Gold Coast 2007 - Blog

12th Oct 07 - We got here alive!

Well, we have left Cairns for the second leg of our journey. The trip through Cairns was somewhat relaxing and enjoyable. Then it all went downhill!. I think the pilot had either a hangover or was still...erm…...drunk. Leaving Cairns Airport, I didn’t think we were going to take off before the runway. However, just before the fence, we managed it. Once we were in the air everything seemed ok. I watched some Aussie soap thing on the in-flight entertainment system, looked quite funny - maybe I should have picked some headphones up before we took off and I could have listened to it too (everyone else was laughing at it, so that’s a bonus - that made me guess that it was a comedy). Once we got near Brisbane, the plane started to descend, wobble and jump. We went through a thunder storm and we were all over the place! Once landed and we had embarked from the plane, we went outside and had 3 or 4 ciggies before our coach came to pick us up for the 63km (or so) trip from the Airport to the Gold Coast. OMG.

I thought the plane was bad. I think the driver of the coach had been doing trials for the Indy 300 (starts on Thursday here). Was better than any amusement park ride I have ever been on.

Anyway, we got to our apartment on the Gold Coast. It’s on a different level to the Lakes Resort, but we expected it. It has all we need (except a dishwasher), but the view from our balcony of the South Pacific Ocean is fantastic. The apartment was clean (in a scrotey kind of way), but looks even cleaner and smells great after a visit to Woolworths, and Ade cleaned up a little more. It’s 9.30 pm on Friday 12th October now and we are sitting on our balcony sipping vodka while I type this blog - James.

PS - Hope you enjoyed the video of us skydiving - Links on the home page!

13th Oct - Shopping Spree round Surfers

Ade dragged me round the shops at Surfers today. Bought a couple of pressies for ourselves as a reminder of our trip (including a nice 5 foot square Aboriginal painting). The Coolangatta Gold started today. Watched a bit of that, then had an afternoon siesta

Went out for a meal in the evening to The Northcliffe Surf Club about 15 minutes from our apartment. I had steak for a change, and Ade had Seafood platter with oysters, lobster, huge king prawns, scallops and barramundi. Washed it down with a couple of pints of XXXX and several vodka’s - James.

14th Oct - Trip to Sea World

Had a good day today at Sea World managed to complete everything we missed last time we visited, plus there was extra to see and do. Our legs were that tired as we walked 4.5km to get there along the esplanade James made me get on public transport back to the apartment lol - Ade.

Have put some clips of our trip on the barrier reef together. Again, not best quality and it was done on the small wrist mounted camera, so apologies once more for the quality, but it should give you an idea. Click the ’Barrier Reef Video’ link above - James.

15th Oct - Jet Ski Safari

James spent most of the early morning on  the toilet, he said he wasn't to scared about me driving the jet ski but I think he was. We arrived at the jetty and there was a few other young couples going on the safari with us. There was going to be 9 jet ski’s going out, an instructor at the front and one at the back. The safety brief lasted for about 1/2 hour then we had to pass the test before we were allowed on the jet ski’s. When the instructor mentioned that the top speed was 90mph James’s face was a picture but he still agreed to go on.

We then all  picked our jet ski and James wanted to be at the back so I agreed and we set off very slow due to the harbour speed limits. Once we got clear they took off like a jet it was amazing how fast they could go. Just as we set off a large boat came towards us and we took off into the air, it was great! The trip took us round all the small mangrove islands weaving in and out doing hairpin bends they could turn superb even at top speed. Once we got out into the open ocean it wasn't as calm and we all had to slow down as we were jumping in the air after every wave. One of the couple that were on the trip took a nose dive and fell off the ski, I couldn't stop laughing and James was digging me in the back. We headed off to Coomera island where we stopped for a beer, and fed the wallabies that habited the island.

As we headed back to the harbour a windsurfer decided to cross our path, and we had to slow right down to let him past as for some reason they have the right of way. We lost the group and couldn't find them for about 4 minutes. One of the rules was that you had to stay at least 100 meters away from the person in front so when you slowed down they easily when out of sight. We managed to find the group as another couple had fell off trying to turn to quick and they got hurtled off.

We were out on the jet ski for about 2 hours covering 70km of waterways around Surfers Paradise and really enjoyed the day out. Even though we covered ourselves in sun cream we both got really red and wind burned but it was worth it. You can see a picture of us both on the jet ski in the photo section - Ade.

Was ok for the first 6 minutes while we drove out of the harbour, then Ade drove like a maniac! After about ten minutes or so, I got used to it and started enjoying the ride. Took about 40 minutes of video while we were out (I would imagine 35 minutes will be of me hanging on). Once I have put some clips together, I will put them on the site. I was more scared of falling off into the shark infested waters, or in the mangrove areas where the crocs live, but managed to hang on quite well (got the blisters on my fingers to prove it). After we stopped at an island for refreshments, we ventured into quite rough waters, jumping all over the place. Ade was laughing like a possessed maniac during this bit - I was still holding on. Enjoyed it, would do it again, but next time I would be driving! - James

Website: www.jetskisafaris.com.au

16th Oct - Lazy Day

Headed of into the town again today. Went to Infinity (a futuristic maze). Ade kept getting shocks as we walked through the maze, so he made me go first - nothing happened. However, when he went back in front, the shocks started again :-). Just come back to the apartment for a bite to eat. Going out for a meal tonight (Chinese) - James.

1920 - Just got back from our Chinese Meal. We went to Legends which was a seafood Chinese Restaurant. We had a starter for 2 which consisted of Prawn Toast, Pork Wantons and Spring Rolls. Main course, Ade was going to have Lobster, but couldn’t because he had to pick one to kill so they could cook it. Instead, he ordered Scallops in garlic, so he got King Prawns in garlic?! - I had beef in chilli sauce. Despite the mixe up, Ade want’s to go back on Thursday (maybe to see if he gets what he orders this time). Meal and service were good.

Before we went out, we were sat on our balcony watching a Whale breaching in the sea opposite out balcony.

17th Oct - Dreamworld

Headed off to Dreamworld this morning. It was only a half hour drive using a pick up / drop off service arranged by the lady on reception at our Apartment. Spent an hour talking Ade into having our photo’s taken with the Tigers they have at Dreamworld last night, so I dashed off to the booking area, only to be informed that there was a 3 week waiting list :-(. Never mind, plenty more to see and do. We went on the Giant Drop first. Again, Ade screamed like a little girl (and the little girl that was on the other side of me was laughing quite loud in my other ear). Next, we headed towards the Australian Wildlife Experience. On our way, Ade decided that he wanted to look at the vintage cars. This was a kid’s ride where kids of around 4 could drive the cars round a track - Ade decided he wanted to join in. I took a photo and told him to go away and have fun, but he almost dragged me on the car. As we sped off into the distance with a top speed of around 4 miles per hour, we spotted loads of lizards, birds, trees, bushes etc. After what felt like a lifetime of going round in circles, we eventually came to a halt and walked through the gathering crowds to our next adventure - The Australian Wildlife Experience (where we were heading for in the first place!). Got our photos took with a Koala (and Ade received a free memento of our visit down his new top - thanks to the baby Koala! - Did you know Koala crap smells of Eucalyptus?). Whele we were at Dreamworld, we also went on The Claw (4 times), the Tower of Terror (3 times), visited Tiger Island and went on the Cyclone.

Dreamworld was a better day out the Warner Brothers Movie world (where we went last time) - there seemed to be more to do (and more rides were working). Ade is getting much better at amusement park rides since doing the sky dive last week. Have updated the photo’s page with some of today’s events - James.

18th Oct - Another Lazy Day

Went for a walk along the beach (about 10 yards Ade says (what ever yards are - I thought they were concrete back gardens!)). Had a look round the shops again and then a short tour of the Indy 300 track (Indy day tomorrow, but don't think we will be lucky enough to see anything - Surfer’s has been turned into a race track and as we don’t have passes, there are quite a few places we can’t get to. This is the second time this has happened to us - we missed out on all the hype last time. I mentioned this to Ade and he gave a sarcastic look and said ‘Awww’.

We went for a meal. Ade fancied lobster, but couldn’t decide on which one he wanted to kill, so he settled for the scallops in garlic. I had duck in a chilli sauce with green things on the side - quite nice. I asked for deep fried ice-cream off the dessert menu, but it never landed so we paid and headed off home for our last night at the Surf Regency.

19th Oct - Off to Sydney

Well, today is the day we leave for our final destination. We checked out of the Surf Regency. After reading some of the reports on  www.tripadvisor.com, I was a bit nervous about what we would find. However, after spending a week there and seeing it for ourselves, we were quite happy with the place, and Jacqueline (who was on reception and was always pleasant and would go out of her way to help and give us advice) - we would be more than happy to live there for another week (or maybe more!).

Jacqueline booked the taxi for our departure and we headed off to Cooangatta airport (with yet another maniac taxi driver) for the final leg of our tour.