I woke up mighty early on the 2nd day in Gold Coast, mainly because I needed to cook breakfast before we set off, but also because I was hoping to catch the sunrise. I'm serious about being might early because my alarm clock was set to 6am, which is 4am S'pore time! But I was feeling very refreshed when I woke up because I slept at about 8pm the previous night. Haha! In Gold Coast during winter, everything becomes pitch dark by 5.30pm, so there's nothing much you can do except to sleep. But I'm really grateful for time to sleep on a holiday - that's so needed especially in our very hectic & busy life back in Singapore.
It was freezing cold when I stepped out to the balcony to take photographs of the slowly-brightening-up sky. I love how pretty it looked - The sky was in all kinds of baby colours - Baby blue, baby orange, baby pink. Everyone else was still fast asleep and it was so quiet and peaceful as I watch the sun peeking out. I took the moment to talk to God. It's one of those rare moments I could hear my own thoughts, and I'm sure God heard every word I thought too.
Just when I was wondering why the sunrise at Gold Coast was so subtle, the sun suddenly picked up speed and power. Within seconds, the sun rays were so strong and intense that I almost couldn't keep my eyes fully open.
Can you believe this was sunrise?? The morning sun was so powerful and strong, it was amazing. My heart was full - I had witnessed a powerful force in Nature early in the morning. God is such an amazing Creator.
And so, I started preparing breakfast using ingredients we bought from Coles Supermarket the night before. The kitchenette was so well-equipped I had all the necessary stuffs to whip up yummy breakfast for the whole family.
TADA! Bacon, sunny-side-up, hotdogs & buns!
After breakfast, we left our apartment to the bus stop to wait for our bus. All excited because we were finally starting our adventure in Gold Coast! Now to think of it, we've really got a lot of guts to attempt bus-taking everywhere we went even though it was our first time in Gold Coast. =P According to our bus map, we had to change bus at Pacific Fair, so we went ahead by faith! Thank God everything went very smoothly, and we never once boarded a wrong bus. Hee!
We were worried that the kids would catch a chill because it was their first time experiencing such cold weather. So we made sure they were dressed warmly (Leggings are a MUST!). =D That morning, we were headed to Carrara Weekend Market!
We reached Carrara Market, and the very first thing that caught our attention when we alighted from the bus was this big pasture that had cows on them! The cows were so friendly!! The moment we walked towards them, they started walking towards us as well, and stayed there staring at us! Too cute. =D
"Hello there!"
The girls had seen cows before of course, but they were in the zoo, and often smelled weird. These cows looked so clean and didn't smell at all! I took some effort to drag them away. We only have a couple of hours at Carrara Market before heading to Sea World that day! Focus, girls, focus!!!
This cutie has curly hair. She's so gentle and mild!
Another reason why it's easy to fall in love with Gold Coast is because of how empty the roads are usually. You can hardly find any slow traffic or congestion here. Everything is just smooth, calm and nice.
Carrara Markets are open only during the weekends, and it's basically a big market that sells anything and everything from clothes to shoes, furniture, plants, fresh produce and all kinds of accessories and home furnishings. Even though it's open only during the weekends, don't expect the shops to be in pasar malam style. The shops are all permanent fixtures that are very well-stocked.
The only barber I came across at the market.
There were also game stalls for the kids.
The adults bought hot coffee while the kids had ice-cream. Hahahaha..
The Farmers' Market part looked very colourful and fresh indeed, but everything was rather expensive. I was so tempted to buy these strawberries! So red & pretty.
Somehow the fresh produce overseas always looked pretty!
Looked like breakfast I fixed for the family this morning. Haha!
Interesting-sounding jams! I love markets like these!!
Walking through a market like this always makes me happy. =)
