Cameron came into my room and got me up at about 9:30am, which is about an hour later than I normally get up, so I got the opportunity to sleep in a bit that day. The second I opened my eyes I was presented with a bouquet of roses and a beautiful card. I was SO surprised I didn't even know what to say! I don't think I've ever gotten flowers before, let alone roses... It was a great start to my day that's for sure.
After I finished waking up, I walked out to the kitchen to be presented with what's called a 'brekkie roll', a special item only Australian Mcdonalds carry. Cameron went out and got it while I was sleeping because I had mentioned a few days before how I was interested in trying it, and he had remembered. It is very similar to an egg mcmuffin, but it has a hash brown in between the layers as well as onion relish (and their sandwiches are at least an inch bigger than ours!) I don't know why our Mcdonalds don't carry it, but next time I order an egg mcmuffin in Canada I might put my hash brown (they call it a potato rosti) inside and pretend it's the same thing.
Once we finished breakfast, his family gathered around the table and surprised me with a few presents, which I wasn't expecting at all. Mrs. Styles handed me a calendar for 2011 with several beautiful pictures of the Gold Coast, and Cameron's grandma bought me a box of lindor chocolates which were opened almost immediately. About 15 minutes later his dad arrived home with a lovely cake they ordered just for me, and it definitely was a terrific and completely unexpected start to my birthday.
Cameron had told me for months that he was taking me to a special surprise dinner for my birthday, so for the rest of the day after lunch was finished I spent time getting ready to go out. For once, I was actually prepared and completely done getting ready ahead of time, so we left early for the unknown destination.
We drove for about 15 minutes before Cameron finally parked his car below the Marina Mirage and we walked up and into a restaurant called "Omeros Brothers". It was an extremely nice, high class restaurant and I'd have to say it was the first time I've ever been somewhere so fancy. The menu offered the very best selection of seafood and Cameron told me it had some of the best fish on the Gold Coast. For my meal, I had 3 courses; seafood chowder, garlic prawns (they actually do not use the word 'shrimp' here, despite some famous Australian sayings...) and for dessert Cameron and I shared a crepe with strawberries. It was a wonderful dinner, and after we were finished we walked down outside of the restaurant and along the pier where millionaires keep their boats on the river. I was lucky it was such a nice day and evening, so the water was beautiful and it was incredible scenery.
After dinner we drove for a few minutes and ended up at the casino, Conrad Jupiters. It was quite huge, a bit bigger than the River Cree Casino near Edmonton. It was packed, especially for a Tuesday night. Cameron and I decided to spend $50.00 each and I wish I could say that I had luck for my birthday but unfortunately I don't think the slot machines I played were aware I had just turned 20. It didn't take long for both of us to lose our money, but it was a really fun time and I can't wait to go back again. I was pretty worn out after our exciting day, so once we got home I went straight to bed. My birthday was pretty amazing though, and I can't remember the last time I enjoyed myself so much. I am so lucky to be experiencing it all here in Australia and I will never ever forget turning 20!
My cards and flowers
My birthday cake
Before going out for dinner
Us at dinner
Outside after dinner
The next day, October 13th, was another gorgeous day outside. I was so excited that the weather was finally shaping up and Australia was a lot more like I had always pictured it to be. I was especially happy about the sun because Cameron and I had planned to go and visit the beach on this day, and I would finally get my chance to touch the ocean, something I'd been waiting all week (and the whole rest of my life) for! Unfortunately, Mrs. Styles let us know that the beaches were actually closed for a few days because of the heavy amount of rain we'd had earlier in the week. There was a lot of extra flood water, apparently it's gotten foamy and unsafe to go in and the storms had created more rips that could injure swimmers. Since the weather was still so beautiful, we decided to spend as much time outside as possible anyways.
We got ready and Cameron drove us down to a place called "Charris Seafood" which had a small fast-food type restaurant on one side and a fish market on the other. I was completely amazed at the variety and amount of fresh seafood for sale, especially knowing it was all caught locally and that there was such a large selection. I especially was interested in seeing the many little octopuses and the huge shrimps for sale. Once our lunch was ready Cameron and I took our meal outside and sat at a picnic table beside the river to eat. Usually in Canada if you eat outside you'll see the occasional seagull waddling around you hoping you drop some crumbs. At this restaurant we were surrounded by seagulls, ibis, and pelicans! I have never in my life seen a bird as strange as an ibis, with a long pointy beak and high legs, it's almost scary looking. Cameron said it's considered a pest in Australia because of the mess it can make.
I really loved watching the birds while we ate, and occasionally throwing them a fry or two. At one point, I couldn't believe it, an ibis came around the back of me and poked me in the bum with it's beak because it wanted food! I was so shocked and it just started up at me, tilting it's head like it did nothing wrong. That was the one ibis I decided not to give a chip to.
After we finished our lunch, I walked over towards the pelicans and just watched them for a while. I've never seen a pelican before other than in photos, and they are gigantic birds! Their mouths seemed to be as long as my arm, and I was a bit nervous to get close to them because there were about 30 there and I could envision them all swarming and attacking me very easily. Cameron assured me they weren't violent in that way, so I was able to go a bit closer to take a look. That was when one of the workers from the restaurant came outside with a big bucket of leftover fish to feed them with. It was incredible to watch them all opening their mouths, all waiting and anticipating their lunch. Some of them would fight over the fish, literally pecking into eachother's mouths to try to steal it. When the worker started to allow customers to feed the pelicans as well, Cameron encouraged me to try it. I was pretty nervous about it, but with some coaxing I went up and threw a fish out to the hungry crowd. It was one of the coolest thing I've ever done, looking at them all waiting for me to feed them, but it was also pretty terrifying holding a fish in my hand, hoping they wouldn't jump up and snap their beaks around my arm. It was definitely worth doing in the end and I'm happy Cameron helped me to try it.
After we were done enjoying lunch we drove to Harbour Town, an outdoor outlet shopping center. It was all outdoors, with most shops opening directly to the center, but I've learnt by now that most stores and shopping complexes don't have doors. We visited a few, and even found a top from one of the stores. I tried on a lot of interesting clothes, such as a full-length dress (which aren't very popular in Canada but can be seen on lots of people over here) and several cute, floral tops. After finishing our shopping we went and had dinner out at Ribs and Rumps, then returned home and played Guitar Hero until bedtime.
I think that feeding the pelicans was by far the highlight of the day, and so far, one of the most exciting parts of my trip so far. I will definitely go back again and get a video of it next time. I have enjoyed myself so much these past few days, especially with the beautiful sun coming out and brightening every day.
The seafood market
Some of the birds we saw while eating lunch
Ibis
The pelicans being fed
Me and the pelicans
No comments:
Post a Comment