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.

Date day

Since the boarder moved in, my fiancée and I have had very little time together. I’m working when he’s at home, he’s working when I’m at home. When we are both home, the boarder is there too. As a result, I’ve been sulking about being neglected and generally not paid attention to and resentful of evenings spent with the boarder rather than my other half. Weekends lately seem to have been filled up with separate activities so I resolved that on Sunday we were finally going to spend some time together, a “date day”.

I gave C some notice and asked him to think about what he would like to do. He wanted to go to the movies, but as this was not what I wanted to do I tried to steer him towards something where we could actually talk to each other, thus creating some “quality time”. In the end he just told me to pick something and he would go along with it. I am a genius.

I suggested a drive, like we used to do when we were dating. I pointed out it was a gorgeous day and I wanted to see the ocean, so off to the Sunshine Coast we went.

I have really missed cruising along in the truck with C. It was off the road for so long, and there is nothing quite like driving down the highway looking down on all the other cars from a great height, with the magnificent stereo blasting and the wind in my hair. I looked like Bridget Jones on a mini-break when I got there, but I didn’t care.


We had burgers and chips at Dicky Beach, but a walk on the beach itself was not on the cards due to inappropriate footwear (and a refusal to take off sneakers from one party). We decided to go for ice cream up at Maroochydore, but the lack of parking along the main strip meant a diversion to Macca’s for a McFlurry. Have you tried the new McFlurry? It’s terrible.

And then we went home. Sometimes you just need to get away from your own place and spend time actually talking to your partner. And for me, sometimes I’ve just got to see the ocean.

What do you do for quality time? Do you have “dates”?

*all images mine