Monday 8 September – Surf Lessons.

We had to get up soooo early, well, early for us on holiday. We had to meet the boys from Get Wet Surf School out at the front entrance to Whitewater World at 7:45am!!!

For wimps like us they do the surf lessons in the wave pool at Whitewater World, with warm water (liars!!!) and no big fish.

Our teachers for the day were Scotty and Andrew, very laid-back and obviously love their business. Our lessons started off on the grass, where we learnt the four steps to being able to stand on a surfboard.

Step #3 is really simple and easy, so much so that it is very easy to forget to do. Simple as it may be, without Step #3 you will not be standing up on a surfboard, instead you'll be doing what the boys refer to as The Pelican. Oh look... here's a Pelican... what is it with Kerrie and birds? ;-p

Here are some random shots from the lessons. They are in no particular order, but gee it was fun.

That was a great couple of hours, and we all learnt heaps... Thanks Scotty and Andrew.

Sunday 7 September, Australia Zoo – Final Thoughts

For a family of five entry to the Zoo is hellishly expensive, and there is no way of knowing if the Irwins are likely to be there on any given day. Those two negative points out the way, any other thoughts are all good.

Zahlee: “I was very disappointed I didn’t get to see Bindi, Terri, or Bob.”

Kira: “It was really fun.”

Kerrie: “Very impressed with the cleanliness of the animal eclosures.”
“The gardens and grounds were beautifully maintained.”
“The staff were working like they were one big happy family, and they were very helpful and courteous.”

Nick: “Once I forced myself to accept the entry fee with a smile, I never looked back. I have never before been to such a well-kept zoo, where all of the staff (animal keepers, service staff, and security) were so passionate about their jobs, and only too willing to share that passion. An absolutely A1 zoo.”

Sunday 7 September, Australia Zoo – Ocker the Cockatoo

At the end of the day Nick, Jacinta, and Zahlee caught the little train from the tigers back to the entrance of the Zoo. We were lucky enough to get onto the same carriage as Ocker the Cockatoo and his keeper. Ocker started off a bit shy, but soon got into full swing... a regular little entertainer. The funniest thing was watching him talking himself into performing little jumps... "Ockerrrrrrrrrr JUMP!!!"












Full Video Link (53Mb): Ockeeerrrrrr JUMP!!!


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Sunday 7 September, Australia Zoo – Tigers

There are three beautiful adolescent tigers. Lucky they are behind glass because they seem so friendly and playful that it would be tempting to hop in and play with them if you could. They look like big kittens at play, except maybe smarter.

Jacinta: "We loved the tigers, just like Fatty and Peppy. Absolutely georgeous - I want one."

Sunday 7 September, Australia Zoo – Kangaroos and Petting Zoos

There's a kangaroo enclosure, koala enclosure, and a kids' zoo (with baby animals to pet), all where you can get in and touch and feed the animals. In the kangaroo enclosure there was one roo that liked to gently hold onto your wrists while it fed from your hand. In the koala enclosure there was one particular koala that looked like it was trying every possibly lazy pose it could do up a tree.

Jacinta: "I don't like walking through the kangaroo and bird enclosures,"
"Gotta love the posing koala."

Zahlee: "I loved the kangaroo that was holding my hand, he reminded me of Tank."

Sunday 7 September, Australia Zoo – Birds of Prey

The keepers certainly re-defined my definition of a bird of prey. It basically means any bird that has to hunt for live food, so not seed or carrion eaters... so a Kookaburra is a bird of prey too. They had a kookaburra, peregrin falcon, and a wedge-tailed eagle. The keepers gave a bit of a talk about each of the species, and the background of each of the Zoo's birds. There was also an amazing demonstration of the birds in free flight.

Sunday 7 September, Australia Zoo – Elephants

Every day there is a time to feed elephants. Three elephants are lead up to the fence, and the people form a queue to feed them. All three have different personalities that show through when they take the food from your hand. One of them, Bimbo, has to hold your wrist with her trunk for every piece of food, and she does it so gently.



Jacinta: "I got elephant snot all over my hand."
Kira: "Eeewww!!!! Elephant snot!!!! I had it dripping through my fingers. The elephants were still very cute though."

Kerrie: "Lots of public interaction with the animals. I loved feeding the elephants, especially Bimbo."

Sunday 7 September, Australia Zoo – Steve's 4x4

I thought this deserved its own space. Leaving the Crocoseum on the way to the elephants, we pass by Steve Irwin's old 4x4; the one that he always used, and the very one that took him on his final journey. It's just sitting outside the Crocoseum, no signage or anything, just there for kids to clamber over... it's both sad and yet somehow fitting, and for us it was very moving.

Sunday 7 September, Australia Zoo – Crocoseum

The Crocoseum

What a great design the Crocoseum is, it seats 5000, and although some seats are better, none could be described as ‘bad’.

It is not just a show, it is both educational and fun. There are two giant screens, one at each end, and although you can see everything from your seat, the screens show close-ups of what’s happening, and display facts that are worth remembering.

The show starts off with snakes, including a great big python that swims around in the pool.

The snakes are put away, and out come the birds. This is truly an amazing display, parrots of all colours and sizes flying freely around the crocoseum and returning to their keepers. I’ve got a lot of it on our movie camera, so unfortunately we can’t share this display on the blog.

After the parrots they brought out trained pigeons, and asked for audience participation to call the birds over to have them land on you like the parrots did with their keepers. The parrots were so spectacular that Kerrie readily volunteered for this:





Link for full screen size (24Mb): Kerrie at the Crocoseum

“SUCKED IN BIG TIME!!!! They are homing pigeons, never ever meant to go to the audience volunteers.

After the birds comes the highlight… the Croc Show. Today’s croc is a big fella named George. The aim of the show is to dispel a lot of the myths about saltwater crocs, and to teach an appreciation of them. It was a spectacular show, showing the different ways crocs can strike, and how people can be safe in the crocs’ environment. It certainly taught us a few things, and gave us a bit of confidence in how behave if we were to go into Croc Country. Unfortunately for the blog, we videoed this on the other camera, so you’ll have to wait for the DVD ;-)

Kerrie: "Very Informative - I now wouldn't be too afraid of a saltwater crocodile if it was on land, because I've been show that they are not fast."
"The birds were amazing."

Zahlee: "I loved the part where the lady let the pigeons out and they flew away, and later we saw her chasing them too."

Kira: "The show in the Crocoseum was amazing."

Sunday 7 September, Australia Zoo.

Today we traveled to Australia Zoo in Beerwah. It was supposedly a 2-hour drive, but Brisbane’s traffic jams make the South Eastern Carpark look like an expressway… and this is on a Sunday!!!

We chose to go to the Zoo today as it is Fathers’ Day, and we thought that this would be the day most likely to be able to get to see or meet Terri, Bindi, and Bob. Unfortunately they didn’t make an appearance, and Bindi doesn’t do Croc Shows until the school holidays.

We really noticed that all the staff were happy and passionate about their various jobs, and speaking with them they all love the Irwins. The staff create an incredibly wonderful atmosphere.

There are so many animals to see; American alligators, Aussie fresh and saltwater crocodiles, Tassie Devils, tortoises and turtles, cassowaries, dingoes, wombats, roos, koalas, elephants, tigers, birds, pythons, camels, and a kids’ petting zoo.

Many of the animals are walked around the zoo by their keepers, including the elephants, leopards, a cocky named Ocker, and a 2-year old American Alligator named Max. Yep, that little lizard with Kerrie is 2yo Max, one day he’ll be 2-3 metres long.

Jacinta: "Max the baby American Alligator was so cute."

Zahlee: "The Tassie Devils were so cute."

Kerrie: "I loved holding the baby American Alligator, where else could you go for this experience?"

Saturday 6 September, Apres-Dreamworld

The original idea was to cook as many evening meals as possible, but after two solid days of theme parks, pizza is just what the doctor ordered.

Very yummy pizza's, but then they would want to be for the price!!!

Saturday 6 September, Dreamworld - Wipeout

Wipeout:

The Wipeout spins, twists and tumbles you through a body-wrenching range of dumping breaker waves leaving you helpless - strapped in the middle with no lifeline.

Kerrie, Jacinta, and Kira rode the Wipeout.

Kira: "Crazy, but awsome."

Jacinta: "That's one to get your stomach turning."

Kerrie: "Bit of a head-rush, lots of fun."

Saturday 6 September, Dreamworld - The Claw

The Claw:

Travelling 9 storeys into the air, swinging at up to 75 km/hr! It also spins 360 degrees. The first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, The Claw is the most powerful pendulum on the planet.

Nick, Kerrie, and Kira rode this one.

Kira: "I loved the feeling of the wind, and looking at everything upsidedown. It was amazing."

Kerrie: "Relaxing"

Nick: "After the first couple of swings it became quite boring."

Saturday 6 September, Dreamworld - Moto Coaster

Moto Coaster:

Mick Doohan’s Motocoaster features a fluid track with changes in elevation and high speed corners, reaching just over 72 km per hour. The riders are held in by a unique restraint system in life-size replicas of 500cc racing bikes.

Nick, Jacinta, and Kira rode it first, with Zahlee taking a video of the ride. Then after going on the Rug Rats roller coaster Zahlee got the courage to try this one... as a 'sidecar' passenger. She loved it that much that she went on again, this time on a bike.

Nick held the ride up from starting on the first go, they couldn't get the safety restraint system closed. Nick's legs were too long from the foot to the knee to permit the restraint system to close. Nick had to; get off the ride, take off his runners, put the runners in the property cage, hope back on the ride, then have two of the operators put all their weight on the restraint to get it closed, only then could the ride get going.

Kira: "Leaning into the corners was great."

Jacinta: "The ride was all right, but it wasn't worth the 45-minute queue."

Nick: "It did remind me of riding a bike a bit, but it was more mild than some of the silly things I used to do..... umm, errr, I mean the silly things a 'friend' of mine used to do on bikes."

Saturday 6 September, Dreamworld - Runaway Reptar Rollercoaster

Runaway Reptar Rollercoaster:

This is a suspended "family coaster" with a Rug Rats theme (that's not a picture of us). Zahlee loved this ride and went on it a couple of times, once with Jacinta and once with Nick.

Zahlee: "The best roller coaster ever."

Jacinta: "Nice and tame for little kids."

Nick: "The best part about this ride was that it gave Zahlee the courage to go on the Moto Coaster."

Saturday 6 September, Dreamworld - Giant Drop

Giant Drop:

This is the tallest, free-falling ride in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World records.The closest thing you will get to actual skydiving - don’t be fooled by the amazing scenery as you are winched slowly to the top. The top floor is the sky and the only way down is a jaw dropping 120 metre plummet at free-fall speed.

Kerrie went on this by herself the first time, but came back later and rode it again with Jacinta.

Kerrie: "Oh, what can I say... ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!! I'd definitely ride it again."

Saturday 6 September, Dreamworld - Big Brother House

Big Brother House:

Kerrie and Zahlee visited the Big Brother House, walked around it, sat in the "diary room", and so on.

Zahlee: "It's tiny compared to how it looks on the TV, but I liked getting a picture in the Diary Room."

Kerrie: "A lot smaller than it appears on TV, but definitely an experience."

Location Tip: It appears that the Big Brother Cafe is the best value eatery at Dreamworld.

Saturday 6 September, Dreamworld - Tower of Terror

Tower of Terror

The Tower of Terror is one of the fastest rides in the world.The Tower's electro-magnetically powered 'Escape Pod' accelerates its passengers to a massive 160 kph in seven seconds before it climbs to almost 38 storeys high. Fear not, after a tummy losing free fall back to earth you will hurtle safely back to the station.

Kerrie and Kira went on this ride first, but later Kerrie, Kira, and Jacinta went back to it.

Kira: "That was AWSOME."

Kerrie: "AWSOME!!!"

Saturday 6 September, Dreamworld - Rocky Hollow Log Ride

Rocky Hollow Log Ride:

Splash down at the Rocky Hollow aboard hollowed-out logs as they traverse the watercourse. Climb the aqueduct and plunge down the ramp at 50 km/h.

Nick, Jacinta, and Kira rode this one.





Last Decent of the Ride (10Mb)

Cinta: "Wet, wet, and wet."

Kira: "I absolutely hated the climbing up bit, it felt as though we were going to fall down... but I loved the going down bit."

Nick: "Heaps wetter than the Movie World log ride."

Saturday 6 September, Dreamworld - Thunder River Rapids

Thunder River Rapids

A foamy water track past the Gold Rush Country, speeding up to 45 km/h through the turbulent rapids.

We all went on this ride:

Kira: "Pretty Lame"

Jacinta: "Pretty lame, could have been better."

Zahlee: "I didn't like it."

Kerrie: "Rough."

Nick: "Bit of a slow start to the day."