We are home! After leaving K’Gari, we headed down to the Gold Coast for the Gold Coast Marathon Festival. We picked up daughter #2 from Brisbane Airport on the way. I want to share some of what we did in Noosa and more from K’Gari as well as a Gold Coast HM recap, but for now, I’ll share a few stories from our time at the Gold Coast. We stayed in Main Beach, right on the beach. This distracted Hubby as he kept spotting whales migrating when he was supposed to be working. I did a bit of work but also had some time for fun. My daughter and I went to the beach last Friday. She had forgotten her bathers, but I went swimming and caught a few waves. The ocean at Noosa had been flat while we were there, so it was good to have some waves.

On Thursday we went for a short walk at the Burleigh Head National Park. The kids and I had walked up to the lookout when we visited in 2018. This time we walked around the point first to Tallebudgera Creek.

After a short stroll on the beach, we headed up the steep path through the rainforest to the lookout.

While at the Gold Coast, we also had one special dinner at Kiyomi. We couldn’t decide what to eat and went with the set menu. It was all so good. There was an interesting sushi with the fish set on a small slab of fried rice, and the scampi was a highlight. Coincidently, Chase Kojima, the executive chef at Kiyomi, was on Masterchef the next day.

Friends from the running club also came up to run, so we got together with them various times over the weekend. We also caught up with a couple from our old church who were also running, so lots of socialising and some very early mornings with us running on Saturday and our daughter on Sunday.

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We left Gold Coast on Tuesday to drive the approximately 1800 km home. We stayed overnight in Gosford. It’s a big drive but easier along the coast than going inland. We stopped at the small grocery around the corner to pick up salmon and some veggies to cook for dinner. Our son has been staying home alone while we’ve been away, and when we opened the apartment door, we were greeted by an unpleasant smell. Let’s just say the kitchen was a mess, with some mince beef noodles in a frypan that I think had been there since Monday night, mouldy cheese rolls in a bag on the bench and an assortment of food in various stages of decomposition in the fridge. It was not the welcome home I’d hoped for. I cleaned a small section of the bench, so my daughter could start prepping the potatoes while I got stuck into the cleanup. While this happened, we opened the doors to air the place out, but it was cold. Our son did find time to get a tattoo while we were away … so there’s that.

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My veggie gardens have gone berserk while we were away. Unfortunately, my bok choy in the other bed is past it, and some of the Italian broccoli has flowered, but the kale is going well, and we should be getting peas soon. We’ve been eating some of the broccoli and kale in our dinners and lunches.

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Riley has been staying at the girls place while we were away. Our daughter dropped him off yesterday, and he loves the dingo that Hubby insisted on buying for him when we were on K’Gari.

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It’s been pretty cold here since we got home. The wind is freezing … I wore my gloves today when we took Riley to the park. I also did my first run post-race yesterday and have a bit of painful sciatica. The two days in the car, followed by cold temperatures, probably contributed. I’ll skip running tomorrow to get it right, especially since it will be cold and rainy. I’m looking forward to a cruisy weekend to settle back into home.

How about you? Do you have a busy weekend planned, or will you be taking it easy like me?