Australia - Day 1 Dreamworld

Australia

Australia...a beautiful country with an interesting history. A country with a unique mix of culture. A country with many unique animals. A country whose food and lodging cost a lot. The country which 3 naive youngsters decided to go for a "budget" tour and with 2 who returned broke last week.

Hehe...yup, time for me to update about the trip to AUSTRALIA.

Let me start from the beginning:

The adventure began some time end of last year when William asked if I wanted to travel because he still has free air tickets (his mother works for Thai Airways and they get lots of benefits). I've always wanted to go to Australia again because I enjoyed my trip there very much back in 2000 and because we have friends studying there, so I suggested that we go to Australia. The planning began in December when our friends who are studying there came back for holidays. It started with Brian, me, William and Woon - 2 guys, 2 girls PERFECT. As planning began and we looked at the air fare, my parents suggested that we go in a tour. Tour to Brisbane is about RM 4 k but William thought it was too costly (which I agree after the trip). We decided to go on our own. Woon decided that the trip costs too much and decided not to go. So it became the three of us again. We tried to look for a fourth person but it wasn't easy.

So anyway, fast forward to the trip. William, Brian and I flew there together by MAS. Although I did not sleep for two nights before the trip, I watched 4 movies in a row during the 12 hour flight. We had to transit in Sydney, which was a waste of time. We reached Brisbane International Airport at 1130 pm (Australia's 2 hours ahead). The train service had stopped by then, the shuttle bus to Surfer's Paradise from the airport costs Aus $ 40 per person and taxi would cost around Aus $ 150+. With these choices, we decided to rent a car which costs Aus $ 29 per day, terms and conditions apply.

We rented a yellow Hyundai Getz. Great car!

With a map in hand (in Brian's hand- the boys never even considered letting me hold it), we drove an hour to our 2 bedroom apartment in Surfer's Paradise. This is what I call backpacking in style. Hahaha...

Our 2-bedroom apartment with washing machine and dryer and a full-function kitchen!

So anyway, the next morning, William made breakfast and lunch for us (thanks Willie!) and we headed off to Dreamworld, which is about half an hour away. The theme park opens at 10 and we arrived at a quarter to ten. After paying Aus $ 64 per person, we went in and (I) screamed our (my) heads off for one whole day.

First, we went on The Claw (the first ride that we saw as we entered the theme park). It was super scary. I mean, I've never had such a wild ride ever! We were swung around everywhere. The arrow shows the ride and how our world was upside down for lots of time.

Look at those people being swung around at The Claw!!

After that, we went on a tamer Wipeout which tossed us everywhere. Good thing we didn't eat much for breakfast. Anyway, we went on every ride there was in Dreamworld. We even went on the kiddies' ride. Kiddies' ride basically just turn you around and around until you are dizzy.

People being tossed around at The Wipeout.

We went on a couple of other rides before this, but I can't remember what they were. I think they were the usual roller coaster rides which were nothing after The Claw. The Vortex is a room that just goes around and around until there is zero gravity or something which made all of us woozy after it. Then, I decided that I wanted to ride on a kiddy ride which made William incredibly dizzy. :P

Dizzy but still smiling after The Vortex.


Behold the ride that made William light-headed! :P

Because William was still unable to adapt to the nauseating motions, only Brian and I went on the next kiddy ride. Hehe...sorry can't resist mentioning that again! :P

After that, we sat down for lunch and went on the scariest ride in the whole theme park. The Giant Drop. Genting's Space/Solero Shot? Nothing and I really mean NOTHING compared to this World's Tallest. It's a little disappointing that Brian and I didn't go for a second time, but nevermind, there will be a next time, right Sweetheart? Hehehe...

Whoa! Is it high or is it high?

Then we went to the Tower of Terror which is shaped like a car going at dunno what speed, which shot us up the other side of the World's Tallest tower. Not as exciting, but not bad either. I screamed as usual. Hahaha...every shot of me showed my eyes closed and shrieking while Brian sat emotionless next to me. :P

We also went on a log ride which got us all wet but there are no pictures for that. We wanted to catch a show at the IMAX cinema so while William went for a second ride on The Claw, we old folks sat down near the IMAX cinema and ate...GELATO!! Mm-hmmm...love macadamia nuts! Yum-yum...

Macadamia nuts, chocolate and rum and raisin. Mm-hmm...

After that, it was another half-hour ride back to the apartment while William prepared dinner. Hehehe...thanks William! Next time I go travel, I bring you along so that you can cook. :P Hahaha...That's all we did on the first day. More in the next post. Cheerios!!