Miami, Queensland, Australia - Day 4

Monday, January 27, 2025

Today was the observed federal holiday for Australia Day. It reminded me of Labor Day Monday back home in the United States where all the parties and celebrations happened over the weekend, and Monday is the day everyone uses to catch up on chores at home. Today is the last day of summer break for Australian kids.

I wondered if many businesses would be closed today given the government holiday, but everything seemed to be open as normal. Andi, Aden, and I were awake around 5:00am this morning, and decided to have breakfast together across the street from our condo around 6:30am. Tory was still asleep, so we decided to let her. She probably wouldn’t appreciate being woken up two mornings in a row.

Australians seem to be a “morning people” culture with businesses opening early in the day. This is different than many of the places we’ve traveled in recent years (Europe and South America) where people tend to start their days later in the morning and stay awake later into the evenings. Andi and I much prefer the “early to rise” daily rhythm.

Andi picked a restaurant called Caffeine Kings, an all-day breakfast place with a Korean spin. Andi ordered the brekky bibimbap with rice, avocado, veggies, a fried egg, and bibimbap dressing. Aden picked the chicken teriyaki bowl with rice, and I had two poached eggs with sourdough toast, bacon, and mushrooms. Our food tasted excellent, and it was fun to have a little solo time with Aden, too.

Andi text Tory that we’d bring her back a breakfast treat, so the three of us walked to Paddock Bakery. This is one of the most popular restaurants in the area, and it was easy to see why. The bakery’s large garden patio was tucked secretly beneath big, overgrown trees. Passing by, we wouldn’t have notice the place had we not had the address and location in mind.

Inside the rustic wooden gate were dozens of patrons enjoying coffee and breakfast, and a long line of people out the door of a weathered cottage-turned-restaurant. We took our place in line and ordered a Nutella cruffin (cross between a croissant and a muffin), a raspberry jam doughnut with pink frosting, and a fairy bread danish filled with buttercream and topped with sprinkles and silver flecks.

The three of us took the pastries to-go, vowing to come back to this restaurant for a proper meal before we leave Miami. We walked several blocks back to our condo unit to deliver the pastry goodies to Tory. It was already hot and steamy outside at 8:00am with lots of locals on the sidewalks running, walking their dogs, or making coffee runs.

Tory voted the Nutella cruffin the best. I personally liked the raspberry doughnut most. Fairy bread is a classic Aussie kids treat that I just had to try, but this danish version left us all with something to be desired. Its flavor was just a little too plain.

Our family spent the next hour or so lounging around our condo unit, cooling off in the air-conditioning. It’s surprising that not many places are air-conditioned here on the Gold Coast given the warm year-round temperatures. The weather in Miami, Queensland is similar to the weather of Miami, Florida — which, by no coincidence, is where this city gets its name. Every local we’ve talked to has said they like the heat, and that’s why they love living here. I suppose then, the lack of air-conditioning in restaurants doesn’t phase them.

There was a big Australia Day run/swim race happening on Burleigh Beach this morning that I really wanted to see, so I prodded Andi to go for a walk with me to see if we could catch some of the action. Neither Tory or Aden were interested in leaving their air-conditioned accommodations.

I love how easy it is to be active in this area of Queensland. Andi and I walked across the street to the beach boardwalk (or Oceanway track, as it’s locally known), and headed south toward Burleigh Heads. The beach and the boardwalk weren’t as busy as they’d been over the weekend, but there were still quite a few people exercising or grilling at one of the many BBQ stations along the path.

Notice the people running/walking on the opposite site of the path. It’s mentally challenging to stay to the left when walking! I’m certain driving on the opposite side of the road will pose a challenge for us in future weeks as well.

Unfortunately, the run/swim race was over; we arrived to find the awards ceremony taking place. Andi and I continued walking to James Street — the main shopping district in Burleigh Heads. Andi suggested we stop in to one of the Thai massage places to see if they had any appointments today. Both of our bodies were feeling tight from our long travels this past week.

The first Thai massage place didn’t have any immediate appointments, but the second place we stopped into — Sabai Thai Massage — could get us both in right away. Massage prices were broken into 15-minute increments with a choice of either regular or strong/firm pressure. Andi and I both selected a 60-minute massage with firm pressure for $90 AUD/each ($56 USD).

The massage rooms were nothing more than tables with privacy curtains surrounding them which felt a little strange. I could hear a customer on one side of my massage room talking to his therapist. His therapist kept giggling. Luckily, Andi’s room was on the other side of mine. Our massages were excellent though, and really worked out the kinks in our tight shoulders, backs, and hips.

Afterwards, Andi and I walked about a mile back to our condo at Mariner Shores. The kids were right where we left them, watching their iPhones on the sofa.

For our afternoon activity, we decided to spend the day at the beach. Our resort has a few beach toys for guests to use, but the front desk worker wouldn’t let us check any out this afternoon because they were closing early for Australia Day. So, the four of us packed up our beach towels, portable speaker, and bottles of water and headed to Burleigh Beach across the street.

The perfectly fine grains of sand are a pretty golden color along the Gold Coast of Australia. The beach wasn’t nearly as busy as it had been over the weekend. We laughed as the sand squeaked under our feet as we walked, and found a spot near the designated swimming area marked with yellow & red colored flags.

Beach safety is a top priority in Australia, and the number of lifeguards and quality of equipment fascinates Andi and I. Everyday, we’ve seen lifeguard stations set-up on various sections of the beach with tents, flags, jet-skis, and trailers of equipment. There are life guards on jet-skis patrolling the water and lifeguards on foot monitoring swimming areas.

Andi was curious about the process, so he approached one of the lifeguards to ask him about their system. The friendly lifeguard told him that there are 25,000 volunteer lifeguards in the Gold Coast, associated with one of 11 community life saving surfing clubs. These surf clubs work together to provide water safety & education, life saving services, training, and surf sports — all with the mission for zero deaths in Queensland ocean waters.

He said every morning, the lifeguard captain inspects the beach and determines safe areas for swimming. These sections are marked with red & yellow flags. It is drilled into the heads of local Aussies from childhood to only swim between the flags, so locals generally follow this rule. It’s tourists and intoxicated individuals who most often encounter dangerous situations in the water.

Andi said he really appreciated having lifeguard protection at the beach. He and Aden headed into the ocean to play in the waves while Tory and I laid on our beach towels. It only took a few minutes for Tory to overheat before she headed into the water with Andi. Soon, she scurried back and reported small, round jellyfish in the water. “I’m not going back in that water,” she said with a start, “I guess I’ll just sweat to death here on the sand.”

She only lasted a few more minutes before she decided to brave herself against the jellyfish. This time, the four of us went out together. Sure enough, there were dozens of blue button jellyfish floating in the shallow ocean waves. The lifeguard told Andi these jellyfish are mostly harmless to humans, but they would sting if squished. They didn’t seem to bother the locals because there were loads of kids playing in the waves between the yellow & red flag markers.

Around 5:00pm, the four of us decided to go back to our condo. The elevators are broken at Mariner Shores which means we have to walk up or down five flights of stairs whenever we come and go from our condo unit. It’s hot, and Andi & the kids grumble every single time we go somewhere. It doesn’t seem like the resort is in any hurry to fix the issue …

Andi had prepped meatballs, broccoli, and yellow potatoes for dinner before we left for the beach, so we got dinner going soon after arriving home. We were all hungry since we didn’t have much of a lunch, and we spent the afternoon in the sun.

While Andi grilled the meatballs and potatoes on the community BBQ flat-top grill, I steamed broccoli and toasted Naan bread in the kitchen. We ate together on the sofa again & watched an episode of Fuller House. I don’t know why the kids think this is such a treat, but they do.

“I have a mission for you,” Andi told the kids after dinner. “Go to the lobby and meet a guy for a special treat delivery.” Andi surprised us by ordering gelato from Burleigh Gelato on Uber Eats. The flavors were Cadbury Caramilk, cookie dough, and Tim Tam. Hands down, everyone liked chocolate Tim Tam the best.

The four of us ate gelato and watched our home church’s weekend service on YouTube. It took Andi and I a minute to realize we’ll have to watch church together on Mondays in Australia because we’re a day ahead of everyone back home in the USA.

Aden could barely keep his eyes open by the time 8:00pm rolled around. He was sound asleep shortly after we finished watching church, and Andi and I went to bed by 9:00pm. Tory has been staying up a little later, but she sleeps in later in the mornings than the rest of us, too.

So far, we’re all enjoying our time in Queensland. It’s been a great first place to start our trip — sunshine, relaxing, and plenty of things to see and do.