Last week we went away to Coolangatta for a holiday at the beach. It ended up being a mixed weather holiday on the Gold Coast. The moment we arrived we had great weather. I knew that Brisbane and the Gold Coast were going to get rain from the middle of the week, so we made the most of the gorgeous clear skies by spending time down at the beach. It was Magdalene’s first experience on a beach. She preferred to be held while the waves lapped her feet which ended up being a perfect depth for Esther to swim in.
It started to turn overcast on Tuesday but we still headed to the beach. You can see the sky in the background of this picture with myself and the girls. We stayed at Reflections on the Sea which is the building directly behind me. It can be quite pricey during peak seasons, but we got a good deal staying in low season. You can also see that my legs blend in with the colour of the sand. My skin doesn’t tan and I have never had a successful experience with tanning cream so I go as I am. I had one retired lady who was brown as chocolate with extremely wrinkly skin laugh at me and ask me if I was from down South? I laughed back and replied nope, I’m from up North. Both Esther and Magdalene inherited their dad’s skin that tans quite easily. I still slapped the SPF50+ sunscreen on us all because I’m pretty anal about skin protection because my family has a history of skin cancer.
By Wednesday the rain had really set in on the Gold Coast as you can see from the picture below, so we headed to Robina for some shopping and morning tea at Max Brenner. My parents and my grandparents came down from Brisbane to meet us there and we had a great morning.
On Thursday, it really bucketed down and we didn’t want to stay cooped up in our apartment so I did a quick Google search for Indoor Play Centers and decided to head to AbraKidazzle at Southport for some indoor play fun. Esther had a ball and I loved that there was a section exclusively for the 1 to 3 year olds so that Magdalene could crawl and play to her heart’s content. The playground is massive and there is so much for kids to play on and entertain themselves with. There is also a jumping castle which means the kids can completely knacker themselves so they have a good afternoon sleep.
After AbraKidazzle, we decided to head to Harbour Town to do some shopping. I was specifically looking for boots that would fit my size 10.5-11 feet. It really isn’t the best place to shop when it is raining cats and dogs outside because it is set up like an open mall. But I always seem to get a bargain there and since we were staying on the other side of the Gold Coast, I wanted to kill two stones with one trip. Both girls were happy to sit in the pram and be pushed while we went into the half a dozen shops we wanted to visit.
I got two pairs of boots from Joanne Mercer for $85 which I was pretty pleased with. We then headed to Donut King for an afternoon tea treat and while we were chomping away, I noticed the Seed Outlet Shop and told Jacob I wanted to have a look in there before we left. Esther followed me into the shop and Jacob pushed Magdalene in the pram because she was starting to get a bit whingey. I didn’t realize Esther had left the shop and gone out into the mall to look for Jacob.
As Jacob was pushing the double pram with one empty seat back up the mall, an older gentleman asked if he had lost a daughter. Jacob said no, but asked the man to show him what girl looked lost. And it was Esther! She had found a new pair of gumboots on sale in Seed, put them on and walked out of the shop to jump in muddy puddles. But she couldn’t find her daddy. She was only one shop down from where I was and I’m thankful nothing sinister could have happened. I didn’t realize she had walked out of the shop and I couldn’t believe the cheekiness of changing her shoes in the shop and walking outside in the new ones that hadn’t been purchased so she could walk in the RAIN! I bought the boots which were a bargain for $11 and surprisingly (and thankfully!) she had put on her right size. I let her jump in the puddles and get wet in the rain while we walked back to the car.
Friday morning turned out to be miserable too. Jacob took Esther to the movies to see Mr Peabody and Sherman, and Magdalene and I walked down the main street of Coolangatta and I bought a few homewares and jewellery. Creative Waves and Somewhere were two boutique shops that had gorgeous wares and I spent quite a bit of time browsing their store, eyeing off all the beautiful clothes and gifts. In the afternoon the rain and gloomy weather had finally started to depart but it was still windy. I went to Ella Bache for a facial and massage and when I returned we took the girls to the pool for a swim which was freezing.
What is your favourite type of holiday? If you live in Brisbane or the Gold Coast, how have you fared with the wet weather?
