Our check out and transfer to the airport all happened very efficiently. We filled the car up at the airport petrol station and were in time to catch the 9.45am shuttle from Apex Rentals to the terminal. Sufficient time to have a coffee and relax before we headed to the gate for our domestic flight and Steve and Fiona headed to the AirNZ flight direct to Auckland.
We were flying Virgin to Gold Coast via Sydney, which means you pay for all food and beverages except tea and coffee. The boarding and organisation was all excellent and we left on time. Unfortunately I seemed to want items they couldn’t provide, but the steward game me a complimentary bag of nuts and a pot of pringles. Evidently they had to recall their chicken noodles as the bottom kept falling out of the pots. Clearly I was not the only one to have cheese and crackers as my second choice, as those had all got eaten on the flight from Sydney.
We had just over an hour in Sydney and waited at the gate. Then the flight to Gold Coast again had time for a coffee and snack and then we were landing.
It was quite warm at Coolangatta when we arrived at 5ish and we had a short wait until Lee arrived on her way home from work.
It was great to see Lee and Mark again. They still have Marley and now have Barney who is a 2 year old Shihpoo and very cute. (Their last dog, Baxter got sick jut before they left NZ).
Mark’s son James and his girlfriend Georgia are living with them until they both secure work and can afford their own place. Georgia is a marine biologist and dive instructor and James is a quantity surveyor. She has work doing some dive instructing but is looking for more as it is poorly paid and involves a long commute.
Mark and Lee live in this quiet and leafy suburb about 25 minutes drive from her work. It’s a very comfortable home with a lovely outdoor area that has a great outlook. There are birds everywhere and they have their own family of water dragons (small lizard things) that live under the deck. I can certainly see the attraction of living here.
