Life in the slow lane: Brisbane bound

24 November 2010

Woke up at the craziest crack o'stoopid 3am (Queensland time) all for a dash to the toilets, luckily I was able to get back to sleep and we re-awoke at 7am. Today we we're leaving the Sunshine Coast and heading back to Brisbane and exchanging our campavan for an Apartment in the heart of Brisbane's CBD.

We were leaving the Glasshouse Mountains behind us for another time to explore along with the rest of the Sunshine Coast. 

We drove slowly back to Brisbane , as check-n time was around 2pm at the M on Mary  apartments in the heart of Brisbanes CBD on Mary Street http://www.monmary.com.au/ Once we arrived in Brisbane, we had to work our way through one way systems, crazy traffic jams, hoardes of people and even a road accident. By now the Barmy Army were descending on Brisbane for the start of the Ashes Tour at the Gabba.

We asked the hotel if we could check our luggage in as we had to drop off the campavan prior to our check-in time. They kindly allowed us to do so and so we unpacked our luggage and kept the bare minimum with us ofr our ride back to Jucy headquaters in Brisbane.

Once we dropped of te campavan we had a look at the other models and decided that when we hire from Jucy again we would go for the the Grande model http://www.jucy.com.au/vehicles/jucy-grande.aspx. Just because it seemed more well organised than the smaller crib model for 2.

We's also heartily recommend taking smaller bags, as lugging suitcase in and out from front to back got a little tiresome after a while. We also configured the bed set up whenever we stopped anywhere, so it was ready to hop into at night. There is one room for improvement though - the piece of bed that slots into place between the front passenger side seat, the sliding door and the fixed utensil hideaway area, kept falling down and the front passenger seat only goes back so far. I'm glad I rested my feat on this otherwise I would be hanging like a possum or bat every morning. In models with no sunroof provided a free fan should be given that can be hung up to provide some relief, as it gets pretty steamy in the campavan even with the side windows open. Also free mozzie screens on the windows, so they can be open but free from mossies coming in - maybe even an extra security door on the sliding side door, so the side door can be left open and allow air to come in whilst keepin the security door locked.

After dropping of our Jucy Crib we walked around Brisbane CBD - here I suffered from People Panic - there were people evertywhere even in a small space, we encountered more people than we did on our entire journey over 17 days in the Jucy - wow built up civilisation has a lot to answer for, I had trouble dealing with the hoards of people, it tripped me out for a while.

The day was hot and so popping inside Malls for air con was good because we kept cool but bad because where shops are people throng - breathing, breathing, coping, coping, it's okay they are only walking slow and infront of you because that's what people do in built up areas!

Around 2pm we headed back to our Apartment and gathered our luggage before heading towards our apartment. We didn't know what to expect, as we had book this through http://www.hotelclub.com.au/ well we were blown away it was a gorgeous corner apartment, with a balcony, full kitchen facilities, plus washing machine and dryer in the shower room - wow for the first time ever, we would be able to get our clothes washed before returning home!

It even had it's own study area, plus dishwasher, dvd player, microwave, oven, sink, kettle the lot and they were serviced apartments. The Hotel has a gym and lap pool too as well as a BBQ area. Also they use a lot of environmental products - bonus.

The above pictures show the apartment at night with some of the views from the lounge and bedroom balconies. They also had a room order service from surrounding cafe's and restaurants minimum order $16.50 per restaurant plus delivery fee and credit card fee or you could pay by cash on delivery, so if you didn't want to cook, delivery was available.

Well we put the washing on, showered and chillaxed before hitting Brisbane for a nigt walk.

Yup the camera had been charged along with the phone in the afternoon upon arrival in our apartment. We also decided to eat out at a little Italian place on one of the precincts, the place was called "Milano" - I went for the Giant Rump steak with acahrgrilled Moreton Bay Bug and Raine had teh Seafood Basket. Weirdly I cleared my plate - now if you had seen this steak and it's thickness plus the size of the Moreton bay bug with all the extras, even I wouldn't have believed I would have finshed it, somehow I did. Raine didn't quite finish hers off. 

The above photo's are taken from our Bridge walk  - well  had to walk off the calories somehow lol! We returned back to our apartment after a pleasant evenings walk in Brisbane - helped by the fact there seemed to be less people around at night. Well all that walking and eating means one thing - yup a good night sleep.

Life in the slow Lane: Last day on the Sunshine Coast and Caloundra

23 November 2010

We woke up late for us &am Queensland time! We decided to head towards Pelican Waters to have breakfast and ended up getting blown to bits by wind, more wind and followed by a good dose of big wind and that was before we ate baked beans lol.

We wandered back into Caloundra after breakfast hoping the wind would die down and to top up on some supplies, not that we would need too much as we were heading twoards Brisbane and our apartment tomorrow. We would also need time to clean out the campavan as after dropping our suitcases off at the apartment in Brisbane we would be returning the campervan, our home for the last 17 days :(

Luckily when we arrived at Caloundra seafront, the sun came out and we were able to empty the campervan and give it a throrough clean out. We were going to stay at the free rest stop we had stayed at previously, just off the Bruce Highway as it was close to where we needed to head back to Brisbane the next day.

We spent the day afterthe clean out chillaxin by the beach and watching the kite surfers catching some air again, It really is amazing watching them just sore into the air and land back on the water. When we were ready we headed back to the Rest stop and met up with some Dutch back packers. We had some good we weren't going to need and the dutch backpackers were on a long trip, so rather than throw them out (which we hate doing), we recycled them by offereing the items we didn't need to the dutch girls.

They were over joyed at our Aussie generosity, in fact our toilet paper was a life saver - we saved some for us for the night as we knew the toilet might not have any and luckily we did, as it didn't and the Dutch girls had just run out of their supply, so were very grateful for our generosity.

In the vening we played Canasta and watched a few Hannibal Movies - "Silence of the Lambs", "Red Dragon" and 1/2 of "Hannibal" - we suddenly became tired.

L:ife in the slow lane or not! : Time to burn some rubber

22nd November 2010

Decided to wake up and have a cup of tea - how very English of me lol! Before having breakfast and then playing cards. Today was going to be 'burn some rubber day', we were heading to the largest Go Kart Track in the southern hemisphere - Big Kart Track http://www.bigkart.com.au/ We had proir booked an hours racing time on this 1.2km and 8 metres wide and for anyone who is a rev head these go karts go some. 

There are some nifty chicanes, some hair-raising hairpins and a back straight that gives speed the name awesome! You actually get quite a few turns on the track in half an hour - they split our hour session up into 2 half hours - trust me you need the pit stop after half an hour (hmm maybe I shouldn't become a formula one driver lol). Also essential is slip, slop, slap of the suntan cream as the sunshine can get pretty intense out on the track, even with overcast days put on that suncream otherwise you may also suffer from wind burn.

You are given a pre-safety talk and made to sign a disclaimer form - basically - it's all your fault should you disobey - you have been warned, so don't be a drongo.

Now I had been go karting before in the UK on an indoor track but never on an outdoor track, I was soooooooo looking forward to this, woohoo, little me behind a wheel :) It's okay, I know how to drive and even better I know how to drive on a race track - like a bat outta hell!

With foot pressed pedal to the metal and at full throtle off I went out of the Pit lane - okay I obeyed the Pit lane speed - Well, hello but I didn't want to get disqualified for disobeying the rules and loose my driving experience. Anyhoo once on the race track tarmac, off I speed like speedy Gonzales ripping up the tarmac as I went and a wide grin that would put the cheshire cat to shame.

After the first half hour I had lapped Raine 3 times - mind you this was her first time go karting ever, so she was still getting used to the car and the track, plus we both had a slightly slower car in the first half hour. We had our pit stop and grabbed some refreshments before venturing out on the track again. We also re-applied our slip, slop, slap it was getting pretty intense heat wise out there.

On our second half hour they changed the course track to include tighter hairpins and a longer version of this track, this time I only lapped Raine once, she had gotten used to the the track even with the change and we both had a faster Go Kart. I grinned and beamed all the way round the track just lapping up every moment of this sensational holiday treat.

Overall this is an amazing experience, everyone should have a go and it's set along Steve Irwin way on the route towards the Glasshouse mountains. You can book private parties, so you can have a race amongst your friends, we just did the genral racing for all memebrs of the public. Great thing is they are open 7 days a week.

After the huge Go Kart adrenalin rush for me, Raine needed to calm me down, so we headed to Caloundra and the beach. we had a spot of lunch first before changing into our bathers and goung for a dip in the sea. We were by the area where the surf flags were, however due to strong water currents from the Pumicestone Channel between Caloundra, Sunshine Coast mainland and Bribie Island, we got dragged down towards the area where the kite surfers and windsurfers were riding the waves. Luckily there was a small inlet area where the current wasn't as strong and away from the action sports guys. 

As we sat in the water we had a few fish join us, small little ones, who were struggling as much with the current as we were, they kept swimming around us in circles. From this little spot in te water we watched as the Kite surfers did their air tricks at break neck speeds, its quite hypnotising to watch. After a refreshing dip in the sea, we got changed and decided to play Canasta, one of our favourite cards games before retiring for the night.

Life in the slow lane: Ettamogah Pub, Big Pineapple, Maroochydore to Caloundra

21st November 2010

When we woke up we decided to wait a while before exploring the world beyond the rest stop, so we watched a movie on our DVD player. Now not far from the free rest stop is Aussie World and the famous Ettamogah Pub. I had heard about this wonderful place a few years back and wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about. It was at this point, I decided pictures needed to be taken so I used my Nokia N95 camera phone to take pictures until we could charge the camera. http://www.aussieworld.com.au/web/ettamogah-pub.html 

Yup that's a life size Morris Ute on the roof!

... and you thought outside was mad!

Besides the pub, there are also some very nice local craft and homeware stores as well as Aussie World adventure park - this is a little more laid back, traditional ride park than the hair-raising world of the Gold Coast Theme parks.

If you fancy a spot to eat at the pub there is plenty on offer have a squizz at Ettamogah Pub's Bluey's bar and Menu ... 

http://www.aussieworld.com.au/images/stories/ettamogah_pub_blueys_menu_summer_2010_2011.pdf you will need adobePDF reader to view this document. If you need to download Adobe PDF please click the link below ...

http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/

Moving on from Ettamogah pub and just a bit further up the Bruce highway just off the Maroochydore exit is Queensland's answer to Ballina's Big Prawn - The Sunshine Coast offers it's tourist something it's famous for - The Big Pineapple. Of course when we turn up - guess what? Yup just like the Big Prawn, The Big Pineapple is also closed! Guess tourist are not too big on Big things anymore. It's not as Big as I imagined and getting to it can be tricky when closed, there is a car park you can pull into on the left hand side and walk up some stairs, which is the option we took, but you can't get across the highway to get closer from this side, as the gate is locked. The other more precarious option is to turn back and head towards Maroochydore and chance you can pull in just beside the Big Pineapple, this can be very tricky and not advisable on busier days. Still I took some photo's. http://www.bigpineapple.com.au/

You can see how Big it is from the adult standing beside it

Here's our Jucy campavan in the car park ...

So as the Big Pineapple was closed, we decided to take the coastal route back from Maroochydore to Caloundra. Maroochydore is a huge sprawling town and trying to find some beach with the amount of traffic isn't easy, so we headed towards Mooloolaba. We were looking for a place with a BBQ spot and some toilets, it seems that the two don't always go together on the Sunshine Coast unlike the Gold Coast.

Eventually we pulled over on the Alexandra Headland and had a BBQ lunch there on a very windy cliff top ...

Once refreshed we headed on our journey through Mooloolaba, past Warana, Bokarina, Wurtulla and headed in the general direction of Caloundra's King's Beach. Now it's at this point we noted that even the mobile phone battery was getting low, so until we got to charge the phone and camera no more photo's :(

Caloundra is a very smart town, well thought out with plenty of access to the beaches surrounding Caloundra. Beautiful cafe's and boutique's line the seafront areas, along with some great facilities, an outdoor swimming pool, a beautiful seated area on the promenade to watch all that's happening on the beach. My favourite goes to the boardwalk hugging the coastline and little areas to stop and enjoy the view. http://www.caloundratourism.com.au/ if you wanted to stay in Caloundra there are many seaside apartments for rental with step out access to the beach, ideal for a family holiday on the Sunshine coast.

Caloundra is also home to the Sunshine Coast's answer to Sea World - Underwater World http://www.caloundratourism.com.au/see-and-do/attractions/theme_parks/underwater_world.html This we didn't venture into, we just enjoyed watching the many Kite Surfers and windsurfers doing some amazing tricks on the sea.

I could quite happily revisit Caloundra, it's a bustling town with plenty to do, great views yet quiet enough not to feel like the mad, mad world of the Gold Coast. Well that was our day in a Nutshell.

Life in the slow lane: Movie World Day and on to the Sunshine Coast

20th November 2011

Woke up at the crack o' stoopid - 3am busting to go to the loo must have been all the water we saw at Sea World lol!. Despite the early start, we were going to hit Movie World today. Now Movie World doesn't allow you to take your own food in, unless you have proof of special dietry requirements - like Coeliac's disease. Yup there is also that $9 non refundable charge for locker use if you are all going on the rides too, so this without the entry fee is the MOST expensive out of Wet n' Wild, Sea World and Movie World. I wouldn't mind if they had healthy options and larger portions but they don't. http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/Visitor-Information/Park-Map.aspx

One of the rides I wanted to go on was "Batwing" http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/en/Attractions/Rides/BATWING-Spaceshot.aspx a 4.5G Vertical drop, unfortunately the ride was off limits, so we went on the more tame Bat Ride 2. Now for anyone that knows me I love Batman and bats, I have a fascination with bats and the Bacardi bat symbol is one of my favourites ever since I discovered that the wife of the Barcadi maker designed the original bat design because bats in her country were considered a symbol of good luck - well it's certainly made Bacardi millions!

The Bat ride 2 http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Rides/BATMAN-Adventure-The-Ride-2.aspx is a pretty cool ride in itself, even if it does throw you around a bit in the simulator. Be prepared to hold on tight as you take a ride at high altitude through Gotham City before crash landing.

Once back on terra firma we headed round to have a look at the best adrenalin ride nest to the Jet Rescue at Sea World I have ever been on, this one literally has you standing in your seat as you experience negative G's and weightlessness. This ride is so truly Awesome! http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Rides/SUPERMAN-Escape.aspx you go from 0 - 100kms in under 2 seconds, experience 4.2G's to negative G's and climb a staggering 760m vertical climb, of course what comes up must come down and yup as you come down that vertical G comes into play and you literally satnd weightless in your seat, staring at the ground you're plummeting towards, your then flung round twist and turns, so fast that when you hit the next height and fall again the only thing left to stop you is those amazing thrust breaks. This ride is so awesome that the average queue time to get on the ride is over an 1 hour and well worth the nerve racking wait, even if your only on the ride for less than a minute, it truly rocks. Your whole body feels truly like its been pushed through the limits but the beaming smile and the wide eyed expression says it all - "Man what a rush!"

One thing about Movie World is they have entertainment spread out throughout the day, like Parades on Main Street and a Wild West Show in the Wild West Outback area - note get there early as there is no seating for this show, you literally have to stand in the precint area of the Wild West suburb. When we arrived being only 4ft 11inches (basically under 2 metres) I had trouble seeing the actors perform, which is a shame because it sounded like a good show.

We stopped for a bite to eat and a drink before deciding what to do next, as we were in the Wild West area, we headed for the water ride - Wild West Falls http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Rides/Wild-West-Falls-Adventure-Ride.aspx  - hint folks - this IS a WATER ride, now forgive me for being blunt and acting like a drongo but err RIDE AND WATER usually translates as "You're going to get WET, very WET cos there is going to be one big SPLASH! and HELLO! You even SEE people coming down the chute and getting very, very, very WET - what part of - EVERYONE gets WET, you SEE everyone GET wet doesn't compute with you when you line up for this ride?" I make this comment because numerous people kept saying "OMG! Everyone is very, very, WET!" It is here I would like to award my second HOMER SIMPSON DOH! award to those who queue for a Water ride and don't EXPECT to get WET!

They do offer you ponchos but save your money and don't worry if it's raining because trust me the only thing sensible to wear on this ride is your bathers! Even your hair gets drowned and your make up will run! - Dryers are provided in the toilets and they do turn to assist with drying your hair. Bring make up removers, mirror, make-up re-apply, change of clothes if you're that bothered or a towel otherwise try sunshine apparantly that can dry wet clothes too - I know radical idea yet to be tried by some species of humans!

Of course there is another option, if you still haven't dried off by the time the Stunt Show is ready to be performed, don't panic - go and see the Stunt Driver show - trust me - if sunshine, towel and dryers don't dry you , sit on the front row and the explosions from this show will even scorch your eyebrows dry, trust me this show is hotter than a meat pie! http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Shows/Hollywood-Stunt-Driver.aspx This is the best action at Movie world as far as ultimate shows, its well planned, very funny and plenty of heat, from the adrenalin fuelled Stunt Drivers. It's well worth the wait as the queues slowly pack in, again get there early for a good front row seat and less of a crowd wait, the ushers do ask you to move backwards, however , if you have a mobility issue, front seats are pretty much guaranteed. The seats are staggered and go quite a way back.

If it's raining it doesnt matter at Movie World as most of it is under cover, with the odd super rides uncovered for obvious reasons. However, we heartly recommend you queue for the 4D - yup 4D Journey to the Centre of the Earth experience. Initially you are guided into a small holding area before the main event begins - hint if you have really young children, don't take them in as if the film has to stop it can't be reset and eveyone has to leave. Also everyone has to sit on their own seats, including young children, so if your child can't sit still, it's advisable not to take them in. It does take a while to sit everyone down and the rows are quite long with a huge theatre. So, what makes it 4D experience, well you get the 3D movie plus there are parts where you feel water splash you (just a little on this one, it dries very quickly), seats jolt, wind blows and so much more, you realy feel like you are in the film. Personally all Cinemas should invest in this technology, it would be so cool. http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Shows/Journey-to-the-Center-of-the-Earth-4-D-Adventure.aspx

After that I was up for some more adrenalin rush, so headed for the Scooby-Doo ride http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Rides/Scooby-Doo-Spooky-Coaster.aspx this one is inside a creepy castle and is similar to some of the old fashioned roller coaster rides, like mousetrap and ghost train rides. This was not as comfortable as some of the modern rides, you get jerked around quite violently, it's in the dark and you come out feeling more bruised than cruise of your lifetime. Not a thrill seeking ride and considering this is for younger age groups in their teens, quite frankly I think its a tad dangerous for them and perhaps for most too scary, there is a part that has you go backwards and it's quite disorientating. Not one I would recommend even to the Devil himself.

I was going to go on Road runner coaster and the Lethal Weapon ride but both these rides seemed out of action at the time I was ready to go on them, probably due to the one main downpour we had on our holiday. Again like Sea World, if it rains, rides won't run, especially the fast rides.

All in all we had a good time at Movie World, however, they need to do something about seats for the Wild West show and allow people to take in their own food and all the theme parks need to make that $9 locker fee returnable, maybe then they wouldn't have so much trouble attracting families and not have to offer the special offers as often.

We headed out of Movie World and decided to pop into McD's for a quick refreshing break before heading North towards the Sunshine Coast and towards Caloundra. Just off the Bruce Highway on the Caloundra turn off, just on Steve Irwin Way there is a nice free 20 hour Camping site. They have an undercover area and environmental toilets. Hint BYO toilet paper, camping light and cleaning products, as quite often Fri through the weekend there isn't any toilet paper , it doesnt flush well, no lights in the dark and can get pretty dirty. There are also no shower facilities (to stop long stayers) and no hand washing facilities as the water taps are turned off, so yup take water and hand washing stuff, plus towel, to keep hygiene up. You will also need your own camping stove for this site as it also doesn't have a BBQ. All in all it's not a bad rest stop and does allow you time to breathe and sleep before moving on.

We had chicken noodles made with vegetables and turned this into a soup, very filling and refreshing after a long day at a Theme park and driving. We ended up watching a movie before going to sleep.

Life in the slow lane: All of a sudden everything gets a little faster - Adrenalin Rush Days are back!

19th November 2010

Today is Sea World day and it decided to rain a little - ah well we have done well with the rain so far. Now as I said with Wet n' Wild lockers cost $9 no return but you can bring in your own food, no fishing in the park allowed.

Sea World was one of the best for all day entertainment apart from their live animal shows; Dolphins, sea lions, ray feeding, penguin feeding and the big Pirate show, there is plenty to see and do. The park is very much laid out to feel very crowded, there needs to be more paths and easier ways to access rides and attractions than treading the same path back and forth all the time. Also more signs are needed to work out where you are going. http://seaworld.myfun.com.au/en/Visitor-Information/Park-Map.aspx

There are extras like dive with the sharks, helicopter rides, Sea World cruises, swim with the dolphins but these up close and personal packages cost more money - lots more money. Free with the park pass is the monorail but with only one train on one monorail track, it can be pretty slow way of getting round. Good idea if you want to work out what you would like to see and do. You are given a show time guide as you walk in and a park map.

There is also a chair lift that goes across the main water areas of the park, however on the day we were there it seemed to be having a few technical difficulties. The crazy thing is the adrenalin rush rides don't always run in the rain - erm Sea World - the UK has similar adrenalin rush rides and they have no choice but to run in the wet - suggestion maybe you could get that seen too, as many people were disappointed when the rides closed during wet weather.

The first ride I went on was the Jet Rescue for a look click on the video from this link: http://seaworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Rides/Jet-Rescue.aspx When I arrived there wasn't a big queue and as we weaved our way towards the front of the queue, you could hear squeals of joy. Now you are warned no mobiles, loose change, nothing in your pockets, so empty everything, when going on this ride and the g's are amazing, this ride is not for the faint hearted, it goes at break neck speed and twists n turns in from one side to the other in succession.

Now, as I came to the front, they needed just 2 more riders, I was on my own, so guess where I got to ride? - Yup right at the front :) Jet Rescue is a truly awesome skidoo ride, if you want fast and furious then step right up, it's low, its twisty, its super-charged fast and an adrenalin rush that just has to be experienced.

From there I went onto Sea Viper where the queues and the walk up was decidedly longer than Jet Rescue. This is your more traditional style roller coaster ride with a corkscrew and 360 degree loop all packed in to a minute of hype. http://seaworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Rides/Sea-Viper.aspx the link shows a photo of the ride. This ride gives the awesomeness of traditional roller coaster rides and I dare you to keep your eyes open as you literally turn upside down in the 360 degree loop. The triple corkscrew gives you a momentary feel of weightlessness but its so mild you hardly are aware. Well worth a ride if Jet Rescue isn't running and a nice addition to Jet Rescue if you want to ride both. Tip: Go on Jet Rescue first if you have trouble with confidence then you will find Sea Viper quite tame in comparison.

From here we weaved our way across to see the Polar bears - sadly we could only see one and he wasn't playing ball either, not surprising considering Queensland climate is a tad warmer than his natural habitat, although Sea World state that they have climate control in the water and the Polar Bear's enclosure.

Next was a pool of docile stingrays this was our route towards the Dolphin Show at the back of Sea World. Now the last time I saw a Dolphin show was when I was a little girl and Flipper was all the rage. I have a confession to make, I cried, cried heaps watching the Dolphin show, they were amazing and majestic and certainly showed lots of intelligence. http://seaworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Shows/Imagine.aspx

After the dolphin show I heartily recommend you take the backstage scenic route, as you get to see the dolphins a little closer and one or two may even come and say hello, the next best thing to swimming with them. As we came out of the dolphin enclosure, we walked past a mixed a curious display of dolphins before heading towards the sharks.

Now you can see the sharks above and below in the man made coral reef with other fish. It's absolutely fascinating seeing the size of some of the fish in there swimming around oblivious to different sharks. Sea World have kindly placed information on the fish in the tank in the underwater section - perhaps one day as a fish swims by it may electronically highlight the fish and tell you what species it is.

It was at this point we decided to have some food - we decided to try a domino's pizza - the megasaurus - yup for meatlover's we also washed it down with a bucket of Sea World Coke. The food is once again over priced for what it is and hardly filling. Just as we sat down to eat, someone asked, "what would you like to eat?' and out came that familiar reply "Hot Chips!" as if questioning what else would they like.

So after you have eaten and the rain threatens again - what do you do at Sea World? Simple  - you go and watch the Happy Feet show in 3D. Now for younger children Sesame Street plays in the Theatre for the children's entertainment and judging by what I saw, it was pretty cool - I mean Bert and Ernie haven't changed :).
http://seaworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Shows/Happy-Feet-3-D.aspx and http://seaworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Shows/Sesame-Street-Beach-Stage-Show.aspx

Happy Feet 3D film was cool, just a small short from the film but still pretty cool for 15 mins of entertainment and we were kept dry. Word of warning though - no drink or food allowed in the cinema - erm hello 'popcorn?' 'bucket of coke?' kinda traditional and all finished of with a choc top - guess it's not a traditional cinema.

Having shuffled out of the cinema we dashed over to the Sea Lion enclosure to see the show - Fish Detectives http://seaworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions/Shows/Fish-Detectives.aspx This show is funny in parts and the sea lions certainly do well with some cool manoeuvres.

After the Sea Lion show we decided to leave the park and let the children enjoy the Pirate show at the end of the day. We decided to find a nice BBQ spot, so I could make a BBQ Curry dinner - hmm flavour makes all those tinned goodies go down a treat.

Then it was off to find somewhere to sleep for the night.

Life in the slow lane: Springbrook National Park to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

18th November 2010

Woke up to hear laughing Kookaburra's and the whip-it bird, will miss the amazing sounds of the sub-tropical rainforest and even the ever deafening cicadas, it's quite magical and I feel blessed to have experienced this magnificent beauty.

We packed ready for the journey back to the Gold Coast and had breakfast by the BBQ area and then made our way down the long and winding steep road towards Mudgeeraba. Next surprise was that we would be going to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on a night tour, even better no cooking on a camp stove tonight, as a buffet dinner is included with the tour, which would make a welcome change, for more information see: http://www.cws.org.au/getcloser/tickets_and_bookings/wildnight_adventure/information/

As we weren't going till night time we drove to Burleigh Heads first and sat on the sands, also we did some shopping for our onward journey. We also decided to treat ourselves to some hot chips - we had to laugh as the phrase "hot chips' was the most used reply by others when asked, "What would you like to eat?"

We had a quick wash n' tidy up before heading towards Currumbin. We pulled over by the beach and watched the surfers catch some waves and feel the thrust of the low flying planes as they came into land. We then drove to the Sanctuary and parked in the car park opposite where Surf World and Honey World are located. 

We decided to venture into Honey World as we we're a little early. Now Honey World not only sells honey products but also has an educational centre which shows you the entire production of honey making. http://www.superbeetourism.com.au/ , as we had arrived quite late they were at the point of closing but we couldn't resist buying honey coated popcorn. Surf World is a museum dedicated to the history of surfing  for more information go to: http://surfworldgoldcoast.com/ we didn't venture in as it was getting close to our Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Night Tour start time.

 Buffet dinner started at 6pm and the tour is limited to a small groups of 20 and it's certainly worth doing the tour at night for that up close and personal feeling.After a sumptuous buffet meal, we headed out into the Sanctuary to be very close and personal with some of the Sanctuary's animals, namely a crocodile and a carpet python. How close? well we held the crocodile and had a photograph with it , as we also did with the carpet python!

Okay so it wasn't a full grown crocodile nor a full grown carpet python but hey this was a taster for the big ones later on - no we didn't get to hold them. Our tour would take us next to the Koalas. Now as this was night time and Koala's are sensitive to light, taking a decent photograph wasn't easy.

To ensure the welfare of the animals are kept at the forefront of all Currumbin do, each Koala is tagged and microchipped and they are only allowed to be out with the public for 20 mins and strictly rotated and all recorded in the log book. I have to say this Koala looked exceptionally heavy.

 Next we travelled through the green cauldron and to see a Barking Owl

The Owl was on constant watch and it's head would constantly turn, however it didn't want to make its barking noise. from the green cauldron we took a train ride through Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary to the Aboriginal Corroboree. now as there we had been having some intermittent rain the Corroboree was held indoors. I would have liked to have seen it with the fire though.

The Aboriginal Dancers and musician displayed some songs and dances from the Northern Territory and Torres Island Straits. We were given permission to take photographs of the dancers. Here's a short video of one such dance, the video is very dark as it was shot on my camera, however if you watch it in large view the images of the dancers are clearer.

We were then asked to join in a clapping song game called Sasaar, it was a round of movements and it got faster and faster as time went on. It certainly got everyone laughing. At the end we had a photo opportunity with the Dancers.

In the same area we also got to meet a Dingo - note that due to my camera battery dying at this point the rest of the photographs are taken with a Nokia N95 phone camera.

It was hard to get the dingo to pose and look my way. From the Corroboree we travelled on to see the bigger version of the crocodile we held earlier - this one was nicknamed 'Holy Kaw' and when you see him you realise why. 'Holy' is 5.3 metres long or 17.3 feet in old money, due to the darkness and 'Holy" wanting to hide somewhat, I couldn't get a picture of him. Just lets say I wouldn't want to feed him never mind hold him.

Something that is plaguing Queensland and the Northern Territory are the Cane toads and a few decided to freeload their way into the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and they are not the prettiest looking of creatures even in the dark. We met a few on our way to 'Holy' and the Kangaroos.

It was great to feed the kangaroos but a little disconcerting that they were as tall as me and they were the small ones. I stand 4ft 11inches or 1.47m yup both the crocodile and the kangaroos were beating me on height.

Just after the infamous Tazzie devils came one of the Australian creatures i fell in love with thanks to a TV programme called "Country Practice". It was a wombat named 'Fatso' that I fell in love with and so a big smile came over my face when I met the wombats.

Once we had seen the wombats it was time to head back on the train to the Wildlife Sanctuary's restaurant for some Damper and tea or whatever beverage took our fancy - now I had never had damper before but I have to say I might become very partial to a bit of damper, here's taste recipe for making damper  http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12308/damper we had this traditional style with a tin mug of Hot Chocolate.

Once the excitement of the night had gone and the last drop of Hot Chocolate had been consumed we headed to find a campsite for the night and then to sleep.

Life in the slow lane: Springbrook National Park

17th November 2010

Before I continue with the blog about Sprinbrook National Park, I thought I would share with you some names I gave to our fellow campers at the site: The Sticky Beaks Camping Elitists, The European Backpackers, Jucy Lesbians (Yup us) and The Three Bears Camping Spot Thieves - more did arrive later, however we didn't get a chance to get to know them. as we didn't see them in person.

We woke up to birdsong, which is a pleasant way to wake up in a National Park and this morning we had decided to go and do the Twin Falls circuit a 4km walk. We drove to Canyon lookout, one of the areas you can start this trek through the sub tropical rainforest and prepared ourselves for the walk.

Now this track is meant to be for people with a reasonable amount of fitness and wearing ankle supporting footwear. We would say we're not the fittest walkers in the camp but our joy of walking, the chance to take some amazing photographic pictures and to walk behind waterfalls would keep us walking and if the 4km trek took us longer or double the maximum walking time stated then would be happy that we had exercised and seen some amazing sites. Its estimated to take 1.5 - 2 hours to do the trek, we would be taking photographs and stopping to enjoy the views, so we estimated it would take us between 3 - 3 1/2 hours to complete.

Prior to starting out we had made sure we had plenty of sunscreen, drinking water, some food, and wet weather/warm clothes, it's advisable to do this in case of changes in conditions or emergencies. this is a link to the walking tracks at Springbrook National Park http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/springbrook/pdf/springbrook-inset-maps.pdf you will need adobe PDF reader to see this click here if you don't have Adobe PDF reader http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/ .

We spotted this family of skinks on the edge of the rocks at Canyon Lookout, this was our first close encounter with the wildlife in Springbrook National Park. We then took the steps to the right of the lookout following the track in an anti-clockwise position, as advised on the walking track guide. The walking track is made up of natural path and some steps with occasional gravel areas or natural stone paths. You will go down quite a way in the sub-tropical rainforest on this circuit, so if you have unsure footing then do not attempt this walk. Also the path can get quite slippery in parts as well as muddy.

On our trek down towards the part where the Tallanbana picnic area track joins the Twin Fall circuit path we spied another skink, this time on its own and much bigger than the previous family of skinks. We crossed some brooks and continued on our journey downhill to the top of the Twin Falls.

From the top of the Twin falls you then follow the path down into the valley of the sub-tropical rainforest, down through some natural caves towards the bottom of the twins.

We went through the back of the Falls cascading down into the valley, past more babbling brooks, past the Rainbow Falls, into more caves, past more babbling brooks until we reached the bottom of the Twin Falls and rested for a while allowing the water to bless our faces with is cooling fizz.

Once refreshed by the Twin Falls cooling waters, we carried on through more caves on the cliff edge, past Tarzan Vines, following the local Ancestors walk, down and up past trees that had fallen towards Blackfellow Falls.

Blackfella falls is very slippery at the bottom and we did have a little wobble on the rocks, thankfully we were okay, we were on our way back up towards the Canyon Lookout where we started.

On the way to the top of Blackfellow Falls we saw some Yabbies in the creek and all along the walk the deafening sounds of 100's of 1000's of cicadas shrilling at the top of their voice. We first spotted cicada wings, then cicada's flying and eventually a cicada at another lookout.

The above is a small video clip I made with the audio clip I had and some of my photographs of the cicada sound to give you an idea of the noise, best heard with headphones on.

The above video shows a leaf we saw swirling in the brook

After a 3 hour walk we made it back up to the top, we just sat and enjoyed the view for a while and as it was still quite early we decided to also go and see the "best of all Lookout" this lookout was in Queensland yet just across from the lookout was Northern NSW and Mount Warning plus some Antarctic Beech Trees that were over 1500 years old!

Well after all that trekking we headed back to camp for a hearty lunch Sausage, onion, mushroom and bread lunch - only issue with exercise it makes you extremely hungry. We rested and re-cooperated for tea we had sandwhich, then we watched a movie with some popcorn. Before going to bed we decided to go for a night walk stretch and then slept.