Together Again!
After 18 months apart, having my family together again was so refreshing. The last time we were all together was for my mom’s Celebration of Life in June 2019. Time spent together is absolutely priceless.
My family is quite adventurous and outdoorsy, which makes Queensland (the northeastern Australian state) the perfect vacation destination. Adela doesn’t love all things outdoors, but she loves swimming and beaches. Rachel and my dad, Andrés, love wildlife and nature. I love Australian cities and culture. Queensland has all of the above, making it quite good for a family with diverse interests.
A huge perk if you go for Christmas is that you’ll arrive in the cheery summertime. In Brisbane, the December weather averages 66-89 degrees Fahrenheit.
Australia is huge! Almost as big as the United States, there is tons to explore. But for first-timers, Queensland would get my highest recommendation. My family flew into Brisbane for a 10-day Australian adventure. Below I've recapped our fabulous ten-day trip.
Day 1 - Settle in
On day one, I picked everyone up from the airport and brought them back to our place located 30 minutes south of Brisbane in Shailer Park. We spent some time adjusting to the new time zone and catching up. We took a few short walks to shake out the jetlag and explore the Australian bush in our backyard.
Day 2 - Explore Brisbane
After unwinding from the long plane ride, we decided to venture into Brisbane to explore the city. We parked along Kangaroo Point and ferried across the water to Felon's Brewery. At Felon's, you get a lovely view of the city and the famous story bridge with a craft beer.
We then took the free ferry across the water to downtown and did some souvenir shopping on Queen Street. Brisbane had a bustling shopping scene and lots of beautiful skyscrapers to explore. We walked about the city and stopped in a cafe or two once our feet got tired.
Next, we walked to the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens. These gardens are right in the middle of the city, not unlike NYC's central park. They're great because they allow you to see the local native plants and flowers. If you're lucky, like us, you'll also see some bats, iguanas, and Ibis birds (known to locals as “bin chickens”).
We finished our day at a Brisbane Bullets basketball game, which is always a good time! It was fun to show my family what Rasmus works all year toward.
Day 3 - Gold Coast
We started our morning at Paddock Bakery on the Gold Coast - a must! Our good friends Brad and Brit are obsessed, and we, too, have grown to love it!
Next, we drove further south 20 minutes to Currumbin Beach for a day of surf lessons! Currumbin beach is a lovely beach south of the Gold Coast, and it has excellent waves for beginning surfers. Dad, Rachel, and Adela did two hours of lessons, and all got up on their boards!
Rasmus and I took photos and watched from the beach. Currumbin also has a beautiful fresh river that leads out to the ocean, which we got to swim in. We returned home and had dinner at ours with some Christmas-themed cocktails and made a gingerbread house.
Day 4 - North Straddie
After enjoying my dad's favorite breakfast - eggs and potatoes - on our deck, we headed to North Stradbroke Island. We drove from my house for 30 minutes, then took a 30-minute ferry to the beautiful sand island.
My scuba-certified sister, Rachel, had heard that the best scuba in Australia was North Straddie. North Stradbroke is known for having "megafauna," aka BIG marine life like leopard sharks, turtles, manta rays, and sometimes whales. She went on a scuba excursion where she floated down the East Australian Current and saw two black tip reef sharks, a northern wobbegong shark (she thinks), six turtles, and eagle and manta rays. At the same time, Dad, Adela and I walked a few miles on Cylinder Beach to a restaurant to enjoy some famous Australian fish and chips!
Day 5 - 6 Christmas Celebrations
I was so thankful to have everyone together again for Christmas. The last time we were all together was in 2018 before my mom passed away.
We spent all day the 24th cooking for our hybrid American-Danish Christmas meal with the Meechan's! Rasmus's family celebrates Christmas on the 24th (see more on a Danish Christmas). So we decided to do that.
We played a traditional Danish present game and enjoyed a meal that included green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, flæskesteg (ham pork crackling), rødkål (red cabbage), caesar salad, brunede kartofler (caramelized brown potatoes), Danish licorice vodka, and cheesecake!
We celebrated Christmas morning by opening presents and making my mom's special "egg dish." We had breakfast on the deck and spent the day hiking nearby and relaxing together.