Saturday, April 7
After our journey on the red-eye we arrived at our hotel in Surfer's Paradise in the early morning. After we all had a quick nap we got up and headed down to the beach. Fortunately, our hotel was a short stroll to the beach and we had a great view of not only the beach but also the surfers catching waves.
The view of Surfers Paradise from our balcony on the 19th floor.
Surfers Paradise is a little bit Miami Beach, a little bit Hawaii, and a little bit Las Vegas. It is a tourist concrete jungle that essentially popped out of nowhere. Most of the development of the area, which includes a skyline that rivals Manhattan, sprang up in the 80's and 90's and since then it has been used and abused extensively. All of the buildings could use a fresh coat of paint. The town itself is bustling with activity. During the day the beaches are filled with swimmers and surfers. During the night the city is a vibrant party town full of restaurants and clubs. We stayed at the Mantra Legends resort thanks to a high school friend of Nadia's, also named Mike, that works for the company (more on that later). He got us a great deal and a great room.
The moon rising over the ocean.
Perth is a lot like Calgary so we haven't really missed too many of the creature comforts from home. However, two of the things that are not in Perth that we have missed dearly we managed to locate in Surfers. One (on the left) is 7-11, or more specifically Slurpees from 7-11. Unfortunately, they are just not as good as the one's back home. Which is ridiculous considering the climate. The second, and more important, is Starbucks (on the right). We simply are unable to find a decent cup of brewed coffee in Perth. Perth has plenty of coffee shops but no Starbucks. All of the coffee shops tend to serve what they call "flat white" or "flat black". This is a term for non-latte's with milk (white) or without (black). However, to make them they use espresso coffee rather than regular brewed coffee. In any case, we finally had a regular cup of coffee from Starbucks.
Sunday, April 8
One of the attractions of the Gold Coast area, besides the party atmosphere of Surfers Paradise, is the plethora of theme parks in the area. Within an hour of Surfers you can find Dreamworld, Movieworld, Wet 'N Wild, White Water World, Sea World, Australian Adventure and more. If you go about 1/2 an hour further you can find the Australia Zoo which has been made famous by the deceased Steve Irwin, aka Crocodile Hunter. Our first stop was Wet 'n Wild: the largest water park in the area. We had a great day playing on the slides and in the giant wave pool.
The kids in front of Wet 'n Wild.
The following day we went to Dreamworld, which is the largest of the theme parks and like a smaller version of Disney World. We went on a lot of rides, including some very frightening ones. Zaren wasn't feeling well so he didn't go on too many rides.
At the entrance to Dream World.
Tuesday, April 10
The plan was to go to Sea World. However, Zaren woke up at 4:30am with some severe stomach pains and a very high fever. When the pain didn't subside I took him to the local hospital. So, unfortunately he and I spent 8 hours in the Gold Coast hospital, him with a IV drip for about half the time. At first we were concerned it might be his appendix but it turned out to be a particularly nasty flu virus. He's fine now and none the worse for wear.
Wednesday, April 11
We dragged Zaren out to Sea World. Sea World in Surfers has penguins, lots of dolphins, seals, sharks, fish, a polar bear and even a few rides.
Bottom left: Keva, Nadia, Cyrus and Zaren at the Sea World entrance.
After Sea World we got a rental car and made our way south to an area near the town of Kingcliff right on the border between Queensland and New South Wales. Nadia's friend Mike managed to get us a room at the Mantra Salt resort that he works in. It is about 45 minutes south of Surfers Paradise but feels like an entire world away. The Salt resort is tucked into a quiet area that is reminiscent of the Mexican Yucatan Penisula. It is a beautiful, quiet, peaceful 4 1/2 star resort right on the beach surrounded by mangroves.
Nadia on our balcony overlooking the Salt grounds and ocean.
Not only did Mike manage to get us rooms during the second busiest time of year in two of the best resorts in the area, and not only did he manage to get us a rental car when none were to be had, and not only did he manage to get us free breakfast every morning at Salt (worth $20 each) but he also spent a lot of his time with us showing us around the area.
Thursday, April 12
We drove to an area nearby called Byron Bay which is the most eastern point of Australia. There is a big, old lighthouse there and what is essentially an old Australiana hippy/surfer town. We basically did a little touring around the area, ate lunch and soaked up the atmosphere. Later that night Mike took us to a local Thai restaurant that only the locals know about. It was a really nice, quiet day.
The view from the lighthouse area looking at Byron Bay.
The view of the lighthouse from Byron Bay.
Friday, April 13 (Friday the 13th)
We were awoken at 4am with Cyrus getting sick on the carpet. The nasty flu virus had claimed it's second victim. At least this time we knew what it was and still had some of the medication that we gave Zaren. We were supposed to go hiking up a local mountain and the first point in Australia that is touched by the Sun everyday. However, due to Cyrus' illness we changed our plans and Mike toured us around the area, including a beautiful rainforest that leads to a volcanic cliff. The area was gorgeous and a really good experience for all of us (except Cyrus who was sleeping the entire day back in our room).
Zaren, Keva, (the other) Mike and Nadia.
Saturday, April 14
The next day Cyrus was feeling a little better but still quite sick. Unfortunately, we couldn't let him sleep the whole day in the room again as we had to check-out. Mike took us down to the local river to try our hand at paddle boarding. That's where you stand up on a board similar to a surf board and you have a paddle to maneuvre around. We boarded down the river for about an hour and saw plenty of birds, fish and mangroves. It was a really peaceful experience, especially for Cyrus who slept in the rental van the entire time.
Rolling on the river: Zaren left, me right.
After the river tour Mike took us to Coolangatta. It is a little like Surfers Paradise but much more low key and not quite as abused. Coolangatta is on the New South Wales side of the harbour and is touristy but not quite a trap. We had lunch overlooking the beach, said our goodbyes to Mike and then went for a swim while Cyrus napped in the shade.
A view from the beach at Coolangatta. In the background you can see the skyline of Surfers Paradise. All of the buildings you can see are hotels and resorts.
All in all, we had a good trip. We basically had two issues the entire trip neither of which we had any control over:
1) Zaren and Cyrus getting ill. Zaren essentially missed most of the first half of the trip and Cyrus missed most of the second. Zaren is essentially 100% now while Cyrus is on the mend and over the worst.
2) The weather. For the most part the weather was good, however, it was a little cool for the first few days. The temperature was in the 23-25C range and it was often a little windy. We even got rained on a couple times but nothing too bad. All this meant was that we couldn't use the pools or beaches as much as we would have liked and we had to dress a little bit warmer.
The entire time we were away I was curious to see how we'd feel coming back to Perth. Often the best part of a vacation is coming home. It's like a huge sigh of relief to come back to the familiar. So, when we did arrive I experienced mixed feelings. On the one hand it is a relief to come back to the somewhat familiar but on the other hand the familiar is still not that familiar. Basically, it feels like we've been on an extended working vacation for the last 5 months. I've heard several ex-pats say that it takes about 6 months to adjust and get comfortable here. We are closing in on that 6 month milestone and as of today I still feel like this is not home. But I also can feeling us inching closer and closer to a sense of comfort here. This trip certainly demonstrated that we are getting more comfortable in Perth. Keva summarized it on the flight to Perth last night: "we're going home-ish".
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