In late 2002 we decided to take all three of our offspring on a serious overseas adventure together for the first time. We eased them into any potential culture shock by spending the first week still in our homeland, at the Couran Cove Resort on South Stradbroke Island just north of the Gold Coast. It mightnt have been all that far in distance from the Coast, but we might as well have been on the moon for all the resemblance it bore to the Coasts high rise glitz and glamour. Couran Cove was renowned at the time as one of the countrys first with recycled water, solar panels, no petrol powered vehicles (it was only accessible by boat/ferry), no plastic bags, solar hot water and low rise buildings. We stayed in a small cabin nestled in the bush, and got around on bikes. We made the nightly trek to dinner via a boardwalk through a rainforest, where we got well acquainted with the resident python. Well I hope it was a python.
spent a day there with our good friends Jo and Brian whod moved to Brisbane from Melbourne a few years earlier with their children Taylah and Riley. Our youngsters seemed more than content to spend most of their time in the parks massive pool. Photos suggest that we did manage to drag them away at least briefly to watch the obligatory seal and dolphin show. I dont think Id ingested any hallucinogenic substances, but Im nevertheless sure I also remember us seeing some polar bears there basking in the subtropical sun.
We spent one of the other days at Warner Brothers Movie World. We quickly discovered that our offspring were not brave when it came to theme park rides. Tempting them to try anything proved to be a tall order. I think they may have inherited the not brave gene from me, as Issy seemed to be champing at the bit to try every ride on offer, the scarier the better. She eventually gave up trying to coax any of our brood to join her, and went off riding rollercoasters on her own while I minded the store.
front teeth a few days before we arrived at Couran Cove; the permanent caps were scheduled to be installed soon after we arrived home. I was sitting on the edge of the pool at the resort the day before we were due to leave, watching Issy playing happily in the water with our youngsters. I glanced away for a few seconds and when I turned around she was wading towards me with a wildly panicked look on her face. She opened her mouth to reveal a gap where her two front teeth should have been. Quick, she screamed, dive down to the bottom and see if you can find the caps. Im not going to Fiji tomorrow with my two front teeth missing. Other swimmers quickly picked up what was happening, and all our fellow guests were soon scouring the bottom with us in search of the offending items. Minutes ticked by with no sign of them. Issy was now looking totally distraught. A little while later I stuck my head up for air for a few seconds and spotted her wading towards me looking a bit sheepish. She whispered Its OK. Ive found them. They fell down the top
of my bathers. She was way too embarrassed to tell our fellow tourists that they could now stop looking, so we snuck away hoping no one had noticed. We managed to reattach them for the time being at least using some denture cement we tracked down at the resort shop, and sincerely hoped wed be able to find a friendly dentist when we got to Fiji.
