One of the many pleasures of this trip is being able to visit with friends. Our stop in Gold Coast was primarily to do just that. Julia’s closest friend in the YA program was from New Zealand but now lives in Australia in the Gold Coast. She sang at our wedding and the last time we had seen her and her husband was when they lived in Edmonton for a few years, which was pre-kids for both couples. We got to spend almost a week with her and her family and it was great to catch up with them and for the kids to meet. So most of our time was just hanging out and doing school while their kids were in school, but we did a few side trips as well, along with a few surprises.
Kindred spirits!
A hike down one of the many beaches along the Gold Coast.
More than one night and afternoon were spent playing Monopoly, though the New Zealand version so all the names and pieces were different!
One of the surprises (for us) was a visit from the ’96 YA from Ghana. Though he was from ’96, he was on staff for ’97 and therefore participated in Julia’s year. I had met him twice before, once in Prague and once in Canada when he lived in Montreal.
We celebrated by having a picnic feast on the beach with everyone.
The girls braved the waves for a swim.
We also did some swimming at their home association pool as well as a river in town.
The next surprise was a visit from the ’97 Australian YA. She lives on the north side of Sydney but had a business meeting in the Gold Coast. We missed having all 4 of them together by one day! We decided the massive charcuterie board on the beach worked so well the day before that it was worth repeating again.
Their oldest son just started at a school back in New Zealand on a rugby scholarship. Rugby is a big thing for this family, with all three kids playing! Since they had a spare bedroom, our friend has taken up a boarder who is an assistant at their kids school, but who is also playing on a pre-pro team, trying to see if he can make it. So we got to attend one of his rugby games and learn a bit about rugby culture.
It was also a joy to join them at their church.
We also got introduced to the right way of eating Vegemite (or Marmite in this case which is the Kiwi version since they are Kiwis 
). Really it is a condiment and a little goes a long ways. It does have a strong flavour and it is quite salty so a little bit on toast with tomatoes actually wasn’t too bad. I’m sure putting a ton on or eating it straight would be less than ideal, but I feel the same way about other strong condiments such as wasabi or even ketchup. Like it on stuff, don’t care to eat it straight, and too much doesn’t work either.
Our biggest day trip that we did with just our family was to the David Fleay Wildlife Park. He is a famous conservationist pioneer in Australia and was the first to breed platypuses. Though not a large park, it was great to see a few of the animals we had hoped to see in Australia.
There were two types of crocodiles: estuary (saltwater) and freshwater.
Dingoes and wallabies.
And we came face to face with a Cassowary! My, they are big. Everyone was glad we saw one here and not at Mossman Gorge in the wild!
It was also pretty fun to see a platypus.
The real stars of the park though was the koalas. Julia said they were her favourite animal we have seen so far. Too bad you can’t keep them as pets.
We also saw some kangaroos, but not at the park. They are bit like deer in North America: plentiful and tend to come out at dawn and dusk. We went driving one night with the YA from Ghana to go looking for them at the normal parks and fields where they congregate, but none were to be found. The next morning though, looking out their window up the hill, there was this pair having breakfast.
We had such a blessed time with this wonderful family and we all lamented that we live on the opposite side of the world from each other. They were gracious hosts and we will miss them.