Gold Coast, Australia

Back to reality again after two glorious weeks on the Gold Coast where the weather was simply "beautiful one day, perfect the next" (and to make matters worse, we returned to ungodly PSI levels).

Lots of pics to post this time around, starting off with the apartment we stayed at. Located practically on the beach, this 27th floor 3 bdrm place offered breathtaking 180 degree views. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...

















Unfortunately, Alicia is like deathly afraid of getting sand on her feet and the one time we decided to expose her to the beach to try and rid her of this un-McGregor like phobia, she yelled, screamed, hollered, sobbed and convulsed so badly that any sane, loving parent would think twice before subjecting her to that kind of trauma in the near future.

That put a very quick end to any planned beach activities.

Other things though, she was more game to try. We took her to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary to experience koalas and kangeroos and other indigenous Aussie animals like the echidna. Initally apprehensive, she got coaxed into stroking the koala but was still very wary of the 'roos and was satisfied to just let mum and dad feed them.

We even managed to develop an afternoon routine while we were there. After Alicia's daily nap, we would take a stroll downstairs around the back of the apartment building where there was a large pond with ducks and geese and other assortments of birds (including peacocks!) that roamed freely, waiting patiently for kind visitors to hurl them a bread crumb or two.
















Right next to the pond was a playground that really tickled Alicia's fancy when she first noticed it, then she realized that it was based in sand which kind of annoyed her as it meant she couldn't run around in it as she please....not unless she wanted to risk getting sand on her precious soles .....god forbid.

But she had heaps of fun riding in the swing and even learnt to make "wheeee" sound effects to accompany the upswing.

We also took her to Sea World thinking she might be excited about seeing some sea animals but throughout it all, she remained rather nonchalant, nowhere close to the shrieks and squeals that evoked tears of joy when she saw Barney "live". The only thing that seemed to vaguely enthrall her was the dolphin show where she sat still, mesmerized for 20 minutes solid (which for a hyper-active 2 year old is a feat in itself).

The funny thing was, Alicia got the most amusement and entertainment not from the zoos or seaworld but the "cheapest" place for us - Toys 'R' Us. It was cheap in the sense that it did not cost us the bloody AU$63 per adult like it did for Sea World but given the amount of time she spent amusing herself there, it was inevitable that we ended up spending on toys that amused US as well. (Remember the slinky - we had to get that and relive our childhood memories).
Alicia checking out the playhouses at Toys 'R Us


The other big part of this holiday was just catching up with the in-laws again. Here's Alicia spending time with her grandparents and uncles (to whom she got really close as they chased her around the apartment playing "peek a boo").

Sigh....still nursing the holiday bug. Am already checking my calendar to figure out when we can take our next vacation.