Gold Coast, day 7
It was Melbourne Cup Day today - undoubtedly there were a bunch of people down in the bar watching it on the screens there, but we completely forgot about it until we came down to dinner - and it was quiet by then. No idea who won, but don't really care :)
Sunday evening we caught up with our cousin Pete, who lives here in Surfer's. We were supposed to catch up for lunch, but he texted mid-afternoon to let us know that he'd just woken up in Brisbane - he'd gone to a friend's 30th there the night before, and partied hard (a litte too hard, possibly, as he rolled down a bank and showed us some scratches). It was a 'Something Beginning with M' party, and he'd gone as Moses. One of his commandments was that 'all girls must kiss Moses' - and apparently most of them did!
Anyhow, for dinner we went to Fiddler's Green, an Irish Pub that Al and I had spotted one street over. Some very drunk folks there, who I think had probably been there all day. Quite enthusiastic and hearty, they were, especially when the live band came on. We retreated to a table at the far end, so we could still converse (just). Apparently Sunday drinking is quite a big thing in Aussie. The food was okay - not amazing, not terrible. But was great to see a familiar face, and to catch up in general. We last saw Pete at Giftmas time, but other than that neither of us had seen him since his 21st - and he's 25 now (he's the youngest of our cousins on Mum's side).
We followed dinner up with an amble to Global Burgers, across from our hotel, and milkshakes. And an offer from Pete to catch up again one evening before we go home! Hopefully we'll manage that tomorrow ...
Monday was supposed to be stormy and horrible, but when we woke up it was still clear, although more overcast. Trusting our luck, we headed for Movie World late morning, covered in sunblock and prepared for anything.
Movie World was fantastic! We started out with a spot of shopping in the Batman shop, then headed for the Metropolis Rapid Transit ride - I unfortunately had to sit it out, after waiting in line, as my belly meats were not quite squishy enough for the tightening of safety belts, even though I had been able to do it up (pooh). I bet Superman wouldn't have cared! But Al loved it, and I got to watch him on the ride. We followed that up with a spot of shopping in one of the general WB stores (a spot? This is the point shopping fever came upon us and didn't let up for the rest of the day). Then it was the Shrek 4D Adventure, which was damned cool. I had bought myself a Shrek Dragon plush - I called her Ruby - and she got to watch the show with us.
After Shrek was lunch, followed by an avoidance of the street parade by ducking into shops ... I found Ben's birthday present in one, so that was a smart move. Then we ambled over to the kids area to find the Tasmanian Devil cars, as Al wanted a photo in front of his (nick)namesake. A little backtracking later, we found our way to the Wild Wild West ride ... which was temporarily closed! We were hopeful that it would open again (flume rides are so much fun, and we wanted to compare it to the ones at Dream World and Sea World), so we (all together now) did a spot of shopping in the Wild West store. Heh. Then we stood in line for a bit and crossed our fingers and tried not to throttle the very annoying boy in front of us.
And it opened! The Wild West ride was definitely the best of the flume rides, and we got drenched! Al cools off very quickly, so we bought him a towel to dry off with. By then, unfortunately, it was too late to do the Batman Adventure, so we instead ambled out way back to the entrance, via and ice-cream parlour and (ahem) more shops.
Then back to the hotel, and exhaustion.
Today has been a rest day, which we both needed (oh, and it cooled off and rained). Al has slept off and on for most of it, while I have read (reading the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb) and taken it easy. Tomorrow was going to be Wet & Wild, but we have decided to flag that, and go to the cool place called Infinity instead, which is only two blocks away. Then Thursday is Currumbin Wildlife Park, Friday is some stuff nearby plus packing, and Saturday we come home again.
I'm posting the last of the postcards tomorrow. So keep an eye out, those of you who requested them!
Sunday evening we caught up with our cousin Pete, who lives here in Surfer's. We were supposed to catch up for lunch, but he texted mid-afternoon to let us know that he'd just woken up in Brisbane - he'd gone to a friend's 30th there the night before, and partied hard (a litte too hard, possibly, as he rolled down a bank and showed us some scratches). It was a 'Something Beginning with M' party, and he'd gone as Moses. One of his commandments was that 'all girls must kiss Moses' - and apparently most of them did!
Anyhow, for dinner we went to Fiddler's Green, an Irish Pub that Al and I had spotted one street over. Some very drunk folks there, who I think had probably been there all day. Quite enthusiastic and hearty, they were, especially when the live band came on. We retreated to a table at the far end, so we could still converse (just). Apparently Sunday drinking is quite a big thing in Aussie. The food was okay - not amazing, not terrible. But was great to see a familiar face, and to catch up in general. We last saw Pete at Giftmas time, but other than that neither of us had seen him since his 21st - and he's 25 now (he's the youngest of our cousins on Mum's side).
We followed dinner up with an amble to Global Burgers, across from our hotel, and milkshakes. And an offer from Pete to catch up again one evening before we go home! Hopefully we'll manage that tomorrow ...
Monday was supposed to be stormy and horrible, but when we woke up it was still clear, although more overcast. Trusting our luck, we headed for Movie World late morning, covered in sunblock and prepared for anything.
Movie World was fantastic! We started out with a spot of shopping in the Batman shop, then headed for the Metropolis Rapid Transit ride - I unfortunately had to sit it out, after waiting in line, as my belly meats were not quite squishy enough for the tightening of safety belts, even though I had been able to do it up (pooh). I bet Superman wouldn't have cared! But Al loved it, and I got to watch him on the ride. We followed that up with a spot of shopping in one of the general WB stores (a spot? This is the point shopping fever came upon us and didn't let up for the rest of the day). Then it was the Shrek 4D Adventure, which was damned cool. I had bought myself a Shrek Dragon plush - I called her Ruby - and she got to watch the show with us.
After Shrek was lunch, followed by an avoidance of the street parade by ducking into shops ... I found Ben's birthday present in one, so that was a smart move. Then we ambled over to the kids area to find the Tasmanian Devil cars, as Al wanted a photo in front of his (nick)namesake. A little backtracking later, we found our way to the Wild Wild West ride ... which was temporarily closed! We were hopeful that it would open again (flume rides are so much fun, and we wanted to compare it to the ones at Dream World and Sea World), so we (all together now) did a spot of shopping in the Wild West store. Heh. Then we stood in line for a bit and crossed our fingers and tried not to throttle the very annoying boy in front of us.
And it opened! The Wild West ride was definitely the best of the flume rides, and we got drenched! Al cools off very quickly, so we bought him a towel to dry off with. By then, unfortunately, it was too late to do the Batman Adventure, so we instead ambled out way back to the entrance, via and ice-cream parlour and (ahem) more shops.
Then back to the hotel, and exhaustion.
Today has been a rest day, which we both needed (oh, and it cooled off and rained). Al has slept off and on for most of it, while I have read (reading the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb) and taken it easy. Tomorrow was going to be Wet & Wild, but we have decided to flag that, and go to the cool place called Infinity instead, which is only two blocks away. Then Thursday is Currumbin Wildlife Park, Friday is some stuff nearby plus packing, and Saturday we come home again.
I'm posting the last of the postcards tomorrow. So keep an eye out, those of you who requested them!