To steal a line from the great Forrest Gump, "I just kept running". The sun was rising and chucking heavenly rays over the vast stretches of ocean, my feet striking the flat esplanade that hugs the sand. I ran and ran, as if pulled by a magnetic force to the heart of my childhood.
As I reached Kurrawa Beach, the Margaret street entrance, I walked the sandy path which, for years, marked the beginning of long, salty beach days with my brother and sister, cousins, aunts and uncles who taught me how to dive under waves, spot a rip and build giant drip castles. READ MORE: These are the top sustainable travel destinations around the world in 2024 Back on the esplanade I could see the empty block of land where our holiday units once stood; two 1960s apartments that housed my entire extended family during Easter and Christmas holidays, and other special times in between. The 5 kilometre jog back to Surfers Paradise was powered by my excitement that my children were about to begin building their own core holidays memories in the place where I forged mine.
Our week on the Gold Coast began, appropriately, with extended family at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, a Queensland institution that's home to all the things that light up a little boy of 3 or 4 years old; spectacular birds, kangaroos, a train...
DINOSAURS! The temptation to climb a T Rex was thankfully defeated, but the kids couldn't control their laughter at a peacocking pelican who strutted through the bird show like a model o.
