Koalas and Kangaroo Burgers

The month of August had us escaping to beachy heaven and the perfect weather of the Gold Coast, Australia. This trip could not have been more tailor-made for us. One direct flight to Brisbane and a quick trip in the car and you're there. Plus, the time zone change is only two hours, so there's no dealing with a grizzly, jet-lagged baby (or parents)... and did I mention the weather is PERFECT?

Wishful thinking - if we could just pack her up and ship her over in the cargo hold this flying with babies stuff would be a piece of cake!

There were not too many adventures on this trip, just sweet, blissful relaxation. Everyone got to wind down. Mum was more chilled. Dad was more chilled. Baby was more chilled! Three chill pills for the Stice family.

The days started with a walk on the beach. It didn't matter what direction you headed in, you would never run out of beach. 

Looking towards Coolangatta...

Looking towards Surfers Paradise...

Bring on the death marches! 

We ate like Kings. We love having our own kitchen while on vacation. Supermarket shopping is some of our favorite. How else would you know that Australia produces celery the size of a small child?

At the top of our food list was kangaroo burgers, which we grilled down by the pool. A side of CC's corn chips (Australian Doritos) and you've got yourself a meal.

Was it weird that a couple days later we would be visiting our meal, the kangaroo, at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary? Not really. Kangaroo burgers are delicious. 

The Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is fantastic. It's a beautiful reserve with lots of animals and some fun shows.

Some of the first koalas Derrald (and Maddy) have ever seen.

 We arrived a little late for the sheep shearing demonstration but grabbed a seat at the back in time to see this guy get a haircut.

Maddy loved it.

When Maddy gets excited it often results in a shrill vocal exclamation not unlike the sound you'd expect of some kind of bird, or wild animal. She trills. And shrieks. And I swear the entire audience would turn around and look at us every time she did it, as if they thought she was part of the show. 

Then again, maybe it was seeing all this lot that got Maddy so excited - just like being at home!

Dinner?

All the floors in our unit were carpeted. This was something new for our wee girl who is used to hardwood HK floors so she really perfected her crawl on this nice, soft flooring. 

Mr.Turtlebag along for the ride.

She was introduced to her first dump truck...

Practised her pulling up and standing...

There was also a fair amount of mischief making.

Apparently some of us prefer shoe to kangaroo burgers.

She knows she's not supposed to be playing with this electric socket... she's choosing to do it anyways.

And that pool I said we were grilling burgers beside? Yeah. It was heated. But not quite enough for us oldies so we jumped in the hot tub instead...

I'm not sure what Maddy is doing in this one - some kind of dance? 

And just because I feel like it... here's a few bonus pics.

Suitcases = fun times.

Chillin' out after a walk

When did she get this grown up? This girl is hardly a baby any more. She's approaching full on toddler. Yikes!