Week 3: Mike vs. Glow Worms

           Week 3 began with us starting to get into more of the meat of our classes. Monday through Wednesday were pretty standard days of class and hanging out with people on campus. On Wednesday night, Liam, Matt, Tim, and I went with the Bond Golf Club to do some night golfing at a course outside Surfer’s. The course looked awesome under the lights and it was a steal for $23 AUD for clubs, 9 holes, and a cart (For future reference, about $1 AUD= $.70 USD, so pretty much everything in this country is on sale). Unfortunately, due to weird miscommunication and the pro shop manager being a complete jerk, we couldn’t get onto the course, so we just hit at the driving range. We’re going to keep going golfing with the Bond club though, they’re nice guys.

            On Thursday, I was free the entire day while most other people were in class, so what do you do when you have free time in Australia? Go to the beach of course. Liam and I headed back over to Burleigh for a tranquil day in the sun. Upon arrival, it was indeed very sunny but it was also very windy. Like, being sandblasted windy. We chilled out for about an hour and did some bodysurfing before succumbing to the gale. So we grabbed some burgers and beer and headed to the beach in the inlet that we had found during our first trip. Finally sheltered from wind, we sprawled out and relaxed. Later on that night, the Goon Squad dudes decided to hit up Jupiter’s, a large casino in Broadbeach. We played blackjack for a couple hours, where I left only down $10. The other guys all went positive, but it was clear for me that casinos are not my thing. I hate losing money more than I like making it.

Burgers. Beer. Beach.

            Friday was an incredible day we had planned for some time. On this trip, Julia and Monika couldn’t go so we picked up Jake and Jeremy. Jake is a hilarious New Yorker who is also studying abroad at Bond. Jeremy is an Australian medical student who has to do much more actual work than us Americans, so it was fun to tear him from his studies for a bit. We rented a van (which we named Shirley) and drove up to Springbrook National Park. Liam is the only 21 year old in the group so far, so he had the honor of learning how to drive on the wrong side of the road. (It is the wrong side because anything in America is inherently correct.) He got in the groove pretty quickly, all except for the blinker (turn signal for you non-Bostonians). The blinker and windshield wipers are switched, just like everything else, but he had particular trouble sorting those two out. It was always entertaining when the windshield wipers would randomly turn on followed by an annoyed grunt from Liam before switching lanes.

             Springbrook National Park occupies some of the mountains inset from the Gold Coast and offers some spectacular views. We were able to look over all of the coastline including Surfer’s and Robina and onto the glimmering ocean beyond. Being strapping and adventurous young adults, we decided to take the 17km trail that explored most of the park. We began along the ridge line before sinking into a forest that looked like it was straight out of Jurassic Park. Massive vines and ancient trees form a thick canopy that keeps the park perpetually cool and damp. On our hike, we passed 6 or 7 waterfalls that painted a perfect backdrop for some future Instagram pictures. The hike was gorgeous overall and it will likely be one of the places I show my parents when they come to visit in November. The only thing odd about Springbrook was the lack of wildlife. The forest was very quiet, save for some occasional birds. This was an attribute we were not expecting.

Back: Tim, Liam, Me, Matt, Jeremy, Jake
Front: Anna, Court

Surfer's in the distance

Liam, Matt, and Jake

            We finished our walk just before sunset and found a small café perched atop the ridge. After grabbing some hot chocolate and getting destroyed in chess by Jake, we piled back into the van for the second leg of our Springbrook adventure. A short drive past quite a few wallabies brought us to a natural bridge and a 1km trail that would lead us to our destination. We had come for one specific sight that led us to forfeit our flashlights and allow our eyes adjust to the darkness. The rumblings of a large waterfall guided us along the trail through the pitch black night. When we reached the place we had been told about, we looked upon a twinkling night sky that existed beneath 50 feet of stone. The natural cave we stood in was home to thousands of bio-luminescent glow worms. It was an otherworldly and breathtaking sight, especially with the placid water of the cave reflecting the light given off by the little bugs. The pathway back to the car was also dotted with bio-luminescent fungus. It was a calming end to an awesome day.

            On Saturday, we reluctantly returned Shirley to the rental place and spent the day in Broadbeach. The Festival of Kites (love the name) happened to be going on that day and so tons of people flew huge kites all over the beach. They even had professional kite flyers (if that's a thing) who flew 7 kites in acrobatic loops and formations around each other. Very random, yet very cool. That night, we befriended a couple of club promoters which got us on the guest list for a few clubs in Surfer’s. We bounced between these all night and I got to spend some quality bro time with Jake after everyone else had gone home. Jake and I eventually caught an Uber back to campus, during which we learned the life story of our driver, Karan (He wants to be a NASCAR driver). Fun night.

            Sunday was entirely unproductive. We watched the Pink Panther and went to Waxy’s then did a bit of exploring around Surfer’s. Every week here seriously keeps getting better and better.