We have now been home from Australia for over 2 weeks and I still haven't gotten ANY pictures posted, but we did just move from our link house to the condo. The camera said there were over 500 pictures taken, so I promise to follow up with some shots soon, plus pics of our condo and resort-like facilities.
Australia was wonderful. It was a much needed break from KL, and it is now really difficult to be back. We flew in to the Gold Coast airport and were picked up by Ted (married to mom's cousin, aussie, used to live in Canada when I was about 3) and taken to his and Penny's beach house on Stradbroke Island. The kids travelled really well, but Hayden was ready to be done by the time we got to our island accomodations. Being winter in Australia, the beaches are essentially deserted for the cold temps (air during the day 24 C and water 19 - 22 C). The beach house was great. Penny and Ted stayed the night, but headed back to the mainland to work the following afternoon. We enjoyed just hanging out, playing on the beach and walking the gorge trail where we saw whales, dolphins, sharks, and turtles ~ pretty cool. There was also a fabulous gelati shop on the island which partly accounts for the 5 lbs I put on! We had Ted's Land Cruiser, so we were free to drive around, sight see and such. After a few relaxing days, we headed back to the mainland and to Redland Bay where Penny and Ted live, waterfront.
The kids absolutely loved "uncle Ted", Penny and "The Man" (as Hayden dubed their 20 + son, Jesse). Ted taught Hayden the great phrase "yum, yum pig's bum" which his sister delights in encouraging him to use daily! We spent our time around Redland Bay/Brisbane, just hanging out and making sure we didn't miss "wine o'clock".
At the beginning of the week, we decided to splurge and headed up to Heron Island. It's a 32 acre coral cay (wiki it) on the Great Barrier Reef. It took 2 hrs and a little "greeness" on the fairy to get there. Hayden was the only one who got a little sick and I'm the only one who felt ok the whole ride. The island resort was at about 20% occupancy of it's 200 rooms, so it was dead silent. Again, we just hung out as there was no t.v., internet, phone reception...nothing. Steve went diving, I took in the spa, kids played in the sand. We saw sharks, manta rays and turtles just walking along the beach. It was a total splurge and we were glad it was about our only major expense on our holiday thanks to Penny and Ted's hospitality. On the way up to Heron Island, we took in Australia Zoo (kid's loved all Steve Irwin's crocs) and on the way back we went to underwater world...which the kids loved as well.
A couple more days at Penny and Ted's, then it was time to head back to the Gold Coast :(...time to go home. I was never so sad for a holiday to end. We loved the cool temperatures, fresh air and, above all, the civilized driving. We are planning to head to Australia again within the next year. I can hardly wait. Pictures coming soon!
XO K
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