Four Days on the Gold Coast

This post is follows on from my last post on our three days in Byron Bay. 

The day we left Byron Bay it was rainy and cool - weather we are very used to in Melbourne this time of year, but a bit disappointing for our holiday in Queensland! We left our cabin in Byron mid-morning, driving about 45 minutes north to Currumbin Beach, located in the southern part of the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast is actually a city - the sixth largest in Australia, even though the name makes it sound like a region. The city stretches along the eastern coast of Australia for about 70 km, and as the name implies, the weather is sunny for about 300 days per year. 

But alas, it has to be cloudy for another 65 days, and unfortunately for us, three of those days were while we were visiting. On the bright side, at least we didn't have to worry about the kids getting sunburned!

Regardless of the less than perfect weather, we met our friend Andy at the beach, and the kids played in the shallow water while Andy surfed. Andy is also a teacher so was on school holidays as well. (This post is going to be confusing with two Andy's in the mix!) My Andy knows Queensland Andy through Andy's older brother, Pete, who lived with my Andy at university back in England. Queensland Andy and his wife Jo had lived in Melbourne at the same time we did (back during our first stint) and the two Andy's struck up a friendship based on a mutual love of playing sport. They even coached a soccer team together for three years. Andy and Jo have had a similar experience to us, in that they moved back to the UK from Melbourne around the same time we moved to Canada. Like us, they missed their lives in Australia, and eventually moved back in 2022, trading Melbourne for the Gold Coast. 

When Andy was done with his morning surf, which he does on a regular basis as any good Brit turned Queenslander must do, he had the kids try out some body boarding on his surfboard, which of course they loved.

After the surfing sessions we had all worked up an appetite, so we headed to one of the many surf clubs for lunch before heading to Andy and Jo's, where we would be spending the next four days. They have 3-year-old twins who were in daycare during the day we arrived. When they got home from daycare they were both very excited to have Ella and Ollie visiting. It was very cute to watch Ella and Ollie with the younger kids, and of course us adults were delighted that our children seemed to amuse each other.

The next couple of days we had similarly cool and cloudy weather. We spent a lot of time visiting different playgrounds with the twins - as a father of  3-year-olds Andy knew where all the good ones were! We traveled up and down the coast at the best beach side playgrounds.

One afternoon we took advantage of a break in the clouds to spend some time at the Palm Beach Parklands. This beach is like a small cove, tucked away from the main beaches with very still, shallow water. There is sand, a huge playground, a large grassy area to run around on, and a lovely cafe called Dune where we had lunch. (Ok, we actually ran over to Dune as a rain shower broke our sunny spell and it was the only place with cover. Honestly, the weather that day was very Melbourne!)

 

In the evenings we swam in the pool back at Andy and Jo's. They live in a gated community which seems pretty common in parts of the Gold Coast, where there are shared facilities like pools, BBQs, tennis courts etc. I like that idea... it's all the convenience of your own pool without any of the cost or maintenance!

On our last full day the twins were in daycare and Jo was at work, so the four of us headed out with Andy for the day. The weather was much warmer that day so we planned a day of outdoor activities, appealing to Ella and Ollie and the two Andys! 

First up Andy took us to a ninja warrior inspired course for kids at Harley Park in Southport. This outdoor course is completely free and is a great alternative to a more traditional style playground for older children. There were 11 obstacles in the ninja course, and we spent a good hour and a half here, with the kids working hard to try and master each part of the course. What was nice was that each obstacle had two levels, so there was an easier and harder option for older/younger kids. 

The two Andys also had a great time here, timing themselves as they raced through the course, each time trying to outdo each other. They provided some great amusement to two grandmothers who were there with their grandchildren!

After the ninja course we headed to Gold Coast Aqua Park - a giant inflatable obstacle course in the water. Initially both kids were going to go on it with the Andys, but Ollie was terrified of the whole thing. Dad Andy hung back with Ollie trying to convince him to give it a try, while Queensland Andy went ahead with Ella. The inflatable course was both wobbly and slippery to walk on which I think was what made it scary for Ollie. After about 10-15 minutes Andy gave up with him as they only had an hour long session. Ollie came back to the safety of land with me where he happily ate a meat pie while we waited for Ella and the Andys. 

Ella and the two Andys had the absolute time of their lives at the Aqua Park. In hindsight, Ollie was probably too young for this as even Ella seemed like one of the youngest kids out there. That did not stop her from keeping up with everyone, spending the full hour climbing over the different obstacles and sliding down into the water over and over. 

We were all starving by then, so headed to the nearby Southport Surf Club for lunch. After lunch we went to the beach for some fun in the waves. I could not believe that after all of the activity she'd already had, Ella was still going strong, spending the afternoon swimming in the waves at Main Beach. She never seems to run out of energy!

 

The next day was sadly our last. Our flight was at 4 pm so in the morning we went back to the ninja obstacle course, followed by one last swim at Currumbin beach. The weather was perfect so we were sad to say goodbye to the beaches and good weather and head back to Melbourne.

The saddest part was the kids, and Ella especially, saying goodbye to Nala, Andy and Jo's dog. Ella would love nothing more than a puppy, and grew very attached to Nala over the course of our four days with Andy and Jo. It was very sweet how sad both kids were to say goodbye to her.

And with that we wrap up another school holiday post. Of course by the time I'm getting around to writing this up we are nearly finished Term 4... only two weeks left until we go into our Christmas and summer holidays, yay!