I guess it's time to update...
I've been back for almost a week now, and I feel kinda guilty for not updating sooner, but I just haven't been that interested in doing so.
Australia was good. My step-sisters got up my nose a bit, my mum got sick, i had to keep defending my little sister and cheering her up whenever my step-sisters teased her (which was ALL the freakin' time!) and yea...
We went to Dreamworld a couple of days after we got there, was really good. We went on 4 of the 5 thrill rides, leaving our the Wipeout because we have done it before and it's kinda boring. The Giant Drop was our first ride of the day, and we were the first on it. I'm NEVER doing that ride again...it was such a horrible feeling, all I could think of on the way up the tower was "it's too late to say I WANT TO GET OFF!!!!!" It just lasts so long, your sitting on a chair with 7 other people at the top of a tower, 39 stories high (120 metres) with your legs hanging freely. Apparently it takes approximately 90 seconds to reach the top, and the ride up there isn't so bad...the scenery is AMAZING, it's just you end up waiting there for half a minute before they let you drop. While we were sitting up there the Tower of Terror came up the other side, so the whole tower was shaking and we didn't hear the telling signs that we were about to plummet 120m towards the ground. It seemed like it took forever to reach the ground, but was really only 5 secs or so, you just keep waiting for the brakes to come on as your falling...but they don't...and your STILL falling...freakiest ride EVER!!!
The Tower of Terror was next, except this one isn't quite as bad. Basically your in a car that shoots you out onto an L-shaped track which goes 38 stories into the air and then you free fall backwards to the beginning of the ride...whole thing lasts about 6 seconds i think. While we were there we found out that the Towere of Terror uses more elecricity in a SINGLE ride than the rest of the themepark uses in an ENTIRE DAY! Madness....
I think we went on The Claw next, and this one is a little difficult to explain. Basically there is a disk with seats all around it, and the disk is attached to an arm which swings you from side to side, while the disk is spinning around in circles. you are lifted 9 stories off the ground, while being spun around in circles. The whole ride sort of reminds me of a giant swing and kind of looks like you might swing completely over the top if there was enough force. This was the BEST ride of the day..I just wished I had gone on it again.
After that we did the Cyclone, which is a rollercoaster. It was alright. Nothing spectacular. EXCEPT the seat next to my cousin was BROKEN!!! Shoddy!!!
Then we went and saw the Bengal Tigers, and held a koala (they stink!) and tried to feed the kangaroos (obviously everyone before us had tried to do the same thing, the kangaroos were lying down in the shade with little piles of food in fron of there noses!). We went on the log flume and the river rapids ride and the boys went on a couple of the rides again, went and had a swim at the water park and we girls went into the Big Brother house.
After we got home, we found out that our parents had had their good day at Seaworld spoilt by some wanker of a guy that rents out one of the units that my grandmother owns, who threw stones at out new rental car and smashed on of the side windows and put a big crack in the windscreen. So they had to go to the police station and file a report etc. We found out a couple of days ago that the wank FINALLY admitted that he threw the rocks and he's now being charged with malicious intent. Now we have to just get rid of him as a tenant...apparently it's not that easy...oh yay...
The rest of the time we were in Brisbane was spent shopping and relaxing on the deck with a beer. On christmas day we had a water balloon fight with the kids from next door, so it was pretty much 6-8 20 somethings ganging up on a 11 and 13 year old (i think)...but they loved it. After awhile into it, my uncle stole half our water balloons and snuck over to the neighbours and gave them to the kids...he didn't go unpunished...hehehe....and then the guys from our side started attacking the rest of us!!! So they got punished too...was lots of fun and we all ended up soaking wet which was a nice change from being sticky and hot! The next day the kids from next door went out and bought more water balloons so we could have a fight that day too...didn't quite have the same enthusiasm but was fun nonetheless.
We drove up to Bundaberg for the second week, took us most of the day...after we kept stopping...for the Ettamoogah Pub, toilet stops, and then lunch etc. I was lucky in that I got to stay in the one house that had AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!! And also the biggest house, we stayed in the "guest room" which is its own pretty much self contained unit with a projection screen! Can anyone say JACKPOT!!!!!!
Victoria and i slept in the "guest room" and Christophe slept in the house, we were supposed to swap half way through the week with Kate and Kane who were sleeping at Grandma's but everyone managed to conveniently forget! And i was sharing a bag with Christophe, who wasn't swapping (because he was in the house) so that helped my cause.
We pretty much spent our time in Bundaberg shopping and lazing around the pool and in the airconditioning etc until Grandma's 80th birthday party (which was the reason we were in Australia in the first place). That went well, was just an afternoon luncheon thing with members of the family etc, I think there were about 50 of us in total. Grandma's surprise was she got to have a ride on a Harley. Apparently she's always wanted to have a ride on one. It was so funny watching her.
Afte that all the cousins went out for New Years, I think there was about 15 of us all going out. We went to a bar that we had been to a couple of nights before and just stayed there. Everyone enjoyed themselves. The majority of us didn't get home until the sun was coming up, about 5am, and my uncle (who's place we were staying at) was getting up to go to work. lol.
The next couple of days we spent going to the beach, shopping (again!), swimming in the pool and watching dvd's on the projector. Then it was time to drive back down to Brisbane and get ready to go home.
Yup...that's about the extent of my trip...wasn't ridiculously exciting...but it was good anyway. Really cool to see cousins I hadn't seen in ages, but talk to regularly! (well they aren't really my cousins, or aunts, or uncles or grandma, but we have been in the family long enough that they ARE our cousins/uncles/aunts/grandma etc).
xox