Camping at Burleigh, Gold Coast

Camping at Burleigh to see Abernethy Cousins

We took the caravan down to Burleigh Beach Tourist Park for a couple of nights so we could catch up with Barb's cousin Jill Hobbs and Jill's husband Andrew and her Uncle Bernie Clarke who were over from Perth visiting.

It was quite difficult to find a space at any park on the Coast at this time of year as the Southern Grey Nomads are visiting in force at this time of year. We luckily managed to get two nights and although the park was jam-packed it was actually pretty pleasant and had a very nice amenities block.

We got down to Burleigh without any real hassle despite having to negotiate all the roadworks around the Gateway. We more or less just dumped the van on the plot and then went straight out to join our cousins for lunch.

There were several other cousins there as well. Sue Gilbert (Hackwood) and her husband Ian were there. Also Sue's younger brother John Hackwood and his wife Napur. Bruce Purdon was also there, unfortunately his wife Sue was unable to attend. There was a great deal of chatter and catching up with folks we hadn't seen for a very long time.

We went out for dinner at a Thai restaurant in Burleigh that evening, being too tired to be bothered to cook.

The next day we again went over to visit Jill, Andrew and Bernie, first stopping at Tallebudgera creek for a short walk and then at Currumbin beach....places we hadn't been for a long time as well. It was lovely weather for a stroll, but a bit cool for a swim.

When we got to Jill's unit we found the poor Uncle Bernie had had a fall and had a real shiner developing over his eye due to the Aspirin he takes. He was in good form though, and is mentally alert and physically active for his age (96).

We had lunch and further catching up about all the Clarke family doings. Barb had brought some old photo albums of her mother's to share which had photos of the Abernethy siblings and some of our cousins in younger days.

It was so good to catch up with them.

After lunch, we went back to Burleigh and decided to take a look at Second Avenue, Burleigh where Barb's in-laws had a unit and she spent time holidaying there in years past. We found Denis and Michelle Phillips in residence there. They invited us in for afternoon tea and we had a good catch up with them too. They have completely gutted the unit which had been a rather dilapidated 70s relic. It is now all black and white and chrome modern. Very nice!

Over-all it was a lovely couple of days away. We really must do this more often!