Monday — 9 May 2011

Today we flew off to the Gold Coast via JetStar. Mum very nicely drove us to the airport so we didn't have to pay for a taxi.

When we checked our bags at the airport Geoffrey asked if we could get spare seats next to the kids (we had 2 and 2, out of the 3 and 3 arrangement). Apparently the people sitting next to us had already checked in so that was not possible, besides the flight was "pretty full".

Once on the plane Cameron was a bit unhappy that he did not have a window seat. Geoffrey suggested that when the window-seat-passenger boarded the plane he ask the other passenger to swap with him. Well either there was not anyone sitting in that seat or they never turned up, so Cameron got his window seat. Emily and I were sitting next to a lady on take off but once we had taken off the air hostess suggested that we move back a row and we got a row to ourselves. I guess the flight was not really "pretty full" after all.

Part way through the flight Emily became very upset because she missed our house and her ducky blanket :-(. That passed after a few minutes and she was excited again.

Once we arrived at the airport we picked up the rental car keys before going off to get our bags. Our bags were first off the flight (that never happens — well not to me anyway), so we were out of the airport rather quickly.

The car had some rather major dents in it (that Thrifty had already noted) but I was surprised by that because I have never had a rental car with significant damage before.

It wasn't too difficult to find the hotel and we checked in with no problems at all. The room we got was rather huge and Cameron and Emily were very excited by it. They especially liked their beds. There was nothing overly exciting about the beds but they really liked them anyway.

Tuesday — 10 May 2011

Today we are going to Wiggles World (Dreamworld) as selected by Emily. After having a bit of a sleep-in we got up to get ready. In the bathroom I managed to kick my toe on the door stop that was on the ground — it was a very big ouch. In the lead-up to our trip I wondered whether my back would hold up to walking around theme parks all day or if I would be fit enough but that didn't turn out to be any problem at all — the stubbed toe however was a very big problem, and the pain by the end of the day was so bad that I had a bit of trouble thinking straight.

For brunch today we went to GD's Express (a cafe in the hotel) and used two of our resort vouchers. When we checked in we got given a $20 voucher for each day of our stay as a gesture of goodwill from the hotel because of the renovations that are happening in the pool area.

During brunch it was very loud because the food place is right near the pool area and they were cutting down trees. Cameron loved watching the tree cutting. Geoffrey got a great photo of one of the trees on its way down.

During brunch there was quite a bit of thunder. One clap was so loud it was difficult to work out that it was thunder and not some big explosion. After a bit of thundering (and not much lightning) it bucketed down. We thought that might put an end to our visit to Dreamworld but after about 30 minutes the rain had passed.

After a quick change of clothes for Cameron (due to a major Fanta spill at lunch) we were off to Dreamworld.

First up at Dreamworld we got our passes created, Emily gave a lovely posed shot as usual — very cute. After the passes were sorted we went to Nickelodeon Central. Cameron and Emily played in Wild Thornberry's Rainforest Rampage (a ball play area) for a bit but Emily was bothered by the loud noises in there so we went off to find some other rides to do.

Emily quickly found a Blues Clues ride (which is "just like Dumbo but with dogs" — a quote from Emily) and a Backyardigans "Mighty Go Round" (a carousel). Em had a ride on both of those before Cameron joined us. They rode those two rides together. Cameron spotted the Swinger Zinger (a chair-o-plane type ride) which he and Emily loved, then Emily wanted to go on the SpongeBob FlyPants ride but she was too short. Cameron went on that while Geoffrey took Emily on the Dodgem cars.

It was then time for the Tiger show on Tiger Island. Unfortunately Emily was very disturbed by the volume of the show so I took her to try and find somewhere where we could see the show that the sound was bearable. We finally found somewhere and we got to see the tigers doing a big jump and climbing a tree which was very cool.

Meanwhile Cameron got bored of the Tiger show pretty quick so he took Geoffrey off to go on more rides. Cameron hadn't yet done the dodgems so he did that twice.

After the tiger show Emily wanted to go and do some fairy shopping so I took her off to the fairy shop. In the shop Emily had trouble finding what she wanted. All of the dresses were too "sparkly" (scratchy) and the wings were not exactly right. Eventually Emily selected some wings and a tiara.

While Emily and I were shopping, Cameron and Geoffrey were doing more rides — they did the Angry Squirrels Spooty Spin and the Runaway Reptar Roller Coaster twice. Cameron told me that he liked the second time on the rollercoaster better than the first, I think Cameron likes to know what is coming.

We all met up in Wiggles World and took a ride on the Big Red Car ride. I thought the ride was a bit ho-hum but the kids thought it was great. Cameron and Emily had a go on Dorothy's Rosy Tea Cup Ride and the SS Feathersword play boat.

By this time it was about 15 minutes to closing so we started to head out of the park. On the way out we spotted a motorcycle ride. Emily was again too short to ride it so Cameron and Geoffrey rode while I consoled Emily. Cameron thought the bikes were a bit fast but good.

We had dinner in the hotel room (the kids were not interested in going out and my toe was just killing me), so we thought staying in would work best.

Wednesday — 11 May 2011

This morning for brunch we had left over pizza and cereal for brunch. Then we set off for the Bee place that a friend of Geoffrey's recommended (Honeyworld).

The bee show was just fascinating. We learnt heaps:

and we learnt much more than that! I was surprised how interesting it was.

During our private bee show (it was just us at our show), the bee keeper showed us hives (natural and man-made frames), bees that didn't even look like bees, and an active hive where he used a smoker to control the bees. It was absolutely fascinating to watch the bees be confused by him standing near their hive (his body threw off their navigation). When he moved away from their hive they flocked straight to the opening. The bee keeper also showed us how they get the honey out of the honey comb to put into jars. Did you know that honey does not go off? They need to put a best-before date on the packaging so that they can export it (some countries, not Australia, require it).

In the shop Emily tried lots of different types of honey — her favourite was yellow box honey but they didn't have any of that in a squeezy bottle so she got Australian honey instead. Cameron got a packet of honeycomb for us all to share.

Next we went off to Movieworld. Once we had organised our passes Cameron wanted to go on the Batwing Space Shot ride. It looked pretty scary to me. Cameron was not really impressed by that ride so he went to try Batman The Ride 2. That one he liked.

I took Emily to the Kids' WB Fun Zone (an area designed for smaller kids). Emily had lots of fun riding rides. In that area she was able to go on all the rides herself except the rollercoaster. She was not quite tall enough for that one so when Cameron and Geoffrey joined us they all went on the Road Runner Roller coaster. They went on that ride 6 times in a row. I could hear Emily screaming all the way around — I think with just one small pause which I assume was so she could take a breath. While the rest of the family was busy I went off in search of earrings. I found a Tweety bird necklace that had a charm which was a perfect size for earrings so I got two and used my existing sleepers to hang them from my ears — perfect.

Cameron was really keen to ride the Scooby Doo roller coaster but this was another one that Emily was too short for so I took her shopping (earlier I found a dress that was reasonably priced that I thought she would like). Emily got a pink Tweety dress, a Tweety necklace and a Tweety pen; she was pretty happy with that.

Unfortuately the Scooby Doo Coaster had broken down and was not running so Cameron was a bit bummed about that. However he did get three more rides on the Roadrunner Roller Coaster so that made up for it.

For dinner we went to Sizzler (Geoffrey and I miss it in Adelaide :-). The food was really nice and we all ate too much (as expected at an all-you-can-eat place). It was a lovely dinner and I was rather surprised how easy it was given the kids had been out and about most of the day.

Thursday — 12 May 2011

Today we booked the kids in for a session in the Z4K (Zone for Kids), the kids club at the hotel. They are going tomorrow afternoon from 4-8pm. Geoffrey is hoping to catch up with a friend at the hotel restaurant while the kids have fun playing. The session they are going to is the "Fun Fair" session. Hope they like it. I think that a lot of the morning sessions seem more fun and interesting than the afternoon sessions but we are not really morning people so we are skipping those.

The first stop this morning was the Internode hot spot at The Coffee Club in Broadbeach. Had to complete the update for the Smurf Village app on the iPhone :-).

The food at the Coffee Club was very nice. I had an open ham, cheese, and pineapple sandwich. Cameron had bacon, eggs and toast. Geoffrey had a steak sandwich. Emily had pancakes with icecream and cream. She pretty much just ate the icecream.

After brunch we headed off to Seaworld. We arrived in time to see the Imagine dolphin show, actually we arrived with an hour to spare so we took a look at the penguins and had a ride on the monorail.

The dolphin show was rather good. They are very strong creatures. The sound over the loud speakers was very loud — even for me, Geoffrey and Cameron — so poor Emily was very distressed by it. We really must remember to get some ear plugs for her.

After the dolphin show we went to the Sesame street area. Cameron and Emily rode with Geoffrey on a carousel, some sort of rockets and the trucks. Unfortuately Emily was too short to go on the Bert and Ernie Big Dive so she stayed with me while Geoffrey and Cameron did that. Emily gets very unhappy when she can't ride rides now. Hopefully the next time we go away she will be a bit taller so we don't have to deal with that next time.

We were going to see the pirate show but Cameron and Emily were more keen to ride the rides and we figured it would be too loud for Emily so we kept on with the rides.

After we were done with the Sesame Street rides the kids got an icecream before we headed back to Castaway Cove (an adventure playground). On the way we took a look at the Polar Bear, and then at Shark Bay. Shark Bay has glass bottomed boats you can ride in to get a closer look at the sharks. They were not operating and Cameron was really not keen anyway.

Finally we got back to the adventure playground where the kids had a play for about 20 minutes before the park closed. The adventure playground is all the way at the back of the park so we had quite a walk to get to the front of the park. Luckily the monorail driver gave us a lift.

We went for tea in our room tonight because everyone seemed tired. The kids were rather excited to help Geoffrey with the washing at the guest laundry at the hotel.

Friday — 13 May 2011

We got up nice and early this morning so that we could go for a ride on the Superduck before lunch. We walked from the hotel down to buy our tickets and then had a small brunch before boarding the "duck".

The duck ride was rather fun. When the duck splashed into the water it was rather bumpy but we didn't get wet (lucky because it was a pretty cold day). We rode on the river for about 1 hour. We saw some very nice looking houses — even one that was owned by Jackie Chan for a couple of years.

Cameron and Emily both got the opportunity to drive the duck. Emily was not really keen to do it but Cameron loved it and he had two turns at driving while we were on the water.

After we finished the Superduck tour we were right near the Ferris wheel on top of the bus station (not sure why the bus station?!), so we went for a ride on it. It was a 15 minute ride and at first me and Cameron found it a bit scary but got used to it after 1 or 2 go's around. We got a voucher for a free ride on the tea cups so Cameron and Emily did that. There was also a little train that they wanted to ride on. Cameron got to "drive" the train while Emily rode in a carriage.

For a late lunch we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. The food was good as usual and the kids did a colouring "competition" (well Geoffrey did some of Cameron's). At the end of the meal both Cameron and Emily "won" a prize of a helium balloon each.

We did a quick shop at Woolworths and I grabbed some ear plugs for Emily (she will be happy!). Then we walked back to the hotel just in time for the start of Kids Club for Cameron and Emily.

Both Cameron and Emily settled into Kids Club well and we were hopeful that they would have a good time. Emily had had enough by about 1 hour 45 minutes so we picked her up. Cameron was still having a great time so he stayed.

Apparently Cameron and Emily didn't eat much at Kids club so we got some food for Emily on the way up to the room.

Cameron stayed for the entire kids club and we picked him up at 8pm. He said it was good but not as good as he expected.

Saturday — 14 May 2011

Today we wanted to go to Australia Zoo but after a little investigation we discovered it is a 2 hour drive away. That will have to wait until Sunday so we can get an early start. Instead today we decided to go to Tambourine Mountain and do the Skywalk — a walk in the rainforest some of it elevated 30m off the ground.

The drive to Tambourine Mountain was about 45 minutes. We stopped off at Eagle Heights and had lunch in The Olive Cafe. It was a nice lunch — I wasn't really fussed on my food but Cameron and Geoffrey liked theirs. Just across the road was a place called "Fairies on the Walk". Emily wanted to stop there and take a look. We got Emily a princess and king doll for her little pink doll house that Grandma and Grandpa got her and Cameron got a marionette puppet.

Emily was bothered by the sun so we had a walk down the street to see if we could find better sunglasses for her. We do have some but the lenses are pink (hands up who's surprised :-) and lots of sun still gets in. We didn't find any but we did come across a chocolate shop. I got the kids some freckle stars and me and Geoffrey a frog each.

We then continued on our way to the Skywalk. The Skywalk is about 1.5kms long and some of it is in the Sky and some on the floor of the rainforest. There is also a Cantilever bridge that you can walk out on. It was very wobbly and we didn't stay on that long. On the way back to the Eco centre (the start and end of the walk) we saw a little tiny worm that the kids found fascinating. He moved a lot like Slimy (Oscar's worm from Sesame Street) and we guessed he was an inch worm.

Once back at the hotel we had dinner at the hotel restaurant. The food was very nice and Emily really liked the Iced Chocolate milk she tried. We ended up taking almost all of Emily's meal home and about half of Cameron's.

On the way back to our room we stopped off at the hotel shop and got Emily some more useful sunglasses. They didn't have pink, which Emily was disappointed about, but we managed to get some silver ones she was happy with.

The kids spent the evening watching Nick Jr on the TV, which they have really enjoyed in the evenings before bed.

Sunday — 15 May 2011

Up early this morning to head off to Australia Zoo. The kids were keen to visit Kit the Fox (the animal they adopted from Australia Zoo mid last year) and Tonka the Common Wombat (which they had adopted for Grandpa). The drive to Australia Zoo was about 2 hours. We were going to stop off halfway and get lunch, to give the kids a break, but they were happy all the way there so we just kept on going.

The tolls on the way to the Zoo were a bit confusing — you pay them online rather than at the road, so while driving I set up an account to pay for the two toll roads we went on.

When we got to Australia Zoo we went to the food court to get some lunch. Cameron had a ham and cheese sandwich, Emily wanted an icecream (shrug), and Geoffrey and I got a meat and salad sandwich. Mine and Geoffrey's were yuck. They had capsicum and mushrooms on them (both of which I don't like) and neither of us actually liked them so we got a small pizza to share.

Just after we finished lunch a crocodile feeding show was on. We watched from the food court as a guy tempted a croc out of the water with a rat and a fish. It was pretty interesting to watch. The kids got bored after the croc did his two pounces to get his food so we went off to see other things.

The first thing that Cameron spotted was a ride (similar in style to the tea cup rides) that he rode on. Once Emily and I caught up they had a ride together. I liked that the rides were free. There was also a jumping castle slide that was free, so Cameron went on that one, and Geoffrey and Emily went on it together (Emily was too short for riding it by herself).

After the kids had finished on the rides we went to information to get help with finding Kit the Fox. The bad news was that Kit is no longer on display :-(. Cameron took it in his stride but Emily was very upset that she was not going to see Kit. Cameron and Geoffrey went off to the Kids Zoo while I waited for Emily. After a bit of foot stomping, crying, arm folding and glaring, Emily saw that there was a shop she could buy things at, so we went to see what they had. Emily found a postcard and a necklace that seemed to help her feel better.

After the shopping we had a quick look at the Kids Zoo but Emily didn't like the smell so we moved on pretty quickly. Geoffrey and Cameron had made it around to the Tasmanian devils so Emily and I joined them there. It was difficult to find the devils at first but eventually we found that the enclosure was much bigger than we thought and found two of them.

Next it was off to see the Wombats. I asked a Zoo keeper where Tonka was and she pointed me in the right direction. We found the enclosure but were not able to ask the keeper there which one was Tonka because she was "busy" (on the phone). We think we did see him though.

After the wombats we went through the Rainforest Avery to "Roo Heaven". That is a place where the kangaroos are really friendly and you can pat them. We all had a pat of some kangaroos and we even saw a joey in a pouch. The kids seemed very excited to touch a kangaroo.

After the roos we went to see the koalas. Cameron was really keen to adopt another animal, and he selected a koala. We had a look at a number of koalas and Cameron and Emily decided on Ash the Koala. Ash is a girl koala who already has one daughter, named Willow, and she has a pouch young (which is a baby that is not ready to come out of the pouch yet). Cameron got to pat and feed Ash, and Emily got to pat Ash (Emily didn't want to feed her). We also saw Molly (Ash's Mum). The kids also got to pat another koala and they were just so excited by it all.

After we had finished at the Koalas it was getting close to closing time. Emily wanted to play on the little playground before we left and Cameron wanted to try the fossil dig as well. I took Cameron to the fossil dig and Geoffrey took Emily. Cameron loved the cave in the fossil dig that had a roaring dinosaur in it and he took me and later Geoffrey and Emily in there to show us.

We stopped in the shop on the way out so that Cameron could get a something — he chose a stuffed Cheetah, and Emily got a fabric colouring-in book.

On the way home we stopped off at the Lonestar Steakhouse. The food was good, although the peanuts and low lighting of old were gone. We got home about 8:45pm and the kids watched some NickJr before bed time. Emily also did some colouring of her book which is looking really amazing.

Monday — 16 May 2011

This morning we had some breakfast in the hotel room before heading off to Warner Bros Movie World.

Cameron wanted to go on the Road Runner Rollercoaster. The kids had one go on that roller coaster before it was time for the Hell Drivers stunt show. The show was very amazing and the driving was rather high speed and very precise. I remembered the ear plugs for Emily so she was pretty happy for most of the time. There were just a couple of really loud noises but mostly good. Cameron thought it was "boring" mostly because he wanted to go on the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster.

After the show had finished Geoffrey and Cameron went off to the Spooky Coaster while Emily and I went back to the WB Kids area (Emily is too short to ride the Spooky Coaster). Emily had a ride on a couple of rides before Sylvester and Daffy showed up. We got a picture of Emily with them. Cameron wasn't interested so he went off to the Roadrunner Roller Coaster to ride on his own. Emily and Geoffrey joined Cameron after a photo with the characters.

Emily, Cameron, and Geoffrey got to ride on the Road Runner Roller Coaster two more times before it broke down. Emily was rather upset, but Cameron took the opportunity to go back on the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster. Emily went on the Tweety Cage ride and the Tijuana Taxi ride which she handled very well.

After Emily had finished on the Taxis we rushed over to the parade. We missed the start but since it passes each spot twice we got to see all of it. Emily seemed happy that she got a high five from Lola the bunny during the parade.

Emily was still owed one ride on the Road Runner Roller Coaster (she said she would only come to the stunt show if she could have 3 more rides on the roller coaster later — she had done two and needed one more). Once the last ride was done we took the kids towards the Wild River Falls ride. On the way to the Wild West Emily decided she was hungry, so we stopped off for an icecream. Geoffrey and I shared a chocolate sundae and Emily had a cup of ice cream topped with gummy bears. Unfortunately the icecream dripped on Emily and she was not really interested in it after that. She just wanted the gummy bears off the top so I picked them off for her.

The Wild West Falls ride is very much like the log ride at Disneyland, which means you get wet. We thought it would be best to get some ponchos because it was cold and Emily didn't want to get wet (neither did I for that matter :-). Emily was very concerned about the ride to start with but after the ride finished she wanted to go again. Geoffrey took Emily one more time while Cameron and I watched on. Cameron was really not happy that he got wet on the ride.

It was almost time for the park to close but Cameron wanted to get one more ride in so we rushed over to WB Kids. Cameron was rather keen to ride the Tweety cages but that was closed when we got there. Cameron and Geoffrey hurried to the Road Runner Roller coaster and got in the line for one last ride. Emily wanted one more go on the Bounce and Pounce ride, which she got.

Emily and I ducked into the chocolate shop and got some gummy bears and fairy floss for Cameron and Emily and a mousse mouse for Geoffrey and I to share.

Just near the entrance the shops were still open so Emily and I went to get some postcards to send to people. Emily also chose a charm to give to Grandma to put on her charm bracelet. Emily also started her own charm bracelet.

One final purchase at the gate was a plush Tweety bird each for Cameron and Emily. Apparently Cameron is collecting plush toys at the moment.

The kids had McDonalds for tea and Geoffrey and I got takeaway from the hotel for tea. Geoffrey also organised for us to go out with a friend of his on Wednesday for lunch, that should be good.

Tuesday — 17 May 2011

This morning we got up early to go and try the buffet breakfast at the hotel. Cameron was very happy because he got to eat as many eggs as he could handle. Emily had her usual tiny serving of toast and some juice, while Geoffrey and I tried a variety of things. The food was pretty good in my opinion.

After breakfast we set off for a visit to Dreamworld. On the way to Dreamworld we stopped off at Movie World to pick up a post card for Grandma (the one Emily picked the other night got "ruined" when Emily made a mistake with the drawing she was doing for Grandma). I also picked up a couple of charms for me of the Looney Tunes characters.

We arrived at Dreamworld just before 11:30am and Cameron was off like a shot to the Runaway Reptar Roller Coaster. Emily is still too short (yes, she did ask again if she was tall enough now) so I took her to take a look at other rides. We went on the Angry Beavers Spooty Spin. That wasn't too bad, although it did make me a bit dizzy, and wonder if my breakfast was still safe.

Cameron went on the Runaway Reptar six times before Geoffrey and Cameron joined me and Emily. Emily wanted someone to go on the Reef Diver with her and I wasn't keen so Geoffrey got roped into that. Cameron had one go on the Blue Skidoo ride then we went over to watch Emily and Geoffrey ride the Reef Diver.

Cameron had a ride on the Stingray ride a couple of times while Emily got her fill of the Reef Diver Ride. Emily went 6 times — 2 with Geoffrey, 2 by herself and 2 with a girl called Kiara(?). I was amazed that Emily would go on that ride herself. It went very high, fast, and upside down, but she loved it.

Once Cameron and Emily had finished we all went for a ride on the train that goes around the park. We saw Kiara again on the train and Emily invited her to sit with us.

We hopped off the train near the Vintage cars and Cameron "drove" us around in the old style car. Emily was very keen to go on the log ride, so we changed her clothes and she and Geoffrey went for a ride. Emily again looked like she had heaps of fun on the ride. She went around three times on that one. Once Emily was done we changed her out of her wet clothes and then headed off to do more rides.

Cameron wanted to go on Mick Doohan's Motocoaster, so he took Geoffrey to do that while I took Emily to Wiggles World. Emily and I rode the Big Red Car ride three times and then Emily went on the tea cups ride once. After Cameron had finished riding the Motocoaster (4 times) we met up for one last ride on the Big Red Car. The kids also did one more ride in the Rosy Tea Cups before we left Wiggles World.

Cameron was keen to get at least one more ride on the Runaway Reptar ride, so we headed back to the World Of Nickelodeon. While Cameron and Geoffrey were busy I took Emily to ride the Angry Beavers Spooty Spin one last time. After Cameron had finished on the Reptar ride he joined me for a ride on the Angry Beaver Spooty Spin. They looked like they were having a ball.

Emily also wanted to have a last go on the Swinger Zinger before we left so Cameron did that with her. There was still time for Cameron to sneak in one more(!) ride on the Runaway Reptar, so off he went. Emily wanted to go too and was again devastated that she was too short. I guess she forgot.

On the way back from Dreamworld Emily fell asleep in the car (she hardly ever does that anymore). When we got to Sizzler we very carefully woke Emily up so she would be happy. We had another great dinner at Sizzler before heading back to the hotel.

In the evening we finished writing postcards to everyone, and watched some TV (the kids need to get their fill of NickJr because we don't have that at home).

Wednesday — 18 May 2011

Today was the "sleep until you wake up" day, so no alarms set. The kids were the first up, then me. While Geoffrey slept the kids watched TV and I played Angry Birds — I am a bit addicted.

At lunch time me and Emily went down to the cafe and got some takeaway for lunch with some of our resort vouchers — we got sandwiches and a really tasty thickshake. We had lunch in the room and then the kids wanted to go to Movieworld again.

As usual the kids wanted to ride on the Road Runner Roller Coaster, so Geoffrey went on with Cameron and Emily. After one ride Cameron wanted to do other things so I took him off to do other stuff.

Cameron had a ride on the Tweety Bird Cages (which he missed last time we were at the park), and then wanted to ride on the Yosmite Sam Railroad. The first time he looked rather unhappy about the ride, I asked him why, and he said he wanted to drive the train (that is riding in the engine). Cameron got back in line and told the attendant that he wanted to drive the train so the ride operator organised that for him — Cameron looked much happier the second time he went around.

Cameron and I met up with Emily and Geoffrey, and Geoffrey went off to ride the Superman roller coaster. While Emily was riding the Pounce and Bounce she made friends with a little girl. They really clicked quite quickly. After the Pounce and Bounce was finished Emily got to choose the ride that they went on. Emily picked the Tweety Cages. After the Tweety Cages ride was finished Emily's little friend had to go but I managed to snap a photo of her and Emily.

Cameron thought that he might play a game in the little water playground. The game was try to run through without getting wet — he actually did well at keeping dry. He then changed the game to get as wet as possible — while fully clothed.

Once Geoffrey had finished on the Superman ride he joined us again, and took Emily for more rides on the Road Runner Roller Coaster, while Cameron kept playing in the water. Once Cameron had finished I took him to get dried off. Since he didn't have any dry clothes I gave him my jumper to wear on the way home. Emily and Geoffrey joined us when the park closed and we headed home.

Since we had not used all our resort vouchers we had dinner at the hotel while the kids played watched TV.

Thursday — 19 May 2011

Today was our last day in the Gold Coast. In the morning Geoffrey went to have breakfast with some friends Mark and Ian, while me and the kids slept in then did some packing.

After we were all packed we decided to head off to Tropical Fruit World in NSW. Unfortunately it was a terrible day (it was raining really heavily) so we couldn't really see much. We had some lunch at the cafe and had a look around the shop. Cameron found some herb salt — as a real salt lover he had to get some. It actually tastes pretty good.

After lunch we headed back to Queensland, and the airport. We got there in plenty of time and the kids played with the iPhones until it was boarding time. The plane was very full so we did some swaps to get three seats together and one across the aisle. The plane ride was pretty good the only problem came when we were landing. Emily's ears really hurt so she was rather distressed. Not long after we landed Emily's ears seemed to be fine so that was good.

Nanny picked us up from the airport and the kids gave her a running commentary all the way home. They were very excited.

We had a brilliant holiday, and hope to go back again sometime.