More Things This Weekend Has Taught Me - a Problogger Training Event debrief

One of the common tips you read a lot in the blogosphere is to use popular past content to guide your future posts. Well, as one of my all-time most read posts is titled "Things This Weekend Has Taught Me", I thought I'd do a sequel.

That post was about a stormy weekend with a blackout. This post is about an awesome weekend away at the Gold Coast for Problogger Training Event, an annual blogging conference. This year it was held at RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast. 

To say the weekend was great would be an understatement. This was my second time attending the event and once again I was impressed by the quality of speakers, the networking opportunities, the venue and mostly the value for money. 

What was I taught? That blogging isn't always about monetization (though I did know that already). That for a lot of people, reader engagement and community-building is more important. Sharing stories, solving problems, bringing joy or comfort or happiness are worthy goals too. 

I met so many people that I have known online for many years, and everyone was so kind and encouraging. I cannot describe to you what it's like to connect meaningfully with people of your "tribe", who GET what you're passionate about. I hope you have experienced this before because it is the greatest thing!

After two days of sessions and excellent company, I was exhausted but reinvigorated about blogging. I have lots of strategies to implement and ideas rolling around in my head. 

But the greatest thing of all was experiencing the event with my mum, who has just started a travel blog. She had a fabulous time too, and it was extra cool to see how wonderful the blogging community treats it's newbies. 

Did you go to PBEvent, or follow along on social media? What's the most important thing a conference has taught you?

I Do... Love a Wedding

I was never a girl who spent hours mentally planning my dream fairytale wedding. I went to a lot as a young child, having lots of cousins tying the knot as I grew up. I always appreciated the aesthetic pleasure of a pretty party as well as the romantic symbolism of marriage itself.

I still adore weddings. The main things I love about them are:
a) traveling, a wedding is sometimes a little holiday!
b) dressing up, always a good excuse to roll out the accessories
c) free food and booze, who doesn't?
d) catching up with family and friends

Recently a friend from uni, who along with her fiance has become one of C and I's best "couple friends", finally got married. They decided on the Gold Coast for their venue and the bride being a lady who knew what she wanted from the start, had planned a beautiful day and night for their nuptials.

The wedding was at a church in Southport. The bride arrived in a vintage car and of course, looked stunning in her beautiful ballgown dress. 



We then retired to Palazzo Versace for the reception, which was a bit of a show-stopper of a venue. The reception was lovely, and the champagne flowed easily.

We took an apartment at Main Beach for the night, and in the morning I wished we could have stayed a few days longer! Coast living really appeals to me. I had a cup of tea on the balcony in the morning and was just seduced by it all.

It has left me wondering... when's the next wedding please??

What was the last wedding you went to? Do you love them as much as I do?

A Day at the Beach

Last Friday, I got a text from one of my NSW cousins.

We're coming to the Gold Coast for the long weekend! Come see us!

So I drove down there to see them and their darling children. So did three of my other cousins, their partners and kids. It was a warm day - the water was much too cold for me, an aclimatised Brisbanite, but the kids all went in the surf and the pool.

I simply sat and enjoyed the feel of the super-fine white sand between my toes, watching the seagulls, lifeguards, tourists and even the surf rescue chopper go by. Pity I wasn't quick enough with the Nikon for that one.

I couldn't get over how many tall highrises there are at Surfers Paradise now. Much different from when my parents took me there when I was young!

Next time I will definately swim. If it's over 30 degrees. Ok, 33.

A Weekend Away

One of the things I have been saying for about two years now is that I wanted to go away for the weekend when we had the money. We haven't had the money to do it for so long, and a "cheap" hotel just wasn't going to cut it. Let me point out that we don't have champagne tastes here in this household, but there are minimum standards. Like a balcony. And self-catering facilities.

Finally, I got my annual leave payout from my previous job, and I decided to do what I've been promising myself for so long - actually have a weekend away. No, not a Dirty Weekend - just a getaway, the two of us, to actually be someplace other than home. To sit on a balcony with a drink and just look at the view. To have a whole afternoon with nothing to do and plenty of time to think of something. Things like that.

So I got on the accommodation websites and after swearing a bit about what the Sunshine Coast now costs (!!) I turned my search to the Gold Coast. Our second choice, but a cheaper one. I stumbled across a great deal for a self-contained apartment for the night, right in the heart of Surfers Paradise.

So on Saturday morning, down the M1 we cruised, eventually reaching our destination, Wyndham Surfers Paradise. It is a nearly-new place, and right across the road from Q1. I was seriously, seriously impressed by the wine bar in the lobby, and thought straight away that it seemed far too posh for the likes of C and me.

We checked in and checked out our room. It was decorated in a modern style, lots of bright colours and thankfully not a tropical fish or shell motif in sight (all too common in older units). It was a lounge, a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom and a balcony, and just plain perfect.

We took a short trip down to Burleigh Heads to visit a particular shop that C wanted to see, then stopped at the beach on the way back. It was grey and overcast, but I took the opportunity to practice my photography and I think I got a few good shots. I really miss the ocean sometimes. Even though I've never lived near it, I have memories of waking up to the sound of the surf from my childhood holidays, spent at a unit right on the beach at Tugan.

I had decided to cut costs a bit by planning an evening in - dinner in the unit and popcorn in front of the telly with a glass of wine. But first I wanted to check out the Surfers scene, so C escorted me down to Cavill Ave.

What a cosmopolitan place Surfers has now become! Walking along the boulevard, in parts it really reminded me of Bangkok, there were so many touts trying to get our attention. And shops full of junk, little restaurants selling Thai or Indian cuisine, strip joints, flashing neon and even a gambling den.

We actually got stopped by a Meter Maid. C was almost beside himself. Never seen one before, and of course produced $2 to put her in her donation bucket. I asked if he wanted a photo with her but then he got all bashful. I went and sat in what I believe is supposed to be King Neptune's throne.

Next was upstairs in the shopping mall to check out the prices for the indoor shooting range. C declared it a complete rort, and we walked out, though he conceded it is probably the only place in Qld you can legally fire a Desert Eagle.

We had a shake, then walked home. An evening in eating pasta and popcorn ensued, and a bottle of wine was consumed.

The next morning we toddled off home, and because I couldn't bear to acknowledge our Getaway Weekend was nearly over, we went to the movies. Pirates of the Caribbean topped off a great few days away.

We should do it again sometime.