Category: Travel

I stayed a bit late for me last night (nearly 11pm) which meant I slept in till after 6.30am and therefore missed today sunrise :-(. I did however, take photos of the chickens.

Scary as they are….

I was in a lot of pain this morning with both swollen hands & feet and sore ribs (I think I slept funny last night), but the girls really wanted to go to Dreamworld today. So being the good Mum that I was I decided to take them. I was feeling very sorry for myself and guilty that I wouldn’t be able to do the rides with them.

We arrived just after 10am and when lining up to buy tickets we were given a half price coupon by a very kind lady – this meant we saved over $70!!! Much as I like doing things like this, it was very nice to be on the receiving end for a change :-). Once inside we went to get one of the Q4U thing-a-ma-jigs. Love these. It costs $10 plus $7.50 per person but saved us/the girls hours of waiting in lines. Definitely worth every penny. Plus you get 15% of merchandise – which saved us another $30 odd dollars and almost paid for itself – it easily could – so I don’t know why more people don’t get them.

The most exciting for Christy – she was finally tall enough to do ALL the rides here.

First up …

Amy is on the far left, Christy beside her.

Then the river rapids. I was feeling a lot better so did this too. And for the first time ever, I didn’t get soaked – Amy did though :-).

Then it was the Claw. I rode this once years ago – never again. But both the girls loved it.

Then we all went on Christy’s first ever upside down roller coaster – the Cyclone. Fun, fun, fun.

Next up – Wipeout.

and Christy’s old favourite (she once rode this 5 times in a row).

We had some lunch we’d bought from home while waiting for their Q4U time for laser tag.

Then it was into Nickelodeon Central for Spongebob Flypants…

where I made a new friend…

and the Runaway Raptar – where the girls got to be in the front row.

There was then some playing in the Wild Thornberrys ball play area.

before snow cones where bought and enjoyed (by the kids anyway).

and as you can see they both got new hats.

We then visited the tigers….

of course, this one reminded us all of Bailey.

The girls then went on the Tower of Terror – and love up. Next up AMY wanted to go on The Wiggles Big Red Car (and Kevin was worried she might be getting too old to want to come to Disneyworld).

Christy had wanted to get slimed. Next best thing – seeing someone else get slimed :-).

We had to stop for a photo with Spongebob and Patrick.

Then it was time for me to sit and put my feet up for a bit while they went off to do Wipeout, the claw and tower of terror again.

And I got to enjoy a chocolate muffin… but it was HUGE so I only ate half.

While waiting I was so tired – I very nearly went to sleep. But I felt a bit more restored when they returner – luckily as I had to drive home. We walked through the shops and returned the Q4U and headed home. We had bit of traffic on the way back so didn’t get to our room until after 6pm. Amy was kind enough to prepare dinner. But unfortunately both the vegetarian sausages and curly fries weren’t the greatest. Still we were fed.

I played on the computer while the girls watched some shows. Amy headed to bed just before 7.30am and Christy and I watched Got to Dance UK.

Tomorrow : A morning by the pool, then Tamborine Mountain to go searching for Thurdereggs.

Started the morning with the laptop while still in bed. Wish I had a view like this ALL the time. I did however get up to take a photo of yet another stunning sunrise.

A short time Amy joined me – with her laptop.

Then she was replaced by Christy – who didn’t bring her but instead watched one of my favourite youtubers with me – the girls love this Irish couple as much as I do.

And you’ll be happy to know the chickens have started to emerge from their eggs. I have to say none of us expected them to be quite so ugly :-).

Shortly before 10am we headed to Sea World.

It wasn’t too busy when we arrived so the wait times for rides was minimal. First up…

then it was on to Jet Rescue – the girls are in the second row.

We then all went on the Viking Flume Ride – always a favourite, especially as you only get a little wet. Then it was on to the new part of the park Castaway Bay.

After a go on the pirate ships – which they loved (they’d been on this in Legoland, USA and loved it there). Christy also had a go at the tree top/adventure thing.

while Amy enjoyed a frozen coke – with special straw.

They then went to the HUGE climbing thing. They are so brave. No way would I ever do something like this.

And here’s Amy right at the top.

Then it was back on the pirate boats to get wet soaked some more.

By now it was 1.30pm and we were getting hungry. But first I had to buy Amy some new (dry) clothes as she forgot to bring another set (I had some for Christy). Mission accomplished, they got changed and we went in search of lunch. Unfortunately all the nice, healthy looking wraps and salads had been sold, so we were left with pizza – which we then had to wait for them to cook.

It was nice but not what either of us had been wanting for lunch.

Next was a visit to Ray Reef, then on to Shark Bay.

My feet were starting to ache (swelling and heal spur) so I went and sat down while the girls explored and viewed the fish & sharks.

Not a bad spot to stop for a while. And I had these beautiful palm trees beside me.

The girls were going to do Jet Rescue again but the line was too long. Instead Christy did some rides in the kids area (something I thought she had outgrown) and Amy & I played on our phones. I also filled in a survey. We then walked back to the main entrance to get ready for the Pirate Show.

Of course it’s not a show without an ice-cream :-).

The show was good. Very different from the previous shows which have been about watersking.

This was was jetskies, acrobats and high diving. Not sure I enjoyed it quite as much but it was probably time for a change. Who know how many times we’ve seen the water ski show!

And, of course, no trip to a theme park is complete without buying a stuffed toy (in this case polar bear) on a lead. Christy actually wanted to buy a Scooby one the other day but I said maybe later. Today was later :-).

It’s a short drive back to the apartment and I was feeling exhausted, even though I really hadn’t been on my feet much today (in fact I had a saw backside from sitting on hard seats) so I put my feet up for a bit while the girls went down to the indoor pool for a swim. Ah, life gets so much easier when the girls can do things unsupervised. But to balance out the good we have to deal with mood swings :-).

I was feeling better when they returned and got some dinner made. I bought our George Forman grill with us so I used that to cook some vegetable burgers. Amy had hers on turkish bread. I had mine with a side of pasta (made for Christy) and some Morocan salad.

Tonight we watched Britains Next Top Model – though both girls were asleep before the end. I then went to bed and typed up this post.

Tomorrow : A second attempt at Wet ‘n’ Wild.

Woke up around 5am, and got out of bed around 5.30am just as dawn was breaking. A short time Amy woke up and we both got the enjoy a beautiful sunrise. So wish I was in better health so I could have gone for a walk along the beach.

When Christy got up the girls checked the progress of their eggs.

Around 6.30am – with everyone up – Kevin and Amy went out to get some Gloria Jeans & Bakers Delight. We had another lazy morning and eventually we got ready, I packed us lunch and we headed out to Wet ‘n’ Wild. Unfortunately when we arrived – about 10mins past opening – the carpark was already packed and BUSES were unloading at the back entrances. We stood and considered our options as around 5 full buses unloaded. We knew it was going to be crazy busy so we decided to go to White Water World instead. It meant we had to pay for another entry but it was better than crowds and long lines.

We arrived and bought some supplies – new sunshirts for Kevin & Amy and googles for Christy. Then found our spot for the day.

The girls took off right away. Christy being very excited as she is finally tall enough for ALL the rides. When they came back we all headed off to do the Green Room.

We then did another family raft ride and the girls (and Kevin) played in the Nickelodeon area.

Then it was off to the wave pool. Unfortunately we only managed to find one raft.

And you can guess who claimed it 🙂

When we’d had enough we had a salad I’d bought from home.

Then the girls went off to do some more slides while Kevin & I relaxed for a bit.

I had wanted to do the Hydro Coaster – its one of my fav – but the lines were long and heal spur was sore.

The girls loved it though.

From 2pm onwards we watched the grey clouds rolling in and kept updated but checking the BOM radar.

Just before 3pm we told the girls the rain would be here very soon and sure enough it started to sprinkle. So we left. Luckily the girls are had enough anyway. We drove back to the apartment, got changed, and went downstairs to check out the British Lolly Shop. Christy was very excited to find her beloved Milky Way Stars. We went back to the room and hung out for a bit before it was time to take Kevin to the airport. We didn’t get too much traffic and were in fact early but it was good because we were back home just as it was getting dark. And Kevin was lucky enough to get an earlier flight home. So wish he could have stayed longer. We’ll miss him.

Back home we had some vegetable korma and basmati rice – bought ready made from Coles. It was quite nice but nothing like the one we get at the Indian Resturant – as you’d expect.

After dinner we watched a bit of Supernanny and then Air Crash Invesigation. After the girls went to bed I watched Alaskan Wing Men – so fun seeing some of the places we’ll be visiting VERY soon. Then time to update the blog and off to sleepyland.

Tomorrow : Sea World