Byron Bay, Gold Coast and Noosa

Early April, 2013

Byron Bay


Here it is. The eastern-most tip of Australia at Byron Bay. The ocean and the beaches are great, but downtown Byron itself is a bit mad. We preferred our more laid back camp and beach spot near Lennox Head.

Yes, yes Riley, you can get in the water in a minute. Just indulge your mum with one photo....and try to look like you're enjoying it.

Archie just loves a lighthouse and this one at Byron is gorgeous.

Beautiful bay just south of Byron - you can see there is a lot of beach missing though.














 
The Gold Coast

The view from Burleigh Heads over the mouth of Tallebudgera Creek and Palm Beach in the distance (where my school buddy Kirsten lives).

A glorious morning walk to Burleigh with Kirsten - first time she's ever been taller than any of her friends!!

 

The funny thing about hanging out with Kirsten for a while is that (especially after a few afternoon wines) you always end up doing gymnastics.

 

 Quite badly!!!



The Theme Parks - back to the "Worlds" for one last blast. We loved the King Penguins at Seaworld - a more recent addition since I was there 26 years ago. The good old Corkscrew rollercoaster was still going strong though.

You can't go to Seaworld without watching the dolphins jump out of the water, which was nice and all that, but really.......

 

......it's all about the rides!!! This Jetski Rescue ride was a family favourite.

 

 

Pay Back Time!! Paul took almost psychotic joy in his frenzied drenching of the little kiddies on this Pirate ride. It was as if he was releasing eight years of parental  frustration with each blast of the water cannons.

It was clearly good therapy - we could hardly drag him away.

 

Happy Truck'n

The Sunshine?? Coast


Um, excuse me, this is supposed to be Sunshine Beach at south Noosa.

That's a bit better - main beach Noosa Heads

A lovely rolling swell comes into Noosa and hundreds of surfers pack the waves.

Some with a death wish

Get outa my way!!.....there was a fair bit of colourful language and a bit of carnage on the waves as we followed the beautiful Coastal Walk past several popular surf breaks in the Noosa Heads National Park.

 

Rowdy Moments

The Good: The dramatic, invigorating, soothing and mesmerizing coastline that frames NSW.
The Bad: Paul queueing for 30 minutes to get on the amazing 4G-Force Superman ride only to have it break down just as he was about to get on. After a soul-destroying 10-minute wait, he dragged his sorry butt back to the kiddies area.....Not Happy Jan!

The Ugly: While attemping to restore some of the 1400 lost songs on to my Ipod, I managed to lose all 300 of my phone contacts. That's it! It's smoke signals and homing pigeons from now on - technology and holidays just don't mix.