It’s summer on the Gold Coast and we are finding plenty to do to entertain ourselves.
Since we technically are still tourists, we decided to do one of the ultimate touristy things – we attended a staged production by the Australian Outback Spectacular called Heartland. Maybe staged is not the correct word to use, since the show was presented in a upscale indoor rodeo with arena. A combination of horses, cattle, cars, trucks, 4 wheelers, singing, dancing and amazing choreography (most of it on horseback) was sewn together with very creative use of scenery projected onto the arena via an extremely sophisticated lighting system.
The story was a familiar Australian tale: cattle ranchers in the outback struggled to hang onto their farms through a severe drought. There was a love story, comedy and a villainous banker who tried to foreclose on the ranch. We were amazed how they were able to serve a three course meal to the whole arena while the showers was taking place. And we got hats!
About 40 minutes drive from the house is the Burleigh Heads National Park. There are many walking tracks within the park itself including the Ocean View Walk around the the rocky headland; the Rainforest Circuit which takes you through the park where you can view beautiful plant and bird life. Along the way there are many places that allow access to the beach. We went on a Saturday, so the beaches and trails were busy, but everyone was friendly and we had a great hike of about 3 miles or so. The views were amazing!
On another evening, we caught a ride from friendly Uber driver Dave. We went to wander through the Night Quarter
Rows and rows of storage containers have been converted to create alleys of shops, food vendors, beer stands and live music. This is truly a locals hangout, we were among extremely few tourist at there. The food was excellent, the beer was cold and cheap and the music was energetic. Definitely worth a visit.
George’s birthday dinner was a special evening. We sat at the edge of the lagoon, at the Intercontinenal Hotel 
a table with fine china and while linen table cloths and our bare feet in soft white sand. Dinner was a giant seafood buffet, with oysters, crab, jumbo shrimp (they call them prawns here) and an amazing dessert bar. Our waitress Kelsie made sure that our glasses stayed full of champagne and then red or white wine which flowed freely throughout the night. All in all, a delightful experience at a very reasonable price of for an “all you can eat (and drink)” meal In an ideal setting.
In 1970 Steve started working with reptiles at his parents nature preserve in Northern Queensland, at 10 he wrestled his first crocodile while his father looked on. Later Steve married an American from Oregon (Teri) and together tho two launched a film series aimed at raising consciousness about wildlife conservation and raising money to expand the preserve his parents had started.
We generally wake up pretty early (the sun rises a round 4:45AM here). The very first thing we do when we actually get up is take the dogs for a walk. Cuddles generally leads and Honey straggles along behind. We walk into the “village” and back – about a mile and a half round trip. 
Some days I go for a swim in the pool and George works out on the exercise equipment at the house, yesterday we started canoeing on the canals behind the house. Afterward we shower and get ready for the rest of the day. 
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”.
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.
Our Air BnB looked a little dodgy from the outside but once we got in we realized we had gotten a great deal, for a clean well appointed flat at $130 per night.
Our bartender Wayne made us the best Mai Tais that we had ever had. We dined on local Poke so fresh it was amazing. Live music, women Hula
We closed the place down at 9:00 and headed back to our flat, to get some rest for long day of flying ahead of us the next day.
Things have been moving along at a breakneck pace. We got a great offer on the house and it is now in escrow and we close on Friday. We moved out of the house over the weekend, we sold and delivered both of our cars and we’ve been having farewell parties, large and small, for the past month.
Home upgrades before the house went on the market included renovations on the kitchen (cabinets, flooring & granite), new hardwood floors, adding central air conditioning, new carpet in the master bedroom, new lighting and fresh paint inside and out. The house in now officially 
