Ouuuuuuch! You would think I have never handled paper before...I just got my twentieth paper cut! Since I started my desk job, I have been surrounded by paper. Single paper, stacks of paper, pamphlets, brochures, big envelopes, small envelopes. I've been doing alot of paper handling and I tell ya what...these little things hurt! Last week, a woman called up and wanted to thank the lady who sent her the Christmas cards that we offer at the Stroke Foundation (so people can send them out). She wanted to see what they looked like, but she didn't end up wanting them. She said, "Look, (everyone says 'look' here when they start a sentence), Look, they are really pretty with the white snow everywhere and everything, but I would like to send out cards that look like Christmas here in Australia." A flash of dry and barren outback with a Christmas tree crossed my mind. Isn't it funny that even in a place that celebrates Christmas in the hotness of Summer and has only one or two places on the whole continent that may see snow (Southern Alps), they still associate the holiday with everything covered in white snow.
Well, speaking of snow, we didn't get any here in Melbourne, but we might as well have. This is the city of "Four seasons in a day" and they aren't kidding. It's cold and windy, then hot, then raining, then hot, then cold in a matter of a few hours. We have started to get some really nice Spring days, but by no means consistently. So Jaime and I were looking very forward to our first trip to Queensland! We decided to start our exploring with the Gold Coast which begins at the border of New South Wales and Queensland and heads North to Brisbane through many small little surf towns. We stayed in a beautiful little apartment in Coolangatta, southernmost town of Gold Coast and just over the border of Tweeds Head NSW. It was awesome. We had a great balcony with a beautiful view of the Pacific and the high-rises of Surfer's Paradise in the far distance across the water. It felt so great to breathe the warm, salty air. We had plenty of cute shops and places to eat within walking distance and driving up the coast was a straight shot taking you through all the little towns each one just minutes after the other. They all have their own beach and Surf Lifesaving Club named after their town. These clubs are local hangouts for members and anyone with food, drinks, events, and pokies (slots), to raise funds to support the lifesaving programs that employs the much needed lifeguards and specialty training for new lifeguards. As you may remember in my scary Australian animal blog, this is a highly respected and intense job, not only for saving people from the ocean predators but also frequent victims of the rip-tide. So, J and I tried to stop into as many as we could just to check them out and help the cause. :) The beaches were quiet and relaxing all the way up to Surfer's Paradise, which all of a sudden looks like a small Miami. Lots of high-rise hotels, shopping strips, and activity all around. During university holiday, this place apparently becomes similar to Daytona Beach at night. We grabbed a bite to eat at Pancakes in Paradise (?) and headed back to our beautiful, non-high-rise beach in "Coolie".
The next morning we drove south about 45 minutes to Byron Bay in NSW. This came highly recommended by all of our friends who have been to Australia. And it was awesome. We were told it used to be populated by hippies and while it still has this overwhelming hippie vibe, apparently it is becoming more "yuppie". In any case, the beaches were beautiful and we got a little sun, walked around and grabbed a beer with the locals at the open-air beach bar. We checked out The Pass (high surfing area) and Surfer's Lookout, and then climbed our way up stairs the length of 4 football fields (Jaime's estimate to get me to go) and took our picture at the "Most Easternly Point of Australia". There we were. Two little people at the eastern tip of a huge continent looking out into nothing but vast blue ocean. If we were in a movie, this would be the end where they would pull back and we would get smaller and smaller while the ocean and world around us became bigger and bigger. That's what it felt like. But here the adventure continues...
The next morning we woke up at 5:00 am Queensland time and drove 6 minutes down the road, where it miraculously became 6:00 am just over the border of NSW. QLD decided that they don't do DST. And we boarded our fishing boat for our half day at sea. I was very excited for our deep-sea fishing excursion, however, it was cold and windy and so incredibly rocky, that I was a little seasick and over the whole thing after fishing for an hour. I kept eating so that my stomach always had something to gnaw on and if I was sitting and holding my rod then I was fine. So I remained functional, but Jaime still baited all my hooks. :) The other lady on the boat kept going to the bathroom to quietly throw up and one of the younger boys couldn't eat bc his stomach was upset, but he remained functional too. Anyway, I caught a little blue mackarel at our first stopping point, which I was super excited about. They called it a "slimy" and instead of it being a prize, and my dinner, it went into the live bait box. However, it did tempt the best catch of the day! My mighty fisherman husband caught a HUGE King fish! This fish was a runner and Jaime expertly wore him out and reeled him in. It was awesome! Once on the boat, after the initial awe, I was switching from video camera to regular camera and as I came out from the hold I made it just in time to see the captain whack the fish with a bat. I was already woozy and I almost fainted.
I guess you can't have a gigantic fish flopping around a boat. Jaime comforted me with physiological "fish don't feel pain" education. Anyway, Jaime's fish was the prize and at the end of the trip everyone took home a 1/4 of the fish. We invited one of Jaime's friends from high school (randomly currently living on the Gold Coast) and we had a fish feast. It was delicious and literally from the ocean to my plate!
We took a late flight out on Monday and had a wonderful day. I read in the sun with my new little beach hat. Jaime rented a board and caught a few waves for his first surfing day in Australia. We toured around and went to the wildlife sanctuary where we finally got up close and personal with some of the "Australian Icons." We saw so many koalas! They were super cute eating, climbing around or just sitting on random branches of the tree, what should have been awkwardly, but was quite comfy for them. We watched them for quite awhile, they look exactly like the stuffed animals. So if you have seen a stuffed animal koala, just imagine its alive, because they really do look exactly the same. Except for one, that as we walked away, I told Jaime "That one looks like Yoda."
We also got to see a Tasmanian devil, which btw, does not look anything like the cartoon character. They are actually a little bit cute, like small, black dogs. The bad news is though, that these little devils are endangered and are being killed off by a terrible plague, Tasmanian Devil facial tumor, that is spreading rapidly through the population. It began somehow due to pesticides on the vegetation they have been eating and it is just terrible. They are trying to contain as many as possible in order to protect them from the disease and keep the population alive. We then saw a Huge saltwater crocodile but we didn't spend much time there, but I didn't feel bad for not liking them because there was a girl trying to take a picture with a huge smile on her face, saying "look over here, look this way, c'mon." You would think she was looking at and calling to a furry little kitten and not a monstrous man-eating reptile. So, we left the crocodile canoodling to her and moved on to something a little more cuddly. Finally some quality time with the Roos! Once Jaime realized he was allowed to go in the kangaroo hang-out he was gone. There were kangaroos and wallabys hopping around and lying in the sun. I must admit we were a little timid at first. Random children were just running up to them and petting them and feeding them but it took us a little while to get close. A RN from Jaime's hospital told us that in the wild kangaroos defend themselves by leaning back on their tail and using their claws to rip up their attacker. But I figured these guys were declawed. The rules sign said to be sure to crouch down to their level when feeding them, so I would do one of those sit down and inch closer and closer. We were being ridiculous and once we settled in, we were feeding and enjoying our kangaroo friends. Some even had a little joey in their pouch and you would see a head or foot peek out every now and then. It was fun to be up-close and I am sure this is the first kangaroo meeting of many.
We didn't want to leave the beach, but it was a great trip and we still have plenty more of the Queensland coast to explore.
Arrived home sun-kissed and rejuvenated, we did.
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