Manly Beach, Sydney - Sun, March 15

[Photos above: Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, view from "walk"]

The torrential downpour continued last night. Heinz & Pirkko will be happy to know I took a cab to the casino. It was under $9 as the casino was so close. It was great to stay dry. Unfortunately the cards were not good to me. I'm still up for the trip but barely.

My taxi driver told me that it was supposed to rain all day Sunday. Greeeaaat...Luckily the morning skies were clear so I did not need to change my plans for the day. I took the ferry over to Manly Beach. The views of the harbour and both the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge were amazing.

At Manly I walked across Corso to the surf beach and spent the morning walking the length of the beach and over to another nearby beach in a protected cove where there were lots of people scuba diving. I had lunch on a rooftop patio overlooking Manly Beach - Corona and calamari - this is the life.

After lunch I visited a little street market and bought myself a beautiful coral ring. It's an oval shape and the colour of the coral is magnificent. I then spotted a nail place offering cheap mani-pedi's and I couldn't resist. The colour I chose had something to do with Ayer's Rock. I guess OPI customizes their names to countries. It's a reddish coral and looks great with my ring.

After stopping in a couple shops (surf shops and souvenir places) I embarked on the 10K "walk" my guidebook recommended. A strenuous hike would be a better description. I am soooo glad I wore running shoes today. The walk started off on a wide paved path that took you along harbours and beautiful residential areas. It then became a scramble across rocks and up rock formations so high that I looked way, way down on cliffs. The walk took about 5 hours. Phew! Thank goodness the views were spectacular. I got lots of photos I'll have to go through, perhaps on the plane tomorrow.
The rain held off though. I only had a few drops as I waited at a bus stop to come back downtown. This time we crossed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The bus took me to Wynyard station from which it is a short walk to the hotel.

By the time I got back to the hotelI was wiped. I must have walked for over 8 hours today. My feet ache. My arms and chest are giving off heat as I did not use enough sunscreen. I am having a quiet relaxing night in before my journey tomorrow. I'm lying on my super comfy king bed watching TV. Oh yeah, the toiletries at this hotel are great too.

I hope you have enjoyed joining me on my travels. Stay tuned for more adventures soon. :)

Bondi Beach, Sydney - Sat, March 14

[Photos above: Bondi Beach, ominous clouds over Tamarama Beach]

It's raining again...luckily I saw it coming this time. The ominous clouds were hard to miss. I did my coastal walk from Bondi enroute to Bronte when I figured I better abort. I stopped at Tamarama and found a bus shelter. I took shelter just as the downpour started, complete with thunder and lightning this time. The good news: I'm dry and the bus that comes to this shelter actually goes to Bondi Junction, the train station I need to get to to get back downtown. The bad news: I have to wait 50 minutes or so for the bus. Oh well, not too bad all things considered.

I have been actually been doing well with public transit. The hotel is between two major train stops so I was able to walk to the hotel from Wynyard station when I came from the airport. Then I walked to Town Hall station to catch a train to Bondi Junction and then took a bus from there to Bondi Beach. Tomorrow (weather permitting) I'll walk to the Circular Quay to take a ferry to Manley Beach. I passed Circular Quay on the way from the airport. The train was above ground there so I got a good view of the Sydney Harbour bridge.

I did well with the hotel too. I was upgraded to a suite on the top (15th) floor. I have a living area, desk, microwave, mini-fridge, and walk-in closet. I should have asked if I could stay in a smaller room and get a harbour view as the view is nothing to write home about. But the hotel is very nice, in a good area, with a lot of attentive staff.

Once I get back to the hotel I will clean up and head out to Star City for some evening entertainment (blackjack). I will probably eat dinner at the casino as I think there are a few options there.

Winding Down - Thurs-Fri, March 12-13

[Photos above: exposed rocks at Snapper Rocks; me surfing]

My days in Coolangatta are numbered. I'm feeling the end drawing near and I'm none to happy about it. I have completely adapted to the time zone and my skin has decided that it is no longer allergic to Australia. I've even worked up a nice base tan although most of the time the weather is overcast with showers threatening constantly. The beach was actually closed on Thursday due to "extremely unstable beach conditions" so I was unable to surf. The rocks at Snapper Rocks are now completely exposed with no sand on top to walk over them. At least it cleared up in the afternoon and I was able to enjoy a little beach time. Could the end of the bad weather be in sight?

Regrettably no, the high winds and rains were back with a vengence on Friday. Mom, Dad, and I walked all the way to Kirra Surf in decent weather. It then started pouring as we made our way back. We took a short cut going up over an incredibly steep hill. At one point it looked like we wouldn't be able to make our way to the other side but luckily it was open to pedestrians.

Once back I surfed in the rain and ended my surfing days by paddling onto a wave and riding it all the way to the beach. Sweet. Tomorrow I'm off to Sydney for the weekend before making my way home. I wish I could be one of those people who are anxious to get home after a vacation but no matter how much I love my life back home I never want any vacation to end.

Byron Bay – Wed, March 11

[Photos above: views from Byron Bay]

Another overcast rainy day. Damn cyclone! The rain here is like in Hawaii where it blows in suddenly, downpours, and then goes away. So, while not the best day for sightseeing, there wasn’t much else to do in this weather.

We drove south to Byron Bay. It is only 50 km or so from Coolangatta. I’ve been there before on my two earlier visits to Australia and wanted to return for the out-of-the-world views and cool shops. Upon arrival we drove immediately to the lighthouse for the best views of the coastline, beaches, and back to Byron Bay. Like the other times I’ve been there we spotted a pod of dolphins playing on the waves below. Because the water was so stirred up we didn’t see their whole bodies so much this time, mostly their fins as they came up for air. It was still really cool. We hadn’t been out of the car for 15 minutes when a downpour blew in. We ran for the lighthouse and killed time in the gift shop waiting for the worst of the storm to pass. While there I found a cool wooden bracelet for only $10 so all was not lost. When the storm had died down somewhat we headed back out to take in some more of the picturesque views.

Our next stop was the main street of Byron Bay where we had a little look-see in the shops before having lunch in a sidewalk café that didn’t look like much but had wicked sandwiches. I’m eating avocado in everything here. It is so good.

We then left Byron and traveled north of Coolangatta to Benowa to pay a return visit to the RSL lottery house. Mom and Dad had really liked the artwork in the house and wanted to see if they could source it for their house. They referred us to a few shops that we also took a look around in.

We ended the day at Jupiter’s Casino in Broadbeach. This time I took in $55 playing Blackjack. I was up $105 at one point and should have quit then but as I was doing well I decided to keep going. Oh well, at least I still quit while I was ahead. I’m now up $160 in casino playing this trip.

Surfin’ Safari – Mon-Tues, March 9-10

[Photos above: Warning sign at popular surf beach which may explain why Aussies are so tough - natural selection takes care of the weak. Me at said beach.]

A couple of days chillin’. Began each day with a morning walk which was followed up by surfing. Monday was tough. Waves were really choppy and breaking apart. A cyclone from the north was really affecting things. On Tuesday I headed out at 8:00 am instead of 10:00 am to try to get better conditions. It was super deep as tide was in and high. I had to paddle onto waves rather than push off the ground. It made it tougher but more gratifying when I did catch waves and ride them in.

Otherwise I spent my time walking to the mall, booking flights to Sydney, taking in a free movie at Twin Towns club, reading my book on the Wurtele sisters, and sipping shanties at the Coolangatta Hotel. The Cooly Hotel is really more of a pub than hotel. In Australia hotels are pubs. Clubs are pubs. And pubs are pubs. Basically every public building with the (possible) exception of schools and churches are pubs.

The surf competition is still on. It’s winding up to the finals. I may check it out again this afternoon before my trip back to the Coolie. Ahhhh, life is tough….

Roxy/Quicksilver Pro Tourney – Sat-Sun, March 7-8

[Photos above: crowd at tourney, Winner of Roxy Pro Tourney)

The Quicksilver Pro Tournament (Men’s World Championship Tour) returned to Snapper Rocks at Rainbow Bay on Saturday. Rainbow Bay is where I surf so while I managed to catch some great waves Saturday I elected not to rent a board Sunday as the buoys marking the competition are now covering most of the bay. What little area remains is full of the weekend crowd. The last thing I want to do is make myself infamous by being the surfer who drops in in front of one of the pros catching a big break.

On Saturday I watched three heats of the Men’s competition. The last was won by Dane Reynolds, a US pro, who had one wicked ride which scored him a perfect 10. It was awesome to see live. At the end of the heat he walked right by me on his way out of the water. The pro surfers are really friendly and, though exhausted, stop to sign autographs and take photos with fans on their way up the beach.

Saturday night we met Mom and Dad’s friends, Heinz and Pirko, for dinner at the Tweed Heads Bowls Club as it was Pirko’s birthday. While the two couples stayed to play pokies I took a cab home and had an early night.

On Sunday morning we visited the weekly markets in Coolangatta. Mom and Dad bought a painting for their bedroom back in Canada. We all got to see the finals of the Women’s competition. It got really heated at the end with only minutes left with a local girl winning the title.

We are planning to barbeque dinner on the beach tonight so hopefully the crowds will die down.

Mount Tambourine/Surfer’s Paradise – Friday, March 6

[Photos above: In Coolangatta on the way to “hire” our car and in Mount Tambourine]

Road trip! We rented a car today to do something different. We started by touring the RSL Union house up for auction. It was gorgeous – an open layout beautifully decorated on a riverfront lot. I bought four tickets.

We then drove to the Hinterlands to Mount Tambourine. The drive reminded me of New Zealand – narrow road with no shoulders, occasionally down to a single lane, that creeped through beautiful countryside and up large/steep hills. The hills were labeled with gradient (most in the 14 degree area) which would be really cool if you were cycling them. But to be honest I have no desire to ride up or even down those hills on a bike. It was crazy.

Our first stop at Mount Tambourine was a winery where Mom and I sampled 6 white wines. Yum! I ended up buying a Chardonnay/Verdelho blend. We then went to the Gallery Walk where we had lunch and toured the shops. It reminded me of Unionville north of Toronto.

We then descended from the hills and headed back to the coast to Surfer’s Paradise where we browsed up and down the main streets. It is getting more upscale every time I come to Australia with an increasing number of designer shops. There is still a young scene as well with the backpacker bunch walking around barefoot everywhere. On a side note, I can’t believe how anti-footwear Australians are. I get walking barefoot to and from the beach but I’ve seen countless people dressed to go out in the evening barefoot.

We ended our day at Jupiter’s Casino where I turned my $100 Blackjack buy-in to $205. A fine ending to a great day.

Learning to surf is like learning to ski - Thu, March 5

I have come up with another story idea for CSIA Ontario’s Ski Talk magazine – “How learning to surf made me a better ski instructor”. Dave’s method has made all the difference in my surfing. Four years ago when I was in Australia I was able to catch, stand up, and ride in one wave out of 20 I tried. That one ride was so worth it that I kept at the sport. Today I was catching and riding in every second wave. Quite the progress! Why the difference? The first surf school I went to believed only in the true method of surfing – the jump up. The analogy I would use for ski instructors is that this would be equivalent to expecting all of our students to instantly be able to ski parallel. While some may be fast-tracked, for most this is not a reasonable expectation. Dave’s method where you get to bring one foot up, then get up, gets people up and surfing and enjoying it right from the get go, kind of the equivalent of teaching wedge turns to get to the end goal. Which would you prefer?

Koalas are as soft as you'd think - Wed, March 4

[Photos above: Me petting kangaroo, koalas]

It’s official. I’m allergic to Australia. I don’t want to be. I love Australia. Unfortunately since getting here I’ve been developing a rash all over my extremities. Yesterday the pharmacist gave me an antihistamine which dramatically reduced the swelling but alas after another day in the sun it’s raging again. Plus I cannot seem to put enough sunscreen on my face! My surf sessions are making my forehead and nose bright red. I’m hoping that by the end of my stay I’m rash-free and my red face becomes bronzed. We’ll see.

Today I rented a board from Dave, my surf instructor, and went out on my own. I did well catching a few waves on my own. I went out at 9:00 which is an hour earlier than I did for yesterday’s lesson. It was a mistake. The tide was still coming in and the waves were not as strong. I’ll go out later tomorrow.

The reason I surfed earlier today was because I wanted to get an earlier start on getting to Carumbin Wildlife Sanctuary this afternoon. Mom accompanied me. It was pretty neat. I got to hold a koala and have my photo taken with her. She was as soft and cuddly as you would imagine. We got to see koalas being fed which is the most active I’ve ever seen the critters. I also walked up to some kangaroos and petted them and saw crocodiles close up. All very cool.

In the evening we walked down to the Coolangatta Hotel for dinner.

Hang Ten Mate - Tuesday, March 3

[Photo above: beach bounty]

Another early morning brought another long walk with Mom. This time we started by walking up the steep hill behind their place to Point Danger (love Aussie names!). We weren’t the only ones out at 5:45 am - there were tons of surfers enjoying the waves. The area around Point Danger is stunning – a high hill with beautiful trees and rocks framing a wicked surf beach where the Quicksilver/Roxy Surfing World Cup is currently being held. I’ll have to go back another day with a camera.

At 10:00 I showed up at a surf truck advertising surf lessons. Other than a CRAZY woman in my group, I had fun. I managed to catch quite a few waves. This surf school teaches an adapted method to getting up that is much more beginner-friendly than the jump-up method I’ve learned in the past. Plus for our first lesson he pushed us onto waves for the first hour. Nothing like the sweet taste of success.

In the afternoon we walked to a local mall. There was nothing that interesting with the exception of the licorice store. Yum! I bought pineapple and strawberry flavoured licorice. The pineapple licorice is wicked.

Tuesday night is Mom and Dad’s night at Seagull’s, a club in Tweed Heads that we had to take a bus too. We had dinner then Mom and Dad hit the pokies while I tried to stay awake by doing some Sudoku.

Welcome to "Retirement" - Monday, March 2

[Photo above: view from the condo’s living room balcony]

I began my day bright and early this morning with a beautiful beach-front walk with my Mom. Bliss. The weather is perfect – hot but not disgustingly so. We walked 7km. My knee didn’t bother me at all.

We returned for a breakfast of French toast and tropical fruit – papaya, mango, pear, and apricot. Everything tastes so fresh and flavourful here. After breakfast we headed to the beach first taking a stroll and collecting seashells. I then took a boogie board we found in our condo’s storage locker out to catch some waves. I had fun despite the fact that the board was pretty useless. I definitely want to surf instead as soon as I can line up a surfboard.

The afternoon had an unusual twist. My parents and I went to the Coolangatta Hotel and they pulled out coupons so we could each get a $15 cocktail for free – mine a mix of rum, butterscotch, and ginger beer was fantastic! We then entered a gaming area off the main bar that was full of slot machines (pokies in Aussie lingo). Mini Vegas in Oz! My parents then handed in another three coupons and we were each given $3 to gamble. I love the way seniors operate! Those playing between 2:30-3:30 pm were eligible to win a cash prize of up to $500 just for playing. So we played for a little while. I lasted half an hour before I quit. That was pretty good for me as I’m not a slots fan. My mom quit with me. My dad lasted the whole hour and got entered into the draw but unfortunately did not win.

Monday nights are free movie nights at the [social] club nearest my parents’ place so we showed up at Twin Towns for a light dinner and a movie. The movie was not fantastic. It was too soon for me to sit still for that long after my journey here. I felt like I was back on the airplane watching another endless movie only this time I could not flip through a magazine or do a Sudoku puzzle while it was on! It was another early night which suited me just fine as I was anxious to get up early for another beachfront walk.

Arrival in Coolingatta

I’ve arrived! And it feels really good. Twenty-six hours of travel were quickly forgotten as I slipped on a bathing suit and made my way to the ocean minutes after my arrival. I am so excited to be back!

In the days/weeks/months leading up to my trip I really hadn’t given it much thought. I am not sure if my lack of anticipation was because I had already been to Australia twice already or because I was so busy with work and skiing leading up to my trip that I really didn’t have the mind space to think about it. But my excitement mounted as I flew from Sydney to the Gold Coast airport taking in the stunning views featured above. I was thrilled to find my parents waiting to greet me at the airport. On the drive to their condo, I was excited to recognize favourite haunts from the last time I was here four years ago. My excitement culminated in our walk along the beach.

After a little beach time we chilled on our 7th floor balcony with stunning views of Rainbow Bay. We then went for a walk to pick up some groceries for dinner in. It is definitely going to be an early night for me as I have only slept an hour or so in the last 48 hours. I am looking forward to my early morning walk along the bay.