Road trippin’

Unfortunately our motel last night had terrible WIFI – so I am a little behind in recounting our trip home. We have covered almost 850km in the last few days, and only have a short drive tomorrow until we reach the cooler temperatures that are inevitably awaiting us in Canberra.

But let’s rewind a little shall we….

Yesterday, we were up bright and early for a last beachside run in the sun.

After showering and packing, we decided to treat ourselves and head out for breakfast at a nearby cafe.

I started with a mango, orange and pineapple juice while I perused the menu.

Although I had walked past this cafe a few times during  the week,  and knew exactly what I would order.

“Skinny Dippers” -poached eggs and grilled tomato, served with avocado, asparagus, GF toast and a balsamic reduction.

Oh my – this was such a delicious start to the day. The eggs were cooked perfectly – and in case you don’t believe me…..

Perfection :)

Our bellies full, we hit the road for the first leg of our trip home….

From Surfers Paradise QLD, travelling south to Kempsey NSW.

Caffeine was inevitable…

As were the gorgeous country views.

Unfortunately we encountered lots of road works, so the 480km trip took us almost 6 hours!

Luckily we had brought a packed lunch with us…

Fresh tomato, rice crackers and the goats gouda we picked up from Mr Tambourine the other day.

Eaten amongst the trees….

And with the finest cutlery ;)

After lunch we continued our journey south, passing a national ‘icon’ …

Before reaching our quiet motel in Kempsey.

It was a rather quiet town, but we did find a reasonable RSL for dinner, before having an early night!

This morning I was craving another run, so I explored around 4km of the local area ‘running style’.

 

I really am going to miss my morning runs in the sunshine when I return home :(

I was hungry when I returned, but our motel proved to be rather unhelpful for breakfast. So we began the second leg of our trip home – Kempsey to Gosford.

 

We soon came across the ‘golden arches’, so while Mr BB grabbed himself a breakfast wrap, I put together an impromptu mix of oats, granola, PB and soy milk.

Served with some apple slices. And an obligatory caffeine fix grabbed ‘to go’ ;)

 

The trip passed quickly and after 4.5 hours we found ourselves on the Central Coast.

After a quick sushi lunch…

 

We spent the remainder of the day exploring the local area which proved to be a wonderful mix of bush and beach.

I particularly loved Terrigal – with its gorgeous ocean views…

Stunning lookouts….

Icy treats…

   

And rather bold seaside companions…

After having our fill of sunshine and sea air, we headed to our motel to settle in for the evening.

(Although we will be leaving again shortly for a visit to the local Thai restaurant!)

I can’t believe our little holiday comes to an end tomorrow. It sure is going to be a big shock to head back to work on Thursday!

Happy Baking :)

Spectacular Sunday

What a wonderful final day on the Gold Coast we have had! It all started with a lazy homemade pancake breakfast.

Spelt pancakes with banana and maple syrup – one of my favourite flavour combinations.

Followed by a trip to Movie World…

To enjoy the sunshine, the ‘Hollywood’ sights and the street shows…

And a thrilling stunt car show…

Don’t try this at home people!

During the show I tucked into a  ‘picnic’ lunch – consisting of a portion of our Mt Tambourine triple brie…

While Mr BBB went for the more ‘traditional’ theme park lunch of a hotdog with the works …

After lunch we spent quite a bit of time in queues, waiting for our turn on some fun rides…

And some that were perhaps more scary than fun…

Seriously – this was by far the fastest and scariest roller coaster I have ever been on! It was a shame the queues were so long as we would have loved to have tackled it more than once.

But unfortunately we ran out of time and had to head home to get changed for our evening adventure – and the highlight of our day…

The Australian Outback Spectacular!

Not only did we receive a fantastic ‘Australian’ 3 course meal, we were kept entertained throughout by a dinner show.

Telling the story of the Australian Light Horse (amongst other things), we were treated to 2 hours of  magnificent horses, amazing riders and impressive special effects…

Oh and a complimentary souvenir ‘hat’ ;)

 

This was a truly wonderful dinner / show package.  When the brochure said that it was “more than a night out – but an experience in a unique laconic sense of humour” they weren’t joking! From start to finish – we had an absolute ball! It was a shame that we weren’t allowed to take photos of the show itself, but you will just have to come and check it out if you are holidaying at the Gold Coast.

Talk about the perfect way to end our trip to Queensland!

Tomorrow we hit the road – and start making our way back to Canberra. We are heading back along the coast – any guesses where our first overnight stop might be???

Happy Baking :)