Holidays .... what are they good for?

It seems that these days, our holidays, like our modern lives, have to be planned, booked and the time spent fully accounted for. It would seem that is why we have such a current infatuation with cruise ship holidays, what could be better than having a fully itemised itinerary of relaxation.


However, this year I bucked the trend by not going on a cruise or even over to Australia favourite overseas holiday destination, Bali Instead I once again booked my holiday at the Australia Post and Telstra sponsored holiday accommodation on Australia's Gold Coast at North Burleigh Beach. The area, located in SE Queensland , is called the Gold Coast because of the large expanses of golden sand on the beaches ... beautiful .


Now, besides the wonderful beaches, the Gold Coast has quite the reputation as Australia's favourite holiday destination because of its proximity to the theme parks, beaches and 24 hour entertainment around Cavill Ave, Surfers Paradise. This means that the Gold Coast  attracts events such as Schoolies Week (an Aussie tradition that signals the end of high school formalities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoolies_week), 100's of work related conventions, end of season trips for sporting clubs and even a round of the V8 Supercars (Australia's premier motor racing marque) on it's coastal street circuit. It is quite the 'in' destination for those who are in full on party mode. 


But thundering V8 Supercars, the Cavill Ave late night bars or even the theme parks weren't my focus this year ... the plan of this years annual break was trying to achieve total relaxation and recuperation. Although we did manage a day excursion and took the train up to Brisbane to check out the beautiful parks and galleries around the wonderful South Bank precinct of the Queensland capital.


It was a holiday of sun, beaches and books, I did not  even go onto the internet (ok I did once to do my banking), or even (shock, horror!) take the Canon 400D out and preferred to capture my whole holiday on the Sanyo S1275 'point & shoot' camera. The reason for preferring the Sanyo was that if I wanted to take a swim, I could, without having to worry about the security of the bulkier Canon DSLR. With the Sanyo I was able to wrap it up in a towel and secure the compact camera that way ... easy as!

So most mornings I woke early, grabbed the towel, grabbed the camera and took a stroll along the pristine beaches of Australia's wonderful Gold Coast region.


So now I can correctly say on my profile that I enjoy long walks on the beach, watching picture perfect sunrises over the ocean and capturing natures beauty .... I have the pictures to prove it! (& I don't like pina colada's or getting caught in the rain!)


So sometimes on holidays it is best just to do absolutely nothing, just sit back, with a good book, comfy chair and enjoy just being away from the humdrum of our everyday lives! And here's a travel tip, don't catch the train into Brisbane from the Gold Coast  ... it sucks!