Australia - Gold Coast/Surfers Paradise

View south from Q Deck
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After the week of relaxation in Byron Bay we arrived in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast where we would spend Christmas. We had a free pick up from the transit centre and arrived at our Hostel, the hostel was run by a load of English people so we felt at home and the Hostel had a well stocked bar too which is always handy over Christmas!

Wet & Wild water park

Throwing up at the water park!

The next day we decided to go to the water park as the weather was really good (29oC and sunny), we got the bus there and managed to beat the main queue. The water park had a few 'extreme' rides so we decided to go ion them first (well I decided and may have pushed Teresa into it).

Christmas Day
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We went on 'The Tornado' which was a ride where we both sat on an inflatable dingy before going down a steep slope into what looked like an 'oversized kitchen funnel on its side', it was really fun and very fast although Teresa nearly fell out and was shaking when we got off.

We then went on a ride called the 'Kamikaze' which was shaped like a half pipe and got up to speeds of 50km/h. Teresa bottled it at the top and wanted to get down but with everyone staring at her and the lifeguard helpfully saying 'even little kids go on this' she grew some nuts and got in and proceeded to scream all the way down along with using some language which could have been a tad inappropriate with all the children around! After we got off we had a sit down and Teresa threw up in a bush due to 'motion sickness/pure terror'! That put an end to the extreme rides so we grabbed some sun loungers and went in the wave pool. I went on a few more rides but Teresa's water park experience was over after the 2 scary rides as she felt sick for the rest of the day.

The Tornado at Wet and Wild
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On Christmas Eve we went to the observation deck on the 77th floor of the Q1 building in Surfers Paradise which had amazing views of the coastline and the rich areas by the inland waterways. In the evening it chucked it down (see its not all sunshine here) but we went out and treated ourselves to a meal in a real restaurant (a novelty for us!)

Christmas Day

We woke up with the sun shining and feeling very hot (hmmm, not very Christmassy!) We soon solved that though by putting on our Santa Hats , pulling a cracker (crap jokes and hats included) and enjoyed a Bucks Fizz with scrambled eggs for breakfast.

Q1 Tower
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We then headed for the beach for the strangest Christmas Day ever. After taking the obligatory photo's of us in our hats on the beach we had our Christmas Day Buffet. Turkey rolls (for me anyway), Teresa had her fake ham which was surprisingly good, Roses Chocolates, breadsticks, Ferrero Rocher, Pringles and not forgetting the traditional Christmas food of Prawns and Beer! We had also bought some actual Ribena instead of the 50p squash that we had been buying. The day was really good and we did see lots of children with suspiciously new looking body boards on the beach! Oh and we also got pooed on by a seagull ....a sign of good luck maybe?

View north from Q Deck
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Boxing Day

After another day at the beach we took part in a Pub Quiz at the hostel and it seems the seagull did bring us luck as we won! See the useless knowledge does come in handy and we won 2 tickets to a theme park called Dreamworld worth A$70 each!

We went to Dreamworld on Sunday and after Teresa's experience at the water park she didn't go on any fast rides but I went on the 'Giant Drop' which is the highest drop ride in the world, it was really fast and you free fall for 5 seconds until it slows down! The park also has some animals and we saw some Tigers which were amazing and also a massive saltwater crocodile. Teresa also has a new ideal job (Tiger Keeper as she fell in love with the cubs)

View of City of Gold Coast/Surfers Paradise
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The next morning we caught a 6.10am flight to Sydney where we will see in the new year by the harbour!