Nate's only first cousin Ashley dropped in for a visit at the beginning of October. She's traveling all around Australia (she's in Western Australia at the moment), and we were lucky enough to be a part of her itinerary. We hadn't seen her in three years!
Roxy modeling her new little ripper shoes Ashley got for her.
Overseas visitors means one thing: Lots of new adventures! Ashley dubbed Rox, "Adventure Baby," because she did so well on our daily trips.
Day 1: Gold Coast, Surfer's Paradise and Coff's Harbor.
Ashley has surfing on the mind, so I thought she would be the perfect guest to take down to the Gold Coast. It's only about 75 km down the road and we haven't been there yet, so we hopped in the car to see if it really is paradise down there.
Well, it's not. When we told Nate about it that night, we used words like, 'tired,' and 'run down,' and 'not paradise,' to describe what we had seen. There were lots of skyscrapers, overpriced food, crowded roads, only so-so beaches and surf. We spent some time on the beach, but it was really windy and there were dead jellyfish in the surf, so it wasn't ideal.
One of only two pictures I took on our visit to the Gold Coast. Deserted beach because of the wind and sand.
The trip wasn't a total bust. We escaped the Brissie heat and also drove over the border into New South Wales for about ten seconds, just to say we did it.
Day 2: Moreton Island
The next day we ventured off-shore. Ashley works for a ferry company in Alaska, so we decided to take a local ferry to Moreton Island, the 2nd (3rd?) largest sand island in the world. It's just off the coast of Brisbane, about an hour and a half by boat. It's very sparsely populated, but there are lots of campsites and the only non-camping accommodation is the spendy Tangalooma Resort. We just went for the day.
Ferry ride!
Lots of activities to partake in on the island.
Day 3: Glasshouse Mountains
Day 3 was a Saturday, so Nate was off work and joined us on our adventures. We drove north to the Glasshouse Mountains, which are in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. We were in Australia Zoo territory and traveled on Steve Irwin Way for a portion of our trip. The guidebook describes the Glasshouse Mountains as, "ethereal volcanic crags...[that] rise abruptly from subtropical plains." Sounded promising, and lucky us, it delivered!
We hiked up to the top of Mt. Ngungun after a picnic and we could see all the way to the Sunshine Coast.
Ashley in the Ngungun Cave on the way up the hill.
Stopping at a look-out on the way up.
Ashley setting the self-timer with the Sunshine Coast in the background.
Extreme breastfeeding!
Day 4: Sunshine Coast, Moolooba, Peregian Beach
We piled in the car the next day and drove north again, this time in search of beautiful beaches. The Sunshine Coast did not disappoint! We have been up there for when my mom visited in February, but Rox was just a wee thing back then and the weather didn't really cooperate, so we didn't get a lot of quality beachtime.
This time we had perfect weather and a game baby. We started out with a yummy fresh lunch in Moolooba and drove up to the lovely Peregian Beach where we spent the afternoon tanning (Ashley), napping (Nate), reading (Cory) and eating sand (guess who).
Nate built Rox a fortress in the sand.
The dancer in Ashley came out when it came to posture.
She got a smooch for walking so well. Lookatthosebuns!!!
Ashley flew onto Perth the next day. She thought she might come back our way if the beaches in Perth weren't as good as the Queensland beaches. The last I heard from her, she was snorkeling with turtles and sharks, so I think we might not see her again on this trip. It was great to have her and we had a great time exploring so many new places!
