rewind to coolangatta

last week i spent 6 days with kawika and scotty in coolangatta.  its right on the border between queensland and new south wales which made it the most confusing place i've yet been.  there's one hour time difference between the two states and the border is not straight so driving along its 6oclock, now its 5oclock, turn and its 6oclock again, etc.  on one side of the street all the stores and restaurants were closed, cross and everything was open.  not too bad if you're just wandering around but make an appointment, go to the movies, book a flight, you always had to check which time zone it was in.  kawika set my iphone to queensland time but i could never remember which one it was.  

i checked off a lot of my oz to-do list while i was there, i surfed at snapper rocks and byron bay (aussie waves are great, easy for out of shape surfers like me), ate vegemite (not bad, tastes kinda like licking a beef bouillon cube), finally figured out cricket, and saw lots of animals at the currumbin nature preserve.  

the nature preserve was pretty nice.  i'm not a big fan of zoos but i couldn't leave australia without seeing all the animals that you think of when you think of this place.  lots of poisonous and bitey things, snakes and crocodiles, endangered cassowaries, and the usual koalas, kangaroos and tasmanian devils.  i finally saw a dingo, i didn't know they were just dogs.  i went to a bird show, aboriginal dance and croc feeding.  

an hour into my visit my slippers finally broke, a very sad moment.  cynthia gave me a pair of slippers she found right before i left and they fit perfectly, and i've worn them every day since.  they've been up volcanoes, down rivers, and walked towns all over the place.  so i was barefoot in a nature preserve at the hottest part of the day in the hottest month of the year in the hottest year on record.  wasn't awesome.  so i went to sit in the shade and have lunch and my french fries were violently attacked by an ibis.  worse than the chickens at home, these things have 5 inch beaks.  i did find slippers for sale in one of the gift stores and now I'm wandering around in bright blue palm tree australia flip flops.  

i met a woman (claudia) who lives a half hour from me on kauai.  she's a friend of kawika's and i know her husband but have never met her.  we surfed byron bay together.  

wednesday was a big day at the house.  kawika and scott were both going back to work on thursday.  kawika works in nauru as security for a political asylum 'camp', on 2 weeks, off 1 week, so he spent a lot of his time off getting random stuff done.  scott took a mine job, 3 months in south australia as an emergency medical response guy.  much of the day was packing and last minute details while i lounged watching breaking bad.  

at one point i was in the mall and found myself jealously eyeing a set of matching dishware.  i think that's a sign that it's time to think about home again.

gold coast surf museum