The Friendship Force of the Gold Coast hosted 23 Ambassadors from Whangarei NZ, Kapiti Coast NZ, and Perth, Hobart, Newcastle, Sunshine Coast and North Moreton Australian clubs. This was a new experience for the Gold Coast club as usually Ambassadors come from one or two clubs and have their own ED. In this case the Gold Coast issued an invitation to Australian clubs to make up the numbers to join the Whangarei NZ exchange for a memorable week and Friendship Force members responded from all over Australia. It was also memorable that so many of the Ambassadors are quite new to Friendship Force and the Gold Coast club is proud that they advised that without exception they had an enjoyable time.

The comments and emails and cards from Ambassadors were all very appreciative of the diverse and entertaining programme which showcased the Gold Coast as not just a beach resort destination.

The Welcome Dinner on the evening of arrival was a record attendance for the Gold Coast club and a lovely evening was had by all meeting everyone from the various clubs.

The weather was kind to us and we enjoyed a lovely BBQ breakfast on the beach and a visit to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Gold Coast Mayor received the Ambassadors in the Council Chambers and told them about the Gold Coast's many diverse cultures followed by a lovely morning tea on the Council outdoor deck and then planting of another tree in the Friendship Grove at the Botanic Gardens. A cruise around some of the residential islands highlighted the hundreds of beautiful multi-million dollar homes on the waterfront. A back of house tour at the well known Murwillumbah Regional Art Gallery which was home to the Moran Art Prize collection was also very interesting followed by fish and chips at the beach to see the lights of the beachfront highrise buildings from Currumbin to Surfers Paradise come on as dusk descended over the ocean.

Most nights were spent either with the usual exchange arranged dinner hosting or being hosted for dinners which were informally arranged by the Gold Coast members.

The final full day of activities was spent visiting Mount Tamborine, the green behind the gold, which is only a 30 minute drive from the beaches. The Mt Tamborine Distillery, which has won numerous international awards, generously hosted more than 40 of us for tastings of their wonderful liqueurs. A new attraction is the Skywalk and Eco Gallery where everyone experienced a delightful walk in the rainforest and viewed the wonderful waterfalls and plants and trees some of which are thousands of years old. We then proceeded to O'Reillys Vineyard where there was another generous tasting this time of their delicious wines the grapes of which are mostly grown on the site and where we all enjoyed lunch on the verandah of the very beautiful Queensland style building.

Farewell dinner at the Colonial Golf Club was themed red, black and gold and everyone entered into the spirit of the evening including the venue organisers. It was a fun evening and a great conclusion to a wonderful week of activities and making of new Friends. Sadly all of our new Friends had to depart after seven days of seeing as much as possible in the time and enjoying the hospitality of the Gold Coast Friendship Force members.

Miri Marsden   Exchange Director, Friendship Force of the Gold Coast