Gold Coast, Australia
Seriously now, if it wasn’t for Air Asia X’s cheap fares, I don’t think we’d have gone to Australia for a holiday. The return tickets for an adult cost RM1xxx, and the 5-day tour cost a total of RM4xxx per adult (including flight and accommodation). That’s pretty cheap if you ask me!
Yes, my family went for this tour with some promo fares during the holidays. Both sis were on holiday so I took a few days off from work to join them. So far, in Australia, Air Asia X only flies to Gold Coast and it’s one of the airline’s hottest routes! Now Everyone Can Fly to Gold Coast!
We stayed in Surfers Paradise, as part of the tour package. This part of town was very popular with surfers, obviously. Remember the Quiksilver Rev Tour beach party in January? I saw several surfers at the airport, with their surfboards at the check-in counter. They were going home!
This pic was captured early in the morning, during sunrise. Sis and I got up really early that day to catch the sunrise. That’s the Pacific Ocean we’re looking at, btw. I had always wondered what was it like to surf and ride along the waves. I didn’t try surfing there (but I did, at Legian Beach, Bali! More on that later…!).
This sunrise photo was capture by Sis, with her own Canon Ixus 75. Pretty decent camera, decent photo quality. We stayed on til around about 6:15am when the sun was already up, before heading back to the hotel for breakfast.
Speaking of the hotel, check out the rates for ‘net access. It was quite cool though, considering the fact that we could use the keyboard provided in the room and surf the web using the TV. Anyway, a holiday is supposed to be a holiday, and that includes taking time off from emails and Internet!
While in Gold Coast, obviously Movieworld must not be missed! This All Star Parade at Movieworld has probably been around for a long time, because I’ve seen photos and videos of it before in the past.
Especially this Daffy Duck-shaped Beetle. Hadn’t I seen it before? Anyway, basically that’s what the parade’s all about - a chance for you to snap photos, sometimes even with some of the cartoon characters themselves.
But what really kept us entertained were the rides and shows. One of my favorite was the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster ride. That indoor roller-coaster ride featured a high-speed fall backwards, which was really cool. Sis and I liked it so much that we went for it again! (The photo above shows the outdoor, Lethal Weapon roller-coaster.)
Shrek’s 4D Adventure was pretty good as well, but the one show that really cracked me up was the Police Academy Stunt Show (picture above). It was ridiculously hilarious. Even the tour bus driver who took us to Movieworld recommended us to watch it.
Well, tonnes of photos were taken in Movieworld but they’re only for private viewing - since it was after all, a family vacation. When you’re in a theater or riding a roller coaster, obviously it’s not very convenient to take photos! In SeaWorld, however… there were more photography opportunities!
The Dolphin Show was arguably the best show in SeaWorld, where at least 5 dolphins mesmerized the audience with their agility and ability to jump several meters into the air. It was also nice to see how friendly and playful the dolphins are.
This little girl had the opportunity to stroke and play with one of the dolphins. At one time the dolphin even playfully splashed water at the girl.
How about standing on the dolphins and let them take you wherever you want to go?
Later in the evening I happened to pass by a group of visitors getting up close with some of the dolphins. At a fee, you could actually swim and have your photo taken with them. During the session, the participants were also briefed about the dolphins so they could learn more about them.
There was also a Sea Lion show which featured some really funny acts by the Sea Lions themselves (actually, I think there was only one sea lion performing most of the time).
This sea lion was quite an entertainer. I’m not sure if it could hear anything (no earlobes?), but if it did, it would have heard how appreciative the audience was!
That’s how the sea lion moves around when it’s not swimming in the water. It glides itself on the floor most of the time.
That’s the Waterski WipeOut show. Nothing really spectacular, entertaining nonetheless :p The theme of this show had this “70s feel” in it. Oh well ;)
We also went to see sharks and other fishes underwater. It was located in an area called the Shark Bay in SeaWorld.
Flash photography was not allowed, lest the fishes would jump out of the water :p
Doesn’t this fish look a little teary-eyed? Interesting. Even more interesting was this big, really big fish that we wanted to see up close.
The shark! I had never seen any shark that big in real life before. Only on TV!
My guess is that that cage was used to protect humans while being underwater. We didn’t get to see how they feed these fishes… I wonder if they would all congregate around the feeder during feeding time. There were A LOT of them in there, big ones and small ones!
I brought home a little souvenir, a small dolphin - which I really don’t feel like giving to anyone anymore!
By the way…
I found this over at Cbenc12’s blog. I couldn’t help but try it out myself. And it was very addictive… hehe.
I tried for at least 20 times before I could break into the 90s! Hahah. Subsequent attempts were normally around 85… it was difficult to hit 90 again. Anyway, go try and test your typing speed now!
02 Mar 2008 narrowband
Aussie pics done.. Bali next!!! *waiting* ;)
I *heart* that Daffy Duck Beetle! It’s so cute!
But… that’s all the Aussie pics you’re gonna show us? LOL.
very nice pics!!! more more more!!
typing test ah? i try later..
Xinyi - Slow slow come ler. Just remember to keep coming back to my blog ok? *Grins*
Rinnah - Hahaha… Nothing *really* interesting about my trip actually… many pics were of family members, etc…. cuz y’know, it was a family vacation ma. We didn’t really visit many places anyway. Actually got lar… one more activity which took the whole day… an Australian Farm experience at a place called Paradise Country. Nothing really spectacular about that lah ;p Alot of pics of my parents and sisters though… hehe. So yeap, that pretty much concludes my Gold Coast blog entry!
Angel - No more lor… I already susah payah select out the more ‘viewable’ ones. Got a few I play with my camera setting and try out some effects one… turned out satisfactory, but isn’t exactly related to my trip to Oz mah. I’ll save that for some other time :p
can u imagine the police academy stunts are repeated 3 times a day for the the past years? lol
Smashie - The same applies to many other shows!! My uncle was asking me, “That bloody walrus still there ah?”, referring to the show at Seaworld.
Wow. These are very, very nice photos indeed! *stares in awe*
Why you come Taman Jaya never come find me? Lols.
hey ur pics are wonderfull.. how much it cost u for the seaworld entrance..how much is de trip cost?
wow makes me wanna go there la. hehe :)
Interesting trip bro! Love the pics esp the dolphin ones. I’ve always wanted to go Gold Coast with all the tempting offers by Air Asia X. Nonetheless, no kaki yet. Haha :(
you know , i’m studying here in brisbane, but I haven’t been to movieworld and seaworld yet ..
embarassing or not ? :P
nice trip! should have come down to Melbourne to see me!
Sweet bro sweet.. glad to see tat dolphins are at least used for entertainment, even though still out of their natural habitat, but still it could be safer rather than being slaughtered by Japanese (no hard feelings here) for consumptions.
Wow, nice. And cheap also. When will Airasia have promotion to Gold Coast again? :)
awesome shots.. :)
wah.. 92 per min… its already challenging enuff to reach 70+
I have friends staying at Australia too.. I think soon I can plan to go there. Hehehe.. RM4XXX really cheap lol.. worth it la..
And the photos that you took really great especially the underwater world.. hehe
Wei.. you type really fast nia.. I type 51 words only.. shame lol
I like the sunset @ gold coast… awesome shot. The daffy duck did not drool … :-p and my favor cartoon Scooby doo “Where r U?”…
what a lovely place. it is affordable. if one day i can afford it, how wonderful
Wow, it’s actually that nice in Aussie huh?
Cool .. I was actually planning a trip there next year .. you gave me an idea of what place to visit already ..
Nice sunrise shot. Beach is so beautiful.
Is the airport far away? Mom said it’s like 1 hour drive or something like that.
I thought wanna go there this year but aiseh looking at the exchange rate…tak jadi liao. haha
Haha, its still there same in 10 years back nth change but just the name of the ride in movie world. Anyway it is a nice place to visit.
Day-dreamer - Hehe, thanks. Taman Jaya was so crowded I was too excited to think about anything else. LOL!! Just kidding :p
Cbenc12 - It’s all included… as mentioned, RM4xxx loh :)
KNizam - Haha, it’s cheap bro. Go go go Gold Coast!
Victor - All you gotta do is just ask (and pay, I’m sure people will want to be your kaki :p) around your friends or ask on your blog and wait for response. Haha… sure can find kaki :p
Mr JP - Make it a point bro, go visit these places at least once! They’re so near your place!
Wuching - Aiya, that’s another side liao :p I didn’t have time (and $$) to fly around the continent :p
Jian - You made it sound like the dolphins were being abused! Oh Japs eat dolphins? But they’re so adorable… :(
Neo - The promo was by a tour company. The fares are pretty fixed I guess - You know the deal with AirAsia :)
Drumsticks - You kidding me… You reached 94 and 93 easily!
Keeyit - Oh then can save on the accomodation :). Glad you like the photos!
TZ - That photo was not even taken using my SLR! The Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster Ride was great!!
Bengbeng - It is affordable :)
Wannabe Economist - Depends on what you do there I guess. There’s an even more nice place I visited… I will blog about it soon :p
Cibol - That’s great! I only put up photos of three main attractions that I had visited - perhaps you will have more. I will bookmark your site now!
Che-cheh - Haha thanks. I should attribute that to my sis. I forgot how far the airport was - I slept like a log in the bus!
Combliss - They keep receiving different visitors year in, year out! To these visitors, everything’s new! ;p
Does the ‘volunteer’ in the Police Acedemy show still wear a Nemo shirt?
fuahhhhhhhh…… 1st try!
You type 543 characters per minute
You have 98 correct words and
you have 6 wrong words
I type 98 words per minute