Sunday, January 31, 2010

Gold Coast, Australia (part 1)

Yes, it's true! Rick and I are vacationing on the sunny coast of Australia! After a 30 plus hour trip on 4 different flights (one of them being over 14 hrs long) we walked into our hotel room ready for a shower and some relaxation. We are staying in a city called Surfer's Paradise in the Mariott hotel. Yes, there are LOTS of surfers. Here is the view from our balcony. (the 17th floor) It is very warm and humid here.....just what we were hoping for. This is two of the pools as seen from our balcony. They are both saltwater pools and the one in the forefront is made like a sandy beach. It is stocked with all kinds of tropical fish so you can snorkel in the pool. How cool is that? I love looking down onto the pool. It is soooo gorgeous!
We took a drive down to Byron Bay yesterday. Just beyond this lighthouse is the easternmost point of Australia. We hiked up and down a total of 660 steps to get to the end of the path. Crazy...but we got to see a couple schools of dolphins playing in the water. Rick is doing great at driving! The wheel is on the right-hand side of the car and we drive on the left side of the road. I don't know but he sure seems to pick that kind of stuff up pretty easy. He has mentioned a couple of times how much he enjoys it.
(Must be all the practice he got last spring in the UK)

Yesterday morning we stopped at the Farmer's Market and had a great time picking up some treats for the kids. This was a licorice booth:)

About an hour away from Surfer's Paradise is a place called Tamborine Mtn. It is a tropical rainforest and we loved hiking through looking for wild things.

Oops! I meant to post a picture with Rick feeding a bunch of colorful parrots right out of his hand...... I'll get it next post:) Other things we have done so far.....snorkeled in the pool.....took a cruise to see the breaker islands......went to church.........did some souvenir shopping............drove to Lamington Nat'l Park and saw 3 wallabies and 10 kangaroos...........ordered room service.........noticed dozens of new birds and the COOL sounds they make.......missed the kids.........looked for a Koala bear (no luck yet).........swam in the pool........walk on the beach......
and last but not least just enjoying being together and finding adventure wherever we go!!!!









3 comments:

  1. Wow!!! you're in AUSTRALIA?!? That's awesome! Just yesterday, I told Brian, "If we want to do some fun travelling, we should talk to Rick and Janell. They're always up for something fun and would have great ideas." Ha! Didn't even know you were in the middle of such a great trip!

    This looks like an AMAZING trip! I hope you're loving it... especially the warm, warm, warm. Looks wonderful!

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  2. oh WOW! couldn't be more jealous! :) have a wonderful time!! beautiful pictures!

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  3. The kids showed me your cute blog--I love it! Looks like Australia was beautiful and lots of fun--hope you are doing great! Do you have an accent now??

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