Walking the Birkenstock walk: Footmaster Robina – If a penguin waddled around Australia backpacking in a pair of sandles, you'd pretty much have Birkenstocks. They are some goofy looking footwear. But are they comfortable? Well, my pregnant wife developed all sorts of aches and pains in her second trimester. Hips, leg, back, anywhere that could ache, started to. And her friends all gave the same advice "You need a pair of Birkenstocks." Then they'd add a disclaimer like "and the uglier they are, the better they feel." Or my favourite – "but watch out, someone will get you to buy a pair two sizes too big." (An actual quote.) It was hardly a ringing endorsement. But we figured any shoe that inspires that much love and hatred at the same time must be worth a try. Our local Birkenstock dealer is Footmaster at Robina Town Centre on the Gold Coast. And my wife's friend was right – our friendly salesperson Peita took a deep breath, sighed, then went on to explain why Birkenstocks needed to be 'too large' to actually fit properly. Peita also explained that we should expect a 'wearing in' phase to get the shoes to mold to my wife's feet properly. And after trying a few sizes, it turns out Peita was right – the larger pair felt much better than the ones that 'fitted'. Footmaster had a lot of different Birkenstock styles, but the 'uglier the better' advice also proved to be true. As a nice bonus, Footmaster has a fish tank to keep husbands like me distracted while wives get on with the important business of shoe fitting. So, the next fifteen minutes are sort of a blur. The next thing I remember we'd been walking for an hour or more and my wife's back pain had subsided a lot. It was more than a nice surprise – It was her new 'Birkies'. It's not often people recommend a product that's ugly. And less often that they'll put up with looking like a backpacking penguin. If that's not an endorsement. I don't know what is.