11 - 15 February 2013 – Gold Coast

Another week underway, Josh headed off to work and the kids and I sat down to start our week of school and rain-watching, a sport which we’d all become accustomed to.  I gave the kids a morning tea break and we headed over to the office area so the kids could have one more play with Stephanie before she headed home.  All the kids ended up playing bingo in the kids club area while I chatted to the parents…. it was a shame that we didn’t meet these families earlier in our time at Treasure Island.  Once our new friends were picked up bound for their home near Albury, we made a quick call to D for his sweet 16^th birthday (I can’t believe that all those years have gone) and got back to the van to do a little more school work.  Josh was home pretty early so we all decided to head for the spas and take some time to relax before the rain again picked up.

Tuesday was pretty much the same as the previous day but this time we just spent all day in the van doing the usual schoolwork while Josh was at work. Sami had some fun doing maths with paddle pop sticks while Zoe made a mobile that relates to her literature book, The Web.  There was very little happening, and so very little to report on.

Wednesday was the kids’ favourite day to date on the Gold Coast as we finally made it to Dreamworld and Whitewater World.  It wasn’t fantastic weather but we didn’t spend all day in the rain.  We went on nearly all the big rides in Dreamworld and then headed over to Whitewater World for a few hours in the afternoon.  The best part for me was the short lines!!  I love it not being school holidays and not being the weekend and wouldn’t do it any other way.  Zoe’s favourite ride is the Giant Drop at about 120 metres high and speeds up to 135km/hour and for Sami it was both the Buzz Saw and the Cyclone (like the old style roller coasters that throws a few loops in).

Thursday rolled around - Valentine’s Day!  Not much happening here though.  More school work for the kids and I and Josh spent another day “at the office”.  In the afternoon, the kids and I ducked up to the shops to grab some groceries so that we could make a special dinner for our Valentine.  When we returned back to the van Josh was already there with a lovely bunch of red roses.  However, what was I meant to do with them??  I had no vase and the caravan is quite small so even if I had a vase, I’d still have nowhere to put the flowers.  Josh found a makeshift water bottle / come vase and we stood them outside in the miserable weather.  We would walk out of the van often over the next week and find the flowers tipped over and laying on the ground somewhere…  Dinner was lovely!! We had a mango and avocado prawn salad entrée, followed by a creamy pesto chicken pasta main and then some mango and white chocolate ice-cream in a little meringue for dessert.  Lucky we don’t have meals like this all the time as our clothes would need updating every couple of weeks.

Friday was a challenge as the kids had to complete the final bits of their school work so that we could send our first parcel back to their teacher.  It was a bit of fun as we still had quite a bit of craft to get done, including weaving a landscape.  Josh was home fairly early in the afternoon so he could pull off our broken bike rack off the back of the caravan and take it to Joey’s for welding back together.  It was a challenge getting this part into the small car that his work had lent him for the stint on the Gold Coast but with a bit of patience he finally got it there.  The girls and Josh jumped in the car and headed to Burleigh to drop this off while I stayed behind (main reason being there was no room in the car for a fourth person).  Due to the bad weather and traffic, I had a few hours on my own to pack up the school work and amalgamate everything ready for sending back to their teacher.  By the time Josh got back, he had two extra passengers, Joey and Tooks, and was only around long enough to drop the kids, get changed and race back out.  He was headed out for the night with these two lads and Jack (an apprentice from Lander).  I think it was around 3.30am when he arrived back a movie – another relaxing night at home!