25 Nov 11 – Day 1 (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Advancetown)

Reached Brisbane International Airport about 6.35am Brisbane time, cleared the custom, collected our luggage and was out about 7.30am. Car collection was at 8.30am so we looked for a place to sit down, eat some breakfast while waiting. It was wet outside of the airport and the sky was gloomy. BIL went to the Hertz counter to check about the car around 8am while the rest of us continued to sit. He came back shortly with the car key and then headed to level 4 to get some maps. Finally he came back with the maps and sat down to look through them. We headed to the carpark about 9am to pick up the red Toyota Camry, loaded the luggage into the car boot, BIL adjusted his seat, mirrors, programmed his GPS and we left for Pacific Fair Shopping Centre in Broadbeach, Gold Coast about 9.20am.

Initially I thought Ry would be the one in the passenger seat and be the navigator, but turned out that Lyn was the navigator and Ry slept shortly after getting into the car. Asked sis if she wanted to transfer the brochures into the other bag and she refused coz she was being stubborn. The journey took slightly more than an hour coz BIL made a wrong turn near Daisy Hill and we reached Pacific Fair Shopping Centre around 10.40am after searching the area for it as BIL did not have the address of it. It was bright and sunny in Gold Coast, unlike Brisbane.

Couple of photos of Broadbeach :

Walked around Pacific Fair Shopping Centre and then headed to the foodcourt on level 1 about 12noon to have lunch. The kids ate Subway sandwiches, sis had kebab from the stall called “Original Kebab”, BIL had roast beef from “Bucking Beef” and I had toasted wholemeal bread with turkey breast, lettuce, tomatoes and honey mustard sauce from “Healthy Habits” for A$10.20. After eating, we walked around some more and the kids bought something from The Reject Shop. Everyone was getting tired, especially my sis who started having backache due to the amount of brochures in her backpack. So we headed to Coles where we bought a family loaf of white bread, a bottle of peanut butter, a bottle of juice, a bunch of bananas and some snacks before leaving for Cedar Lake Country Resort. The sky got cloudy again as we were nearing Advancetown.

Reached the place about 1.30pm and did an early check-in. The parking space near the Lake block was a sloping one and our apartment unit was Unit 16. There were two bedrooms, one with a queen size bed facing the lake while the other had two single beds. Saw some ducks out on the grass near the balcony and a baby kangaroo. Took a slice of bread and went out with Ry to feed the ducks. After that, he continued to watch tv while I discussed with sis about dinner. Initially we thought we would just dine in the in-house restaurant but after BIL woke up from his nap, he studied the information booklet provided and said that we would head out to Advancetown for dinner. Drove out about 6.30pm and found a few places that were recommended in the information booklet.

Some photos of the apartment in Cedar Lake Country Resort :

Finally we settled on a Chinese takeaway place called Ki Lun where dine-in was also available. The lady was Chinese and she asked if we speak Cantonese, straight away BIL pointed to sis. So sis convey our orders of fried duck in plum sauce, ham omelette, salt & pepper king prawns, fried rice, Mongolia beef, beef chow mien, crab meat & sweet corn soup and chicken & mushroom soup to the lady. The soups were thick soups and were very tasty. Soon the rest of the food came and we regret ordering so many dishes. We had forgotten that the food portion was catered to the Caucasians and so was very big and we had hard time finishing them. Tried to take photos of the food before we started to eat.

Our Dinner at Ki Lun :

Chicken & Mushroom Soup Mongolia Beef Beef Chow Mien Salt & Pepper King Prawns

Crab Meat & Sweet Corn Soup Fried Rice Ham Omelette Fried Duck in Plum Sauce

Left the place about 7.30pm and got back to Cedar Lake Country Resort around 8.10pm. BIL parked the car such that the driver side was facing downwards of the slope and so when he opened his car door, he did not catch it in time and it banged into the car beside. As it was rather dark, we did not see if any damage was done. The apartment had only one common toilet cum shower room and so we had to take turn to take shower. After that, I went to bed about 10pm while BIL was still planning for the next day and the kids still watching tv.

Thoughts: Weather in Gold Coast was really bright and sunny with clear blue sky. The apartment in Cedar Lake Country Resort was well maintained. Nothing much in Advancetown though. Sky got bright very early in this part of the world during this time of the year. We could see daylight as early as about 4+am and we could hear birds chirping noisily.