Gold Coast, Australia - Days 1-3

So... here we are in sunny, hot Australia listening to some crazy sounding birds and letting the breeze blow through our room.
The journey getting here, not so fun. The flight totally kicked my butt! About 8 or 9 hours into our flight I was stretching my legs and noticed that although I couldn't necessarily feel anything I could feel my skin stinging, like it was so stretched it was about to burst off my legs so when the girl sitting next to me (she had the aisle) woke up I excused myself and got up to walk around and use the washroom. Well, my feet, ankles and legs were so swollen I'm sure my eyes were popping out of my head while I was looking at them wondering how in the world such small ankles could become so HUGE! Thankfully a steward walking by who told me I wasn't allowed to hang out in the aisles took me to some seats i assume to belonged to the employees and let me sit with my legs up against the wall for an hour while my toes and legs started to tingle again with life. With this out of the way I went back to my seat. Thankfully we arrived safely and a little ahead of schedule. I either ate something nasty or got some bug on the plane because during de-boarding and every moment after that I had to run to a washroom to puke! Thankfully this only last that one day which provided us with rest and relaxation in our hotel room and when we woke up the next day I was feeling human and ready to go.

So with Day 1 a total blow out we spend Day 2 exploring the shops, restaurants and beaches around the hotel. The beach is the biggest we've ever seen with no end in sight in either direction. The waves are huge and the surfers are out attempting to work their magic. It's hot hot hot which I don't mind considering the horrible cold snap hitting southern Alberta right now. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! After a long day of walking and exploring we were walking back to the hotel along the beach and noticed a bright orange line coming up from the ocean. The sun had gone down 1 or 2 hours prior and it was quite dark outside and we realized that the moon was rising into the dark sky! We sat down in the sand as we watched this huge, brilliant orange moon rise out of the water into the starry sky lighting up the small clouds and leaving a reflection along the water back to the beach. It was so amazing and something I had never heard about or seen before. Unfortunately our camera wasn't on us at the moment but hopefully we'll be able to catch it again before we leave!

The third day we decided to play in the ocean which was like ICE! So cold. Thankfully by 9am when we walked the 400m from the hotel to the beach it was already scorching so the walk into the ice waves was tolerable. The waves were so huge and could carry you to shore if you let them. There were surfers out already, people kicking their rugby ball back and forth in the sand and people running by getting their morning workout. The rest of the day was spent walking around and checking out the area since it was our last day without a car and I expect to be out and about venturing into the rainforests or petting me some Koala's!!