Hello hello! So sorry that I have not written in so long 😦 I have been traveling a lot and we just had midterm season so I have been very busy, but I am excited to have time to write again! (Warning: The pictures will do most of the talking in this post!)
2 weeks ago, Oliver arrived in Aussie!!! He flew in from DC and after 3 different flights (and 30+ hours of traveling), he landed in Gold Coast on Sunday, February 16th, 2020 around 11:45 AM! I was so excited to see him, even though he scared me at the airport by coming up from behind me. We spent that first afternoon relaxing since he was jet-lagged and then we had dinner on the beach in North Burleigh!
On Monday 17/2/2020 (it has been hard getting used to writing the date like this), we woke up at 4:50 AM and watched the sunrise on the beach. Around 10 AM, I gave Oliver a tour of Bond Uni! It was a lot of fun to show him where I have been living and he loved it! We had lunch at Lakeside (the dining hall) and I watched him struggle to open a ketchup packet (they are very different here). I also got to show him how the cross walks work, the correct side of the sidewalk to walk on, and other little things that you may not expect to be different but are, and it makes a difference!
After lunch, we went to Burleigh and I showed him Burleigh Heads National Park and Tallebudgera Creek! We went to jump off the bridge there and saw a few stingrays swim underneath us! We waited a few minutes before jumping and then jumped together twice. Oliver also enjoyed swimming between shores of the creek. Later that night, we explored a little bit of Surfers Paradise before grabbing groceries from Woolies (a supermarket) to make dinner. It was a beautiful sunny day in Gold Coast and a great way to start the week of adventures!
On Tuesday 18/2/2020, we explored Currumbin Animal Sanctuary and spent a little over 4 hours there. There was SO much to do. The first animal we saw were bin chickens (formally known as Australian white ibis), which are basically the raccoons of Australia. They are known for rummaging in the garbage, which is why the Aussies complain about them.
Next, we headed to the koalas! We both got to hold a koala and it was so cute! Afterwards, we spent a lot of time with the kangaroos. Many of the kangaroos had joeys in their pouches so we got to see the mothers taking care of them and we even saw one mother kick her joey out of the pouch for feeding time! It was a really hot day, so a lot of the kangaroos were keeping cool in the shade. At the sanctuary, they let a lot of their animals roam around freely, so a lot of the kangaroos were just hopping around in the grassy areas, along with an emu who was just minding his own business.
We got to watch a short crocodile behavior show, where we saw a 5 meter saltwater croc that was over 800 kilos and ol! Other animals we saw included, wallabies, Tazmanian devil, dingos, lorikeets, echidnas, red panda, capybaras, tree kangaroos, a lot of awesome birds, and so much more! It was so much fun to see all of the native Australian animals that I have always learned about!
That night, we made dinner then went for a swim in the pool before passing out after a long and hot day at the sanctuary. We had beautiful weather in Gold Coast and the timing could not have been more perfect! Before Oliver arrived, it rained from February 2-February 14, so I was ready for some sunshine! 🙂
I am going to split this week into 2 separate blog posts so click on the next one to hear about the rest of the week and our trip to the Whitsundays! More pictures from our adventures below!!
Ali's Australian Adventures 