ok i was just kidding. actually i planned to go somewhere, but what seemed to be a shortcut got me stranded at the wrong train station on a public holiday. what's worst was that the next train had to arrive in 40mins!! i come from a city where the average waiting time for a train was 4mins; and here, 10 times the wait. thank goodness i'm a patient man.
anyway, i managed to appreciate the quietness and beauty of the place and took some decent pics. don't let the sunny day fool you, the weather was at a burning 34 degrees, felt like i could melt anytime.
Corinda station
after a few change of trains and about an hour and a half later, i'm almost reaching my destination.
yeap. here it is.
Australia's most popular theme park, Dreamworld, is located in South East Queensland at the northern end of the Gold Coast, on the Pacific Highway (M1) at Coomera, 17kms (20mins) north of Surfers Paradise and 48kms (40mins) south of Brisbane.
let the fun begin!
first up was the Thunder River Rapids Ride. amidst all the buzz and long queue when i was there, it was just a less-than-thrilling family ride. it's for those who'd like to experience the feeling of white water rafting and some 'turbulent' rapids. for thrill seekers, i'd recommend to skip this ride.
act like it's very thrilling
the first real thrill ride would be the Giant Drop. you go up, you come down. simple.
this is the tallest, free-falling ride in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World records. the only way down is a jaw dropping 120m plummet at extreme speed. Free fall time is 5 seconds, but i assure you that once you're up there coming down, it feels like 2.
as we venture on, we come to the Rocky Hollow Log Ride. another family ride with moderate thrill, you can see why from the picture. it traverses a watercourse, climbs an aqueduct and then you plunge down the ramp at 50 km/h, splashing down at the Rocky Hollow aboard hollowed-out logs.
i took the last seat at the back of the log to prevent myself from getting wet. and in the end...
we move on to the Australian Wildlife Experience. it is a large native wildlife park with native animals including the second largest koala population in the world. you can cuddle a koala, wander with the wombats, roam with the roos, feed the birds, get up close to the big crocs and maybe even shear a sheep. It’s a very good chance to see all the native animals, all in one great location.
Dingoes
Emu
the very moment i saw this, i thought that 郭靖，黄蓉 donated their 雕(condor) to this place.
he is just a very large eagle
this is the Kakadu Wetlands, where they have saltwater crocs in captivity.
crocs in captivitywe managed to catch Goliath and Matilda for lunch presentation at 1.30pm daily.
crocodiles can really jump for a bite
your ass is not safe. even up the tree.
one of the most relaxed animals i've ever come across
down to the Koala Country
you might be thinking, 'oh, so adorable!'
you might be thinking, 'oh, so lovely!'
you might be thinking, 'oh, so furry and cute!'
right there and then i was thinking, 'oh my goodness, so damn smelly!'
this is the Sadako enclosure
apart from the wildlife experience, they have a separate Tiger Island where you can watch tiger shows. no no, nothing like the 'tiger shows' in Bangkok.
Tiger Island is a world where white and gold Bengal Sumatran tigers play, wrestle and swim with their handlers everyday. Well, not exactly everyday...
i was helping her take a picture, and then i saw...
celebrity. or maybe celebrity lookalike.
anyway, back to the tiger show where everyone was waiting for something to happen.
and then they also brought the tiger cub along. so poor thing. imagine being chained up, paraded and molested. everyday.
not everyday you have tiger balls up your hand
i must say they have really cute soft toys
rows and rows of them
the tigers didn't really put up much of a show. so we made a move on for more rides and ended up at the Nickelodeon Central, kids world.
the over-grown kid
dickhead
one shelf of dickheadthis is an interesting one, called the Vortex. basically it is like a huge human centrifuge.
before it starts, you stand.
it starts to spin
and everyone goes...
now i know how the centrifuge tubes feel when i always centrifuge them in the lab...
this ride may look harmless, but it was the worst i ever took. it's not like a Ferris wheel, where you go for a round up the wheel. you practically sit in the cars and then it starts to spin, initially horizontally and then they will ramp it up until you are spinning vertically. the most nauseating ride ever. almost puked when i got off.
ah beng favourite carthis, is the Wipeout.
walking on the death row
either i'm tired or just praying very hard i don't puke on everyone
The Claw is a new, interesting and thrilling ride for me. the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, the Claw is the most powerful pendulum on the planet. super big pendulum. it swings you up 9 storeys into the air, at speeds of up to 75 km/hr! what's more! It also spins 360 degrees. Dare yourself.
after the swing, someone gave the shagged face and needs to eat ice cream
while i happily walk around take pictures
we went for the last ride of the day. the Cyclone. it's a roller coaster that extends into White Water World next door.
saw some cool surfer dudes on my way out
well, that ends our episode at Dreamworld. the place closes at 5pm.
BUT..... this is only the first half of the day. the fun never ends!!!
we hopped onto the bus and headed for our next destination. make a guess where...
nope, not Florida.
nope, not Las Vegas.
last hint...
Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast.
clear blue sky. open sea. all the way across the horizon.
and then i saw... gold digger?! what does he think this place is?? literally GOLD Coast???
his version of gold coast
very first thing to do is to challenge the waves
oh no... oh no no no no....
OMG!!!
ok, take my words back...
i ended up with a souvenir
it was super windy, very good place to fly kite (no zoom)
10X zoom
purposely took this picture blur, because there are times where a lil mystery is beautiful.
and because i've learnt that, it's not always good when things are too clear
i've also learnt that 远看一幅画。。。
近看炸猪扒。and he's waaaaaaay too near.
we have real hunks...
and also hunk wannabes.
i've included this short clip of the beach.
finally at about 640pm, the coast guard drove around and announced that the beach is closed for the day
and soon nightfall...
across the street
while we were walking along the streets, a group of girls approached us and asked if they could take a picture with singyan. why not me!!! life is so unfair.
but nevertheless, i can always do this....
i finally found Jessica Alba's workplace...we actually wanted to have our dinner at Hard Rock cafe. but the queue was simply too long, and we were too hungry to wait.
so we ended up eating here. it's something like Cafe Cartel, but the menu is not as elaborate.
singyan's order, some grilled chicken and bacon sandwich with fries.
my BBQ pork ribs, half slab, with garden salad and wedges.
totally delicious...
i went to buy half a pizza from an Italian restaurant after this
those of you who have the time and money...
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