Gold Coast

Months ago, my mate suggested we transit at Brisbane on our NZ-MYS-NZ trip. Air Asia X just started flying to Gold Coast (an hour drive away from Brisbane) so cheap flights were available. Apparently JetStar also started flying to KL from there as well, so there was plenty of options there. Having said that, if you dont need to save $$$, dont try these long-haul cheap flights. Seats are smaller than economy class (who would've thought they could make smaller seats) & I got the worst seat - the one smack in the middle where u'll be lucky not elbowing the guy sitting next to you on both sides. Luckily my flight wasn't fully booked & both passengers sandwiching me bolted (I dont think I made them tho, I think...), so I got 3 seats to myself & able to sleep lain down. Anyway, we stayed 3 nights at YHA coolangata backpacker accomodation, which was right next to the Gold Coast airport. Fortunately there is this ruling in Oz where commercial flight landing is banned between midnight & 5/6 am. In a way, the location is good since I used the sound of airplane landing/taking off as an alarm clock & its only 3 minutes walk to the beach (top photo).

What did I do there? Strolled around a bit on the 1st day looking at beaches & the city. Photo: Burleigh Head beach. Next day, we spent the whole day at Dreamworld theme park & on the 3rd day we went to Warner Brothers Movie World (photo below). There's rainforest attraction on the outskirt of the city. I didn't go becuase Oz is notorious for bush fires & just recently upto 60 people died from that in Victoria. Conclusion: Fun place to go if you have the $$$ to enjoy the theme park or is keen on learning/practising surfing. The beach is pretty rough for a swim. The city is also filled with half-naked people strolling around the city. 

As I write this entry, I had this feeling of guilt. Guilty of spending $$$ & time for frivolous enjoyment (theme park rides) & I felt at times how feeble I was in spending my life enjoying these type of things. I know that the $$$ and time should be best spent in more useful manner (dakwah, charity etc) but I also has this urge to have some fun. Finding the balance is something that I've been searching my entire life & I continue to fail. Somebody or a hadith goes by the saying "aim for the afterlife & u will have both of this life & afterlife". I should start taking this advice.