We were all up by around 7am today (after our restful day yesterday). I'm surprised too that I am sleeping really well - that is quite unusual for me! We all got ready - the other kids to go to dancing, and we were going to visit a friend who I met when I lived in Canada. We've seen each other a few times since we both got back to Australia, but not since my wedding, 15 years ago!
We got to my friend's house at 9am and immediately felt welcome and comfortable. We had a cup of tea, ham and cheese croissants, and scrolls for breakfast. Delicious and very relaxed. My kids and her youngest went and had a swim in the back yard while we chatted as if we'd not had such a long break. Her husband was in and out of the conversation, checking on the kids and watching the V8s. The kids came back inside and played some other games, jumped on the trampoline for a while and then they all played with her son's Mip robot, racing it around an obstacle course they set up with shoes and bags. It was a lot of fun. I had a wonderful morning and our 3 hours there passed so quickly.
They were going out at midday so we said goodbye and headed off. We drove up to Redcliffe to meet our host friends. It was about an hour from my Canada friend's house - I'd been given good directions by my host friend's husband, and I enjoyed driving around parts of Brisbane I hadn't seen in a while, or never seen at all. We drove over a very long bridge as we got close, that was pretty cool. At Redcliffe we drove around the carpark for the swimming area a few times until we found a spot, then went and met our friends.
There's a large manmade lagoon near the shore at Redcliffe, which is where we swam. The kids all swam around for a while and I cooled off then sat and chatted to my friend. The kids all played some games in the water and were in and out. My friend went to pick up one of her kids who was at a birthday party, and the rest of us went in the water again. The kids retrieved a hat from a drain at the edge of the pool - it was a huge team effort and they were very proud (and Amelie happy to have a new hat). They sat on each other's shoulders and wrestled, and worked on the flipping trick I taught my kids at SeaWorld Resort. The boys and Amelie went over to the park and I sat and chatted to the older girls for a while. Liam and one of his friends went to explore the rocks now that the tide had gone out, and the other boy took Amelie to the kids pool. When my friend came back the older girls cooked some sausages on the BBQ and the rest of us swam. The water was fairly warm but it was refreshing. There were clouds coming over (a possible storm was forecast) and one of the clouds was in the exact shape of the Starship Enterprise!
Once the sausages were ready we hopped out and ate them (the kids devoured them so quickly!) and the kids went back in the water. My friend and I sat and chatted until some of the kids were keen to leave. The 3 older girls wanted to stay - so I took the 3 boys and Amelie and my friend followed a bit later with the girls. It started raining as we were leaving, and we hit very heavy rain as we crossed the long bridge. There was a lot of lightning around as well. I drove pretty slowly because of the rain and low visibility. I was pleased that I pretty much knew my way back, I'm feeling more and more confident about my directions around Brisbane. I'd downloaded a heap of music on to my phone and was able to listen to that while I was driving, it was very enjoyable. The boys started the trip playing Terraria and Amelie was playing something else - gradually the car became quieter and Amelie told me that all the boys were asleep (it was 7pm). She drifted off herself not long before we arrived home - so it was a very quiet trip. They all woke as we stopped at the house, and came inside to watch tv. We watched Big Momma's House 2 and despite the naps everyone was still pretty tired. All the adults were in bed by 10.30 (or earlier) and the kids seemed to head to bed soon after that.
Showing posts with label storm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label storm. Show all posts
Monday, 5 March 2018
Thursday, 1 March 2018
Brisbane Trip Day 11: Bryon Bay -> Gold Coast
It was windy overnight and I was up at one point tying the tarp down more tightly as it was flapping a lot - I didn't want to take it off in case the potential forecast rain arrived. I slept badly, worrying about packing up in time (there were signs around saying we must check out by 10) and the fell asleep quite soundly in the early morning and woke up at 7.15, which was later than I'd planned.
The pack up went pretty smoothly although it was hot and sweaty work for all of us. Liam and Amelie did the dishes and then put the poles and pegs away and carried things to the car, Caitlin helped me with the tent. We were all hitched up and ready to go by 10.40 which is our quickest time yet.
The drive north was quite enjoyable. The countryside was green and lush, lots of trees, and paddocks full of grass. There were a lot of hills and we could see mountains in the distance. Driving on a dry day was also much easier for me. We reached the Gold Coast and I was fascinated by the tall buildings. We were suddenly driving in city traffic (which wasn't as difficult as driving in Byron Bay...) and we noticed that there were no other cars with caravans or trailers - they must be around somewhere, but apart from a few at a rest stop about half way from Byron, I don't think we saw any other caravans.
We found our way to Sea World Resort - driving past Sea World we could see a large blue roller coaster and it looked like something I would be happy to go on. The big kids were excited about it too. We pulled up to the front of the resort (and a lady waiting there moved her car forward so there was room for me to pull up with the trailer) and went inside to check in. Our room was ready so we were allowed to go straight up. We got our clothes bags out of the car and put them on a trolley for the concierge to take up, and asked about parking the trailer - he said we could just put it in one car parking space and park the car next to it. The kids came with me while I moved the car down into the carpark. I parked in the last row so that the trailer wasn't in anyone's way - and I managed to back it into a spot without too much trouble. We grabbed a few more bags and headed back into the resort.
The lobby felt quite luxurious and the kids were extremely excited to be there. We headed over to our room, where our luggage was waiting. We were in the Bay Wing, so we took a lift down one floor from the lobby, then walked along a corridor and then a covered walkway, then up 2 levels in another lift, then around the corner to our room. We had a balcony, a lovely bathroom with shower over the bath, and 2 double beds. The kids explored the room and we had a quick snack and repacked our bags, put our swimmers and sunscreen on and got ready to go to Wet n Wild - the clocks had gone back an hour because Qld doesn't do daylight savings, so it was still only 12.30 and we had a whole afternoon of theme park time! (The deal I got for our rooms gave us unlimited entry to Sea World, Movie World, Wet n Wild and Paradise Country for the 4 days of our stay)
It was a 25 minute drive to Wet n Wild, and quite exciting to arrive there (and to see Movie World next door). Once inside we found a table in the junior area and set up our things there, then took it in turns to take Amelie on some of the junior water slides. Liam and Caitlin took her on the mini-tornado, and I took her on a longer slide which was fun and not scary at all - my kind of slide! We checked out the wave pool (the regularly spaces waves made me feel a bit seasick) then Caitlin wanted to go on a surfboard ride that was basically a large U shape, with the ends curved in a little, and the ride went up one side of the U, then down through the middle and up the other side - it looked quite scary, and I think Liam wasn't quite prepared for how scary it was. Oh, the seats also span as the surfboard went back and forth.
From there we checked out the scarier slides - Liam and Caitlin went on the Black Hole which was a long enclosed waterside, mainly in the dark. Amelie and I went back to swim in the junior pool (which was lovely and refreshing, and fun to swim around - we went under bridges and I shot her with water cannons from the top of one of the bridges) while the others went on the Kamikaze - also a U shaped ride, this time a water slide though. They said it wasn't as scary as they thought it would be.
We had another go in the wave pool, then the 4 of us went on the Mammoth Falls ride - we all sat in a raft and the ride was a wide, open tube that started quite high. It was a lot of fun and we did it twice. From the wave pool we watched some people on the SkyCoaster - they get strapped into a harness, lying face down, then pulled up very very high by a rope, then are released and swing through the air in a large arc - scary even to watch, I couldn't imagine doing it!
Liam and Caitlin went on the Constrictor, an enclosed tube ride, and then we went to the Aqua Racer. This one didn't seem as high as the one at Adventure Park Geelong, but I was still pretty scared. It was much harder to get going on this one too. I was way behind Liam a couple of times but picked up so much speed on the last two bumps that I overtook him. Amelie watched us the first time then decided to give it a go and she loved it, and went on it twice.
Next we went to Calypso Beach which is a lazy river ride - floating in tubes around a circular river. It was lovely and relaxing. After one circuit I left Amelie with Liam, while Caitlin took me on the Black Hole - it was so much fun. I was screaming and laughing and sounded a bit insane I think, and I really enjoyed it. Being in the dark made it a bit scarier but there were no scary drops or real surprises. We played a little more in Calypso Beach then back to the wave pool, and Caitlin had another turn on the Surfboard.
Liam and Caitlin bought themselves a soft serve cup with lots of different toppings, and Amelie bought some fairy floss. There was a very large water dragon wandering around amongst the tables where our stuff was, we saw him each time we went back for a snack or more sunscreen. Someone dropped a bag of cheese and bacon balls and the little birds in the area were eating them - they had orange beaks and ate a lot of them before Caitlin grabbed the bag and put it in the bin - we figured they were likely to make the birds rather unwell. We'd had under 4 hours at the park and managed to have a go at everything we wanted to - we would have been happy to stay longer but also felt like we were happy with what we had done. It was a very fun afternoon.
An old friend of mine lived not far from the park so once we were dressed again we headed over to his place. I hadn't seen him since a baseball tournament in Port Macquarie in 2002, so it was fantastic to have a chance to catch up. We sat on his back verandah overlooking some lush forest, and had a drink and a good chat. It had been warm and sunny all day and in the evening some heavy clouds rolled in - there was torrential rain for a little while, and lots of thunder and lightning. It was pretty cool to watch and we were very glad we weren't camping tonight! We decided to get fish and chips which were delicious. His 17 year old son was lovely and got on well with my kids - after dinner they all watched funny youtube videos together while I chatted to my friend. He had an early start the next morning and we were all exhausted so we headed off about 8pm.
We stopped and got petrol on the way back to the resort and the guy in the Spar service station was friendly and chatty. Back at the resort we watched a bit of tv and used the free wifi for a while, some of the kids had a shower and we gradually drifted off to bed. The room had 2 double beds and Liam didn't want to share a bed with any of us, so we'd bought a camping mattress up and he set himself up on the floor between the two beds.
The pack up went pretty smoothly although it was hot and sweaty work for all of us. Liam and Amelie did the dishes and then put the poles and pegs away and carried things to the car, Caitlin helped me with the tent. We were all hitched up and ready to go by 10.40 which is our quickest time yet.
The drive north was quite enjoyable. The countryside was green and lush, lots of trees, and paddocks full of grass. There were a lot of hills and we could see mountains in the distance. Driving on a dry day was also much easier for me. We reached the Gold Coast and I was fascinated by the tall buildings. We were suddenly driving in city traffic (which wasn't as difficult as driving in Byron Bay...) and we noticed that there were no other cars with caravans or trailers - they must be around somewhere, but apart from a few at a rest stop about half way from Byron, I don't think we saw any other caravans.
We found our way to Sea World Resort - driving past Sea World we could see a large blue roller coaster and it looked like something I would be happy to go on. The big kids were excited about it too. We pulled up to the front of the resort (and a lady waiting there moved her car forward so there was room for me to pull up with the trailer) and went inside to check in. Our room was ready so we were allowed to go straight up. We got our clothes bags out of the car and put them on a trolley for the concierge to take up, and asked about parking the trailer - he said we could just put it in one car parking space and park the car next to it. The kids came with me while I moved the car down into the carpark. I parked in the last row so that the trailer wasn't in anyone's way - and I managed to back it into a spot without too much trouble. We grabbed a few more bags and headed back into the resort.
The lobby felt quite luxurious and the kids were extremely excited to be there. We headed over to our room, where our luggage was waiting. We were in the Bay Wing, so we took a lift down one floor from the lobby, then walked along a corridor and then a covered walkway, then up 2 levels in another lift, then around the corner to our room. We had a balcony, a lovely bathroom with shower over the bath, and 2 double beds. The kids explored the room and we had a quick snack and repacked our bags, put our swimmers and sunscreen on and got ready to go to Wet n Wild - the clocks had gone back an hour because Qld doesn't do daylight savings, so it was still only 12.30 and we had a whole afternoon of theme park time! (The deal I got for our rooms gave us unlimited entry to Sea World, Movie World, Wet n Wild and Paradise Country for the 4 days of our stay)
It was a 25 minute drive to Wet n Wild, and quite exciting to arrive there (and to see Movie World next door). Once inside we found a table in the junior area and set up our things there, then took it in turns to take Amelie on some of the junior water slides. Liam and Caitlin took her on the mini-tornado, and I took her on a longer slide which was fun and not scary at all - my kind of slide! We checked out the wave pool (the regularly spaces waves made me feel a bit seasick) then Caitlin wanted to go on a surfboard ride that was basically a large U shape, with the ends curved in a little, and the ride went up one side of the U, then down through the middle and up the other side - it looked quite scary, and I think Liam wasn't quite prepared for how scary it was. Oh, the seats also span as the surfboard went back and forth.
From there we checked out the scarier slides - Liam and Caitlin went on the Black Hole which was a long enclosed waterside, mainly in the dark. Amelie and I went back to swim in the junior pool (which was lovely and refreshing, and fun to swim around - we went under bridges and I shot her with water cannons from the top of one of the bridges) while the others went on the Kamikaze - also a U shaped ride, this time a water slide though. They said it wasn't as scary as they thought it would be.
We had another go in the wave pool, then the 4 of us went on the Mammoth Falls ride - we all sat in a raft and the ride was a wide, open tube that started quite high. It was a lot of fun and we did it twice. From the wave pool we watched some people on the SkyCoaster - they get strapped into a harness, lying face down, then pulled up very very high by a rope, then are released and swing through the air in a large arc - scary even to watch, I couldn't imagine doing it!
Liam and Caitlin went on the Constrictor, an enclosed tube ride, and then we went to the Aqua Racer. This one didn't seem as high as the one at Adventure Park Geelong, but I was still pretty scared. It was much harder to get going on this one too. I was way behind Liam a couple of times but picked up so much speed on the last two bumps that I overtook him. Amelie watched us the first time then decided to give it a go and she loved it, and went on it twice.
Next we went to Calypso Beach which is a lazy river ride - floating in tubes around a circular river. It was lovely and relaxing. After one circuit I left Amelie with Liam, while Caitlin took me on the Black Hole - it was so much fun. I was screaming and laughing and sounded a bit insane I think, and I really enjoyed it. Being in the dark made it a bit scarier but there were no scary drops or real surprises. We played a little more in Calypso Beach then back to the wave pool, and Caitlin had another turn on the Surfboard.
Liam and Caitlin bought themselves a soft serve cup with lots of different toppings, and Amelie bought some fairy floss. There was a very large water dragon wandering around amongst the tables where our stuff was, we saw him each time we went back for a snack or more sunscreen. Someone dropped a bag of cheese and bacon balls and the little birds in the area were eating them - they had orange beaks and ate a lot of them before Caitlin grabbed the bag and put it in the bin - we figured they were likely to make the birds rather unwell. We'd had under 4 hours at the park and managed to have a go at everything we wanted to - we would have been happy to stay longer but also felt like we were happy with what we had done. It was a very fun afternoon.
An old friend of mine lived not far from the park so once we were dressed again we headed over to his place. I hadn't seen him since a baseball tournament in Port Macquarie in 2002, so it was fantastic to have a chance to catch up. We sat on his back verandah overlooking some lush forest, and had a drink and a good chat. It had been warm and sunny all day and in the evening some heavy clouds rolled in - there was torrential rain for a little while, and lots of thunder and lightning. It was pretty cool to watch and we were very glad we weren't camping tonight! We decided to get fish and chips which were delicious. His 17 year old son was lovely and got on well with my kids - after dinner they all watched funny youtube videos together while I chatted to my friend. He had an early start the next morning and we were all exhausted so we headed off about 8pm.
We stopped and got petrol on the way back to the resort and the guy in the Spar service station was friendly and chatty. Back at the resort we watched a bit of tv and used the free wifi for a while, some of the kids had a shower and we gradually drifted off to bed. The room had 2 double beds and Liam didn't want to share a bed with any of us, so we'd bought a camping mattress up and he set himself up on the floor between the two beds.
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