Wednesday, July 23, 2014 after working for the day I take a taxi to the airport. Check-in was relatively painless; for the first time on a flight I was on passengers were being asked if they wanted to take a different flight as the plane was overbooked and had some issues with a few seats. No thanks, I'm good.....I need to get to the warmth.....
Unfortunately my upgrade to business class didn't come through, there is always a slim chance it might happen at the gate but highly unlikely given the flight is overbooked. I have a couple of hours in the lounge, first stop is to order an Aperol spritz. I'm told they have run out - double whammy! So Capri spritz it is. Not quite the same but not awful either. When I go up the second time the friendly bar man tells me he has a half bottle which they have been told to serve to VIP's - seems a little odd to me given it's not exactly a high end spirit. Ooh well. I feel like I'm back in high school as he "steals" me some :)
Finally time to board; the pilot announces it's a quick 6.50 hour flight to Sydney - now I'm pleased my upgrade didn't come through. Due to the curfews at Sydney airport we need to remain at the gate for a good 30 minutes before we take off. Not sure why the rush to get us all boarded then.
Thankfully the flight passes by fairly quickly - on arrival into Sydney it's a freezing 8 degrees.....ooh dear. I have a very quick trip through immigration, baggage and customs then the fun begins. For some strange reason Qantas is unable to help me on my onward journey as the flight is operated by Jet Star, what the?! So off I head to find the bus to terminal 2, where would you believe it I have to pay $5.50 - again what the?! I need coffee and quickly!!
The friendly bus driver makes up for some of the nonsense.
On arrival at terminal 2 I'm told it's too early to check in - I'm about to cry.....never again will I do a mixture of Qantas and jetstar.
I go and sit down to wait until I can check in, was told 15 minutes; my faith has been restored slightly when the check-in guy comes over and tells me the flight has opened up. Great I can get rid of the suitcase and walk over to terminal 3 for a shower and breakfast in the Qantas lounge.
I manage to get some sleep on the 1.5 hour flight up to the Gold Coast (airport); Mum and Dad had said they would meet me, they did but were slightly late.
The apartment we have has amazing views of the sea - as it's whale watching season I'm hoping we may spot one :)
It's only mid-morning but I feel like I've been hit over the head with a massive plank of wood!
We have lunch with someone who used to work with Dad and her husband; lovely seeing familiar faces again.
We walked home then Mum and I head across the road to the local shopping centre - a super quick look in the shops with much longer spent in the supermarket :)
Coolangatta is a township that sits in both New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD); would make life interesting when it's summer as part of the town would enjoy day lights saving time (NSW) while the other side (QLD) would not. Very confusing I would say!
We had drinks and dinner at home which suited me, means it can be an early night.
Friday, July 25, 2014 I woke at the lovely hour 6.30am....far too early to be awake so forced myself back to sleep and finally woke at 9am :) bliss!
We had a quiet morning in the apartment, love not having to rush!! Late morning we took the bus to Tweed City shopping centre - after a delicious coffee (how I miss thee) Mum and I left Dad and went and looked at the shops. Not overly exciting but nice to be able to 1) afford to buy basically everything (unlike a lot of the shopping centres in Singapore) and 2) be able to fit everything.....not everything is negative zero sizes here!
After having lunch and chilling out back at the apartment I went off for a 40 minute run, mainly along the water. Was cool in the shade with the wind!
Before heading out for dinner we relaxed with nibbles and wine :) Dinner was Japanese in the town area of Coolangatta - QLD side.
Saturday morning we walked into the township for coffee – Mum and Dad’s local while here
We had decided to take the bus to Broadbeach and as soon as we walked out of the café there it was….thankfully it stopped and let us on. The driver was very nice and let me on for free. I was told if an inspector came on to tell them all we had was a $50 note. The trip was so much longer than we expected, finally we arrive! Coffee is required.
Walking down the road we came upon Dracula's (theme restaurant) where we had been when we came to Surfers Paradise as a family about 20 years ago. I can’t believe it’s actually still standing.
After a much needed coffee we had look around the shopping centre before starting the journey home again! The whole way we were on the lookout for somewhere to stop for lunch. On the way we had passed so many places but of course when you aren’t looking for somewhere there they all are! We finally decided to get off the bus when we see a couple of places and thankfully ended up at a great place (The Outcider) for a very late lunch and delicious cider.
We were close enough to be able to walk back to the apartment – a nice end to the day.
The evening was spent at the apartment, drinking yummy vino watching the super 15 semi-finals.
Sunday (27 July 2014) after breakfast we went for a walk along the beach / boardwalk; great start to the day! We definitely were not the only ones out; and the amount of surfers in the water was huge. The massive highlight was seeing two whales – wow wow wow! Makes me want to go on a whale watching trip….hmm perhaps Canada next July…..
After coffee Mum and I did some last minute shopping then collected fish and chips for lunch. YUM!
We had the afternoon relaxing before heading out for drinks and an early dinner.
Monday morning after some last minute packing and breakfast I was off, took the 9.20am bus to the airport for my 10.55am flight to Sydney where I would have around 3 hours before my flight to Singapore. It’s been a wonderful relaxing 4 days, shame I wasn’t staying for a few extra days.
I wonder where in the world my next trip will be…….
