Wald fire hazard

Until now, we haven't seen much of the forest fires in Australia. Only near Brisbane we noticed a cloud of smoke once. Now, the dryness and the high risk of forest fires have put a damper on our plans: Both the Lamington National Park, which we wanted to visit today, as well as other parks nearby, have been closed. Only on the way there - luckily Heidi had the idea to check the national parks' website - we realized that this visit won't happen. Too bad, but also a reality we have to live with.

Instead, we headed south towards the Gold Coast. This stretch of beach is one of the most famous and popular surfer paradises, along with the Sunshine Coast. In fact, there is a 42 km long beach here (imagine: a beach from Bern to Neuchâtel or from Zurich to Frauenfeld!) for swimming, walking, surfing, etc. Of course, everything is geared towards tourism, with many fancy shops, long beach promenades, and expensive hotels. It's not necessarily beautiful here, but impressive.

In the middle of the Gold Coast, you will find 'SkyPoint', the highest beachside observation tower in Australia and the tallest residential building in the world when it was inaugurated in 2005. It looks like an Olympic torch from a distance (and is apparently inspired by one), so we must see it. With an elevator, you are catapulted up 77 floors in 43 seconds and enjoy a fantastic view over the Gold Coast at the top, 230m high. Since the ticket alone was relatively expensive, the Imbodens also took a combo ticket with food, which is at least worth it. So we enjoy a pizza or a salad at lofty heights, savor a special moment, and rejoice that we have satisfied our hunger and thirst for adventure together.

When we later set off towards the west, as mentioned before, we realize that the nature parks are probably not going to happen. That's why we drive back to the coast, where we find a very nice campsite at Fingal Head, right on the edge of the sea. When the sun sets in the evening, with the kicked-up sand, it looks like a fire. And I am thankful that we have been spared from such a catastrophe so far.