We returned to the hotel via taxi early the next morning, just in time for the yummy brekky they served in the restaurant at Rydges.

Apparently James and Sarah had a bit of a rough night. Some idiot was having a very loud and aggressive domestic dispute on the same floor as our room. He apparently set off the fire alarm at around 2am and then continued to cause a disturbance. He was soon arrested by a cop who happened to be staying in one of the nearby rooms. We heard that about 21 charges had been laid against him.

We checked out of our hotel and headed in the city for a bit of a shopping spree. We had been given some gift vouchers to spend at Queens Plaza. We found some good buys but it was an exhausting day. We headed over to Phil and Mel’s for dinner and then made our way to the Gold Coast.

We arrived at our Gold Coast apartment at around 9pm. The room we were given was not the room James had booked and there was a foul stench coming from the walk in robe and ensuite. The apartment had been sprayed with air freshener in an unsuccessful attempt to mask the odour. The smell was ghastly – it could’ve been either vomit or poo or perhaps even a combination of the two. Whatever it was, it seems to have permeated the carpet or walls. Luckily, the stench didn’t really affect the girls’ bedroom so we put them straight to bed. However, James and I had to drag the mattress out to the lounge room floor as the smell was unbearable. We complained to the night duty manager who, in turn, had the security guard check out the situation. He later informed us that the hotel was completely booked out and there were no other rooms available. We were very disappointed. We seem to have such bad luck with hotels – on two of our previous holidays, there was dried blood on the girls’ bedsheets!

We complained at reception the next morning and they arranged to move us that afternoon. We were moved into the type of room we had originally booked and it was odour-free (mind you, the cleaners still overdid it with the air freshener!).

The girls spent some time in the pool. Apparently, it was very cold so they didn’t last long. I wasn’t game to go in at all. Unfortunately, it was also an overcast and coolish day. I hope that this is not the sort of weather in store for us for the rest of the week.