For the next six weeks are house sitting for friends who have an amazing home on the Gold Coast in a city called Surfer’s Paradise. We don’t surf, but they got the paradise part correct.
Our task is to look after the house and it’s occupants: Honey, Cuddles and Shine (the cat).
We settled in quickly, although it did take a while for us to get used to having the sun come up at 4:45am. After all, ‘if the sun is up, you should be too”.
Local transport around the village of Sanctuary Bay is mostly done by golf cart, although we have had need to take the car to a couple of places. Driving on the other side of the road came back quickly, as we have lived in Australia, England, and Ireland and have had to drive on the left before.
Yesterday we saw kangaroos for the first time this trip. They were standing on one of the local golf courses observing the game. We are told since this is a sanctuary, the wildlife always gets to “play through”.
The house sits on one of the canals that criss cross this area. We will be exploring them, first by canoe and then later via jet ski. But first we have to get licensed to ride the jet ski. If we get caught riding without the certificate, our house (the owner of the jet ski) will get fined.
We will be here for six weeks, so it is sure we will have lots to share.
A note on visiting Australia – Americans do need a visa. It is not hard or expensive to get, you can do it online (it takes about 15 minutes), just make sure you do it before you travel.