Gold Coast, Australia

Happy Chinese New Year! It goes unnoticed in the western world, but the lunar new year is a big deal in Asia. Most of Singapore shuts down for several days and it was a 4-day weekend this year, so we decided to take advantage of Matt's time off and head down under. It was originally going to be a family beach trip and surfing trip for Matt on the Gold Coast, but with the broken arm and recent surgery it turned out just to be a wonderful time at the beach for all of us.

We took an all-night flight to Brisbane which turned out to be more painful than our long trips to Houston. As hard as a 13 or 14 hour flight can be, at least it leaves plenty of time for meals and a nice long stretch of sleep for the kids. This was only an 8 hour flight and by the time they finished dinner the lights were only off for about 4 hours before they woke everyone up to serve breakfast. We were all exhausted. But that all changed as soon as we got our bags and went through immigration (and quarantine...whew knew the Aussies were so crazy about what kind of food you bring in?) we headed straight to a koala sanctuary I'd been excited to visit.


Ben got to feed the wild lorikeets. We also saw a big flock of wild cockatoos that was just amazing but I wasn't quick enough to get a picture.

We saw a few wombats and they were all stretched out on their backs like this.

And then on to the koalas! They are just adorable and sleep in the cutest positions.

This was a teenager named Fanny that just slightly outweighed Alex. Ben kept petting her and giving her kisses and she didn't mind that he was calling her a monkey.

We also saw these blue-tongued lizards all over the place. Some of them were up to 3 feet long and not a bit shy, so I was a little nervous of them.

Ben had fun feeding the kangaroos and I couldn't figure out why his food was lasting so much longer than mine, then I noticed that he was feeding one tiny pellet at a time....

....we had to work on a more efficient feeding method on a hot day!

Then we left Brisbane and drove south to the Gold Coast which is a popular vacation spot for the Australians because of its beautiful beaches that stretch as far as the eye can see. We were fortunate enough to get a serviced apartment on the 30th story with an amazing view.

Ben loved sitting on the balcony but we couldn't let him near the rail because it was a looong way down.

Matt and I both agreed that the beach looked so much like the beaches in Rio de Janeiro, with the long expanse of golden sand, the aqua water, and the high rises. All that was missing was the guys walking around selling beer, coconut water, and grilled cheese.

Looking back toward our building (the one on the right) at 45 stories high, it was dwarfed by the Q building which is supposedly the tallest residential building in the world.

Here are the guys all ready to hit the beach! Ben perked up a lot when we got outside.

Our family beach photo. Thank goodness Matt got his stitches out a few days before we left so he was able to swim and do anything with his splint on. Or take the splint off and use it as a shovel in the sand. Whatever works!

One morning while Alex was napping we took Ben to a huge arcade on the main drag in Surfer's Paradise. He was crazy about the bumper cars and I literally had to drag him out of there after we rode a few times because he refused to leave.

A close second was driving a race car with Daddy.

Ben was so focused....I'm pretty sure we'll be spending our fair share of time at these in the future.

We had a few more credits to use before we left so we let Ben hit the buttons on this jackpot machine and what does he do the first time? hit the jackpot!

We spent his tickets on a great prize - a flashlight for the kid who's addicted to lights and batteries. It was also the best way to get him out of the arcade because he was totally in love with his new toy.

A picture at the end of the main street looking toward the beach. We loved the area because we could walk everywhere and things were very casual and family-friendly. It was a terrific place for a laid-back vacation.

Back at the beach one afternoon and Alex was loving it. He was NOT a fan when the sun was out because it got pretty hot, but under the clouds and breeze he had a ball. Ben loved the beach no matter what and kept asking to go play in the water or dig in the sand. Our last afternoon there we stayed out until sunset to completely wear Ben out so hopefully he got his fill of the beach!

Our last evening on the balcony.

How do you keep a 2-year old busy in the car? Give him a tube of chapstick. It got us back to the airport without having to waste any battery on the DVD player. We liked flying Qantas but their kids' movies weren't great and I didn't want Toy Story to end before the flight did!

So now we're back home and completely unpacked from all of our trips. Coming back from such a long trip to the US, I wasn't totally thrilled about the idea of another trip and long flight but it was completely worth it. We got to relax and enjoy some time together as a family while we explored a new country. Our little travelers have now been to 3 continents! and they probably won't remember anything about it :)