If you go into Google Maps and look at the Gold Coast in detail, you will see the area has waterways throughout. According to the City of Gold Coast website there are more than 400 kms of canals and 135 lakes constructed in the area.
These waterways provide a recreational and transportation venue but also help control storm water and decrease flooding of residential and commercial zones.
M&D’s house backs onto one of these waterways. Across the canal is an flat field which floods, purposefully, when there is too much water flowing down the waterway. The water in the canal rises, but not to dangerous levels.
There are walkways along the canals and we enjoy a late afternoon walk, pushing the pram, every day. There are ducks, swans, ibises and other native birds in and around the water.
It is a unique area to live and work in. We went to HOTA (Home of the Arts) the other day to see the Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibit of Pop Art and the building sits beside a large waterway and also borders a lake that allows swimming. A grassy expanse encourages picnics and lazing in the shade.
My favourite pastime is sitting on the deck watching the birds and activity on the water.