Sufferers Paradise

Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, March 2012: The taxi driver joked, “whad didya think of sufferers paradise mate?” as we drove to the train station… I’d never heard of Surfers Paradise refered to as that.. I replied “okay, but not really my kind of place…” He nodded his head knowingly… “I know whad ya mean, I’m a Kiwi too- been here twenty years or so…it’s not that bad when you get used to it…”  I’d been visiting the Gold Coast on an all expenses paid trip I won through my job… The views from my room on the 21st floor of the Sofitel Hotel at Broadbeach were amazing- a dramatic contrast to the views of the Holiday Inn Beirut in my previous post…