Our 40th Anniversary Trip

 Well, our fabulous trip down under has come to an end. On my last post, our flight had been rebooked for 7:20 PM.  So, we went to the gate at boarding time, stood in a stupidly long line to get on, only to have the boarding pass rejected.  The gate agent looked at it, and said, "Ma'am, these are for tomorrow night!"  Gaa!  She asked if we were on one of the canceled flights which Virgin rebooked for us and I said yes.  So, she said have a seat and I'll see what I can do.  Fortunately, she did manage to get us on the flight, albeit both of us with seats in the middle.  I was between 2 large guys, both of whom were using the middle arm rest, so sat the whole way scrunched up.  Oh well, it was only a 90 minute flight and we made to Sydney. Then, we got in line for a taxi to our hotel.  I had booked one very near the airport as we were flying out the next morning.  We get the taxi, tell the driver the hotel, and he says, "That's very c...

Super Bowl Monday? Dinner last night was EXCELLENT!  Totally made up for the buffet debacle.  The Executive Chef, Daniel Smith, was the 2012 Chef of the Year of Stamford Hotels and Resorts, and was twice honored as a finalist in the Queensland Hotels Association Chef of the Year awards (2015 and 2018.) We ordered a selection from the tapas menu:   (1) Garlic Sourdough with cherry tomato salpicon; (2) Seared clearwater scallops with local prawn sambal and slow cooked pork belly in sweet Bali manis over pea puree: (3) Roasted baby beet salad with asparagus, goats curd, and cacoa orange crumble; and (4) Grilled jumbo king prawns with sweet, sour, and spicy dressing. I’m not a fan of prawn heads, so those went back on the plate, but the prawn bodies were delish.  And the scallops were probably the best I’ve ever had.  Great last meal for our vacay. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.   This morning we checked out and headed for breakfast....

Today we did exactly what we set out to do – nothing! But, just have to mention our dinner last night.   I said if I don’t mention it, it was meh.   Well. It was so much worse than meh.   It was an extremely over-priced buffet.   Think Golden Corral, but paying $100 per person.   So absolutely disappointed.   I have no idea how it could be the #4 restaurant in Surfer’s Paradise unless everyone who lives here and visits here has no taste whatsoever. 😠 (This program doesn't have a puke emoji or I would have used it.) Anyway, Lee got up at the crack of dawn (5:30 AM) to take a walk on the beach.   (I was awake, but not really ready to get out of bed.   I think it’s just a mental block – I’m not meant to be up at 5:30 AM, no matter what time my body thinks it is.  😁 ) He got some really nice pictures. We walked down the promenade and found some breakfast, then there was a sort of outdoors mall we explored.  They had a Woolworth’s, wh...

Last night I took this gorgeous picture  of the sun hitting the building across the way. Then we went to dinner at Italia Lane.  I haven’t written much about our dinners because, honestly, they haven’t been very memorable.  But Italia Lane was perfect!!  We got a table outside – it was a beautiful evening.  The host (manager/owner?) was so welcoming and friendly to everyone who entered.  He called all the little girls  “princess”, which was sweet.  Looking over the menu, I decided I wouldn’t order the Grigliata di pesce con Salmoriglio, mainly because I really didn’t want to eat bugs. 😂 We ordered a 48-hour focaccia for an appetizer.  The best!  So fluffy in the middle with a very thin crisp crust.  I’ve made homemade focaccia before, but it was nothing like this. Then I got a pasta with pork and Lee got a filet with Chianti jus.  He said it was like butter.   For dessert, a chocolate tart with raspberry gelato.  Y...

Today we took a river cruise to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.  The cruise was quite leisurely.  On the way up the river to the Sanctuary, there was recorded commentary about the buildings and bridges we were seeing.  Some of the houses were quite amazing.  He told us about the Brisbane River flooding.  It’s flooded a few times, but the last time was in 2022 and he said it was devastating.  Most of the homes along the river had boat docks, but there weren’t many boats.  He said that’s because the boats were destroyed or sunk during the flood and the owners have not replaced them. There was a couple on the cruise celebrating their 66 th wedding anniversary!   And, they said they are coming back in 2 years because the woman turns 100.   Amazing! Besides koalas (which are so adorable), there were lots of other animals and they gave talks throughout the day on different topics.   I did learn on the koala talk that although wild koalas c...