Gold Coast

After spending one too many days in Brisbane, Mark and I decided to hit the road and head to the Gold Coast before flying to Sydney.  Although I already had my picture with the koala, Mark still wanted one, so we headed to Lone Pine.  This is the most famous sanctuary in Australia...in fact, it's where all the celebrities come to experience Australian wildlife.  

I definitely loved the kangaroo habitat much more than my previous experience.  This one had fields of grass and lots of shade too. I was a little frightened of them at first, because I was afraid that they'd kick me.  

But, I got much more comfortable hanging around them.  The longer I spent there, the more they reminded me of goats.  I think that somewhere down the line, goats and kangaroos are close cousins.  

There were many with kids...seriously, that's what they're called.  I thought that this one was a little large for it's mothers pouch.  I could make a joke about my brother right now, but because my mom will most likely scold me for it, I'll refrain.  But, check out how the kid's legs are hanging out right by it's head...that can't be comfortable.  

There were tons of koalas here too.  I was surprised that this one was awake, since the rest were sleeping, but he was definitely staring me down.  He didn't break eye contact for so long, that it kind of freaked me out.  

After visiting Lone Pine, we made our way to the train station, and then to the bus station, and finally took the bus to the beach.  Along the way, I saw this road sign and hoped that it wasn't an indication of what was to come.  

There were hotels and high rises galore here.  It was interesting, because they were right on the beach and there didn't seem to be much else.  

The beach was absolutely gorgeous, with soft white sand and nice waves.  I didn't bring my suit, because I knew that we wouldn't have a ton of time to make a day of the beach, but I would love to go back here at least for one nice day in the sun.

I really wanted to get a picture with the nice sets of waves coming ashore, so I handed Mark my camera and backed up a bit.  Seriously, the waves were fairly small where I was standing until all of a sudden, I was attacked by a huge one.  Mark just laughed and cackled, as I wondered why in the world he didn't warn me about it's arrival.  So, my pants, undies, and purse was completely soaked and since I didn't bring any swim gear, I had to walk around like that for hours.  

I just loved the lighting from the setting sun, the beach and the city combined.  I found that I really needed the sunshine.  It's hot and humid during the summers in Japan, but it's different and I don't know how to explain it.  The sun here felt warm and inviting...that's probably why Australia is the leader in cases of skin cancer in the world.  

I would love to own a condo in one of these buildings.  I would wake up and walk across the street to the beach for awhile, then go back to nap and cool off, then head back out to star gaze at night.  How relaxing!

The waves did start to pick up, and the beach was technically closed due to the typhoon that hit the northern coast while we were there.  I think that the natural disasters seem to follow us now...maybe because we know how to handle them and do not get shaken too easily.  

No city (or blog) is complete without the local ferris wheel.  This one was on top of the main bus station in town.  Imagine if bus stations in America had these on the roofs.  People would probably know where they were...I'm not even sure where the bus station is in Springfield.  After an eventful train ride back to Brisbane, where we encountered rowdy cricket fans, the police (trying to calm them down), and some totally inappropriate teenagers, we settled in to pack for our trip to Sydney the next morning.  We had to leave the hotel by 5 am to catch our flight.  Whew!