Faster than a speeding bullet

We have been under the radar for the past week or so. Following our 6 nights on the Gold Coast we have been making our way slowly back towards home. We have had some marvellous adventures on our drive south. For the last five nights we have been free camping in truck stops and back streets and so we have been off the email and no real chance to post our adventures.

We are almost home - But we do need to update about our theme park frenzy. Lars bought the VIP pass enabling us to visit Wet 'n' Wild (hereinafter referred to as WW), Sea World and Movie World as frequently as we pleased. We decided to spend two days at each. We started with WW simply because the weather was wet and we figured this wouldn't impact us too much since we would be wet anyway. My brother Andrew thoughtfully informed me that his kids had very much enjoyed the Kamakaze ride when they visited last year. Having never been to WW we figured that the Kamakaze was a great place to start. It is like a massive half pipe. Two people sit in an inflatable thingy and drop over the edge into the half pipe and up the other side. It looks pretty tame. In reality it is quite terrifying and on reflection was not the best place to start the day. I went on with Charlie and Lars went on with Hannah. After some intensive therapy I'm sure the kids will both learn to talk again.

Gracie was a little short for many of the rides - Lara got quite good at stretching poor Gracie's neck so that she reached the magic 1 metre mark. At times, I'm sure her feet were dangling in the air as Lara held her by the head to ensure that she was tall enough to ride. There was something for everyone at WW. In particular the kids loved the water slides and the spa. Lara and I tried out a new ride called the aqua loop. Hard to describe, but it commences with you dropping through a trap door and free falling into a large water slide. It was a heart stopper.

One of Gracie's favourite rides - Mammoth Falls

Gracie's neck was stretched 3 cm for this ride

The boys enjoyed racing each other on these slides

Mum and Dad enjoy a ride together on the giant surf board

William loved this ride - We must have gone on it 10 times - it's a climb of 121 steps to the top!



Gracie sucking in the action

William uses a drying trick he learnt from the sea birds we saw along the way

We were pleasantly surprised by Movie World. I'm not certain that it has any connection whatsoever with Hollywood or the making of a movie of any description. It was, however, a great couple of days. Lots to do and see. It is a great place just to sit and soak up the atmosphere. We found some really good rides that we could all go on. The family favourite was the Road Runner ride. It was a smallish roller coaster that everybody enjoyed. The kids just ran around from one turn to the next. Gracie had to be accompanied by an adult and so Lara and I shared the honours. Hannah often travelled with Charlie and William seemed to enjoy his own company. The bumper cars were also a great favourite. We managed to talk Charlie onto coming on the Wild West Rapids ride. This was a mistake. More therapy required.
The Stunt driving show was great fun as was the street parade, where Hannah scored a free Magnum (icy-pole not gun - It is probably different in the real Hollywood).

I only recognised Wonder Woman - The others looked important

Batman was a pretty serious bloke

The theatre in Main Street

The girls immediately after Super Man Escape

The Road Runner ride was a big hit

Charlie said he would go on it again if we paid him $10.00 - We didn't!

 

You get quite wet

William and Charlie loved looking at the Pokemon machines

Lars and Hannah about to shoot away on the Batman ride

Hannah and Gracie have emerged as the real adrenalin junkies. Hannah went on all the scary rides first. If she emerged still able to function then I would go on too. This included the Batman ride and the Superman ride. She and Lara couldn't get enough of these. I needed to be eased into them. Gracie would have gone on them all if she was tall enough. Sadly she missed out by miles for the really fast rides.  Despite all manner of stretching, William didn't make the cut either. Charlie was content to stay grounded, preferring to search for discarded money in the arcade games and ride the dodgems.

Sea World is an old favourite and we enjoyed our time there as well. The shows were good fun and the rides were family friendly. Charlie and Hannah loved the Jet-rescue ride, but the highlight was the double scoop ice-cream. We needed to extend our line of credit to buy them but the looks on the faces of the kids was worth it.

Pure joy

I would have smiled more but with the price of these ice-creams this was all I could manage

We always like to get a photo with our old mate

Gracie and Mum enjoying a plane ride



Gracie's first turn on Big Bird Bounce

The Flume ride

 On our final day at Sea World we had a wonderful time at the new Castaway Bay water park. Those that are silly enough can travel around a course in a boat, while the spectators fire water pistol type squirters at them. Charlie and I teamed up to unleash a monstrous water attack on the ride-goers. We preferred to direct our attention at well dressed mothers with children. It provided us with a great deal of entertainment.



Charlie getting the hang of the water gun



Dad and Charlie giving grief to the ride goers



We stayed at the Treasure Island Caravan Park. It was not on an Island and there was no evidence of any kind of treasure. But the name appealed to Lara. It was clean and tidy and the people were very friendly. We played mini golf and swam in the pool. We drove Bustin' off each day to the various theme parks and backed her in again at night. It was a very painless way to get around and much cheaper than going on a shuttle bus. She was also very easy to spot in the carpark at the end of a big day.
 

Bustin' was easy to find at the end of the day

On our final night at Treasure Island we signed up for the buffet tea. This was a great way to end a week of fun and frivolity. On the morning we were leaving, William and Charlie arrived back at the bus puffing and panting. They had disappeared with Gracie to play on the bouncy pillow. When they arrived back at the bus (minus Gracie) we noticed they were both looking quite distressed. It was then that we noticed approximately 5-6 largish kids on their tail). Their nationality is not important (although at a national level they are quite good at Rugby). William had apparently injured a little girl while on the pillow. He thought it better to bolt rather than wait around for her recovery. Shortly after arriving back at the bus the father arrived with the "victim" and the appropriate apology was offered and received. I thought for a moment that I was going to have to put my BJJ into action and put the father in arm bar. Lara diffused the situation well. We told William to run faster next time (not really).

We are currently in a caravan park in Glenrowan of all places! After 5 nights of freebies (Ballina, Taree, Sydney, Canberra, Gundagai) Lara wanted to plug in the heater. It has been an amazing week and so I will do one final post once we get home.

Suffice to say that it is with mixed emotions that we bed down for our final night on the road. Bustin' has served us so well. We have learnt a lot about each other and we have thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I look forward to uploading our last post next week.

Leaving Movie World for the last time

Bye for now.

Phil, Lars, Hannah, Charlie, William and Gracie