The surfers - or actually two surfers and two wannabe surfers! Scott, Stef, Lachie, and Marianna at the Gold Coast.

Scott and Stef "cuddling" a Koala at Currumbin. Incredibly soft fur! They keep track of every minute, ensuring that each koala is never held for more than 30 minutes per day.

Scott feeding the lorikeets.

Stef feeding the lorikeets at Currumbin.

Lachie imitating the lazy kangaroo.

A crocodile keeping an eye on a small lizard on the rock.

Our first picture together with an Aboriginal Dance Troop! Surely the first of many. The instrument on the ground is the didjeridoo, which was played magnificently by the guy next to Scott.

Aboriginal dancers demonstrating the fire dance - very interesting to watch. The man spun that stick incredibly fast while the woman continually blew on the parchment.

Close up of a grey kangaroo. You can see a kangaroo eating out of Stef's hand in the background.

Feeding the kangaroos at Currumbin Animal Sanctuary
Gold Coast, Queensland Australia

Day 25 recap (Sat Mar 5)

[Stef] Today we got up at 5AM to get on our flight to Brisbane, and arrived in Brisbane about 9AM. We were really looking forward to this trip because we would be staying with my Australian friend Lachie and his girlfriend, Marianna. Lachie and I were Rotary exchange students together in France, and have kept in touch off and on over the years. I would say it has been a good 4 years though since I last heard from him. When Scott and I were planning the trip, I made sure to write Lachie to see where he was and what he was up to in case we were in the same city. Considering the area we are covering, we had a good chance. Since he lives in Brisbane and that’s our place of departure for Heron Island, we made sure to set a day to spend together.

We got to Brisbane and picked up our rental car. It’s a Hyundai Accent. We were supposed to get a tiny rental car, but they upgraded us for free. It’s nice to have a little more room. We then followed the directions that Lachie emailed to us. He was going to be down on the Gold Coast for the weekend at Marianna’s parents’ vacation condo. They were going to show us around Brisbane, but teaching us to surf on the Gold Coast seemed much more exciting!

It took about an hour to get there. The condo was really nice – two bedroom, two bathroom and a huge living/dining room. The entire wall was sliding glass doors that looked out onto the ocean and the beach across the street. We couldn’t have gotten a better view if we tried! After we caught up a bit we set out to learn to surf. Lachie gave us a brief instructional lesson and then Marianna and I, and Scott and Lachie set out to work on our technique in the water. They would tell us when to go and give us a good push so that we would have a better chance of getting up. We were able to pop up on land but doing it on the board in water was much, much harder. Scott said he would get up on it but his legs wouldn’t be shoulder-width apart and he would fall backwards. I would get up and try and move a little and it would be the end of my wave. It’s a lot of timing and concentration. They were great teachers because we both got up a few times and rode a wave in! They said that’s hard to do on the first lesson – we don’t know how true that is, but we are going to believe them for the sake of our self-esteem! It was so fun to do and I can see why people love it here! Now when we see surfers on TV we will have a much greater respect for what they do!

After surfing, we went back to the apartment and had lunch. We had big toasted rolls, sliced avocados, cheese, pesto spread, butter, fresh prawns (shrimp) and a little lemon for flavor - a great oceanside meal. It was delicious and all the surfing worked up our appetites!

Following lunch we went to the Currumbin Animal Sanctuary. It was really fun because, although it was like a Zoo, it had all sorts of Australia-Only animals. We got to pet and feed Kangaroos, hold a Koala, and feed some lorikeets (parrots). We got into the park, and with the guidance of Marianna’s mom, we took the train to the kangaroo feeding. There are 2 types of ‘Roos… red and grey. They were so soft to the touch and really gentle. I think they would make a great pet – but I guess Scott didn’t want to try and explain something like that to customs. There was a really, really BIG crocodile as well that we enjoyed from a distance! It was a fun thing to do! The birds were especially interesting because they come in at the end of the day at the same time for the feeding. They aren’t caged or anything, they just fly freely through the sanctuary and the Gold Coast. There were hundreds of them circling around and landing on heads, arms and food trays. I think I fed six or seven at a time! One landed on Lachie’s head and another almost clipped Scott’s ear off on his way by! A few times they all would take off and circle the sky all together. The branches would be empty and food trays abandoned as if they were never there. The sky would fill with the parrots and they would fly completely in unison and put on a show. Then swoop back in and devour all the food waiting for them, filling the trees once again! So amazing to see! They come from all over the Gold Coast region for this specific meal everyday from 4-5pm. We also went to see a traditional Aborigine dance. There were two dancers, one singer and commentator and one man playing the didjeridoo (A long wooden Aboriginal instrument that makes a deep droning sound). They explained why they would do certain dances and while the man played and the other sang, the dancers would demonstrate the dance. They did about 10 difference dances and it was really interesting to see how graceful and unique the dances were. Afterward, Scott and I went to get our picture taken with the troop. Unfortunately, my eyes were closed in the picture which gives us even more of a good laugh when we look at the picture.

We left the sanctuary and walked along the beach before stopping at a surf club for a few drinks. It was great to chat and get to know them and find out more about their lives. Lachie and Marianna recently got back from a round-the-world trip. They are so intelligent and well traveled; it is amazing to hear about their experiences – especially since they are both only in their mid-twenties!

We went home after that to have dinner with Marianna’s parents. They had cooked a Middle Eastern couscous dish that was to die for! Her parents, Bruce and Fran, are really interesting as well. According to Lachie, they are the most well-traveled people you will ever meet. If Lachie thinks they are well-traveled, they must be! They told us that when they were in their early 20’s they hitchhiked from Europe to Australia! Yes, across continents! Another fascinating story they told us was about how much they loved Afghanistan and its people. This was a number of years ago, but it was really great to hear positive things, since the news really paints a different picture. Bruce is a retired pathologist and Fran collaborates on children’s books with him. They are some of the warmest, most open people I have ever met in my travels, and we were really lucky to have been able to spend a night there.

After dinner Lachie, Marianna, Scott and I went down to sit in the hot tub and have a swim in the pool. It was a great way to end the night. After showering, we both just passed out! It was an excellent day and we were so thrilled with our day - they are ordinary people living extraordinary lives. There is so much to learn from the people around you, and they were an outstanding example and reminder of that! Many thanks to Bruce, Fran, Lachie and Marianna for one of the most memorable days of our vacation!

Scott taking a hiking break, enjoying the views from the coast of Wilson's Promontory.

Stef walking on the beautiful white sandy beach - the destination of our hike.

Stef hiking in Wilson's Promontory.

This snake slithered out right in front of us on the hiking trail.

Stef at Squeaky Beach in Wilson's Promontory

Day 24 recap (Fri Mar 4)

[Scott] We woke up this morning to rain in Foster. We got our stuff together quickly and hit the road. We stopped at a bakery in Foster for a quick breakfast. We got going toward Wilson’s Prom about 9:45, and encountered some downpours on the drive. Wilson’s Prom is the southern most point of Australia, and back in the day there was a land bridge connecting it to Tasmania. Wilson’s Prom is like a large peninsula jutting out into the ocean so it has an island feel to it – lush vegetation and an abundance of wildlife – much of it unique to the area. It is mountainous and very scenic. The rain cleared and we stopped at Squeaky Beach. As you walk through the sand you hear a very loud “squeak squeak”. Sounds silly, but it was pretty interesting. One of the signs said it does that because on this particular beach all of the sand particles are the same shape and behave like marbles rubbing against each other. So we walked around for a little while there and enjoyed the peacefulness of the spot…until a mob of about 40 school kids came running down onto the beach screaming their heads off. That was our cue to head on.

We stopped at the visitor’s center and talked to the ranger about which hike we should do. She thought hiking to the summit of their highest peak would be rather pointless today since the area was pretty socked in with clouds. She said the views from up there were spectacular on a clear day, but today wasn’t our lucky day so we instead decided on a hike along the coastline. It turned out to be a really nice hike. It was cloudy the whole time, but it didn’t rain and the temperature was around 70 so really it was a perfect day for hiking. The trail followed the coastline pretty closely and the views were nice. The wildlife highlight of the hike was when a snake slithered across the trail right in front of us. Right after we saw the snake, Stef thought it would be funny to tell me that there was a snake hanging from a tree right behind me. I thought she was pulling my leg but I couldn’t shake the thought and did take a leap forward and turned around. She couldn’t stop laughing. Okay very funny. So we continued hiking and I let a few painfully long minutes go by before I seized my opportunity for revenge. I mustered up my best hissing sound and sounded it out nice and loud. Stef jumped like her feet were on fire and landed awkwardly on the side of a rock and yelped out in pain. She had sprained her knee (which had been hurting for a few days already) and now instead of feeling like I got the last laugh, I felt really bad (or at least I couldn’t laugh out loud). You know what they say about paybacks! And don’t worry – I think her knee is fine now – she just kicked me with the same leg. We ate our lunch on the beach at Oberon Bay, and after eating we turned around and headed back to the car. I think the roundtrip distance for the hike was about 5 miles.

After the hike, before leaving Wilson’s Prom, we drove down a dirt road a few miles. We were told that this was one of the best chances at seeing some wildlife. We saw our first emu (like an ostrich), actually two of them together. We also saw a kangaroo or two along the side of the road lounging in the field. We get excited anytime we see any of these animals in their natural environment – kind of our own mini safari. I’m sure they’re not as excited to us, although maybe they get a good laugh. We were hoping to see a lot more, after being spoiled with our koala safari the other day. We left the park around 4pm and got on the road back toward Melbourne. We stopped for a quick bite at a KFC on the road – good ol’ American fast food available all over the world! We could tell right away it was the same recipe as we felt our arteries clog and our hearts started beating irregularly. On a similar note, one interesting discovery we’ve made is that Pepsi in Australia is definitely not the same recipe. Both of us prefer Pepsi over Coke…but not here. Coke tastes like Coke. Pepsi tastes like dirt. I think we gave up on Pepsi after three tries. We just think that’s weird and we wonder why.

We found a Comfort Inn to stay at right near the airport, so it would make it easier catching our early morning flight tomorrow. Finding the hotel was actually a little challenging since they are hosting the Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend and very few hotels have vacancies. I dropped off the rental car tonight so we don’t have to deal with that tomorrow. By pure coincidence, our hotel happened to be right next to the building with the large Airport Parking sign on it, which I recognized immediately as Red Spot Rentals. That was nice not having to worry about getting a shuttle back to the hotel or anything after dropping off the car. The under carriage of the car did have a run-in with an already road-killed kangaroo the other day, sorry but it happens, so I was just hoping the guy didn’t look under the car. Kangaroos are a serious problem on the roads here, and we saw evidence of that many times here in Victoria. The rental guy did come back with a concerned look on his face, and I thought “oh no”, but he just asked if we had a flat because apparently one of the tires was a different brand or something. Not sure what that was about, but he said it was no trouble. We were up late doing laundry, which has become a tradition for us before early morning flights. Our logic is always that it will be nice to start off at our next place with everything clean, but we always get to the hotel too late…and it almost always takes two dryer cycles. Hopefully we’ll remember this next time we travel.