My sister in law, Zoe and her daughter, (my niece) Jessica arrived in the
GoldCoast at
Coolangatta Airport on Sunday February 7
th in the afternoon on Jet Star. As Murphy's law dictates, the 45 minute flight arrived one hour late! No worries!
At least, by the time they arrived, the sun finally came back out after quite a few days of rain because of the King Tides. The
weather mate was finally forecasting a gradual clearing over the next few days.
WoooooHoooooo!
So, we got to spend some time on the beach, where Jessica tried her hand at
boogie boarding announcing that she would be spectacular at it !
Jessica finally concluded that
boogie boarding is not as easy as it looks and that Ocean water is mighty salty!
We also spent some quality time at the pool, which we had to ourselves a lot of time!
I never realised how much that "Calgary girl" of a sister in law of mine
loooooooooooooooooooooooves water!
Zoe can swim and float; now that's impressive to me as to my knowledge, none of the
Winkler clan (including me!) can float to save our lives! We are
buoyancy challenged... must be our heavy big bones!
We took a
trek to Surfers Paradise one afternoon and enjoyed a day at the Spa!
...but I think that the highlight for Jess was our day at
Currumbin Sanctuary. Every animal there that could be fed, held, hugged or otherwise loved was granted an audience with Jessica...she stopped short at the salt water crocodile as he just did not look like he was in a very loving mood!
What looks like a green field in back of ladies is actually a b
illabong (stagnant lake attached to a waterway), where the crocodiles enjoy hiding out. Salt water
crocs can hold their breath under water for as long as three hours, and are the fastest moving reptiles so one toe stuck into that water can make you lunch!
A baby crocodile that has succumbed to Jessica's charms!
This lizard, lizard stalked out through the park all day! Sometimes he was in disguise, but we recognised him!
A Red Tree Kangaroo!
Zoe and Gabriele caught on film!
There is our stalking lizard lizard again!
Jessica snake girl of the wild, wild east!
Oh man, said the Koala bear, I'm so tired!
Jessica feeding a
Roo!
As the girls slept with the window open at night, they heard strange noises in the trees outside their room. We started watching the next sundown and soon realised the tree was the local
night time hang out for the Black Flying Fox bats. Firstly, they are very big, with a wide wing span...they cannot see, so they emit a type of
squeaking sound to locate a tree to not so much land on a branch as fall into the foliage! Once a branch is found, they hang upside down in the tree until they feel danger approaching! They are so cool!
