Miami, Queensland, Australia - Day 7

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Time to see some wildlife! This morning, Andi and I surprised Tory and Aden with a trip to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. This small zoo is one of the oldest wildlife sanctuaries in Queensland, featuring a number of Australian wildlife species. There’s also an animal hospital on site where injured animals are rehabilitated.

While a majority of the wildlife sanctuary is shaded by large trees, it was still incredibly hot & steamy outside today. Temperatures are consistently around 85 degrees, day or night. I know Tory doesn’t like the heat, but I hoped the distraction of cute kangaroos and koalas would help distract her.

Our first stop in Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary was to see Australian waterbirds. We perfectly timed our visit with a 15-minute ranger talk about pelicans and eels. It was fascinating to watch the pelicans catch an entire fish in their net-like bills, and then swallow it whole. One of the pelicans called Line has lived at the sanctuary since the mid-1970’s. The bird has an injured wing which prevents it from flying, so it lives a somewhat-wild life at the sanctuary.

The park ranger also fed the eels in the water a chicken carcass tied to a rope. She nearly lost an ankle during the process. “Whoo, that was a close one!” she said. There was quite a lot going on around her with birds and eels nipping for a bite of the carcass.

After the birds, the four of us walked to Kangaroo Country. We were surprised to find dozens of kangaroos lounging under some trees in a wide open area. I imagined kangaroos to be larger and more elusive, but these animals were very docile and reminded us of dogs.

Kangaroos! We were all so excited to see them up close.

A small stand nearby sold kangaroo food for $4/bag, so Andi purchased a bag for the kids to feed the animals. Only one of the kangaroos seemed interested in having a treat; the rest laid lazily underneath the shade of the trees. Aden bent down to offer pellets from his hands, and a kangaroo willingly hopped over to him. It seemed friendly and gentle.

The park rangers standing nearby told the group gathered that the kangaroos like to be pet on their backs, but that didn’t stop a group of little kids touching their heads and ears. The kangaroos didn’t seem to mind, especially one laying on its side soaking up the affection like a family pet.

Aden, Tory, and I all took turns petting the kangaroo, too. His fur felt soft and furry.

There were other Australian animals at the wildlife sanctuary, too. We saw a tazmanian devil, capybara, and wombats.

Of course, our favorite area was the koala nursery. Oh my gosh, they were so cute! Three different species of koalas live in the wild throughout Australia. They famously eat eucalyptus leaves which, we noticed, the sanctuary adds to vases on the trees for the koalas to munch on.

We listened to another ranger talk about the koalas before taking a ride on the park’s free trolley. We were all dripping with sweat by this point, and had reached our maximum outdoor time. Tory was literally groaning.

Suddenly, Aden said he needed to make an emergency pit-stop to the restroom. Andi and I were torn because we didn’t want to get off the tram which was taking us back to the entrance of the park, but the look on Aden’s face said he couldn’t wait much longer.

“Let’s get off here,” Andi suggested, as we approached one of the park’s fast food restaurants.

“Phew, thanks Dad,” Aden said with relief.

We walked the rest of the way back to the park exit. Andi had an Uber car waiting for us there — perfect timing. “It’s too hot to walk to lunch,” he said.

Andi tried to surprise Aden with lunch at Mr. Beast Burger, but the restaurant has apparently gone out of business. We looped around a shopping complex trying to find it, but eventually concluded it no longer existed. Instead, we settled on burritos at Zambrero Mexican.

Our next order of business was renting a car. Tomorrow, we’re driving to our next destination in Australia and we’ll need wheels to get there. Andi reserved us a mid-size Hyundai Venue at East Coast Car Rentals. The check-out process was easy, and we were on our way in under 30 minutes.

Driving on the left side of the road will be an experience in Australia! We’ve done it one other time while we traveled through the south island of New Zealand so it didn’t feel quite as foreign. Riding around in Ubers all week helped, too. Andi said he’s glad to have some time to “practice” driving a small car before our upcoming camper rental in Tasmania.

Driving on the opposite side of the road takes full mental concentration as it goes against every natural tendency. I constantly reminded Andi to “stay left” as we drove back to Burleigh Heads.

On the way, we stopped at the shops on James Street so I could buy a new pair of sunglasses. Somehow, the lens of mine got all scratched up during our travels. It’s such a rare feeling to be able to buy anything we need or want while we’re traveling. New sunglasses? Air Pods? Makeup? A Kindle? No problem, you can find it in Australia. Typically, we have to make-do with whatever we have when we’re in a different country.

Andi wanted to take Tory to a fro-yo place we saw the other day. YOMG offers several different flavors of frozen yogurt and a generous toppings bar that we knew both kids would love. The four of us sat outside at a table and people-watched while the kids ate their treats.

Andi had another surprise for Tory when we returned to Mariner Shores. He ordered two handheld fans from Amazon, and had them shipped to our resort. One for her; one for him. I’ve never seen Tory so thankful. The fan hasn’t left her hands since she opened the box.

The one thing I can’t find in Australia — Mio flavored water drops. There’s no artificial food dyes in this country, so that product doesn’t exist here. It’s plain water, sparkling water, or coconut water for all here in Australia.

All four of us were exhausted from a full day in the heat and humidity. We collapsed into our air-conditioned apartment for the next two hours. The sun zaps so much energy out of us; I could’ve gone to bed right then.

Around 5:30pm, Andi said “I know you don’t want to, but I think we should drive over to Surfer’s Paradise to check it out.” This is the popular tourist area we wanted to visit last Sunday, but didn’t. It’s located about 20 minutes north of where we’re staying on Burleigh Beach.

Surfer’s Paradise is a iconic area of the Gold Coast, known for its nightlife and shopping. This is where all the action happens, including a night market on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. I really didn’t want to go; I was so tired! The kids were, too, but we mustered up the last bit of energy we had and hopped into our rental car anyway. Our last night in this area of Australia meant it was now or never.

Surfer’s Paradise was crazy busy; we had a hard time finding a place to park. There were people walking along Cavill Ave, lights twinkling, bustling restaurants, and musicians playing. I was surprised to see the amount of diversity in this area compared to Burleigh Heads just 20 minutes away. Clearly, this was a melting pot of tourists whereas Burleigh Heads felt like locals and more of a surfer hangout.

The biggest queue of all was for the Wendy’s restaurant! It appeared to have just opened its doors on Cavill Ave., in the heart of Surfer’s Paradise, and is the first Wendy’s location in all of Australia. Judging by the line, I’d say people are excited for it.

After an hour, Andi and I had seen enough. Surfer’s Paradise reminded us of Las Vegas, Niagara Falls, or maybe Miami, FL. There was a lot happening there in terms of bars and nightlife, but it was kind of tacky and not really our scene.

Andi suggested we go to the nearby Pacific Faire Shopping Centre to grab dinner and do a little shopping. I saw they have a Sephora store there, and I wanted to buy some sunscreen. The shopping scene all around the Gold Coast is insane — any product you want, you can find here. It almost gives me a panicked feeling; like, is there anything else I’ll need the next few months? This is probably my last chance to buy it.

Sephora was interesting because it was the same store merchandising, but all the products were different than what you’d find in the USA. I couldn’t find the brand of tinted sunscreen I wanted, but I think I found an Australian equivalent.

Bed, Bath, N Table … same same, but different?

Most of the food options at Pacific Faire were sit-down restaurants and after an already long day, none of us had it in us to endure an hour-long meal. There was a food court, but most of the fast-food options were already closed for the evening. Andi and Aden picked to eat at McDonald’s, and Tory and I ordered sandwiches from Subway.

Australia’s version of Subway was pretty similar to the USA, but the menu was more limited. There were no combo meal options.

McDonald’s menu (aka: Macca’s in Australian slang) is fairly similar to the US offerings as well. Andi ordered a quarter-pounder and Aden had chicken nuggets. One unique thing was the Vegemite seasoning packet and shaker bag that came with fries. Andi and I tried it, and it was actually pretty tasty. Like seasoned fries, vs. the regularly salted.

The picture doesn’t quite capture it, but Andi’s small-sized soda was really small. I guess nobody does super-sized fountain drinks like the United States.

The quality of our dinner was very average, but as to be expected for a food court meal. It was 9:30pm by now and all four of us were exhausted. We navigated our way back to the parking garage, and then made the 15-minute drive back to our condo at Mariner Shores. At least driving on the left side of the road at night was easier because there was less traffic.

Tomorrow, we are saying good-bye to Burleigh Beach and heading south to Byron Bay in New South Wales. Excited to see a new part of Australia, but also sad to leave the Gold Coast. We’ve really enjoyed our time here.