Gold Coast

Conor and Megan (friends from Canada) got us in touch with Kim, on the Gold Coast. She was super welcoming (and trusting) even though she had never met us before! We stayed with her, Josh and their roommate Sam for 15 days. It was super relaxed but also a nice base to explore the area from. By the end of our stay she felt like family and it feels like we've known her for years!

Kim has a similar diet to Jenna, so we bonded over cooking and going to the saturday morning farmers market. We made rice wraps (Mats made burrito-sized ones), roasted veggies and juiced veggies. Mmmm! We also went out to a restaurant and had squid and sweet potato fries. All of a sudden, Khal Drogo* walks in.. What?! (*the actor, who plays in Game of Thrones).

Kim and Josh's place is a 10 minute walk from the beach. So, we went down many times to bodysurf, admire storms and go for walks. A short walk down, Burleigh Head rises up out of the water. We did sunrise yoga at the base, climbed to the top, went for a run and even saw whales! We also did a short hike over a boardwalk through a mangrove forest. It passed a sanctuary where we saw more Koala's (with a baby!) and our first Wallabies! They look like miniature kangaroos and are really cute. On the canals behind the house, we got up on the SUP (stand-up paddle board)! "But don't fall in, there are bull sharks in these waters", no pressure...

On the weekend, we did a day-trip to Byron Bay, the surfing and hippy town South of Gold Coast. Josh taught us how to surf! And afterward we hiked around the headland. This is the Eastern-most tip of mainland Australia! We spotted more whales and on the other side, where the surf was much higher, we watched the more experienced surfers catching waves. Back on the Gold Coast, we tried surfing a few more times. It's harder than it looks, paddling out against the waves, paddling with the wave to get speed, and then to catch your balance to get up. After three days, we were riding waves on our knees and Mats got up on his feet a few times. Righteous!

We had a farewell dinner at the Collective, another cool concept. Five restaurants have teamed up and share seating. There is something for everyone, even for Jenna and Kim. But for those who suffer from analysis-paralysis, choice-stress, FOMO (fear of missing out), are decision-impaired, etc. this place is a nightmare! Mats has a hard enough time with one menu ;) But the food was delicious!

Turns out it wasn't goodbye for long. Partly by chance, we'd run into Kim again a week later in Auckland! And we hope to see her again when she is visiting Conor and Megan in Canada next summer.Read more