absolutely needed to "get a room" and a stockily built woman who needed to have purchased a dress didn't creep up to her waist when she danced, completely exposing her very small undergarment...

At the nasty GC nightclub (at least girls got to drink for free before midnight!) 

The house we stayed in was fantastic, except for a bit of flooding in one of the bedrooms. Having 10 people who have not known each other for all that long living under the same room for a week did have its challenges, but overall was it was successful. You learn a lot about other people and yourself when you live together, that's for sure. 

Given that I am not continuing with paramedics, I was so glad to have the chance to spent lots of time with the great friends I made in the course.