Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is on the eastern coast of Australia, close to Brisbane. It is apparently where Australians go on holiday. There are lots of amusement parks and some incredible beaches. I have been to a few beaches in my life but this is as long and gorgeous and huge as I have ever seen! The waves are great to play in and the sand is perfect, soft, white and absolutely no seaweed or rocks to walk on.

This is the view from our apartment. You never really know what a place is like when you book online but this was incredible! There are rivers all around this area and we faced a river. In the morning rowers were out then later in the day the waterskiiers and jetskis came out.

This is what we saw when we looked out the kitchen window. You can see the ocean in between the buildings. It was a 2 block walk to get to the beach but like I said above, it was gorgeous! This was right around sunrise.

So here is the beach. You can see all the accomodation running along the beach. This was in Surfer's Paradise area so of course there were surfers and body boarders to watch!

The boys were plotting their wave jumps! The beach itself is huge but there are small areas for swimming that are patrolled by lifeguards so that is why it looks a bit busy with swimmers. I promise the beach has more than enough room for the amount of people that come to visit, especially during school holidays!

The Easter Bunny made a visit during our time here. Both kids got a chocolate bunny, some sunglasses and of course an Easter egg hunt! I think Isabella ate 6 eggs before breakfast!

As I mentioned earlier, there are lots of amusement parks here. This is Miles at Movie World. We went on Easter Sunday, which I wouldn't recommend because the crowds were insane. Thanks to this experience we no longer plan on stopping at Disneyland on the way home, Clint just doesn't have the patience for line-ups!

This is Sea World. It was overcast with rainy patches so the crowds were much quieter on the day we went. Not sure if you can see the penguins behind us.

This is as close as I plan on getting to a shark, thanks Sea World!

The last park that we visited was Wet and Wild. It is a water slide park and since school holidays were over for kids in Queenland the crowds were minimal. The rainy weather helped a bit too! The kids played in the kids waterpark for about 10 minutes before they were cold and done! Clint and I took advantage of my mom being there to check out some of the waterslides. Whatever happened to slidding down on your back and laughing? Now all the rides seem to try and scare you half to death! We had a great time, this was Clint's favorite park, the line-ups of 5 people probably helped a bunch too!

The sky was often overcast and we had a bit of rain but this rainbow was beautiful and since it didn't rain all day everyday we still got to experience a lot.

What a great vacation. We didn't make it to Australia Zoo but even if we had, Miles wouldn't have talked to Bindy if we saw her! This may have been our best vacation ever and we would highly recommend both places.

Port Douglas/ Great Barrier Reef

We had one of the best holidays ever! I'm breaking it into 2 parts because we visited two areas. These pictures are from the Port Douglas area, hope you enjoy!It all started with a missed connection flight in Sydney which gave us 5 extra hours in the airport. Luckily another couple on a teaching exchange was on the same flights so we visited with them. They also gave us the keys to their place in Adelaide so we had a place to stay when we returned and since we needed to buy another car, it was perfect!

Just after sunset on Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas. We had a hard time finding the beach since I read the map wrong so what should have been a 5 minute walk turned into a half hour walk but still pretty!

We spent the first day at the market and looking around the downtown area followed by an afternoon by the pool. Since we didn't get to our place until after midnight everyone was up for a lazy day. Clint got a kangaroo hat and we found bananas for $5.00 a kg so we were very happy. We've been paying between $12 and $15 a kg for bananas here!

Clint and the kids enjoyed the pool. There was a waterfall area, a jetted area like a hot tub only not hot and a small kiddy pool to play in. After a few minutes Miles swimming was back up to speed, it's amazing how quickly things get rusty if you haven't been practising!

This is crocodile area,so we visited Hartley's Crocodile Adventure Park and saw lots of crocs. It was one of the most reasonably priced attractions ever. We saw crocs being fed, you should hear the snap of there jaws when they bite down!

We also got a short boat ride where we saw crocs jump out of the water to get food. Just so you know they use their hearing to hunt so it is better to swim under water than do the front crawl which has lots of splashing if you are ever in crocodile invested waters! Also their stomachs are only the size of their heads so they can only eat a limb, not your whole body, isn't that more comforting!

After visiting the crocs we headed to a nearby beach for a run and some sea shell hunting. Then it was off to Cairns which has a ton of souvenir shops and is way bigger and more commercial than where we stayed.

Our third day, Tuesday, was our Reef day. We took a trip with Calypso Snorkelling and although the weather wasn't idyllic we enjoyed ourselves. Miles got in the water but wouldn't put his face down so he didn't get to see all the fish and coral.

Izzy tried to get into the spirit but she is still a bit too young! We saw lots of fish, amazing huge clams (bigger than me) and even a reef shark. Mom thought it was the best snorkelling she'd ever done. Clint and I thought the coral was incredible but since it wasn't sunny the colours weren't as spectacular as in Hawaii. Miles got sea sick on the rough ride back but everyone was glad we had spent our day that way!

After a busy few days we decided to take it easy and relax on Wednesday. It was a good day to spend by the pool and let the kids rest up. We had a rough night with Izzy running a high fever but she held up for our Thursday adventures!

We took the skyrail (like a gondola) up and over the rainforest to a little tourist town called Kurunda. Along the way you get off and go for short walks through the rainforest.

It was very overcast and extremely humid most of the time we were in Port Douglas. The ride up was beautiful and we saw some giant blue butterlies that were incredible.

Always have to make time for snacks, even in the rainforest! After spending the afternoon in Kurunda we took a train back to the city.

We got to see this waterfall from both sides. It was huge since there has been so much rain over the past few months. We heard that tourism has been way down since there have been so many floods and cyclones in the surrounding area which meant there weren't many crowds wherever we went which was nice!

Miles and Clint had a great time looking out the windows on the train ride. Isabella was so tired that she slept the whole way back.

Miles caught whatever it was that Isabella had and he spent all day Friday on the couch with a high fever. It was beautiful and sunny out so Clint and I took Izzy to the beach and spent the rest of the day by the pool or beside Miles who was feeling much better by the evening.

This next picture was taken while we were waiting for dinner at a restaurant. I had one of the best meals of my life, even Clint said he had never tasted fish so yummy!

Port Douglas is one of the most beautiful areas we have visited. We would recommend the place that we stayed, Nimrod Apartments, if you want a two bedroom place in a peaceful area. The only thing we didn't get to do was visit Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest which we had planned to do on Friday but Miles was sick. We had such a good time and since Isabella loves saying pull a face we took a picture of all of us pulling a face in Kurunda.

Alligator Gorge

My mom and I took the kids to Alligator Gorge the first weekend in April. It was a bit overcast and rained a bit but the temperature was perfect for a hike. This place was recommended by Miles teacher so we drove the 40 minutes and weren't disappointed!

This is my mom on the stairs. We think there were probably 200 steps or more and I had Izzy on my back! It wasn't really that bad on the way down but we didn't know which way the trail went so had to turn around and backtrack back up the stairs.

This area was called the Terraces. It used to be sand that was packed down under layers of sand and over a long time it became quartzite rock. All my third graders should know a little something about that! Some of it looked exactly like the rocks we looked at in class!

We had a great day and Miles impressed us with his hiking skills and love of being in nature. My back was sore for two days but it was worth it! Our next adventure is to the east coast to visit the reef and surfer's paradise.

Kangaroo Island

Clint's sister and brother in law came to visit us at the end of March. What a weekend! It all started on Friday. After dropping Clint off at a beautiful school in Adelaide I had to check out of the hotel and pick up our company. Unfortunately, I got rear ended at an intersection so the trunk no longer stayed closed. I got to the airport half an hour late to find Janine and Stephen had no luggage. We made it to the ferry in time only to find out the boat we were booked on was broken and we had to wait 2 hours until the next one! There was a little more stress than I would have liked but we still saw lots and had a great time!

We stayed in a house at Penneshaw which is where the ferry arrives. It was a cool weekend but great for touring!

After spending the morning in Kingscote trying to find clothes for Janine and Stephen we headed to Flinders Chase National Park to visit the Remarkable Rocks.

This type and size of rock is not usually found in this area and the wind and water have worn them away in incredible ways. Everyone had a blast climbing all over them.

Admiral's Arch is also in the National Park. It is a hang out for seals. The waves pound the rocks and the seals just bask in the sun and a few venture into the water to play.

On Sunday we visited another wildlife park called Paul's Place. We fed a kangaroo out of a bottle, saw a deer (Bambi)and tried to stay away from the emus!

This place had a koala that could be held and mom got a great cuddle!

Next it was my turn. It felt like holding Izzy or a toddler you know! Apparently their nails are very long and sharp and can dig into you but I was wearing enough layers due to the cool temperature that it didn't hurt me at all!
We made it home safe and sound and had a busy week trying to show Janine and Stephen as much as we could. On Tuesday we went to the beach, on Wednesday we took a hike to some caves with Aboriginal paintings and Clint got the day off Thursday so we checked out a bunch of vineyards in Clare Valley.

This was part of the hike to see the markings. Miles was a superstar and hiked the whole thing on his own! We also saw 2 wild kangaroos or wallabies which was very exciting!

Port Lincoln

Mid March has a long weekend here so we drove south 3 hours to a beautiful spot called Port Lincoln. It looks like it may be the furthest point on the south coast of Australia. Apparently, because it is so remote, the Survivor Outback show was filmed nearby. Port Lincoln is known for the Tuna fishing. They have tourist attractions like swim with the tuna or sharks, we didn't take part in either! Some scenes from Jaws were also filmed in this area.
About a month ago a diver was attacked and killed by a shark about an hour away near Coffin Bay (nice name for a place isn't it?) Needless to say I wasn't too disappointed that it was a bit cool for swimming in the ocean while we were there but it was beautiful and we are glad that we went.

Whaler's Way is set along private property that runs along the coastline. It has gorgeous views, just like this one. The road is basically sand and runs 14 kms with lots of places to stop and get out and take a look. To keep the kids happy we called each stop an adventure and they both loved exploring and looking for treasure!

This was our first adventure. There was a beach just out of the picture in the background that was beautiful. People were surfing and paddle boarding. Miles got a kick out of climbing down crevasses.

As many of you know my mom is visiting us for a few months and she joined us for this adventure!

This was such a nice beach. It was very windy and kind of cool but the kids and the adults all enjoyed it. We had a picnic lunch and then let the kids run around for a bit before heading back to our cabin.

Later that night we went out for dinner and had some delicious seafood and pasta dishes followed by gelato, which is very popular around here.

On Monday morning we went out to Glen-Forest, an animal park. There were kangaroos to play with, a koala sleeping in a tree, some gigantic pigs, an ostrich, emu andsome dingoes and camels.

Of course feeding the kangaroos took top spot in the kids agenda! Clint and I enjoy it just as much though!

Miles was even into feeding the kangaroos from the first minute and Izzy still can't get enough!

The same food you use to feed the kangaroos is used to feed the birds, but no one was expecting the birds to land on them. Clint was the first and he started freaking out which scared Miles who wanted to leave the enclosure immediately. Clint tried to follow but the birds wouldn't get off him!

I was the next to be a standing post. There were five birds on me at once!

Izzy was just minding her own buisness when a bird decided to land on her head. What a trooper, she didn't react at all, just stood still and let us take pictures!

We had a great time and the kids slept over half the drive home so overall the weekend was a complete success! Here are a few more animals that we saw!

Crabbing at the Shacks

One Sunday morning in early March we got a call from our friends the Kitchens to join them crabbing at the shacks just outside of town (what we would call a cabin or cottage). We quickly got dressed and drove the 15 minutes only getting lost a bit! It is blue crab season here and it seems everyone is catching and eating lots of them.

Izzy and Clint took the first turn out in the boat with Ben and his son Angus. They were out almost an hour and caught one crab! Miles, mom and myself stayed back and looked for seashells. This is Miles favourite pastime when we go to the beach now!

This is a view of the shack from the water when mom and I took a turn at crabbing. Unfortunately we didn't catch anything as the tide was going out too quickly and the nets weren't hitting the bottom. On the good side, Ben's father in law came over in his boat and told us they had caught two and a half bucket fulls of crabs!

You can see how they get their name from this picture. They are cooked the same way lobsters are and then frozen or pickled to eat later. They catch so many at this time of year that there is no way they can be eaten fresh.

By the end of the weekend the freezer is full of trays just like this one. Mom and I were lucky enough to get to eat one. It tasted good but was a lot of work, just like eating lobster. The claws and arms are the best part but can be tricky to get at!

We had a good time, the weather was once again hot and sunny with very little breeze coming off the water. We did get to see some dolphing swimming by the shore while Clint and Izzy were out so that was cool, hope you can see their fins in the picture! Apparently sharks can be in the area at times because fish like the warm water that comes out of the coal plant on the other side of the shore and sharks have been known to come close to the plant to eat the fish. We also saw jellyfish while we were out on the boat so I wouldn't plan on swimming there!