Gold Coast Day 6

Some hi-powered conference going on down on the beach.

Today is another beautiful day. Despite the fact that the Pacific Ocean is cold, the kids have been antsy to go to the beach. Although the temp is only about 23 today, the sun is nice and warm – which is good because the water reminds us of a northern Ontario lake. There are a few other crazy people (likely from some Scandinavian country or Canada) who are swimming. The kids manage to body surf and boogie board for an hour. By the time they got out their feet were numb. Jeff and I did our parental duty and kept a close eye on them from the beach. We also noted that the lifeguard was ‘guarding between the flags’ from the safe and warm confines of his truck (it is winter down here).

We had ‘the best fish and chips’ for lunch…..actually, whenever we eat fish and chips they are always ‘the best’. Whether the restaurant was voted the best fish and chips by some obscure reader magazine or newspaper vote done back in 1998, at some point it was ‘the best’. I do have to say that all the fish and chips we’ve had (anywhere in our travels here) have been really good…..must be that British influence. We check out a few shops and the boys buy some t-shirts. We had to send Jeff back to get the car because our time was running out and I did not want a repeat parking offence. The kids have realized that ‘next week at this time’ they will be back at school. Ahh, yes. But next week they will be able to say “last week at this time I was in Australia”. None of us have picked up any type of accent. The hosts on the radio station we have been listening to have extremely strong Aussie accents. So much so, that often we’re asking each other “What did they say? What was that?” Two of the hosts on that station are actually broadcasting from New York. They moved to the States for a year and they are crazy. They also have a t.v. show that highlights all their adventures; it’s called “Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year”. It is pretty darn hiliarious – likely it’s on Youtube somewhere…at least I hope it is because we’ll try and watch it when we’re back home.

Likely this is the last post we’ll be able to do as we are getting ready to leave this amazing country. This is probably the most time we’ve spent together alone (does that make sense?!) since…..well, we’ve probably never spent this much time as a single family unit without any other people around. This last week has been the true test, as without internet we have been basically cut off from everyone. So far all the kids are still accounted for. At first it was strange to not have a phone or BB permanently attached to someone’s hand but I have to say I liked it!!! None of us have felt any phantom BB or txt msg vibrations the whole trip. The kids made it through with some old fashioned things like books and card games. We did have a t.v. in every unit so we didn’t lack for entertainment, although you can imagine the fun and excitement when everyone had to settle on ONE show to watch…The Seventies Show was pretty much the winner, luckily they were showing 2 reruns/night. The news station kept us up with all the strange things happening on the other side of the world, like earthquakes and hurricanes. We really have enjoyed our time here, it did not feel foreign at all. We drank the water, had no problem with any of the food, enjoyed the summery winter weather, grew accustomed to driving on the opposite side of the road, paying $3 for a can of Coke and $4 for a coffee, watching rugby (though still haven’t figured out the rules) and hearing the Aussie accent. We will miss it all.