Detour

Set off on Friday afternoon for a weekend on the Gold Coast. Specifically to the Australian Ibiza of Surfers Paradise, but the Gateway Motorway was closed following an accident involving a ute, so we had to detour through Brisbane city, which took us across the Story Bridge. This delayed us by over an hour, but we made it to our hotel, parked up, checked in and walked to a nearby bar in time for a happy-hour cocktail.

Our weekend plan was for a nice dinner and a couple of drinks on Friday and then a good old knees up on Saturday. Well we managed the first part ok - that was at a very nice restaurant in a newly opened central area that reminded me a little bit of the dining area in One, Liverpool and the new Village development in Sanlitun, Beijing. After dinner we ventured into a few bars and soon realised that we were maybe a little old. Door staff focus heavily on photo ID here to combat underage drinking and the three of us all quietly hoped that we would be asked for it as we entered places. Let's just say that it didn't happen very often!

We ended up in Melbas, which, as well as having a good balance of thirty-somethings versus skinny, beautiful adult-teenagers with legs up to their armpits, it was a cool bar /club (temperature and ambiance) and had a good mix of music.

What time did we leave?