Tags

, , , , , ,

A long weekend with family and friends

fullsizeoutput_842Canberra is pretty cold in the winter so it’s always nice to travel interstate mainly north to Queensland for a few days of warmth.  That is what I decided to do last month and took my brother and nephew along too.  I booked an Airbnb home at a suburb called Biggera Waters which is about an hour’s drive from Gold Coast (Coolangatta) Airport.

It was really nice to see the home was exactly as stated and had a fabulous outdoors area with views across the river; lovely during the day and equally as nice when the sun was setting.fullsizeoutput_837fullsizeoutput_835It was too cool to swim in the pool so we spent many an hour on the patio reading and  just watching the swans and ducks swim by.  The swans would arrive at 8.30am every morning; you really could set your clock by them.fullsizeoutput_838fullsizeoutput_833fullsizeoutput_845I had made plans to catch up with friends who have a holiday home at Sanctuary Cove and my friend Steve kindly offered to come and pick us up in their boat so we could sail along the river to their home.  How lucky were we!!  So Steve and his son Ryan arrived on our private mooring and off we went…fullsizeoutput_868fullsizeoutput_867.jpegfullsizeoutput_870Until we reached the open waters the boat is legally only able to travel at six knots (no wake allowed) so this afforded me to time to check out houses and gardens that back onto the river…wow some people have gorgeous homes! Once away from residences we could go a little faster which was really nice with the wake behind us.fullsizeoutput_86dAlso nice to see the Gold Coast skyline behind us as well as views along the shore.fullsizeoutput_86efullsizeoutput_869After a glass of wine at my friend’s home we took their golf carts and drove to Sanctuary Cove restaurant area where we had a wonderful lunch at a local Italian restaurant which had a lovely wine bar and to enter you walk through a huge wine barrel. Definitely my sort of place. fullsizeoutput_83cAlong the way we drove through the golf course and were fortunate enough to see a mob of kangaroos and one mum with her baby!fullsizeoutput_839fullsizeoutput_83dAfter lunch we returned to my friend’s home to watch the sunset – I never grow tired of watching either a sunrise or sunset…beautiful anywhere around the world.fullsizeoutput_83efullsizeoutput_840fullsizeoutput_843And I love it when the sky changes colour whilst the sun is setting…fullsizeoutput_850fullsizeoutput_84eOne other day we took my nephew and godson to MovieWorld on the Gold Coast.  Rather expensive and really not what I like to do but I hope my nephew and godson enjoyed themselves.  It was my godson’s first time to eat a snow cone; he loved it and enjoyed some rides.fullsizeoutput_849fullsizeoutput_846And the sweetest thing about the trip was my godson absolutely loved my nephew (they had met some three years ago) so followed him around all weekend and just wouldn’t let him out of his sight…very lovely and my nephew even though he is seven years older, was incredibly patient and loving!fullsizeoutput_830We also had a meal at a local Chinese restaurant on our last night with another friend (my godson’s mum) and as usual I enjoyed an eggplant dish and some dumplings…delicious.  A great long weekend away!