Ebbage Family Australia Trip 2012 - Palm Beach Part II

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Friday 29th June 2012
Well Mandy and Ray got off ok Terry picked them up and drove them to the airport, so it was a slow start for those left behind. We did not have much planned for the day, all we had to do was pick up Aunty Dianne and drive her to the airport as she was on a later flight than the others, which we were able to do without incident.
After lunch we did some shopping, I had to pick up some supplies, of the food and beer variety, as well as head to Rays Outdoors and Autobarn to get some things for the car and van.

Saturday 30th June 2012
The weather was finally starting to fine up, and the kids managed to convince me that a swim was in order, we got our gear on and headed up to the park pool, I’m starting to think that there is some sort of conspiracy against me ( or I’m getting old) as once again the water was freezing. The two older kids played in the pool whilst the two smarter ones, Chloe and I, sat I the sun whilst the others shivered and slowly turn bluer and bluer. After a while I managed to convince the girls to leave the pool with the promise that after lunch I would take them to the beach, where the water (hopefully) was warmer.
Anyway after lunch we loaded up the car with the girls boogie boards and headed to the beach. We splashed around in the surf, thankfully the water was a much more bearable temperature, and I tried to teach the kids how to boogie board, not sure if we have a future Stephanie Gilmore on our hands. After while the older two started in complain about how they were getting sand in their “bits”, and they asked me how to stop it getting in there, once again this was beyond my area of expertise, I suggested they walked out into the deeper water and try and wash it out but I think that did more harm than good, so I just said that if they keep complaining we would go home, that brought me another half an hour before I pulled the pin and went home wash the sand out in the shower
After dinner I decided to take the girls into Surfers Paradise to check out Cavill Avenue. When we got there we discovered that they had a festival on, so we sat on the beach and watched the firework show, which was set to music and also the fire dancers. After that we walked down Cavill grabbed an ice cream and watched some of the buskers ply their trades.



Sunday 1st July 2012
Today we were off to Wet n Wild again, this time I could not go on as many water slide as before as I had to look after Chloe, but this did not stop the girls who made the most of it going on as many slide as they could, we also spent a lot of time in the wave pool.
That night we spoke to Mandy, she said the wedding was beautiful, though the weather was particularly cold, after hearing this I did feel a bit guilty when I told her we’d swam at the beach yesterday and spent all day at Wet n Wild today, but then I remembered that I was here with three kids by myself and she was gallivanting in Melbourne with no husband and/or kids, so I had no sympathy what so ever.



Monday 2nd July 2012
Another beautiful day in Queensland, almost felt sorry for those people stuck in Melbourne, since it was sunny I took the opportunity to get some washing done before Mandy got home later on. After lunch we went and washed the car and gave it a vacuum, as it was starting to look a little unloved. Later that night Mandy came back, she was very happy to be back with us, though think this is more to do to with being back in the warm weather.



Tuesday 3rd July 2012
Today we were completing the theme park trifecta and headed to Sea World, after dealing with roadwork’s and taking a wrong turn or two (thanks Kevin) we made it. However it looks like half of Queensland had the same idea, it was packed. After finally getting in we made our way to the penguin enclosure to check them out, then to the kids area where the kids went on a few rides of the rides specifically for the little ‘un.
After lunch we walked around some of the lagoons and saw the sharks, rays and gropers. The next stop was the pirate ship ride whereby you ride around a lagoon on a pirate ship and shoot other ships and the general public with a water cannon, needless to say that me and the kids where saturated.
Soon it was time to make our way to the dolphin show, this time I managed get through without losing anything in the dolphin pool. The show itself was great and the kids loved the dolphins jumping and flipping. Though the dolphin show we saw at Coffs Harbour was not a good the hands on aspect of it made it that little bit more memorable.
After the dolphin show Mandy, Maddy and I headed to the Jet-Ski Rescue roller coaster , whilst Ray, Tayla and Chloe, went to the ski show, we had to wait awhile, quite a while in fact, whilst waiting in line I worked out that the ride only went for 30 seconds, so we ended up waiting for 45 odd minutes for 30 seconds of thrill, would it be worth it??? In a word yes the ride was very fast as quick as it started it was over but the thrill and the screams coming from Mandy and Maddy made it worthwhile.
After the ride, we purchased the photo of the ride and then caught up with the others and made our way out and back to the cars. Thought it had been a big day and very tiring when we got home we had to start to pack up as we were leaving the next day.



Wednesday 4th July 2012
After ten days it was time to leave, we were heading to Landsborough (near Australia Zoo) it was only a short drive, around 170 kms so we took out time in the morning made sure everything was packed up and that we were not leaving anything behind. We said our good-byes to Ray who was staying on in the Gold Coast for a bit longer and then hit the road. It was good to get moving again after being in the one place for so long.
We made it to Landsborough by lunch time, we passed Australia Zoo on the way so we knew where we had to go tomorrow. When we got to the Caravan Park I parked up and went to check in, but there was no one there, one of the residents told me that the owners where out for the day so just find a spot at set up, after checking out all the site I found the best one and set up. After lunch I went by myself to do some grocery shopping, after four days with the kids by myself I needed a little space.
That night we drove down the highway and to Ettamogah Pub for dinner, the pub was fantastically set up it looked like it was straight out of the old cartoon strip, however the food was a bit ordinary. We headed home early as tomorrow we were off to Australia Zoo and it was going to be a big day for the girls. When the girls were in bed we got our tickets for the zoo organised, we also noticed on the website that it said Bindi, along with Terri, and Bob where going to be at the zoo tomorrow. We decided not to say anything to the girls just in case for any reason she does not make an appearance.



Thursday 5th July 2012
It was up early get some lunch and snacks made and packed and we were off to Australia Zoo, we got there just after opening so we were able to avoid the initial rush. The first thing we did was have a look around at some of the animals and have a look at the displays dedicated to Steve and his various antics. We then took the kids to Bindi Story Time where they were told by the lady that they were in for a big treat as Bindi and Co would be performing today at the croc show, needless to say Maddy and Tayla were excited.
After story time we jumped on the bus and got a ride across to the elephant enclosure, as it was feeding time, we all had the opportunity to hand feed one of the animals with a piece of fruit. After that we check out the tiger enclosure before making our way back to the main arena to get good seats for the croc show.
It started off with a bird of prey demonstration, before finally bringing out Bindi, Terry, Bob…….and also the crocs (they were also an important part of the show). They showed the different ways a crocs stalks and take its prey, fortunately (or unfortunately) there was no incidents and everyone walked away with their limbs still intact. The show was entertaining and Mandy and I were glad that the kids were able to see Bindi as it’s not often that she performs.
Next we decided to check out the African Animal enclosure where they had the Rhinos and Zebras. After this the girls were able to have a pony ride. By this time it was getting later in the day so we started to head back to the entrance, on the way we decided to walk through the kangaroo enclosure, on the way through we saw that Bindi was in the wombat enclosure, the girls were able to see her up close and wave and get a hello from her, we were not able to get any photos with her as her security details whisked he away pretty quick but that did not stop a lady who was in her forties (at least) waddling up Bindi giving her a hug, the whole time blubbering and crying like a 12 year old meeting Justin Beiber, and Mandy, the kids and I just looked at each other and pissed ourselves laughing. When then made our way out stopping, but not before stopping to get some photos with the Urwin family statue.

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