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Published: January 26th 2008
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The short hop down to the Gold Coast was a breeze, well there seemed to be a breeze behind us anyway which contained some of that wet stuff that falls from the sky. However when we arrived and finaly found Simons (Lisas cousin) restaurant, the weather was beautiful and simons place is right on the beach road. The beach (Surfers paradise) wasn't as busy as we had expected but aparently the surf wasn't very good that day and people will have been out xmas shopping but the beach was nice none the less. Once we had been refuelled with a coffee and a bite to eat from (aunty) Jane at the restaurant it was time to ditch the hire car. It was actually due back in Brisbane the next day but would have been a pain to drive the hour and train it back so i put on my best smile and managed to blag the car back to the local depot. They weren't too happy but guess what....i was. The car ditched Jane took us back to her house where we would make our home for the Xmas period, good old bricks and mortar.
(Uncle) Chris was there to
greet us with a beer and an invite into the pool which was excepted with open arms, even though it started to cloud over a bit it was great to have use of a pool anytime of the day......without any screaming kids! We settled in nicely and was realy homely and i was made up that Jane is a big xmas fan too so there were lots of lights and a tree, i requested snow but the best they could do in the end was a Cyclone!!! Yes the day we arrived we brought with us news that a Cyclone was on the way to batter the east coast and generally keep everyone out of the water and beaches closed. However we did have a few days before this was going to hit.
The next morning we were treated to breakfast at Simons other venture, his cafe in one of the local markets which was heaving despite the rain. So, the Christmas eating had started and wouldn't stop until the day we left as there was sooo much ham and turkey etc. it would be rude to refuse. We then headed around the market dodging the rain and then
headed to Simons restaurant for a spot of lunch listening to some live jazz before heading for a walk along the sea front, which as there was a cyclone on its way was a rather bracing walk.
The next day (cousin) Sasha arrived with her fiance Stephan, from Melbourne and they quickly got to work on food preparation as they were in charge of this years Christmas dinner whilst we all generally lazed about drinking wine and contemplating going for a swim. So the big day arrived and we were glad to see that Santa hadn't forgotten us and had left us a stocking full of gifts which basically consisted of any Australian souvenir you could think of which was cool, especially my cork hat! We then all headed over to Simons for a champagne breakfast along with Ali's (simons missus) parents. Then it was time for our surf lesson from Simon which basically involved us getting smashed by waves all afternoon but we did manage to catch a few waves on our surfboards unfortunately not standing up but non the less not bad for our first go. Then it was back to Janes where Sasha and Stefan had
cooked up a feast for dinner which was enjoyed by all, especially me as i also got to wear my hat from my cracker, yey!
The day after boxing day we went on a rainforest and 4x4 trip which had been our wedding gift from the oz family. The first stop was at a park to have a go with a boomarang (which i caught), then onto a rainforest walk down to a waterfall and our guide explained all about the local wildlife etc, then we stopped at nearby Gallery Walk and had the biggest and best cream tea and did abit of wine tasting (including some very yummy chocolate port). Then we headed over to O'Reilys via some off road bits when we tried to spot a koala (but without any luck) then it was time to eat again, lunch was a really nice bbq at a local park. Then it was time to have a go at using a whip which was alot of fun- and a little bit painful at times when you misjudged and got your back! Back in the 4x4 and next stop was O'Reilys park where we went on another rainforest walk
and fed all the parrots. Last stop was a field! Couldn't work out at first why we were here then we opened the door and heard the horendous nose coming from the trees surrounding the field and saw hundreds of bats. Great trip so thankyou very much!
Whilst we were there it was Ali's (simons wife) birthday so we all headed round to her parents house for a slap up meal of my new found favorite meat, corned beef (not the tinned type) and more wine! Dispite the weather we had a great time over Christmas and i'm sure there has got to be more surf somewhere in Oz?
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