Coolangatta...

Last week, DH and I spent a night at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast. Both of us have fond memories of this area from the 1960s. Unlike a lot of the Gold Coast, there is still a 'laidback' charm about Coolangatta. 

Once again we were staying at Outriggers which has been rebranded as Mantra Outriggers...

Views from our balcony...Twin Towns Services Club across the road from the Mantra...

Looking south and east from our balcony...those 'triangles' in the middle of the photo mark the Queensland/New South Wales border...

And looking east from our balcony, the sweet little pink 60s motel...it's still here! 

As usual after we checked into our accommodation, we went for a stroll around...

Along the foreshore...

  Then up a side street...the old caravan park is now a lovely big park...

Named after DH's family??? (No I have to admit it was named after a former governor.)

The rather grandly named Coolangatta Transit Centre...

Then along a street that runs parallel to the foreshore...

When I was in my late teens, the Coolangatta Pie Shop was always a stop...such memories of those pies and doughnuts! All off the menu for us these days! 

That night we had dinner with former colleagues of DH when they all worked at Social Security (Centrelink). These friends chose George's Paragon cafe, a favourite of theirs...and what a wonderful choice...beautiful Italian and Greek food! There are a number of these restaurants/cafes both on the coast and in Brisbane. I can say we'll be going back again, that's for sure!!

A little break...

Firstly a big thank you to those who left supportive comments on my recent posts; 2 posts dealing with my 'Liberty Stamp Block Swap' dramas and the other recent one where I outlined the difficulties caused by my offspring being estranged from each other. Your comments and emails are much appreciated.

But last Thursday DH 'swept' me away to the Gold Coast for a little break which coincided with our wedding anniversary, and it was so nice to have those 2 days and a night away. 

We shopped at Harbour Town on the way...

Black Pepper had sent me an email saying that their clearance store would be having a sale while we were down that way, so I checked it out. I bought a few items at very good prices. Usually at clearance stores, they rarely have anything in my size but I was lucky this time!

I had heard people talk about a store at Tallebudgera called Fifi's Fabricology, so we decided to find it and have a look...well I would do the looking, I should say! I didn't take any photos but it was definitely worth the visit...there is just so much fabric!! But I only bought a new rotary cutter and some EPP papers. Here is the link to the website of this wonderful, but overwhelming store!

On the way back to the highway after visiting Fifi's we stopped for lunch at the Wild Bean Cafe which is in a small shopping centre at Tallebudgera. The food was delicious! DH had the Wild Bean Special and I had the Moroccan Beef Burger.

Our next stop was going to be a visit to some friends at Banora Point but about 1pm we got a call saying that they were both unwell due to a virus that had hit both of them...so instead we went to South Tweed to visit the store, Fantazia. (I have previously written about this store in this post, but the Giveaway is over !) . While I browsed through the 3 sections of this huge store, DH went for a walk. I bought some fabric and some 'precuts', some novelty buttons as well as a new cutting mat. By then it was time to head to our accommodation.

DH had booked us into Outriggers at Coolangatta...this is my favourite part of the Gold Coast. There's still a  bit of sea view through the other buildings...

Another view from our balcony...

Sneaky DH took a photo of me while I was taking those photos...

Then it was time to go for a nice long walk; we followed the path along the beachfront and then walked around some of the streets, looking in shop windows etc.

We got back to the room as darkness fell.
We dined at Twin Towns Services Club and then settled down to watch the free entertainment...a group called Steve Cummins and the Bar Studs. They played music from the 60s up till present day...lots of fun!

On Friday we caught up with 2 lots of friends; one lot for coffee and the other couple we met for lunch.
We dined at this place...nice food and prompt service in quaint surroundings.

DH has known these friends since they all worked in the Commonwealth Public Service. They were all a long younger then! lol.

And after our leisurely long lunch we headed home to Eduardo the cat who complained lustily about our going away and leaving him to be fed and spoiled by our neighbour!

A night away...

After writing 2 posts about our holiday in March april May this year, I'm now going to share our adventures a little closer to home; on a little 'overnighter' to the Gold Coast. For a number of years, DH and I have celebrated our anniversary at Jupiters at Broadbeach. We would take the Show, Room and Breakfast package, but this year there was no show in late June. But we get those emails of promotional offers (don't we all? lol) and so it was that there was an offer of Show etc that had to be taken before October 3. So off we went :-)
On arrival we checked in and were offered an upgrade...then we were told that this upgraded room was on the 20th floor which is a 'smoking floor'...so we stayed with the room on the 14th! lol . The room was lovely, with views east and south.

Looking towards Pacific Fair, a rather large shopping centre

In the years that we have been staying at Jupiters, the number of tall buildings on the 'beach side' has increased...

 Looking south ...

In the morning, while looking out the window, I noticed some Hi-Viz clad workers...

Window cleaning day...

I don't think I would like to do this maintenance man's job!

 No sir!

After a late breakfast DH and I headed for home...but not by the freeway. We travelled via some of the coast's hinterland.
Quiet, bush lined roads...

 A stop at Beechmont...

 Then back on the road...
We passed 'one of a kind' homes...

This one had sculptures in the front yard...

 Lovely country road...

 A very modern large home on acreage...

 How's this for a front yard?

 The lovely views beyond...

 Rolling hills...

As we neared Canungra we saw quite a few cars parked by the side of the road...

So we stopped too :-)
I'm so glad we did!
The locality was Rosins Lookout with views south to Mt Warning, nestled amongst the border ranges.

And this steeply sloping site was where the Canungra Paragliding club 'did their stuff'

My camera followed the progress of one of the club members...

 'Yellow' joins the others...

While we were watching the paragliders, DH pointed to some people sitting on the ground near us...

 Yes a little wallaby nibbling away on the grass!

He hopped towards us...

 It would have been churlish of us not to give him (?) a pat...

Then one of the men from the group sitting on the ground, came and scooped our new little friend up and took him(?) back to sit with them again...they were wildlife carers so this little fellow (?) was possibly orphaned.
What a stroke of luck that we stopped when we did :-)

Our little trip away continued...

DH and I are not into gambling but we love the shows that Jupiters' Casino put on in their theatre. They are always very professional entertainment and excellent value for money we find.

The view from our room, looking east

Looking straight down from out hotel window; the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition centre is on the top left of the photo

The monorail pulling into the Casino stop....

The Convention Centre with the tall buildings of Surfers Paradise in the background

When DH and I travelled in the US,we noticed that the concept of the 'mini bar' just didn't seem to be there. So I thought I'd take a photo of the mini bar in the room. Many years ago when motels and hotels started putting these in rooms, many people thought that the contents were free (like the tea and coffee) and would eat and drink the items...then they would be quite upset to be presented with large bills,when they were checking out. You see the items are very over priced!! In the photo directly below, the bottle of water was priced at $8!!! (It would be just over $2 in the supermarket)

Coffee/tea making facilities and a 'wooden' door...

 And behind the door is the fridge which contains the mini bar...

 Inside the mini bar....

No freebies here...

As well as the fridge mini bar, look what was in a cupboard behind a mirror...spirits, chocolates and crisps...

On Tuesday night we went to see the current show at the Casino. The show is Tap Dogs and I can say that DH and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It is unusual to see tap dancers wearing work boots I must admit, but these guys were amazing. The show goes for 80 minutes and the energy that these guys have is incredible! Here is a promo showing a little of the dancing.

After the show, we had a light supper in one of the restaurants in the complex. When we had checked in, we were given some vouchers to use. One of them was for 20% off a meal in this particular restaurant...very nice! (and it was lovely food too!)
The next morning it was a little overcast...but we were lucky as it didn't rain.

In fact by the time we had breakfast and leisurely packed up, it was quite sunny again as we prepared to leave...

I thought I saw our car outside the main entrance to the casino...

But it must have been someone else's as it wasn't a Camry...lol