It's about 90 degrees and being December 12, it's one of the longest days of the year.  The holiday season doesn't seem to be quite as a big a deal here as it is in the US, and I'm not sure if that's because it's summer or because Australians just aren't as into Christmas.  The other day I walked into a movie theater and Jingle Bells was playing and for a moment I thought "why are they playing Jingle Bells!?"

After six weeks on the Northern Beaches, Glen and I have spent the past two weeks camping up the coast.  Although I write this from the Gold Coast (we are at Sharon and Tony's again!) it's hard to believe we're ten hours from Sydney because we never drove more than two or three hours at a time.

Camping in Australia is a completely different experience from camping in Colorado. It's far less rustic.  Campgrounds are called caravan parks,  Caravan Parks consist of cabins, RV sites and tent sites.  We've always had water and electricity. The  campgrounds have camp kitchens, with grills, sinks and sometimes, refrigerators.  Oh, and the campground bathrooms are absolutely, positively immaculate.  The only downside is, campground bathrooms are constantly closed for cleaning.  So, not exactly roughing it (to borrow Beaver Creeks tagline) but I don't mind one bit.

The past two weeks have been filled with adventure, including four wheeling down a sand road to a secluded beach, where we got stuck in the sand on the way back.  Luckily we were pulled out by two friendly guys, who when we thanked them just replied "too easy!"  which I think may be my favourite Australian saying.

Another night, on a campground just off the beach in a town called Crescent Head, a thunderstorm storm came in with so much wind that part of our tent collapsed.  Glen took the rest of the tent down and secured it to the ground, while I helped by hiding in the car and googling hotels.  We spent the night in a hotel, and had our tent back up by 930 the next morning.

We've spent a lot of time at the beach.  I thought I had a great tan until I saw myself in a full length mirror and was shocked....I look like an over cooked turkey!  Glen surfs and I've been playing around on his surfboard a bit...not surfing, just playing on the board, with the thought that one day, I might jump up!  And of course, we've been paddling!

One of the highlights of the past two weeks was a stop in a town called Yamba, about two hours south of the Gold Coast (8 hours north of Sydney). We really fell in love with this beautiful beach town with good restaurants, yoga and a feeling of a great quality of life.

Tomorrow morning we're heading back down the coast and we'll take about five days to get back to Sydney.  We'll be staying in the Northern Beaches til the end of January and then...who knows?  I'm hoping whatever we do includes another visit back to Yamba.