Brisbane Airlie Beach Toowoomba

March 2003: A month in Australia!! For our first trip to the land down under in three years, Yves and I went to stay with my family on the Gold Coast.

Mum and Nanny built their new house after I left oz, so this was the first time that Yves and I had seen it. Nan lives upstairs, and mum's on the ground floor. We slept in Nan's spare bedroom upstairs.

Yves saw Pelicans for the first time ever. They hang out in their dozens on a beach outside a fish shop where they get fed leftovers everyday.

 

A pelican cruises happily along in the water, enjoying the morning sunshine. Pelicans make a bit of a clumsy take off from the water, yet when they glide like this, they're as graceful as a swan.

 

Pelicans on top of the public lighting. A word of warning; never ever park/stand under the lights because apparently the pelicans like to perch on them and when they need to go to the toilet, they just go which means that literally a bucket load of shit gets tipped onto you or your car.

This water way comes from the sea and is called The Spit. It flows through into the canals from the seaway. To the left of the tall blue glass building is the Gold Coast's oldest private school, The Southport School (T.S.S.), it was built in 1901 and with it's water frontage and central location, it is now the most expensive piece of real-estate on the Gold Coast.

Warm tropical sunshine, fresh seafood and exotic fruit platters, laid back days on the long white sandy beaches watching the dazzling blue ocean surge in waves that keep on rolling in.

Surfers Paradise is the heart of recreational activities on the Gold Coast. Most things in Australia are done around the water or on it. The beach here is great for surfing (hence the name of the area).

The Gold Coast beach stretches for 52km, and it's busiest at Surfers Paradise, right across the road from Cavill Mall where there is a tourist radio playing over the loud speakers, beach volleyball, surfboard hire.

Cavill Mall is a pedestrian street full of shops, outdoor restaurants and cafes. Most days and evenings in the Mall you can find street performers or live bands. By day it is a lazy and relaxing, typically sunny street. But in contrast, at night, Cavill Mall is a hive of activity.

Just down the road is Orchid Avenue, which is crammed with nightclubs. Club hopping is very popular and the streets are packed with clubbers. The Mall's many restaurants (and McDonald's) are open 24hours.

The clubs are open until around 4am-5am. After a night out on the town, people tend to wander up the Mall, get some breakfast and head across the road to the beach, where the new day is already quite warm, and watch the sun come up.