Who Let the Kids Out?
- Oct 7, 2016
- 4 min read
Location:
Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
The bus journey only took a few hours and before we knew it, it was lunch time and we were arriving at our hostel, ‘Sleeping Inn Backpackers.’ We were warned by our English friend Alex not to stay here. So far we have no issues with the place. The staff seem quite friendly and the hostel looks clean. It will do for a couple of nights.
After checking in, we were keen to hit the theme parks and start using our passes. We both agreed that we would get the bus to ‘Sea World.’ I feel old thinking that is twenty years since I was in Florida. That is scary! The good thing about the theme parks over here is that there aren’t long queues like in Orlando which means you can keep going on the same ride as many times as you want without having to wait more than five minutes. Even though we only had a few hours at the park before the place shut, we fitted in a lot including seeing some rather cute penguins and dolphins doing some amazing tricks. I never knew dolphins could jump so high into the air. Very cool! They are such amazing creatures. Man’s best friend of the sea! We even managed to fit in a 3D showing of ‘Shrek.’ It was advertised as 4D which is what you’d expect, but this place hasn’t been upgraded since it was built in the 1980’s!
On our first full day on the ‘Gold Coast,’ we woke up ever so excited, eager to get out and start enjoying our first full day at Wet ‘n’ Wild and Sea World. Soon after arriving at the water park, we quickly made our way over to the ride that would get your heart pumping. The ride consisted of four coloured shoots that you stand in, a door closes, a countdown begins before the ground gives way and then you fall down a shoot. As soon as it’s over, there was an immediate dash to the top of the ride again. I went four times because OCD me wanted go down each of the shoots. By the time we were ready to leave, we must have tried all the rides at least once. Myself and Jason were like two school kids on our yearly school tour. If there is one thing I enjoy, its water parks. They are such good fun!
After leaving Wet ‘n’ Wild, we hopped two buses to Sea World. We had to wait a while for the second bus as we went for a quick cup of coffee and missed one, then I went to the toilet and as I was walking, a second one drove past. How very annoying! Anyhow, slightly later than planned we were back at Sea World where we caught the end of the Seal show who were just as entertaining as the dolphins. I was very excited as I got to ride Australia’s first ‘Monorail’ system! For about twenty minutes, I thought I was it! The interaction between dolphins and humans is incredible. Every time I stuck my tongue out at them, they would do the same. Such clever, playful creatures! I’m easily amused. What was probably one of the coolest things was the feeding of the stingrays. As they swam past looking for food, if you stuck your hand in the water, you were given the opportunity to rub them as they went past. They felt very slimy. It was certainly a rather weird experience. It’s hard to believe one of them killed ‘The Crocodile Hunter,’ ‘Steve Irwin,’ and here’s me rubbing them.
On our third and final outing to the theme parks, we thought we would visit ‘Warner Brothers Movie World’ with our lovely Irish nurse, Fiona! When it comes to roller-coasters, you never know when you might need a nurse! Superman, the scariest one which I surprisingly wanted to do, I was told I was too tall. I was very disappointed, but it didn’t stop me trying again later, at which time, I found myself in the line, waiting to go on it. Due to the speed of the car, it was over before you knew it. One of the best rides of the day was the Batman themed ‘Arkham Asylum’ which had lots of twists, turns, ups and downs. If you want, you can pay extra for virtual reality glasses, which was like being in a Batman movie. The best part was when one of the bad guys throws you over the edge of a sky rise building, which felt as if you were free falling! It was well worth it. I was a little bit dizzy after it, but there’s nothing a Ben and Jerrys ice cream won’t fix, now is there? Like the kids that we are, all three of us went to see ‘The Looney Tunes’ in the theatre. At least this time it was 4D! I shocked myself. How was I so eager to go on all the rides, even the scary ones, and it was no bother to me. One of the rides I was a bit nervous as we sat waiting for it to begin, but once it did, I was fine, but Jason started getting all panicky! Have we swapped roles or something? I have certainly shocked myself today! Could this be the new, improved me?
If there was one thing we set out to do in Surfers, it’s the theme parks. I wouldn’t normally be into them, but honestly, I had such a great time. As some of you know, Jason and his family are obsessed with Florida, so I have agreed that I will go with Jason on a holiday in the future! How could I say no to those puppy-dog eyes? Because we spent so much time at the parks, we only had the evening times to see the city! If I ever find myself nearby, I must take a visit back, if even for a night or two.
During our time at the theme parks, it was sadly reported that several people lost their lives on the ‘Rapids’ ride at Dreamworld. Thankfully, it was the only park we didn’t go to. One thinks they are safe on a ride like this, as opposed to a large rollercoaster. I think our Angels continue to do a good job looking out for us.
By Andrew
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