A week in Paradise
Early Tuesday afternoon, January 9. Monte Carlo Ave, Surfers Paradise. I’m saying goodbye to Paul and Trixie. A heartbreaking goodbye. Paul is flying to Singapore this weekend and back home in Germany from there.
Late Tuesday afternoon, January 9. Gold
Coast HWY, Broadbeach. I’m walking to Pacific Fair to do some shopping with Ann. There’s a space on my shelf in the fridge. Emptiness. We receive a message from Paavo and Tiit: ‘We are about to pass by your house and Monte Carlo Ave.. for the last time.’ They are on the bus to Nerang Station to catch a train to Brisbane and fly up to Cairns from there. We see the bus driving by and wave goodbye. Another heartbreaking goodbye.
Early Wednesday morning, January 10. Loneliness
in Surfers Paradise. Time to do something about it. A few messages have been left on my voice mail while I was in Byron. Work. I had sent heaps of resumes, and finally they are getting back to me. I’m thinking how little I wanna work after the holidays but how much I wanna fight this loneliness. We have an interview with Stacey in Holiday Inn Surfers Paradise, and another quick one with Claire in Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise. We leave enthusiastic and hope at least one of them will get back to us. Especially Crowne which is right across the street. 
Late Thursday morning, January 11. Lazy morning by the pool. My phone rings. ‘Hello. It’s Claire from Crowne Plaza. How’s your morning, girls?’ It’s great to hear from you, Claire. It’s going very well. ‘It’s gonna get even better, girls. I have good news for you. You’ve got a job!’ That’s awesome! That’s really great. ‘Please drop by tomorrow to sign your contract.’ Will do! That’s great. C ya tomorrow!
Friday afternoon, January 12. My phone rings again. ‘Hello. It’s Mario from the Italian restaurant. Are you still looking for a job?’ Hey, Mario. I’ve just got one but might take up another one depending on the hours. ‘Good. Do you wanna work tonight?’ Yeah, why not! :) The restaurant is called Barnie’s in Paradise. It comes from the name Mario and Sam Barnaba, the two owners, originally Italian but both brought up in Australia. It’s half way between Surfers and Broadbeach, right next to Q1, the world’s highest residential building with 80 floors. It’s a small Italian family restaurant with an easy going atmosphere, nothing too fancy, rather authentic and traditional. The small international team consists of the two owners that are also the only two chefs, plus Sue from Melbourne, Pragya from Nepal, Andzrej from Poland, and now me. And I guess the dishwasher is French :) Easy and easy going, I get along well with them from the start. Looks like I’ve found my Little Italy Down Under.
Saturday morning, January 13. We wake up early and jump into our black & whites. Pinnacle needs us at the Gold Coast Turf Club. What a surprise. But we have a day off, so why not go and se
e what’s happening. Situated just five minutes from Surfers Paradise Beach (that’s what they say on their website), the Gold Coast Turf Club has been in operation for over fifty years. However, they haven’t managed to create an appropriate bus link to get there or away. So we get off on the corner of Ashmore Road and walk towards the direction where we think the Turf Club should be, but soon realise the entrance is all the way down on the other side, which is a good 20-minute walk around the racecourse. And it’s so hot already 9 am. For
those that still wonder what the Turf Club is, it’s a famous horse racing track on the Gold Coast that has developed the racecourse and its facilities into a large venue offering some exciting entertainment, e.g. Saturdays’ special Carnival Days. For a whirlwind nineteen days in January 2007 the Gold Coast hosts a program of racing, parties, dinners and yearling sales culminating in the Conrad Jupiters Magic Millions Raceday on Saturday 13 January worth $ 3.5 million in prize money. And that’s where we are heading to. Although our prize is just the free entrance and a
6-hour working day. No magic millions this time. But what do our eyes see? Large banquet rooms (Winners Lounge, Trackside) with heaps of tables covered in white and loaded with fine porcelain and glass wear. Nothing new. Heaps of alcohol. Nothing new. Buffet lunch. Nothing new. But not only. Hundreds of horses. Hundreds of spectators. Hundreds of different dresses, hundreds of hats. Red hats, yellow hats, green hats, hats with feathers, hats without feathers, feathers without hats, hats with flowers, hats with ribbons, round hats, square hats. Hats there and hats here. Wait. Where are the horses? :) The day is long. The day is hot. And the day is still young. It continues at Toscani’s and Barnie’s.
Sunday, January 14. Another night in Paradise, Barnie’s in Paradise.
Late Tuesday afternoon, January 9. Gold
Coast HWY, Broadbeach. I’m walking to Pacific Fair to do some shopping with Ann. There’s a space on my shelf in the fridge. Emptiness. We receive a message from Paavo and Tiit: ‘We are about to pass by your house and Monte Carlo Ave.. for the last time.’ They are on the bus to Nerang Station to catch a train to Brisbane and fly up to Cairns from there. We see the bus driving by and wave goodbye. Another heartbreaking goodbye.Early Wednesday morning, January 10. Loneliness
in Surfers Paradise. Time to do something about it. A few messages have been left on my voice mail while I was in Byron. Work. I had sent heaps of resumes, and finally they are getting back to me. I’m thinking how little I wanna work after the holidays but how much I wanna fight this loneliness. We have an interview with Stacey in Holiday Inn Surfers Paradise, and another quick one with Claire in Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise. We leave enthusiastic and hope at least one of them will get back to us. Especially Crowne which is right across the street. 
Late Thursday morning, January 11. Lazy morning by the pool. My phone rings. ‘Hello. It’s Claire from Crowne Plaza. How’s your morning, girls?’ It’s great to hear from you, Claire. It’s going very well. ‘It’s gonna get even better, girls. I have good news for you. You’ve got a job!’ That’s awesome! That’s really great. ‘Please drop by tomorrow to sign your contract.’ Will do! That’s great. C ya tomorrow!
Friday afternoon, January 12. My phone rings again. ‘Hello. It’s Mario from the Italian restaurant. Are you still looking for a job?’ Hey, Mario. I’ve just got one but might take up another one depending on the hours. ‘Good. Do you wanna work tonight?’ Yeah, why not! :) The restaurant is called Barnie’s in Paradise. It comes from the name Mario and Sam Barnaba, the two owners, originally Italian but both brought up in Australia. It’s half way between Surfers and Broadbeach, right next to Q1, the world’s highest residential building with 80 floors. It’s a small Italian family restaurant with an easy going atmosphere, nothing too fancy, rather authentic and traditional. The small international team consists of the two owners that are also the only two chefs, plus Sue from Melbourne, Pragya from Nepal, Andzrej from Poland, and now me. And I guess the dishwasher is French :) Easy and easy going, I get along well with them from the start. Looks like I’ve found my Little Italy Down Under.
Saturday morning, January 13. We wake up early and jump into our black & whites. Pinnacle needs us at the Gold Coast Turf Club. What a surprise. But we have a day off, so why not go and se
e what’s happening. Situated just five minutes from Surfers Paradise Beach (that’s what they say on their website), the Gold Coast Turf Club has been in operation for over fifty years. However, they haven’t managed to create an appropriate bus link to get there or away. So we get off on the corner of Ashmore Road and walk towards the direction where we think the Turf Club should be, but soon realise the entrance is all the way down on the other side, which is a good 20-minute walk around the racecourse. And it’s so hot already 9 am. For
those that still wonder what the Turf Club is, it’s a famous horse racing track on the Gold Coast that has developed the racecourse and its facilities into a large venue offering some exciting entertainment, e.g. Saturdays’ special Carnival Days. For a whirlwind nineteen days in January 2007 the Gold Coast hosts a program of racing, parties, dinners and yearling sales culminating in the Conrad Jupiters Magic Millions Raceday on Saturday 13 January worth $ 3.5 million in prize money. And that’s where we are heading to. Although our prize is just the free entrance and a
6-hour working day. No magic millions this time. But what do our eyes see? Large banquet rooms (Winners Lounge, Trackside) with heaps of tables covered in white and loaded with fine porcelain and glass wear. Nothing new. Heaps of alcohol. Nothing new. Buffet lunch. Nothing new. But not only. Hundreds of horses. Hundreds of spectators. Hundreds of different dresses, hundreds of hats. Red hats, yellow hats, green hats, hats with feathers, hats without feathers, feathers without hats, hats with flowers, hats with ribbons, round hats, square hats. Hats there and hats here. Wait. Where are the horses? :) The day is long. The day is hot. And the day is still young. It continues at Toscani’s and Barnie’s.Sunday, January 14. Another night in Paradise, Barnie’s in Paradise.
posted by kairike at 11:00 PM
2 Comments:
Oh my goodness :)
You wouldnt believe this.
but My dad (sam)
Is the owner of Barnie's In Paradise.
I have probably met you before... because i used to go in there and see my dad. :)
I cant believe it
What a small world :)
Nice Blog by the way.
xxx
11:41 AM
Hey Steph!
That's great news! The world is becoming small, indeed! I'm now back home in Estonia but miss Oz a lot. The days in Surfers Paradise were great fun! Hope you are all good at Barnie's.
Take care!
Kairi
12:41 AM
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