A holiday down the road…

How my ideas of travel have changed. Time was, when I was younger and full of gypsy yearnings, I would never consider taking off into the unknown unless it was for an unlimited time. Taking a train across Mongolia, riding a camel across the Thar Desert in India, backpacking around South East Asia and more recently road tripping around Australia in Matilda, the camper van, with no time frame and only a very loose itinerary.

Now-a-days I consider a 2 week, fully organised, art and camping vacation to the Red Centre (see here), and, more recently, a fly-in fly-out adventure to do a mini road trip to Broken Hill (see here) to be a very satisfying experience and a welcome diversion to every day routine.

I’m becoming a “home body”. My outlook has changed. It is no longer travel but holiday time that I enjoy.

So when a friend went camping and offered us the use of her apartment in “Crowne Plaza”, a Surfers Paradise holiday apartment, for 4 days, I happily said “yes please”. It was only a 15 minute drive away from home. I could pop home to care for the garden and check the plants were ok.

So last week we “travelled” to our holiday apartment in the “Crowne Plaza”, 10 kilometres from home…

It is a 22 story hi-rise and we are on the 15th floor. Just have a look at this video I found on you tube.

Now that is just fantastic and we are here for 4 days. If you have a few spare million you could buy it, the whole complex is on the market for sale…

Walking out onto the small balcony this is the view. This is the Jewel Apartment, a 3 tower, absolute beach front apartment. Due to open next year. It “slightly” blocked the ocean view but I found it a fascinating subject for photos and sketching. It is facing east and in this photo it is getting the soft apricot reflections as the sun goes down in the west. As night falls the lights sparkle. A magic fairy land.Next morning the sky is a soft candy floss pink, tinged with lavender. Another building blocks the actual sun from view, but it is still a pretty sight. Looking south the hi-rise buildings spread along the coast.

Time to explore. Outside the apartment the corridor takes us to the lift and we can look out to the west and the Hinterland and across the lakes and canals of the Gold Coast.

On the ground floor I wander around taking photos. The Chef spots me and with a big grin welcomes me with a “wai” (an eastern greeting by joining of hands). It was a lovely sunny morning but no one was using the pools.

Jack goes to the gym for a work-out and I go for a walk around the block before breakfast. The architecture and buildings in this area are so varied. This an older style of holiday complex, but I must admit I like this style better than the newer hi-rise blocks, it seems more homely and welcoming. I guess I am an old style person…

Neat gardens line the street in front of the older apartments and people pass me by being taken for walks by their dogs.

I round the corner and next to the Jewel Apartments are these little old houses. Maybe dating back to the 1950’s or 60’s. What a different lifestyle it would’ve been then.I think someone still lives in this one. They are sitting on a gold mine, I guess they are worth in the $million+ category, but maybe it is the lifestyle that is more important than the money. I spot they still have some lovely old fashioned frangipani and hibiscus in the garden.

As I approach the beach I walk past the bottom of the Jewel Apartments. It certainly is absolute beachfront.If you would like to own one of these apartments, a one bedroom apartment will cost $799,000 follow this link it will give you all the details. They don’t have any gardens though…

So the time passed in a leisurely fashion, going out for lunch each day. No internet, so time to read, sketch and enjoy a few days of relaxation. We could’ve been miles away from home. It was still a holiday as it was “different”.

On our last night we sat on the small balcony and watched the fireworks being let off along the beach. It was Christmas Carol night. I couldn’t hear the singing but I was happy to just see the explosion of light and imagine the crowds that would be down there celebrating the season of Christmas and good will to all. I felt mellow…