Ye'r

Day 4 in Auz so far. Day 4 in a land where 17 degrees celcius in Winter and considered freezing. Silly Australians.

The flight over from Canada was... well, brutal. In total I spent between 21-22 hours on planes. Hour from London to TO, 5 from TO to Vancouver. Off the plane for a half hour and then back onto the SAME plane for another 15 hours to Auz and then another hour from Sydney to Gold Coast. Ugh. The worst was the 15 hours. Not just the length, but the length PLUS the fact that it was night and I dont sleep well on planes PLUS I dont do well sitting for long periods of time PLUS the people sitting beside me where sleeping so I could be noisy, talk to them, move too much... etc. If there is a way to torture me, stick me in a dark place for hours on end and restrict all social interactions and movement on my part. It'd make me crack in a second (well, a few hours maybe :P). The hour from Sydney to Gold Coast was decent, at least I had my family to talk to, but by then I was planed out and just wanted to get off.

Gold Coast is gorgeous, but super touristy. It made me think more of Miami than of what I think of as Australia. The beach was AMAZING however. Very few people were at the beach because it is "winter" and the water is too cold. You know, like it takes a second for you to get used to them. As opposed to summer where, apparently, you jump in and its perfect. Silly Aussies. However most of our time there was spent exploring the city and shopping.We were very lucky however in that it was warm and sunny the entire time there.

Dad after Marathon. Don't worry, he's FIIIIINE :P
Left to Right - Me, Dad, Jen (sister)

Sunday morning however was Dad's marathon. 42.2Km (or 26.2miles for you Americans out there :P). He finished it, altho not as fast as he wanted. It wasn't a bad day for a marathon, altho slightly... warm. But it was overcast for most of it so that helped. I was proud because while he was running, I also ran further than I've ever run before (4k) and since I'm training myself it was a good day. But I SUPPOSE dads accomplishment is something that earns slightly more bragging rights. A little.

Our hotel - or "Holiday Apartment" was pretty schanzy. 2 bedrooms, second bedroom with twin beds so Jen and I didnt have to share. It had a kitchen, 3 washrooms (one on-suite, one "bath"room and one... toilet room? lol). The view was just GORGEOUS, we were on the 16th floor and looking out towards the beach. Couldn't have asked for better :)

Jen, Mom and I also wore the shirts I designed for Dad for Father's Day (which was one of my "secret projects" for those of you following along at home). We wore them for him to see once he crossed the finish line, kind of like his cheer squad. I'm pretty proud of how they turned out, I have to say.

Sunday night was also fun because my sister and I decided to go down and enjoy the hot tube at the pool in the hotel (*ahem* Holiday Apartment). Which ended up being fun because a few no-too-shabby-looking Aussie boys had also decided to use the hot tub and we ended up chatting. When the hot tub closed down (it was pretty late at night) they invited us for drinks, but we had to get up early the next morning to catch a plane and still hadnt pack, so we declined. Still, as my sister said, its fun to be in your 20's and be able to enjoy chatting, being hit on by and flirting with hot boys. More fun for me I think as I'm single - Jen can look, but damnit I can choose to enjoy if I so please :P.

This morning we had to catch a plane at 9:30 to Cairns and then a bus up to Port Douglas, where we are staying now. The driver from our Gold Coast hotel to the airport was super friendly and chatty and even took us on a short detour to show us the "best view in Australia". It was a pretty veiw, altho not my favourite. Not so much of a "city scape" view, prefer nature. But I could see why he took us there for teh view.

 

 

 

Veiw of Surfer Paradise, Gold Coast

"Misty Mountains" (as I called them) - Road to Port Douglas

The plane ride was uneventful, but the ride to Port Douglas was fun. It was about an hour, hour and a half through super twisty roads, along the sides of "mountains" (big hills) and along the ocean. The veiw was gorgeous the whole time, much more wild and "real" than I found Gold Coast. I can't wait to start PROPERLY exploring everything, because there is so much wilderness to explore.

Since we got here, we've just been exploring the town. It's VERY much a resort town, the street we are on is purley different resorts. There is only really one actually shopping street in town, but its long and full of little beach shops and tourist traps. Slightly disapointing, but its still gorgeous here, by the beach but surrounded by tropicalness and close to the rainforests. Other than the beach, hopefully we wont be spending too much time in town anyway. And even if we do, I doubt I'll be disapointed. The only way I'll be disapointed here is if I dont manage to make it too the Great Barrier Reef, which is my one and only item on my Aussie Bucket List that I will actually be greatly disapointed if I dont achieve (well that, and maybe hugging a Koala).

We are staying a week here in Port Dougy. So I'm sure I'll have much MUCH more excitingness to tell you about in the coming week. It all very new and exciting and I've barely even started. :D Hope you're having as awesome a time as I am Internets, G'Day to yer Mates! :P