Back From The Gold Coast

It actually hit 40º in Maroochydore around lunch time last Sunday!  That is extremely unusual for this part of the world.  Soon after that, the sea-breeze arrived dropping the temperature to the mid 30's.  Needless to say the pool was a popular spot that afternoon!

On Monday we headed to the Gold Coast for three nights.  Trish got an 'online deal' 3 nights for $200.  This was a great price when you consider the hotel was 4 1/2 star and within 10 minutes leisurely walk of the main Surfer's Paradise entertainment strip.

The suburb of Sunnybank and its Asian food was on the way to the Gold Coast and luckily we arrived there around lunchtime.  By 1:30 we had eaten our fill and were at our 4 1/2 star hotel.

Despite booking 'cheaper' priced accommodation we were on the 11th floor with a peak of a view at the ocean.  The room was fine for what we wanted.  Needless to say anything 'extra' we wanted (eg WiFi) was available at a charge.

Friends Ian and Kerrie were staying on the Gold Coast at the same time so we caught up with them most afternoons for a chat, drinks and meals.

We visited Broadbeach, just south of Surfer's, on day two for a look around.  We took it easy, had some fun and ate out regularly with our friends.  The weather was OK and as expected, warm and humid for this time of year!

A new feature of the Gold Coast is the light rail system.  Coming from Melbourne where there are trams, we are used to this form of public transport.  The light rail system is fantastic for getting around.  As the photo shows we had a light rail station right outside our hotel.

Click on all photos for a larger view.

We arrived back at home on the Sunshine Coast mid afternoon on Thursday via Costco.  We saw that at home there was 30mls in the rain gauge so the garden had a good watering while we were away!

We collected mail and set the house up again, moved the Waeco out under the pergola, gave the pool a vacuum, brought in the rubbish bin and unpacked our clothes from our short trip away.  The pool needed a good clean because after such a long time without rain, there was a buildup of dust from the pool surrounds and the house roof and quite a bit of this finishes up in the pool.  The 'harvesting' of rain water via a house downpipe to the pool sees some of the roof dust end up in the water! 

Some items I had bought online had been delivered while we were out of town.  My two pairs of 3D glasses (which usually cost around $50 each on special) had been delivered.  It was obviously a sell out of them and I bought them for $2 each plus postage.  They work great and are rechargeable!

The 8 high quality Eneloop rechargeable AA Batteries I bought at half price were there as well.

It didn't take long to get back into the swing of things again.  I did my bike ride Friday morning, the first for around a week.  I caught up with TV show acquisition and sorted that all out.  During Friday afternoon there was cricket on TV so that was a good spot for me too.

Despite the cricket on TV I still jumped in the pool for 30 minutes Friday afternoon. Summer is almost upon us and the days are really warming up.  Most days it is around 30 degrees or so, the pool hardly gets below 26º either.  Most afternoons the water temp is nudging 30º if there has been any sun at all.

Then at 1pm yesterday (Friday) Skype went off on my PC.  It was Charli in Saudi Arabia wanting to show us the presents she had received for her 9th birthday.  So it was a pleasant chat online and we enjoyed catching up with the latest news.

I have Computer Club this morning followed by a Community Association Final brief meeting and Christmas Celebrations later this afternoon.  It all should be good!