Day 3 - Gold Coast

We knew we would be up fairly early due to jet lag. Today that fact worked in our favor. The sun rises early in Australia at this time of year (it is the end of their spring). We were up at 4:00am and it was still dark. We headed to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was so beautiful. I flew my drone and Alison took pictures with my camera as we walked up and down the beach. There were a few moments when the beach and everything around it was bathed in the light of the morning sun. During this moment everything seemed to turn to gold and we could visually see the reason for the Gold Coast moniker. Watching the sunrise on the beach was a fantastic way to start the day.

We loved how the beach turned golden in color as the sun rose

There were bird tracks all over the beach 

We walked a good way down the beach and we found ourselves getting hungry. Just off the beach was a familiar site - McDonald’s. It was pretty much the only establishment open at this hour. We got some food. I had an egg McMuffin (which I contend tastes better than in the States) and Alison got a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. The sandwich was not only good for McDonald’s food, it was legitimately good. Shockingly, they don’t have this on the menu in the States.

We headed back to our hotel where we did a 25-minute circuit exercise routine and got ready for the day. We met Blake and Debbie in the lobby. Debbie’s knee was still bothering her and her leg was swollen. It sucked. Her leg hurt and she felt bad because she was really worried it would hamper our enjoyment of the trip. It really didn’t. She was a trooper and did what she could, but we also planned for this to be a laid-back and relaxing trip. We were able to do everything we wanted.

We thought we would try the breakfast at the cafe where we ate lunch the day before. However. while their sign said they opened at 7:30am, when we arrived at 8 they said they wouldn’t be ready to open for another 20-30 minutes. We did not feel like waiting so we found a place called Pancakes in Paradise. They served a fine breakfast and the pancakes were really quite good.

We had a rental car so we decided to drive out to Natural Bridges. This is one of many famous waterfalls in the Brisbane area. It was about an hour from Surfer’s Paradise. The drive was really quite interesting. We got out of the city and residential areas and ended up on those little roads going through agricultural and forested areas. There was some truly breathtaking scenery. We were trying to soak it all up. We all got a kick out of some Kangaroo crossing signs we saw on the road and from that point on our eyes were peeled just in case we could catch a glimpse of a kangaroo. We would not see one this day.

Natural Bridge was a waterfall going through a natural bridge. Getting to the bridge requires a short hike through a rainforest. Debbie was not up for the hike so she waited near the start while Blake, Alison, and I completed the loop.

Next, we headed to Point Danger. This area is a viewpoint overlooking the ocean and some beautiful beaches. From Point Danger, we could see Surfer’s Paradise in the distance. It was pretty windy, but Blake and I both flew our drones. We also walked around and enjoyed the viewpoints. Alison and I even walked down and explored one of the beaches.

We found a nearby cafe for lunch and then we headed back to our hotel. Debbie needed to rest and ice her knee. Alison and I headed back to the beach. We lazed away the rest of the afternoon beachside, listening to the waves crash in, reading some books we brought, and napping In the sun. We did find that the beach at Surfer’s Paradise seemed to be better earlier in the day. Both afternoons we were there the wind picked up, which made it feel a little cooler the sun also likes to hide behind the tall hotels so we found ourselves chasing the sun as it continued to set.

When we became tired of chasing the sun we headed back to the hotel. We met up with Blake and Debbie for dinner. We went to a Mexican place we found the night before. We waited to go there because Debbie really enjoys Mexican food. The food was good, albeit very different from Mexican food in the United States. This particular restaurant had very interesting combinations of flavors. As Alison pointed out we were a very long way from Mexico.

After dinner, we were all tired. We headed back to the hotel and called it a night. It was another very good day in Australia.