It was confirmed in April that 15 Ambassadors from the Blue Mountains and Southern Sydney Friendship Force Clubs would visit the Gold Coast in June. The dates were set to avoid Queens Birthday the prior weekend and the Queensland School Holidays which commenced later that week. Of the 15 there were 4 couples and 7 single ladies, hosted by 11 Gold Coast hosts/couples. The majority of the Ambassadors had not visited the Gold Coast previously and those that had, had not visited for many years. The Ambassadors were a delight to host as they were all enthusiastic and appreciative of what the Gold Coast offered.

The matching with the Gold Coast was a huge success. One lady discovered that she had trained as a nurse at the same hospital in the same year as her Gold Coast lady host, many years ago, and others had similar interests. Emails received since the Ambassadors returned home from both Hosts and Ambassadors confirm that everyone had a great time and many new friends were made.

The programme commenced with a Pot Luck Welcome dinner on the evening of arrival for the Ambassadors, Hosts and dinner Hosts. “Official” photos were taken and the guests were all given a “goody bag” with fruit, water, discount booklets and brochures etc and a glossy colour photo book of the Gold Coast donated by the City Council. The Mayor is the Gold Coast Club's Patron. The evening was a wonderful success and was the preamble to a great 5 days.

The ED is Very Popular!	Happy Group
A Welcome Drink	Looking at the Programme
A Quiet Chat	What a Feast...!

The following morning we all headed off to Sea World for the day. It was a beautiful Gold Coast sunny and sparkling winter's day and everyone enjoyed the dolphin show, the sea lion show, the huge shark and thousands of other fish “Bay”, the Polar bears and numerous other animals and a ride on the 20 storey Eye which gave views for miles up and down the Coast and to the Hinterland. Several people also took a breath-taking helicopter ride to see more of the area from the air.

Trip to Sea World	What Will We Do First...?
One of the Many Shows	Time Out!
The Sea World ‘Eye’	Up, Up and Away.....

In the evening the Ambassadors and their Hosts were dinner hosted by other GC Club members and from the reports a fun evening was enjoyed by all.

On Saturday we all set out for the beach at Burleigh Heads for Brunch on the Beach with home-made hamburgers, sausages, salads, fresh bread and plenty of fresh fruit followed by coffee and tea. It was another beautiful day with sparkling blue sea and the bonus of a Life Saving event in the surf adjacent to our picnic area.

Group of Happy “Brunch-ers”


Surf Life Saving ‘Rubber Ducky’ Carnival

Enjoying the Company

Beautiful Background....

Gold Coast Pres. Eric & Club Members	New Friends
Brunch is Almost Over...	ED Miri & Blue Mountains President Kay

Some of the Well Fed Group!

After clearing up, most of the Hosts took their Ambassadors sight-seeing along the coast visiting places as far north as Sanctuary Cove and up to Mount Tamborine and down to the Queensland border with New South Wales. One group drove down as far as Byron Bay where they saw the whales swimming north on their annual migration up the Coast. Later some Hosts and Ambassadors enjoyed more hospitality at other member's homes while others went out to dinner or had a quiet night at home.

“Doing Lunch” - Sanctuary Cove

Sunday was warm and sunny and some people went out to breakfast in the sun, while others visited Markets and yet others had a sleep in. The Gold Coast Club had their normal General Monthly Meeting in the afternoon which some of the visitors attended while a number of the ladies went shopping at Pacific Fair with their Gold Coast Bazaar discount booklets. Everyone met after the meeting for a scrumptious, home-made afternoon tea. Sunday evening was a free evening with hosts and most went taken out to dinner by their Ambassadors.

Monday dawned a little overcast but that did not stop our cruise on the Broadwater and Canals being a wonderful morning with delicious scones, jam and cream, tea and coffee. The Gold Coast has more canals than Venice and the homes on the waterfront are very spectacular, some a massive four storeys high.

Enjoying the Cruise

After returning from the cruise, hosts showed their Ambassadors more of this beautiful region before the Farewell Dinner at Emerald Lakes Golf Club in the evening. A lovely meal was enjoyed by everyone and Gold Coast member Peter played some beautiful music on the grand piano for us. The Ambassadors and Hosts were presented with their photographs and the evening finished with a General Knowledge Quiz which tested the memories of all. What fun!

Socialising at Farewell Dinner


Enjoying the Company (and Looking Forward to a Delicious Meal)


Hosts, Ambassadors and Club Members

Most of the Ambassadors were taken by their hosts to the Gold Coast airport to catch their flight home on Tuesday morning. However one couple left to enjoy a little more time at a Gold Coast mountain resort, several left to drive home to Sydney and one Southern Sydney couple stayed on for another night with their hosts to attend the Outback Spectacular which had not been included in the programme because of time restraints. Outback Spectacular is very popular and includes dinner and a wonderful Australian depiction of horse riding activities and more.

During the five day visit up to 60 members participated in each of the activities. We were blessed with the beautiful sunny mild winter weather that is normal for this time of year on the Gold Coast. If the comments and emails received are any indication, then this was another successful Friendship Force Exchange enjoyed by Hosts, the visiting Ambassadors and The Friendship Force of the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.

Miriam Marsden
Exchange Director, Gold Coast