thursday october 29th.

7am. we sure are getting to be really good at this early rising, thanks to alex and his roomate's car, we were to the airport within 20 minutes. we flew about an hour in the air and arrived to the "coolangatta airport'' ....or for namesake purproses- the gold coast region of australia. this adventure was to begin by one of kate's aunt's brother's sisters' (did-ja get that?!)- Jan picking us up from the airport and welcoming us into her home for the next three days. (thanks again jan, your hospitality was more than perfect!)...

she began by taking us the beach route tour of the place she has called home for the past twenty years- through this we saw the beaches of; tugun, kirra, currumban, palm, and burleigh beach... each more stunning to the next. we even got to meet her adorable neighbors who consider jan a second 'mum'-- they had never met any americans before, and were more than thrilled to hear our accents.

with the sun in full shine, kate and i were in need of some rest and relaxation. operation plant it on the beach. after making sure we had every spot covered with spf 70 on kate, we grabbed a bite to eat, and headed for the sand. there is just something about the ocean breeze, with the sun beating down on you, and sand in every crevice of your body... i felt like we were in heaven.  somehow we missed a few spots on our bodies and kate went right to the color of a lobster. it was time to head home... a quick shower, and some time with jan's pups and it was off. 

 each night of the week aussie's seem to have a theme. jan helped explain this more thourghly in which: thursdays' theme- shopping night. all the shops stay open till at least 9pm---yah, to us that sounds like normal, but typically everything shuts down at or before 5 in aussie. jan was insistant we had to go see the new shopping mall they had just built near her house-  
robina town centre. first of all, the place wasn't even a mall, it was a freaking monstrosity. even though i live in the mecca of all shopping districts on michigan ave, i was impressed. the engineers have got this place right!! from the decor of ---chandeliars drapping the ceilings, to the moderisitc feel with paintings and leather couches streaming the walk areas, the place is of perfection. however, i do have to note the best part about this 'mall'---the parking lot--- okay, imagine....you drive in, and it automatically tells you the amount of spaces the lot has and how many are available on that level, then once you drive onto the level above EACH spot there is a light. either it is green (empty), or red (full)... HELLO, GENIUS? how many thousands of hours have we wasted driving around parking garages looking for a spot. next question. um, why haven't we thought of this? 

after getting back to jan's i discovered one last thing for the day. tim tams. holy heaven. it's a type of cookie chocolate bar, that literally melts in your mouth and once you have one, you can't just stop there... i think i've aquaried a new addiction. so, it's off to cairnes tommorow!!

xoxo,
simon.