Today was a stressful one, and there was a "doze, not quite a nap" this afternoon when I pushed through for too long without eating.
But I got important life admin sorted, and I booked an appointment for my second dose of the vaccine, so there's that.
Today I felt the urge to share a little photo essay of photographs I took at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast in Queensland back in 2009.
At the time, I was visiting for my birthday. But later in the year, for various reasons, I moved to live with my parents in Redland Bay at the other end of the Pacific Highway.
In 2002, when I'd returned from the UK, I'd lived with them in the Gold Coast hinterland. In Bonogin. My then-partner and I would drive to Burleigh Heads most days to walk along this stretch of the Gold Coast.
It was a beautiful spot to be and provided a stark contrast to the Gold Coast tourist drag of Surfers Paradise. I was more familiar with that part of the Gold Coast from my primary school years when I lived in Brisbane.
I feel a postcard from another's life related to my relationship with the Gold Coast coming in time. It was an annual pilgrimage for our family in my early years, punctuated by fluorescent beachwear and putt-putt golf.
Later, while at college, it was a place of cultural cringe for me.
In 2002 and 2009, I could see the beauty again in areas outside of the tourist traps. I hope this is what I shared with a partner in 2019, though I still hold a love for the kitsch 1980s Surfers Paradise in my heart to this day.
It's complicated.
Isn't it always?