Thursday, 31 May 2018

Part 5 - QLD and home



After setting up the caravan at Nobbys Beach we headed down to a friends place called Michael, only hes still working so we unpacked our gear in his Gold Coast apartment. After unpacking we drove into Brisbane and paid him a visit at his work the Pullman Hotel Brisbane. Michael is the General Manager for the hotel that he works at and his job is to make sure the whole hotel runs well. Also he has the ability to exterminate peoples working careers aka - fire someone. 

Michael took us up to level 16 where he has created a new roof top bar called 16 Antleers and Michael ordered Chloe and I a mocktail each - a non alcoholic drink.

The next day Micheal took us to the Q1, Surfers Paradise, to the beach where we flew the drone and to iFly. At the Q1 we took the lift up to the top level which is higher than the eiffel tower in Paris and is also tallest building in the Gold Coast. Looking over the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise we could also see mountains in the distance which we decided to go and visit the next day. The view was very scary and it felt like the building was going to crash. 

Arriving into iFly Chloe and I were lucky enough that my parents paid for us both to have two goes each learning to skydive. The fact was that you weren't actually sky diving you were in a circular dome that has glass all around it so everyone could watch, inside the dome there were two propellers that would jet up air so you could fly.

 As we got into these baggy blue and white flying suits with a helmet and goggles our instructor told us all the rules and signals to use while flying because you cant hear him talk inside the dome. It was my go first, inside the dome as soon as I walked in I was propelled up by enormous jets of air and I was flying (with no strings attached ). In the dome i had close to a minute to fly around and a few times I bumped into the glass wall. Next it was my sisters turn and she did about the same stuff as I did only she bumped into the wall twice as much. On my second go the instructor took me up to the top of the dome and spun me around really fast and made me feel so dizzy I could vomit, I was so happy when I got down I felt like I could fly in real life, although I didn't try it. 

Also while we were staying with Michael we spent a whole day out on his boat. The boat was like a whole house, it had a lounge, kitchen, two beds and a bathroom, it was luxury! Anyways, we got off the boat at a place called Couran Cove where we had lunch and went paddle boarding. Chloe got scared as she couldn't see the bottom. On the way back to the marina Michael missed on of the pillars which you are supposed to stay in between and we came to a very sudden stop on top of a sandbank. Two boats came out and tried to help us, they succeed and we made our way back carefully this time. After dinner we decided that the next day we would go on a hike into the mountains.

Twin Falls in Springbrook National Park was an hour drive from Michael's house. The walk we went on was about 2 hours long and we saw giant waterfalls which were really awesome. When we were walking through the rainforest we saw a rainbow near the waterfall, we also went through a few caves and at the last rainfall I washed my hair which I quickly regretted as I started to feel cold. After the long walk found a cafe and had the best toasted ham and cheese sandwich with jam and cream scones. Driving back we had dinner at a restaurant where the chefs take turn singing to you and we said goodbye to Michael as we were then heading further towards Darwin. 

Noosa, as we arrive into Noosa the town around us is surrounded by water and wildlife. After setting up the caravan I rode my bike around the camp, and there is a lot of space to ride like over the brige and you can do jumps over the speed bumps.

The next day me dad and Chloe took a visit into town on our bikes and there were so many dogs including husky's and sausage dogs. we also passed a restaurant that was floating on the water. Later we rode along Noosa river and I took the drone out and took photos of the river 1K in the air!.
In the night we were picked up by some of mums friends Guy and Dee and their son Harry who is 12 and in middle school.

 At theirs we played dodge ball, only it was inside and watched NSW vs QLD outside on chairs while eating marshmallows over a fire. After dinner the rugby game ended to NSW winning and nobody was happy about that.

In the morning we left Noosa and headed further up north to Rainbow Beach and in the late afternoon the next day we climbed up Carlo Sand Dune and on the way I trod on a stick that cut into my foot. Finally as we reached the top of the giant sand dune we got out a boogie board and sled down some hills. As the sun came down my dad made a bet if I could do a front flip on the sand and I could only land on my knees.

After Rainbow Beach we went down to Tin Can Bay in the early morning to feed dolphins in the water and 20 minutes in a dolphin with a baby came into swim around us. The baby dolphin who was younger than one was struggling to swim because he\she had to breathe more than the others. When half an hour passed we got out of the water and drove up to Bundaberg where we got to see how rum was made (dads favourite ) and selected some drinks from where ginger beer is made.

At Bundaberg we went to the Rum factory and inside the building we saw a giant bear which turned out to be the mascot for Bundaberg Rum. After looking around the first part we saw how Rum was made and how they get sugar cane and process it into molasses which tastes like licorice and golden syrup and then they store it for up to 2 years. They add water and yeast to the molasses and then it goes through fermentation process which turns it into alcohol. And we were taken into a room where mum and dad got to have tasters of rum and in the end they picked the one they both liked which was the the Queens coffe and chocolate rum.

On the road to Airlie Beach we had to pullover off the freeway because a truck came past pointing at one of our tires on the caravan that had exploded from a puncture that could've been a nail.
This turned up to be the second tire that we have damaged on the road and last time the nail was still inside.

After replacing the new tire we got to Airlie Beach and it was enormous. It had its own petting zoo, a bouncing pillow and a water-park.
The next day we booked a trip to Whitehaven beach aka the WORLDS number #2 beach and Australia's num #1!.. On the way we took a ocean rafting boat which was fun because you can go really fast on water. Halfway there one of the guides told us that were 74 islands in the Witsundays and most hotels on the islands are shut down because of cyclone Debbie and were without power for 15 days. So they have similar cyclones to Darwin.

A part of the trip to Whitehaven beach was also having a swim in the Great Barrier Reef and it was so fun to look at different fish swimming around the coral and a few minutes in and we saw a giant manta ray that was 2 meters long.

 At Whitehaven beach we took a hike up a hill to see the beach over a lookout and we tried to find whales. With no luck we headed back down for a swim and the sand was squeaky..

The next day I helped these u non working slide with a hose to make it into a tiny pool and then we went to the petting zoo. At the petting zoo we fed the cows and the chickens old carrots and as we were walking back we found a chicken walking around out of its cage. So we did the dumbest thing you could think of and we ran around it and cornered it until I grabbed it. After putting it back in its cage we went on the bouncing pillow and tackled each other until dark.

In the morning I went to their caravan and found out they were going to Townsville and we organised a trip so we would meet at the next campsite.

The next day at Townsville, after meeting up with friends. we took a day trip to Magnetic Island (on a ferry ). And got a tiny car with no doors and no roof to ride around the island. Our first stop was to fly the drone over Picnic bay ( a beach ) and after taking the photos the car had a little trouble going up the hill.

In the end we made it up the hill and went hiking and of course saw the same people we arrived with. Which is crazy because this island is enormous. And after chatting with them we pointed out that there was a koala in the tree beside us and you could see its face under the leaves.

The next part of the island we went to was called Alma and as I went snorkeling to find fish mum and Chloe found a rock wallaby which was disappointing. After a long day at various beaches and hiking trips we went back on the ferry and went to watch a movie called Tag. Which was about these 5 guys that were school friends and have been playing tag for 30 years (so there adults ) and they all teamed up to get the guy who never got tagged. Also when the actors were fighting in a scene one of them broke both their arms.

After visiting Townsville we went west towards the NT boarder and stopped at Mount Isa and Renner Springs. As we crossed the NT border we did a full loop across SA, VIC, NSW, ACT, QLD and back to NT. We traveled 13,179 K since Darwin

having a tiger roll on Michael's boat

Overlooking the Gold Coast





















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Part 5 - QLD and home

After setting up the caravan at Nobbys Beach we headed down to a friends place called Michael, only hes still working so we unpacked our ...