Jet lag (pt 2)

By my calculations (and lets be honest, maths is not a strength I can lay claim to)* 2.30am in Brisbane is 4.30pm back home.

I've tried to find some sort of sense (or solace) in this fact - that I have somehow adjusted part-way to the time difference - but to no avail. I'm just thoroughly out of sync, and that is exactly what jet lag is. There are supposed to be ways of delaying or advancing your body-clock, by either limiting or exposing yourself to daylight at particular times, depending on which direction - east or west - you are travelling, and how many times zones you've crossed. But I'm jet-lagged and couldn't make head nor tail of what I know is pretty simple maths (*see above).

So, by the time the normal day started, I was decidedly vacant. Nelson decided that a relaxed trip up the Gold Coast would be best. Nearby, his local stomping surfing ground in fact, and bits of it are world famous, and well worth visiting. Like Snapper Rocks:

Plus, as it happens, just around the corner, the first leg of the World Surf Tour was in full swing (despite there being what looked like very little in the way of really decent surf...it's all a mystery to me, but there was surfing and cheering, so I'm guessing it was all fine). 

Mostly the surfers were coming from right to left, but what was more amazing was how many people were in the water very nearby. It was a really nice atmosphere, totally relaxed and friendly. Apparently the competitors - and bear in mind that these are top-notch, world-class, super-star sports people - just mingle in on the beach. They get crowd and fan attention of course, but they seem to just hang out same as everyone else. I suppose it would be a particular kind of nonsense to cordon off stretches of beach or coastline. It was nice. 

The Gold Coast is really something else. Just stupidly beautiful. 

This is Froggy Beach, taken with my little bog-standard camera. It really does look like that. That acid green lump is a painted frog shaped rock. It's funny and actually slightly unusual - there is a policy of keeping the actual coastline clean and free of commercial developments and tackiness. That's not to say there's no development at all, but you don't get serried ranks of sun-beds and umbrellas. The beach is the beach, that's it. It's glorious. And they actively keep them clean and free of rubbish. In fact, there is no rubbish knocking about anywhere. Not in the national park beauty spots, not on the beaches, not along the strips or the roadsides or anywhere. It's quite extraordinary. Everybody seems to take care of the land around them, be it urban, rural or wherever.

And this is Currumbin Beach: we went for a dip and I left my camera in the car, so I've borrowed this image for now. It's a pretty fancy shot, but it's also pretty accurate. And isn't it pretty?

Despite weather forecasts claiming that the overly hot spell was going to cool off fast, and a rather overcast start to the day, it was scorching again. I hit a wall. It was 2 in afternoon. Against all advice I just had to sleep. 

This morning's wake-up was 4.30am, it was nearly light. Getting there.