Biggera Waters – Gold Coast – Queensland – July 2019

Tags

Australia, Biggera Waters, Gold Coast, Movie World, Queensland, Sanctuary Cove, travelling with family

A long weekend with family and friends

Canberra 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.It 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.I 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…Until 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.Also nice to see the Gold Coast skyline behind us as well as views along the shore.After 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. Along the way we drove through the golf course and were fortunate enough to see a mob of kangaroos and one mum with her baby!After 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.And I love it when the sky changes colour whilst the sun is setting…One 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.And 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!We 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!

 

 

 

 

 

A little getaway – Gold Coast – Queensland – Australia – February 2017

Tags

Australia, Beijing Palace Restaurant, Brunch, Casino, Chinese restaruant, Coco Cabano restaurant, Cuban Street Food, Gold Coast, Queensland

Visiting friends with my brother and nephew

My lovely Taiwanese/Aussie friend and her son, my godson, now live at the Gold Coast.  My brother and nephew had met them whilst I lived in Beijing so I thought since it was about four years since they had seen each other we should visit.

I used my frequent flyer points to book us all flights and one Wednesday in February we departed.  We arrived late in the afternoon and my Godson took an instant like to my nephew and for the next three days didn’t let him out of his sight.

On our first night my friend Evonne took us out to a local Chinese restaurant where I was able to practice my Chinese and also enjoy some good food and meet another of Evonne’s friends who also lived on the Gold Coast.

We ordered a range of dishes including the obligatory eggplant for me and my brother ordered a couple of typical Aussie/Chinese dishes which he and his son enjoyed.

Over the next couple of days we enjoyed some shopping and one afternoon went to a friend’s of Evonne’s who lived in a beautiful home overlooking the river.  I enjoyed some great tasting Chinese tea and afternoon tea snacks whilst my brother and nephew enjoyed time in the lap pool.

That evening we had another great meal at the Garden Restaurant within the Casino.

This restaurant has an indoor and outdoor area with a grass area for the kids, an outdoor bar and decking to sit on a Sunday listening to a local band but this evening we sat inside.

I ordered the risotto and Evonne, my brother and the kids had meat dishes.

Us adults ordered a share dessert called the Garden Chocolate Patch which came out on a huge plate with chocolate soil, chocolate mushrooms, iced milk chocolate truffles, flour less chocolate cake with salted caramel white chocolate ganache.  Unbelievably good!!  And the kids had a selection of house made ice-cream.

Such a lot of food so the next morning I took myself out for a long walk.  Whilst the weather was not great; a little overcast, it was still a lovely time out in the fresh air.

Then as if we hadn’t had enough to eat the previous evening, we went for brunch at this lovely little cafe within a rather large shopping centre.  The meals matched the size of the shopping centre; huge!!

And as for the juices, well they were truly amazing. My brother and I ordered the Passionfruit Granita which was a mixture of passionfruit and lime blended with ice with mixed berries and mint leaves – it looked amazing and was absolutely delicious and so refreshing!!  My nephew who had a caramel milkshake – told me it was also great.

Then after a relax back at Evonne’s, we departed for the airport to take our plane home.  Great few days!!