Dragon Fruit

Jus commented that there were no pictures of fruit from Tropical Fruit World. Good point. So I trawled my pics and found only one of anything resembling fruit. Here it is.....ta daaaa

Dragon fruit cactus plant things...dragon fruit is very delicious and if you grew them you would just eat them all the time. They come in various colours, we ate yellow ones. mmmmm

If you see them in the shops, give them a try

Landed

Home from what seemed like a very short break away. However, it was fabulous to spend time with John and hang out in the warm of the Gold Coast. Not a lot of shopping or roaming went on, just lots of hanging out and being together.

A week in pictures

Grandad's place from the plane. (the brick place) Yes, that close to the runway at Coolangatta

The view from John's home, our place was the next door apartment, our view almost identical

Grandad waving a flag of farewell, funny as anything - our place just to the right.

Birthday celebrations

Trawling the mall

Me on the flying fox at Tropical Fruit World

Mt Warning from Tropical Fruit World just over the NSW boarder

Jonty and Nic in the Mexican garden at Tropical Fruit World Goanna at Tropical Fruit World

Locals at the Tropical Fruit World

Playing in Buccaneer Bay after a long and exciting day riding the chutes at Wet'n'Wild.

A great fun day and no sunburn. Balcony

Fish hunting with Sophia at Muwillanbar

Handing out the sweeties on the way home

Back from the Gold Coast

All back to normal after our little trans-Tasman adventure. Almost normal, still school holidays. We had a good time away and I am not exactly sure what we did each day as they tend to blend in to each other on the sunny GC, especially when it rains for days on end. Being the outdoor mecca for the Aussies and Kiwi's there isn't a hell of a lot to do when the weather is crap. However, we did manage to get out and about.

Sitting in the airport in quiet contemplation I saw a young woman wandering through the place that looked so much like Jasmine, and it was. Jonty had organised a surprise in Jasmine coming with us - a first time full family holiday. What a great surprise. That changed everything about the holiday. It was Jasmine's first out of NZ experience and although Australia is the country most like ours in the world, there are differences and it is a fun place to visit.

The great thing about the Gold Coast is the weather and the beaches. That hot and damp heat is like a tonic for chilly South Islanders, however, a Southerly wind prevailed for all but two days of the holiday so there was no humidity. It was a bit chilly but we still swum most days and I walked on the beach at 6.15 every morning. I was addicted to it and loved my alone time each morning.

This is my destination each morning - Flat Rock

...and the view south to Coolangatta.

Each morning we hot footed it down to the Currumbin Estuary for a swim in the pool that John swims in 365 days a year. It is tidal and warm and all the oldies go there for the slow swim that keeps them young and vital. We were there about 8 or 9 o'clock each day and it was perfect...except on the very wet days when we didn't visit.

The fish are gorgeous and come right up to you looking for tasty bread treats. People feed them as we did one morning. In a feeding frenzy Nic got bitten by one and was screaming the place down for a few minutes but recovered enough to see his bleeding and bruise as a badge of honour of an intrepid traveller. Next holiday instalment tomorrow.