Day Thirteen - July 19th, 2013
Kirra Beach/Coolangatta
We were awoken around 3am by the rain hitting the canvas, and Elliot dashed out to bring in our towels and other clothes we had left to dry in the 'clear night'. Luckily we both fell back to sleep quickly and had a little lie in until 8.30. We decided to mix up our breakfast, so had some scrambled eggs on toast. A very welcome change after 12 days of porridge.
The strange people on the site next to us had us quite worried about leaving the campsite and all our belongings for a large period of time, so decided to have a quick drive out to Danger Point, which heralds the boarder between NSW and QLD. We then drove north to Surfers Paradise - which is certainly not either of our idea of paradise. Hugely touristy and all together a bit dingy, we will not be returning in a hurry. All the same, I'm glad we had a look around the famous city.
We came back to the campground for a quick banana and peanut butter sandwich, a jump on the campsite's 'inflatable pillow' and a snooze (my idea) before we headed out for our surf/run. This area is so famous for surfing, Elly wants to spend as much time as possible in the water. Today we parked at Snapper Rocks, and I set off for my run. I'd only got a few meters along the beach when I hit a bit of commotion. A large group of people were gathered around something in the shallows, and a lifeguard was parked up nearby. I heard him say over the loudspeaker that "taking a photo was ok, but to stay well clear of the danger." Of course, I then had to have a look, and immediately saw the large snake lazily swimming in the surf. Not something a barefoot runner wants to encounter. A guy quickly appeared with a hook and a bag, and snagged the pest. He answered some questions, so I learnt it was a non-venomous carpet python which had slithered out from the nearby rocks for a swim. Note to self: no more rock climbing.
My run was perfect, and I headed back to find Elly in great spirits emerging from a fantastic surf. We watched the large waves hit the rocks for a while before heading in for a shower. We settled into the camp kitchen for round two of our pasta. We got chatting to a lovely guy, Rob, 40, from Wales (has lived in London for the past 12 years) who has given up in IT to travel the world surfing. He's told us some fantastic tales, and we've enjoyed a great evening with some cheese and crackers. If anyone would like to read about his epic adventures, his blog is www.aroundtheworldineightywaves.com. Elly and he are sharing some surfing stories which I wish I wasn't hearing - clearly the danger is greater than I knew. Hopefully Elliot knows what he's doing out there!