Birthday weekend

It was my birthday last week, which is why we were down at Burleigh Heads for a long weekend. We had a hotel by the ocean, so the balcony was a great place to open presents

 and have birthday 'cake'

 The Burleigh Surf Pro was on and on Saturday the crowds weren't too bad so it was easy to get a clear site of the action

Although we found the time to head over to Currumbin beach (and their surf life saving club) for a change of scene

 

The next morning we got up early to beat the heat and went for a walk around the Burliegh Heads headland. The final of the surf competition was that day, so we sat and watched some of the finest surfers in the world freesurfing as a warm up.

 Oh and a guy on a long board stealing some waves too.

Burleigh Heads is around 15km south of 'the Matrix' (or Surfers Paradise as some call it) and you can see it looming in the distance, but the vibe in the town is still calm and relaxed

 The headland itself is a small clump of local rainforest split by a couple of tarmac paths

with some stunning viewpoints - Looking south to Currumbin beach below. It was weird - all the people we passed walking up from here were older couples, families or people struggling to draw breath. Everyone that passed us from the Burleigh side was young, fit, toned and athletic. I wonder if they have a residency test? 

 There were some stand up paddleboarders enjoying the early morning waves rolling into the river mouth

 although the serenity was probably broken by the guys in a boat jumping the same waves

 Back at Burliegh the surf competition wrapped up with Julian Wilson winning, Josh Kerr second and local legend (and ex-world champ) Mick Fanning third

 Julian seemed pretty stoked, with a cool trophy and a cooler $15,000 cheque

 It's weird for anyone from the UK to think of surfing as being a popular spectator sport, apart from the obvious joys of watching idiots wade out into near freezing Welsh waters on a rainy Easter weekend and complete for blown out 2' waves in the rain. Over here it's much higher profile, and it's funny watching these guys get mobbed by ranks of muscular tattoo'd fit-looking blokes queuing up for autographs like kids at a Justin Bieber concert

The next day we sadly had to go home, but we broke the journey with a game of putt-putt (aka 'crazy golf') on a jungle course

I took this photo from the safest place on the course - the hole

Not actually true, Liz potted 4 holes in one and I was lucky to scrape victory. It was fun though - they even had real life lizards in the holes

After that we checked out a sand sculpture competition - the theme was piracy

and then sadly it was time to head home. Great weekend though - thanks to all who sent presents & best wishes!