After completely missing BOTH ‘Welcome to Queensland” signs with the camera as we crossed the border, we finally arrived in sunny Queensland. It has only taken us 6 months to do a journey that most people complete in 2 days!
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| The boys were keen to try out 'Queensland water' |
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| Zaccy and Grandad playing around |
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| Our home for the next three weeks |
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| Palm Beach |
It was good to meet up with Mum and Dad, and Tony and Bernie again. My older brother, Steve and his wife Jodie flew up from Melbourne with my three nephews, Jaycob, Josh and Jamie. It was great to see them and my boys were so excited to see their cousins.
Steve, Jodie and the kids hired a villa at the Palm Beach Mobile and Tourist Park where we were all staying. It was great having them close by so the kids could play together all day and at night the grown ups could still get together when the kids were in bed.
Mum and Dad had already explored the area and told the boys about a pirate playground. We spent a great afternoon there with all the boys and went back there many times throughout our stay.
A couple of days after we arrived in the Gold Coast, my younger brother Chris and his (new) fiancé, also flew up from Melbourne. They also stayed at the same park with us all. I am very close to Chris and while we have been away he proposed to Leah, and they have set a date for the wedding. I was very excited to hear all about their wedding plans and it was fantastic to finally see Leah’s engagement ring. Mum, Leah and I spent hours sitting on the beach, talking ‘weddings’, while Uncle Chris buried the boys in the sand!
Chris has recently discovered a passion for fishing. Since being on this trip I have tried to give fishing a go. I really enjoy the relaxing environment when fishing, but am yet to catch anything ‘keepable’. The fish I have caught were either too small (caught lots of those), poisonous (toadies) or inedible (carp)! Chris, Dad, Sam and I gave it a really good go while we were on the Gold Coast but didn’t have much luck. Chris managed to catch a decent sized flathead, but mangled it a bit when he tried to fillet it. Ah well, we shall keep trying!!
We found some very pretty spots to fish from, some with great views. It was a really good excuse to spend time with Chris anyway!
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| Tallebudgera Creek |
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| The view from Tweed Heads |
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| Beach picnic at Tallebudgera Creek |
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| Leah and Chris |
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| Dad and the boys hand feeding the fish |
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| Another beautiful rainbow over our campsite |
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| White Water World |
Both our parents bought us season tickets to Dreamworld and White Water World. We went to White Water World with Steve and his family and had a fabulous day. Sam loves rides (the bigger the better), and Will and Zac had a great time playing in the pools. Zac discovered the water slides at Wiggle Bay and spent the rest of the day going again, and again, and again......
Sam disappeared with Dan and Steve to see which ride was the scariest and Will and Jay had a great time in the wave pool.
The day we had planned to go to Dreamworld, Zaccy wasn’t feeling well. Mum and Dad (very kindly) offered to look after him for the day to avoid disappointing Sam and Will. They took Zaccy down to the beach and had a really nice time with him and Chris and Leah.
Obviously we love having Zaccy around, but we forgot how nice it was to not have to drag around nappy bags, prams, endless supplies of food and drinks to accommodate a toddler. We lathered on the sunscreen and walked into Dreamworld empty handed. This enabled us to go quickly and freely on any ride we chose.
Since going on a really scary water slide that last time we were on the Gold Coast, Will has had a fear of rides. If you know Will, you will know that he is a bit crazy at times and does some really reckless things. He is often throwing himself off things that – in my opinion – are far too high, and he loves anything that gives him a bit of a thrill. It surprised us that he was still scared of the rides and Dan and I had thought that if we could get him on one ride, he would soon get over his fear and realise the fun he could have. 
What a bad idea!!! We convinced him to go on the Rocky Hollow Log Ride. It was good because when you line up, you can’t get a good view of the actual ride. We kept telling him that it would be fun, he might get wet, but we will all be safe. Ok, so we were trying to trick him into thinking it was less scary than it actually is.... are we bad parents? I will let you decide that. Anyway, we get to the start of the queue (after lining up for about 30 minutes) and Will sees the grand finale of the ride – that part where the log carrying the passengers, comes hurtling out of the tunnel, down a huge slope and crashes into the water below. He starts to beg us not to make him go on, but we stand strong. 
We all board the ‘log’ and Will is doing alright. Until we start to climb up the mountain... then he starts crying and tries to climb out. I am behind him, hugging him and saying soothing things in his ear, all the while thinking we have made a huge mistake! Will cries the entire way around the ride and screams his little heart out as we plunge down the last drop! We promised him we would buy the photo if he went on the ride. So now we have a permanent record of Will crying, Sam grinning and Dan and I feeling like the worst parents in the world!
After all that, all it took was Sam to say to Will, “Come on the Kite Flyer with me. I promise you will love it. It’s just like being Superman”. Will went on the ride, absolutely loved it, and went on as many rides as possible for the rest of the day.
So basically, we had the right idea about getting him over his fear; we just went about it completely wrong!
Once Zaccy was feeling better, we took him to Dreamworld too. We had another lovely day. This time we went slower and enjoyed more of the shows and less of the rides. That’s not to say we didn’t go on any rides. All week I had been challenging Sam to go on the Tower of Terror II with me. He was bragging to Chris that he’s not scared of any rides, so I set the challenge. It wasn’t until the very end of the day – just as they were closing the rides – that Sam worked up the courage to go on it. It was a sight I will never forget. He face changed from fear, to petrifaction, and then to excitement as the ride concluded. He was breathing so heavily and his little heart was racing. I was so proud of my little ‘ride buddy’.
The highlight of our trip to Dreamworld was having a family photo with Lola the koala. It was out of Dan and I who got to hold her. Of course I won! She was a beautiful 4 year old koala that was born at Dreamworld. The boys loved stroking her and giving her cuddles. On the way out Zaccy saw a little teddy koala and fell on love with it. Sam was very generous and bought it for Zaccy, using his own pocket money. Of course the koala’s name is now Lola and has become Zaccy’s favourite bedtime teddy.
When we first planned this trip, I was worried about the safety of Zac. We were planning on doing as much free camping as possible and that usually means camping by water. You usually pull up next to the beach, a river or a lake. We decided that to keep me sane and Zaccy safe, we would buy a fence to go around the awning. We purchased two big wooden playpens and they have been fantastic. However, after being used and abused and exposed to the weather, the fence has finally fallen apart. We decided that our longer than usual stay at Palm Beach was a great time to build a new fence. We spent a few days (and lots of money) planning, buying the equipment and making the new fence. It was worth it! The new fence is stronger, lighter and looks so much better than the old one ever did.
Dan’s cousin and her family live in Brisbane, so we had to catch up with them. Sian, Martin and their two beautiful girls Olive and Hazel invited us to their gorgeous house in Brisbane, cooked us a fabulous meal including a magnificent lemon tart (made by Martin) and showed us a really good time. The kids all got along really well and had great fun playing in the garden, running around and telling bedtime stories.
We decided that one night together was not enough, so they all came down to Palm Beach and pitched their tent on the site behind us for a night. Once they set up, we went to the beach in search of good surfing waves. Dan and Will were keen for Martin to give them a few lessons in the water. Unfortunately the waves were huge and would have broken not only the boards but bodies too, so we had to settle for playing on the sand and paddling in the water.
After a great BBQ dinner, we got the kids into bed and spent hours drinking a few wines and catching up.
The next morning we all packed up ready to leave and headed to the beach for one last swim. The kids had a great time playing in the sand then we went to a local cafe for lunch. We are hoping to get back to Brisbane on the way home so we can visit Sian, Martin and the girls again.
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