Gold Coast Australia Trip

Day One

Arrival

11th September, 2016

Arrived at Gold Coast Airport at 8:44 AM this morning, was on a Air New Zealand flight. We had to get up at three AM to allow time to get to the airport to check in at five AM. We caught a COX-ION transfer to our hotel at Breakfree Diamond Beach, which is great for families and has a massive pool.

We went exploring Pacific Fair and the Oasis, which is basically a mall. To my delight, there was a carousel at the Oasis and I couldn't help but have a go on it. We were told by the lady running the carousel that every horse has a name and mine was called "Tiana." There is a very nice fish and chip shop there too, which is perfect if you had been up since three in the morning.

Then we arrived at Gold Coast airport. When we exited the plane, we had to walk across the runway to enter the building which my best friend found cool, as she had never done it before.

Day Two

MovieWorld

12th September, 2016

Today we went to MovieWorld. The first ride we went on was the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster and that was it with any rides, for my friend who was afraid of heights. I went on the Green Lantern coaster and thought I was going to die as I pretty much almost fell out of my seat.

The last time I had been to Gold Coast Australia was with my grandparents in 2006. My grandfather had died in September 2015, so while on the trip, I was hoping to go on the rides and get photos of the rides that my grandfather and I went on as a memoriam. So in saying that, I went straight to the Road Runner Rollercoaster, as that was my favourite memory I had with him in Australia. We also went to see the Roxy 4D Theatre and saw the Road Runner and Coyote Movie in 4D. We had lunch at the Gotham City Café and, in honour of the only roller coaster my best friend went on, she brought a Scooby Doo.

While at MovieWorld, I got to see Batman, Cat Woman, Marilyn Monroe, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Lola Bunny, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Super Girl, and Flash. I was so close to going on the Superman the ride but it had broken down for the fifth time that day.

A Currawong (Australian bird) visited our balcony today to the point that it almost walked right in to our hotel room. We also got to see Austin Powers and his dancers perform on the main street. After that, Batman came out to do a show with The Joker and Harley Quinn for the kids. After having a much needed swim in the Australian heat, we went for a walk to Karrawa Beach to watch the sunset.

I brought a necklace at MovieWorld where you can add charms, which were available at almost every theme park, which began my souvenir from Gold Coast Australia.

Day Three

SeaWorld

13th September, 2016

The whole trip to Gold Coast was all focused on this day. It was my best friend's birthday and as a 21st birthday present to herself, we planned a trip to come to SeaWorld to swim with her favourite animal; dolphins. Today, we went to SeaWorld to do the Dolphin Deep Water Adventure. We had to meet up at 9:45 AM to do an hour swim at 10:45 AM. This included a DVD and a photo. We brought a photo frame for the photo to go in.

We were given wet suits to put on and put our stuff in our lockers. My best friend's locker got stuck. While waiting, a bird pooped on my head and I had to wash my hair. I know people say that it is good luck to get pooped on, but I did not feel lucky. We were given goggles and life jackets to wear while in the water. There were fourteen of us and we were split into two groups of seven. We were in the group that got to go in the deep water first. We got to pat one of the three dolphins called Zipper, Sumo, and Tallulah. We were instructed to pat them when their blow hole was past us. They swam past four times, twice on their backs and twice on their bellies. We were given goggles to watch the dolphins swim under the water a few times after a ball. We had to remain in a line shoulder to shoulder but we kept drifting forwards and backwards. We were not allowed to kick out in case we spooked them. We were told to do tricks where if we splashed the water then the dolphin waved with its tail, when we spin in the water the dolphin spins too and with two fingers wiggling the dolphin would sing. After this we were in the shallow end where we had the opportunity to pat the dolphins again while they swam past us. I almost got hit by its tail twice as it swam past. While in line, we were told to put our hands out in front of us and the dolphin rested its neck on our hands. The dolphin's skin felt silky and warm.

During the adventure, we were with a couple from Melbourne who were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. We were given a free towel with SeaWorld, Gold Coast, Australia written on it.

The first ride I went on was the Vikings Revenge Log Flume which was one my grandfather and I had been on ten years previously. The second ride I went on was The Storm, which was awesome, but the waiting time was 40 minutes long! Before going on The Storm, I went and put my togs/swimwear back on as we were told while sitting on the monorail that I would get soaked. The first part of the ride you go up high in the sky then drop four times into the water and get soaked, there are objects that squirt water at you, too. The last ride I went on was the Jet Rescue ride. I enjoyed it so much that I went on it twice.

We got ice creams and caught a local bus to Broadbeach South Station outside Pacific Fair; the bus went the back route and we ended up walking through Pacific Fair to get back to our hotel. We went out to dinner at Valentino's on Victoria Ave in Broadbeach. We had to get taxi to the restaurant and back. I had prawn for entrée, spaghetti bolognese for main, and chocolate gelato for dessert. We were woken up at four AM this morning by a Currawong.

Facts that the trainer told us about the dolphins were that dolphins don't chew their food, they swallow whole, but need their teeth to catch fish. They have spots on their tummy which are age spots and they can tell us how old they are. There is a hole on the side of their head for ears. They can hold their breath for two minutes, they can change their voice to make it sound different—this means they do not have a voice box. While asking questions, a young girl asked how old dolphins need to be to have babies. The trainer said they have to be nine years old; their youngest dolphin has three more years until she can have babies. One of the dolphins was 14 years old and two of them were six years old and were born six months apart. One of the dolphins had three dots on her fin. To watch the dolphin swim underwater with the ball, we had to be in a starfish position. The females are usually naughty and try to swim between the gaps in the line; the trainers recommended that women don't swim with dolphins while pregnant because the girls sense it through echo location and try to mother you and it distracts the dolphins from following the instructions from the trainers.

Day Four

DreamWorld and White Water World

14th September, 2016

The bird that usually sounds its mating call at four-five AM in the morning must've found its mate or moved to somewhere else in the resort, as it didn't wake us up this morning.

We went to Dreamworld and White Water World via Tx3 bus today. I went on the tail spin first, but during our ride, the ride broke down and I was stuck in the air for a while. When we first arrived, we got to get a photo with Dreamworld's mascot koala bears and King Julian from Madagascar. We then watched Dorothy the Dinosaur and Captain Feathersword dance to Dorothy the Dinosaur. We then got photos with Marty, Alex, Gloria, Malvin, King Julian, Skipper, Kowaski, Private, and Ricco. We went on bumper cars from Kung Fu Panda and I got photos with Donkey, Shrek, Fiona and Puss in Boots. One of my sisters absolutely loves tigers, so I got her a toy tiger, too. We went and watched a tiger show although, unfortunately, Tiger Island was not open. So we caught the Dreamworld express around the park instead.

We decided to go to White Water World as it started to get hot and I went on the Temple of Huey, Super Tubes Hydro Coaster, Pipeline Plunge, The Green Room, The Rip, and The Bro. Before all this, though, I went on the Hot Wheels Sidewinder, which was the safest ride I ever felt on, mainly because of the elastic harness. After White Water World, we hopped on the Dreamworld Express again and this time I hopped off at the Rocky Hollows Log Ride. While waiting to go on the ride, two keepers came walking a tiger cub. They stopped so people could take photos and pat it. After the ride, I went to see the animals and saw a dingo, a python, some koala bears, some alligators, and kangaroos. I went and got my photo taken with a Koala bear called Nala. She was grumpy because she was tired and had just woken up. After holding the koala bear, I got to feed and pat some kangaroos. This one kangaroo loved being fed and getting attention. This kangaroo was a cheeky one, as it often grabbed our hands for more food and even put its nose in my bag. The kangaroo and koala bear were both soft and fluffy.

We caught the Dreamworld Express back to the main station by the entrance; the Dreamworld Express has been running since World War Two. The man running the deisel train was saying some funny jokes too, like "What do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back? A stick." The ride operator for the Tail Spin ride was a funny character too, as he said they don't often feed Chinese people to the tigers as they will get hungry again two hours later. He even said using children as shields during the Grizzly River Rapid was highly recommended, or if you don't have any children, you are welcome to use someone else's. He also said if anyone should ever feel sick during a ride, Dreamworld highly recommends sharing is caring.

Climbing to the Hot Wheels ride took a long time, as the way there was a continuous walk up and around a tower. Luckily, it was all flat and there were no stairs, but I did have to walk down stairs at the end and it felt like a maze just to find the exit. I ended up doing the Super Tubes Hydro Coaster, the Green Room, and the Rip with two other people. During the Green Room, I came out backwards , felt scared as, but it was still fun

We ended up doing the Temple of Huey four times as I tried three of the slides and did another one with my best friend.

When we paid for the bus at the train station, the machine gave us an old New Zealand 20 cents coin that we no longer use and an old five cent coin which we no longer use, also.

Day Five

Australia Zoo

15th September, 2016

Today I had to get up at five AM to get picked up from the hotel after six AM to head to the Australia Zoo as part of the Croc Expo. The bus took over an hour to get there. We were the second lot to be picked up. On the way there, we were told about the Commonwealth Games, which are coming to the Gold Coast in 2018. We were also directed where to go to see the crocodile show at the Crocoseum.

When we first arrived, there was a lizard, so I got my photo taken with it. My best friend also got a photo with us and we got a photo with a falcon. I got a photo with another koala bear called Deasil and a photo taken with a python called Big Phil. After that, we went to the Crocoseum to watch a few birds perform, including macaws, falcons, two pythons, and a vulture. After that, they brought out a small crocodile with a member of the audience. They then brought out the big crocodile and showed us how fast it was on the land and in the water. The crocodile can make itself go very fast by tucking its legs into its sides. The trainer made the crocodile leap into the air so we could see how the crocodile uses its tail stand up and leap to get its prey.

After the Crocoseum show, we went and fed red kangaroos and got selfies with them; my one loved the food so much it scoffed the lot. We then saw the wombats and the koala bears. After the koala bears, we caught the shuttle to Tiger Temple and watched the show. I brought one of my other sisters a koala bear from there. The tigers looked amazing when they were standing up on its back legs to drink the milk and can leap very far. The tiger they used was mixed of a Bengal and a Sumatran female, so she was a little bit smaller than the others. They got her to stand on a mat and stand up against the glass a few times to eat meat. She also leapt over a log to get the meat. She used her claws to climb up a tree also to get meat. She happily stood up a few times against the glass to drink the milk. After the tiger show, we caught the shuttle back to the main gate and found out they have fourteen tigers. On the way back to our hotel on the Crocodile Expo bus, we watched the last documentary Steve Irwin was in before he died and some of his memorial. I managed to get my dad a set of coasters with his name on them.

After this was finished, the driver put on Finding Nemo for us for the trip. When we got back at 6:30 PM, we went to Pacific Fair late nights for dinner.

Day Six

Wet 'n' Wild

16th September, 2016

Today we went to Wet 'n' Wild. I went on Constrictor and the River Rapids. My best friend and I went and did Body Boarding for half an hour on the Flow Rider which was awesome! Out of three of us that were on the ride, I was the only one who didn't fall off my body board. We went in the hot pools afterwards thinking it was a whirlpool. I then went on the Mammoth Falls which was pretty fun. It started raining so we went home and went shopping at Pacific Fair where I brought my mum a new ring. We printed out some of our photos, as well. When I was on the Constrictor I went down with these two young girls who kindly asked me if I wanted to join them. On the Mammoth Falls, I joined a dad and his son and daughter.

Day Seven

Returning to SeaWorld

17th September, 2016

Today the bird woke us up at five in the morning. There was also a party on at one of the residents in the resort. Today we went to see the dolphin show, the seal show, for me the Jet Rescue ride one more time, then the last of our shopping. The dolphin show was really cool; before it started, we went and checked out the Creatures of the Deep. There were some pretty interesting sea creatures for show. After that, I went on the Jet Rescue three times and we went to watch the Affinity Dolphin Presentation. We patted some stingrays first though. They were slimy. There were big ones that were brown and grey and small ones that were grey with white spots on them.

At the beginning of the show, when everyone was arriving, the dolphins came and checked us out. During the show, the trainers were encouraging us to protect sea life and to protect dolphins, which are endangered, by not littering in the ocean and by staying safe in boats and while fishing. To start the show, the trainers got the dolphins to jump two at a time and four at a time. We also got to see their speed and got to see their bellies. One of the trainers got to get two of the dolphins to swim around the pool and jump out of the water. Some of them did tricks where they spun and did flips out of the water. Some of the trainers rode on the dolphins' bellies during the show. The trainers wiggled their fingers and the dolphins sang. The trainers splashed the water and the dolphins flapped their flippers. The trainers spun around and so did the dolphins, we all waved hi and the dolphins flapped their tails at us. They then got the dolphins to jump some more and they showed us their bellies again. The trainers got the dolphins to the other side of the pool on their backs. One of the trainers drove a boat along the water and showed us how the dolphins liked to jump out of the water in front of the boat. At the end of the boat ride, four of the dolphins leapt over the boat; the dolphins then did a whole lot of jumps. After this, a young girl from the audience got to pat one of the dolphins and had a photo taken with it. After this, the dolphins lifted their trainers out of the water and flipped them back into the water. They then got the dolphins to do a few more jumps. After that it was the end of the show.

After SeaWorld we did some more shopping at Pacific Fair, then went back to the hotel to pack.

Day Eight

Homebound

18th September, 2016

The Carrawong didn't wake us up this morning. After breakfast, we went and waited for the COX-ION transfer bus but got a taxi instead because the bus was too late. We left Gold Coast Australia on a Virgin Australia flight at three that afternoon. We had to use the Virgin Australia Entertainment App while on board; I ended up watching Deadpool as the music side didn't have Taylor Swift. Deadpool was funny as hell and I ended up buying it on DVD. My best friend and I were thinking of returning to the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games in 2018, which we didn't do cause I'm currently studying the bachelor of teaching and my best friend is traveling to the UK with family.

To go on the plane and get off the plane, we had to walk across the tarmac and up more stairs to get on the plane. By the end of this holiday, I had had enough of stairs, as most of the highest roller coasters and hydro slides were at the top of heaps of stairs. We managed to walk 10k steps every day as we often went to the Oasis, Pacific Fair, or the beach after going to the theme parks. I managed to get a pressed pennies collectors book for all the places we went to. I managed to get ten altogether. My little sisters loved what I got them and so did mum and dad.

I can't wait to go back on holiday again. I definitely had the time of my life.