Abroad in Australia...... Gold Coast

The Gold Coast definitely lives up to its name. It is breathtakingly beautiful. There were two things that were on the top of my list. Climb Sky Point and go whale watching!  If you haven’t noticed, I like to see the world from the top. Just wait to you see the pic of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai!. Now back to the Gold Coast. Whale watching was first. I had been wanting to go whale watching for years. I was stoked. Whale watching on the Gold Coast gave me a chance to get up close to the largest living animal in the world.

The experiences allowed me to see then closer than I could have imagine. Make sure you look on my IG page to see the entire video. I was able to see a pod of three who circled our boat for over an hour. It was AMAZING. I got to see them breaching, blowing  and even spy-hop. Not to mention several head rises and tails and pec slaps. I was in awe of their size and playfulness. Even our captain and crew was out taking pictures. The captain shared he has never had a pod of three who stayed so long. What was to be a thirty minute viewing ending up being almost an hour and a half. I highly recommend whale watching, especially because most guarantee you will see a whale or you get a free ride to come again.

After an exhilarating trip, I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. It was the winter in Australia but being a Chicago native, I will take the weather. I spent the afternoon just relaxing on the beach. The sky was clear, it was a light breeze and I was literally in a tank top on the beach in their “winter”. The water was a bit cold but still had to put my feet in the Pacific. It is a tradition of mine. No matter how cold, I have to get my feet wet. It was not warm, but not so cold that I couldn’t stroll along the beach letting the waves crash against my legs. It was a great end to my day.

That night I went online to purchase tickets for my next adventure.

The next day began really early. I wanted to wake up and watch the sunrise from the beach. It was a perfect day as I would be watching the sunset from the sky. The day was pretty lazy for me. I was staying at the Marriott and they had a wonderful heated pool and even a sand beach. So i spent the afternoon ordering room service and sitting in the sun reading a book. After a quick power nap (i highly recommend them on vacation) I was heading to the highest point in the Gold Coast. I was off to my next adventure, Sky Point. Sky Point is on the 77th floor and is Australia’s only beach side observation deck that offers an unsurpassed 360 degree view of the pristine Gold Coast beaches. It typically would be enough to just see the views, but why not climb to the top!! So of course I climbed to the top. SkyPoint Climb is Australia's highest external (yes I said external) building climb and rises 270 meters in the air. Since i chose to see the sunrise that morning, I decided to take the tour that would allow me to see the sunset. It was really a magical experience as you can see the sun and the moon and the sky line had hues of orange, blue and pink. I was definitely marveling at the view at the picturesque beauty.

The day ended with a climb back down the building and I was off to meet a friend I met last year in Sydney for dinner. A great meal with great company ending my time in the Gold Coast.

So where is the next trip abroad...New Zealand.