Surfer's Paradise and a Half Marathon Too!

Before I get on with my post from Surfer's Paradise I need to tell you that I DID see the most deadly snake in the world.  Thankfully it was already dead as you can see in the photo below with its guts hanging out.  Apparently when we were in Palm Cove there were snakes all over the place, we just thankfully never saw any.

Anyhow I arrived safely into Surfer's Paradise after an uneventful flight and drive from Brisbane.  I checked into my apartment and was blow away by my tenth story ocean view.  What a way to welcome me to Surfers.  Debbie arrived a few hours later.  We did our half marathon registration duties and checked out the town.  It's pretty touristy (to say the least) but the Gold Coast beaches are just amazing and seem to go on for miles and miles.  Needless to say we walked along the beach for a while.  Unfortunately it wasn't warm enough to lie out on the beach.

Sunset our first night.

On Saturday we walked around a bit and hoped onto a bus to the "UGG Factory".  While there I hummed and hawed a bit but in the end I didn't make a purchase this time because they didn't have what I was thinking about buying.  (I'll be back through here in September with my two good friends Tammy and Nancy B). Debbie was able to find a pair in the "seconds" bin for a great price.  We also spent a lot more time walking on the beach.

I'm leaning towards the pair on the left second shelf from the top

 but I'd like chocolate brown I think.

More Uggs to choose from.

A typical beach scene here on the Gold Coast.

Another beach typical scene.

Although it was my birthday we didn't do anything too exciting.  We were in bed pretty early too because the half marathon started at 6:20 am!  Needless to say the 4:40 am wake up was early.  The Gold Coast Marathon/Half Marathon/10km/and 5km event is very very well organized.  We were two small blocks to the bus pick up and easily made it to the race site.  It was quite chilly in the morning but as the sun rose the temperatures increased although it never got too warm. It was a beautiful course.  As you may or may not know I have run two 10 km runs, and two 90 min. runs since I signed up for this race five weeks ago.  It could be said that I was NOT trained AT ALL.  I went in with no time goals, just to have fun and to keep injuries at bay.  In the end it didn't take me nearly as long as I had figured and it wasn't even my slowest half marathon on record.  I was about 20 min slower than usual but who cares.  If you see the photos below you'll see that the views were well worth enjoying for an extra 20 minutes.  And the best part of all is that I'm not too sore today either.  Which makes me think... why train for these things anyhow???  Just kidding.  I will do my best to train for the next half on the agenda.

I just LOVED this shirt.  

It's a run club I could totally fit into.

We passed several little bays like this on the run.

(Notice the rough weather conditions - NOT!)

We ran along this shore for a while.

Overall it's been a good few days on the Gold Coast.  Debbie and I are off to Airlie Beach which is a jump off point for the Whitsunday Islands.  The weather is suppose to be a bit warmer (maybe mid 20's) which hopefully allow for a little r and r and on the beaches.  Melbourne winter is waiting for me and I'd like to return with a bit of sunshine memories.

Before I end this here are a couple more shots.  These last two shots were taken from my apartment here in Surfer's.  Now you'll understand what an incredible view we've had.

Keep in touch!

View from my apartment .

Sunset sky from my apartment window.