HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Sorry I haven't been around for a while, but I have had swine flu and didn't feel like doing much. Thankfully I am now on the mend and looking forward to things getting back to 'normal'. Thank you to everyone who kept visiting my blog and dropping their Entrecards.

Hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween.

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LOOKING FOR TARONGA ZOO

We decided to drive to Taronga Zoo using my uncle's sat nav. This was a big mistake! Before we left the house I had had a look at the map with my uncle and he had pointed to where the zoo was and also told me about various buildings we would pass and areas we would drive through, so I had a rough idea of where we were going. But then we made the big mistake, we took his sat nav instead of taking the map. My uncle's sat nav was nothing like the one we have back home, it is very confusing, to us anyway. Once we got into the outskirts of Sydney it all started to go wrong. We seemed to drive around in circles, driving on and off motorways, paying tolls. We guessed he hadn't updated it for along time. We drove around streets and even pulled up and asked a couple of men for directions, mistake number 2. They seemed more confused than us.

We kept ending up on a road which was leading to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I knew we didn't want to be on the other side of the harbour. So I made my poor husband turn around again and tried really hard to remember the names of the roads I had seen on the map.

We eventually found a hospital I remember my uncle saying we would pass and I instructed poor husband to carry on driving. At last I spotted a road name I remembered and from then we seemed to find our way. What a journey we had had. I am surprised we both stayed so calm.

AMY'S FIRST MODELLING ASSIGNMENT

I am taking a break from my Australia Adventures to share this picture with you. I have recently added hats to my Etsy shop and sold my first one (you can see it here) to someone in Australia which was very exciting as this was also my first Australian customer. I was having a problem displaying the one above on my upside down vase to show it off so I asked Amy to be my model. The hat is made for a teen/adult, but it looks really good on Amy. I really need to invest in a proper display head but until I have the funds I have to use whatever I have. Anyway Amy was delighted to do this. I think she makes a lovely model!

WARNER BROS MOVIE WORLD

There are several of these theme parks on the Gold Coast and we chose Warner Bros Movie World. We arrived early to get a full day there. Amy was very excited, she has just started going on the big rides with her dad and she loves them. It was a beautiful sunny, winter day, perfect for this kind of day out.



The first ride Amy and her dad went on was the Batwing Spaceshot, a tower which shoots you up into the sky, no thanks I will pass on this one and take a photograph! Of course they ended up on the seat where I couldn't get a good shot of them, typical. Amy came off this looking slightly shocked.

Next we all went on Batman Adventure The Ride 2, which was a tour round the bat cave and then we all got strapped into a kind of vehicle thing which shook us about, whilst watching a movie of batman chasing a criminal, sorry I can't remember the full story, but you probably get the idea.

The next was probably the biggest disappointment for Amy the whole day. There were only 2 really big rides in the park which considering what you paid to get in wasn't many. I haven't been to many theme parks, but I have been to Alton Towers in the UK and the number of rides and attractions there was considerably more than this place and that was quite a number of years ago. Anyway back to Movie World, 2 Big rides and one, Lethal Weapon, was shut! So we queued up for Superman Escape and it was a very long queue. We measured Amy against the post and she just came up to the required height. So we queued and queued and queued. I was getting nervous as we got nearer to the front as I am not that bothered about these kind of rides, but I wanted to go on with Amy. So it was our turn, Amy had to be measured and guess what, she was just too short. The measure just skimmed over her head, that close it moved her hair. I felt so sorry for her, the look on her face. The girl measured her with another tape, but she wouldn't let her pass, she was so slightly too short! So that was that, the one big ride and Amy couldn't go on it. Can I just say at this point if anyone from Movie World reads this please, please, please put someone who measures at the start of the queue to avoid this kind of disappointment.

Shrek 4D Adventure was next and we loved it. You walked into an old style cinema, into a foyer where you had to listen to an introduction. After this we went into the cinema where there were long rows of chairs and sat down. We had to wear funny glasses but it was well worth it. You got rocked about in the chairs, things ran around your feet, spiders jumped out at you from the screen, you felt as though you could put out your hand and touch things. It was very good, that good we went in there twice.

Next was Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster. Luckily we didn't have to queue very long for this. This was a big surprise. We got in a the car and set off. The ride was in the dark and Scooby Doo music was playing very loudly which we were all singing along to. The car went into a lift kind of thing which rocked from side to side as you went up, we then left the lift backwards and I was waiting for it to turn round, then came the surprise. The car set off backwards and the next thing we knew we were dropping down backwards, in the dark. I think I left my stomach somewhere up in the lift. But it was amazing, I loved listening to Amy's reaction and we laughed and screamed all the way around. I went on it again with her later and we had such fun. In fact because there wasn't much else Amy and her dad went on that several times whilst I went around a few gift shops.


The next ride was the Wild West Falls Adventure Ride. I volunteered to take the photos because I hate getting wet. Amy and her dad are somewhere in that splash and you can imagine what they looked like when they got off. Amy loved it and so they went on again and got even wetter!

So despite the earlier disappointment, Amy enjoyed her day out and said it was the bestest day ever.

BRISBANE

Whilst staying on the Gold Coast we visited Brisbane and had a lovely day there. We walked along the river and had a look at the manmade beach, which was different to what I had imagined, but they were working on it so didn't look as it should.


We then got on one of the Citycat ferries which I had really been looking forward to, I have seen them so many times on the TV. I was taking photos of it before I got on and I was called to hurry up by the boat person, whoops! We had just got on and my aunt had sat down when we reached the other side, it was funny.

There was a market on the other side so we had a look round that. All sorts of lovely foodstalls. My aunt and uncle decided to leave us to it and they wandered off on their own and we continued round the market. We tried some German sausages they were delicious. I found a gorgeous fruit stall on one of the streets and got a lovely fresh fruit drink from it.

We walked back to the other side over one of the bridges and walked along the bank of the river to where we had started.
















It is a lovely area of Brisbane and I am sure there are many others. We didn't have long there but hopefully when we are living in Australia permanently it will be a place we will get to visit again.

BURLEIGH HEADS

I just wanted to mention something else before I move onto the Gold Coast. On our way out of Coffs Harbour we passed the Big Banana, I have noticed this about Australia, everything is bigger. I love looking round the fruit and vegetable shops there and I have noticed the size of the produce is HUGE compared to what we get in the UK, and here is the proof!

We arrived on the Gold Coast later on Monday and found where we were stopping, a place called Burleigh Heads. We stayed in a very nice complex of apartments. After unpacking and changing, as the weather was noticeably warmer, we had a walk out to find somewhere to eat. As we were walking through the grounds of where we were staying, we saw large flying things above our heads and stopped to watch. We soon realised they were big bats, fruit bats, I think. Amy wasn't impressed!

We spent the next few days looking round the area. Burleigh Heads is a nice place. Where we were staying it was a short walk to a beautiful beach. I have never felt sand like it, it was like soft, white talculm powder, oh yes and BIG birds wandering about, called Ibis.

Just off the beach is a pathway where they have placed excercise machines for anyone to use. I thought they were a great idea, we have nothing like this in the UK. Of course Amy had to have a go on some of these!

OUR ROAD TRIP

We had decided that we would like to see a little bit more of Australia on this visit, plus my husband had been in contact with an employer in Brisbane who had an expressed an interest in meeting him. So it was decided that we would spend some time on the Gold Coast during our stay and that we would drive up there. We were booked into a motel in Coffs Harbour where we would spend 2 nights on the drive up there.

We set off quite early on Saturday morning for the 448 km drive which was going to take us approximately 6 hours. One of the stops we had was at Nambucca where we called in to see the V Wall. The tradition of tourists painting names and dates on this wall started in the early 1980's and now there is a long line of rocks covered in all sorts of artwork, some of which is very elaborate.

We chose this one as it had 'Chloe' on it, one of my granddaughter's name. We didn't have any paint with us so unfortunately we were unable to leave an momento of our visit there but hopefully we will be able to visit again and then we will be able to create our own piece of artwork.

We carried on with our journey and arrived in Coffs Harbour later in the day. We were all quite tired by this time. We went out for a meal and then returned back to the motel and had an early night. The next day we went out for a look round. We drove around looking for a beach and came across a small craft market.

I loved looking round this, we have nothing like this where we live. There were stalls with knitted and crochet items, handmade soap, all sorts of things. I bought 2 lots of handmade soap as I have always wanted to try some. There was a group playing in the middle of it all, some kind of country music which isn't my kind of thing, but which seemed very appropriate for the occasion.

We enjoyed our short stay in Coffs Harbour, especially the craft market.

Monday morning we were up bright and early and back on the road again. Gold Coast here we come!