Ry's Report 4

Dreamworld

Again we were at Dreamworld and the Claw was finally open. It was our fifth time at the parks.  Taz went on it and I watched her, it looked scary, fun and everything else in the world wrapped into one.  Taz was trying to get me on so I thought let’s do it. I went on and it was the best! We went on with mum once and Taz and I went on heaps. It was my favourite ride ever. 

After the Claw went on some other rides like Wipeout (which is a cool ride, swinging you around upside down and all over the place), Shock Wave (it was fun spinning around and going up hills at the same time) and also the AWESOME Tower of Terror 2.

The TofT2 is one of the scariest rides ever and the first time my face was frozen in fear. Mum and dad were on the ride with me and they both got worried because I looked so scared but then once we reached the top after going 160km p/h and coming down it I started yelling out “This is COOL!!!!”

After that I went on it heaps more time, each time getting a little less nervous but the adrenalin rush was always cool.

After our trips to Dreamworld I had been on 5 of the 6 BIG 6 rides. I was really proud because some rides are really scary. The only BIG 6 for me still to go on is the Giant Drop. Next time I go, my goal is to finish the BIG 6.

Currumbin Sanctuary

At Currumbin Sanctuary there was a train that you had to get on to get to all the places in the park. We first went to the Tazzy Devils, echnidnas and frogs. The Tazzy Devil was really funny and cool and one of the echnidnas was super active, he kept cutting laps of his enclosure, maybe he is training for a marathon. It was hard to see anything in the frog enclosures because they were hibernating.

Next we went on the Tree Tops Rope Course. Taj wasn’t allowed because he was too small so he got a special treat when he went off with dad. He watched mum, Tamsyn and I for a while then he went off looking around the park. The ropes course was really fun. On the flying foxes you had to use your hand as a break, but I went really fast and crashed into the big green mat covering the tree.

At Currumbin I also brought a hatching egg. I got a frilled neck lizard egg and Taj got a platypus egg. We had some lunch then went to a playground with a flying fox, spider net and lots of other cool stuff. My favourite was the spider net, I went to the top and swung around like a lemur.

After our lunchbreak we went to watch the Birds In Flight Show. It was really awesome, there was some great and exciting birds. My favourite was the Barn Owl, but they all flew around catching meat, especially the eagles and kites. One type of kite can catch the meat and eat it in the air. You could feel their wings as they flew across your heads, that how close they were.

It was a good place but not the best zoo I have been to. It needed more different animals.

Coochin Creek

After the hustle and bustle of the Gold Coast we went out to a state forest Coochin Creek. It was peaceful. It didn’t have showers so mum made up a shower for us and the toilets were drop dunnies. We saw a shark in the river and caught a couple of bream. It was a nice spot to catch our breath and it was nice to do not much.

Bli Bli

I loved being at Bli Bli because there was a Barra Farm, it was called the Suncoast Barra Farm. The only bad thing was that it was not in the best season for catching Barra. The people at the farm were very nice and gave us a free pass to try again the next day. At the Barra Farm we only caught 2 fish. I caught my first ever Barramundi. It was awesome it put on a great fight even though it was only 35cm. Dad caught a Jew fish which was 47cm long.

The caravan park was a bit dodgy and noisy because there was a lot of live in people and they were a bit noisy and some mums kept yelling at a little girl called Riley. The toilets were also really dirty but the new managers are working hard to fix the place up.

In Bli Bli there was also a skate park which was pretty good. There was some fun jumps and a bowl.

Petrie Park

Petrie Park was a great place, especially being a free stay. There were heaps of green tree frogs in the toilets and we tried catching them but they were too clever and kept hiding under the bowl part of the dunny. We had to flush the toilet heaps to try and catch them, but the pads on their feet were too sticky.

We were aloud to have fires so when we were out collecting fire wood we found a spot we heaps of wood and also found some different types of frogs. They could do huge jumps. Near the wood they was a little dam and I caught heaps of little fish in the net. In the dam there was also a nest of cane toads. We pounded the nest with rocks and then a huge one floated up and we smashed it with rocks and cane toad guts went everywhere. In Queensland you have to kill the cane toads because they kill all the native frogs

We had a great fire that night at our camp site and boiled up water to have a shower in mums homemade shower.

Agnes Waters

Agnes Waters was a great spot, the beaches were awesome and we went down there heaps. It was really relaxing and we got to surf and boogie board.

On the last day we went to surf school and learnt to surf. We caught some great waves and it was funny because most of the adults couldn’t do it. Taz and I were standing up surfing all the time. The surf school instructor was T-Bone. T-Bone was funny and I think his favourite word was whooo-hooo!. The surf school had a mascot, a little dog Lucy. Lucy could surf and when she fell off she would swim over to T-Bone.

There was also a really cool skate park with big drops and some bowls. Taj learnt how to drop in and I am learning heaps of new tricks.

Beautiful Queensland

Howdy Partners,

Ahhh, it has been fantastic to hit the magnificent state of Queensland and nice also to finally have some internet access to leave you all green with envy on what we have been doing.

After all the thrills of the theme parks we headed further north to a little town called Bli Bli. We headed into the local caravan park and were very fortunate to be placed with all the permanent residence. I felt like I was sitting in a Collingwood cheer squad. Although the interesting locals and a very run down caravan park Ryley and I did have minimal success with our Barra fishing. Ry was lucky enough to score his first Barra a nice little 35cm Barra, whilst I am still waiting, however, I did manage a 47cm Jew fish. The area surrounding Bli Bli has some great spots and the town of Eumundi is converted into a market on Wednesday's and Sunday's. When I say the town is converted into a market, this is literally. A massive market full of great treats and a variety of interesting and talented characters.

From Bli Bli we went to free stay camp spot at Tiaro. We tried the stay in town  centre with everyone cramed in like sardines, so we headed to the other spot, Petrie Park on the Mary River and it was a sensational spot. Meet some great Nomads who steered us on the right path moving forward. It was great to be out in absolute peace and quite, except for a noisy snorer who luckily moved on after the first night.

After a relaxing stay at Petrie Park we heard about Agnes Waters and Seventeen Seventy so we thought we would go and have a look and it was a fantastic decision. The only drawback was we couldn't get a spot in the amazing Agnes Waters Caravan Park which is literally right on the surf beach, so we headed to Discovery Coast CP about 6km out of town. It was a nice spot but I kept thinking how great it would be right in town. It mattered little as we spent our days relaxing on the beach at Agnes Waters, having a surf, body board or casual swim.

Further up the coast we found another gem of a spot a Clairview. The caravan park was a rustic gem and the tides were absolutely amazing. At low tide you can walk out about 500 metres and at high tide you have water at your back step. The locals were a blast and we enjoyed relaxing around the parks big camp fire and having a few frothies with some diehard drinkers.

Really looking forward to heading up to Mackay and catching up with Eddie and his family. I thinkk we are already to enjoy a couple of creature comforts.

Catch ya,
Pentz

Kristy's Chat 5



That's Taz 3rd from the left.  I'll never do it again!







Loved this ride too.  That's Ry 3rd from the right.



No issues with this ride. Loved it



Ok this one's for Sally Gerden who sledged me for not doing the Giant Drop.  Well Sally I did it.  For those of you who haven't done it I'll do my best to do it justice.  It was day five at Dreamworld and I had promised Tamsyn once again that I'd conquer the Drop. It was mid morning, enough time to see the Drop in action for a couple of hours, I rationalised that the brakes must be working well. We headed to the line, only 8 other people were lined up (indicating that you really have to be bloody nuts to go on).  At this point I'm completely unnerved, I'm chatting constantly (as I do when I'm nervous), I try to drop a few witty little jokes about how scary this is when a young teenage girl looks to me and in her best condescending manner tells me that it's not that bad.  As we wait a rather senior aged lady walks in alone and lines up behind me.  I ask if she's done this before and she replies with a smile, "No dear but you just have to do it don't you.  It looks so exciting." "No," I reply "You don't have to do it.  I'm still considering bailing out."  "Oh you'll be fine." She says as she pats my arm, obviously she was a psychotic, freaking nut bag.  So the door opens and we're led into this industrial looking barrel.  Eight seats are attached to the wall and were asked to take a seat.  I glance up and feel completely ill, I'm talking vomit on my feet ill.  We take our seats in line, senior lady, me, Chris, Tamsyn, random nut bag, random lunatic etc etc.  The harness comes down, panic sets in and I say, "I don't want to be here." No one seems to hear me or is it, no one cares.  The seatbelt gets checked and I say to the operator, "Nope, I really don't want to be here".  He looks at me and smiles, what is he deaf from all the screaming or is he just cruel, I wanted off and I meant it!  I'm absolutely frozen stiff, mouth dry, shaking hands, need to pee, totally terrified.  Senior lady tells me I'll be fine as we start our climb.  "!@?*!!" Yep I let the big one drop, out loud in front of senior lady and my own daughter.  Tamsyn just laughed.  I apologised to senior lady and closed my eyes.  I opened my eyes to see that we were only about half way up, tears began to well so I closed them again.  I started chanting a mantra to help settle myself, "I'm sorry there's going to be more swearing. I'm so sorry there's going to be more swearing."  This continued for the remainder of the climb stopping only once to ask Tamsyn if she was OK, which of course she was, she was having a bloody ball.  As the ride paused at the top I opened my eyes, hello, 120mts up. If I was unnerved earlier I was now a nervous wreck.  They keep you sitting up top for 45secs with just the hum of the motor and the anticipation of dropping at 132km p/h.  The hum stops and Chris says' "Here we go,".  If I could have reached out and punched him in the face I would have but as the thought crossed my mind we dropped.  And dropped, and dropped, and dropped.  Not a sound left my lips.  Complete silence across the entire ride other than the deafening roar of air whistling past your ears as you free fall.  Finally after what seems like minutes I feel the cogs engage and we immediately start to slow.  Still no words.  I open my eyes and see that we're about 2/3 of the way down and we're still falling fast.  With about 30mts to go the brakes grip and finally I'm assured that if we hit the ground death wont be instantaneous, permanent disability will be all that I suffer.  Rapidly the brakes decrease our descent it's only now, with about 15mts to go that I believe I'll be walking off this ride without any permanent physical damage, permanent psychological damage is another prospect altogether.  With the ride motionless and the harness lifting I burst into a fit of laughter.  As I step onto the platform my legs are shaking and I have to physically hit my knees to get feeling back into them.  Tamsyn's on an adrenalin high yelling, "again, again." I hate her right now.  Chris has got the sways and tells me that he's feeling a bit strange.  Then came the sense of pride, of achievement of accomplishment.  Give me a dam trophy, I AM A LEGEND.  I walk around to the front of the ride where Taj and Ry have been patiently waiting. As I tell them how terrible it was I'm interrupted by laughter.  It's my senior friend and her husband, he invites the kids over to see how brave their mum was on the ride.  He had taken photos on his huge fancy pants camera.  Each of the kids looked and stepped back laughing.  I ventured forward and their I was on the digital screen, clear as day, head thrown back, eyes rolling, white as a ghost, mouth agape with limp limbs.  I don't recall passing out but it certainly looked like it. I thought maybe he had photo shopped the picture but at the end of the day we checked the official photo in the Dreamworld photo shop.  It told the same story.  The shop assistant kindly displayed it on the big screen so that everyone in the room could laugh at me.  It was certainly laughable, Chris and I doubled over in the shop with tears.  Oh well, I did, and I'll never do it again!

On a somewhat less exciting note we headed off from Jacobs Well after a disagreement on fee s.  When we checked in we paid $30 per night, this is about the going rate that we've paid since leaving Melbourne, give or take $10.  As we checked in I asked the lady if it was safe for the kids to swim here, I told her how happy Tamsyn would be because they had a book exchange.  The kids waved to her  as we passed through the boom gate.  Three days later I went to extend our stay and was charged $60 per night and made to pay $30 per night for the previous three nights.  No amount of arguing would rectify the situation.  She was certain that I had failed to declare the kids and was making me pay!  So people if you're ever up this way and in need of a nice caravan park this is not the one for you. That'll teach her!

From Jacobs Well we headed to Coochin Creek.  This is a really beautiful State Forest with only the bare essentials.  They have drop loos and some tank water available.  This was my time to shine.  I set about rigging up a battery operated shower.  I spent all day collecting and boiling water.  Come shower time we were all treated to a steaming hot shower under the stars with a Tawny Frogmouth watching overhead.  The boys looked a little concerned as the kookas came in for a look.  I did mention that their willy and a worm could be easily mistaken.  I guess I just gave them one more reason to play with their willy, all in the name of protection.

After a few very relaxing days in the bush we headed into town to have our van repaired.  Unfortunately the parts had taken an extra few days to arrive from Melb but the repairers were more than accommodating.  In fact they were downright legends.  When Malcolm the repairer couldn't fix everything on the spot he offered for us to stay in his caravan yard until Monday.  Unbelievably hospitable.  As it turned out he sent the faulty parts off and will send them to the nearest post office to our location when he gets them back.  What a great service.  So we hit the road yet again.

Off to the Sunshine Coast we go.
Until next week.


Love and miss you all, Kristy

Taj's Talk 5

We went to Jacobs Well Caravan Park.  There was exercising stuff. It was fun.  I can't do one of the things, chin ups.  There was a skate park next to us and a BMX park.  There was a playground, I liked it.  There was a sandpit next to us.

Echidna at Currumbin

Wrestling a giant Green Tree Frog

We went to Currumbin sanctuary.  At Currumbin  I couldn't go on the ropes course so I got a special treat.  I got a platypus egg. I went on the little train lots.  I saw five barn owls, they were cool.  I saw birds, snakes, big fish, kangaroos, crocodiles.  There was a bird that was attracted to blue, it kept licking blue or bitting blue.  It licked Tamsyn's top.

The playground at Currumbin had a flying fox

We went to Dreamworld again.  I went on the Mick Doohan Moto Coaster once again.  Mum and Dad got sick of it so I got to go on with strangers and make new friends. I went on everything in the end, but not the giant drop because it's scary.  It would have killed me. People were swearing when they got all the way down to the bottom.  Mummy sweared going up.  My favourite ride was the rocket coaster because I made heaps of friends.



I took my top off so i wouln't get  wet on the log ride.



That's me in the 2nd row with a stranger.

We went to Coochin Creek.  I saw a bull shark in the water.  Coochin Creek was really good.  I made a friend. It wasn't a caravan park it was just in the bush, it was fun.  There was these sandpit kind of things and me and Ryley got to play cars.  There was only drop dunnies where you poop on the ground.  The shower was pretty good, not the best shower I've had.  We had to soak in a horse tub, we had to heat up the water on the fire.

See ya, from Taj.



Wrestling a crocodile at Dreamworld



Tazzy Talk 5

Tazzie Talk

Another week more blogging to be done. This week we were in both the Gold Coast and Brisbane. I got to go to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, White Water World again and Dreamworld again.

Currumbin

From the perspective of Tazzie the Tasmanian devil.

What a place to wind up, retire. Australia zoo’s just up the road and I’m here miserable. I’d rather slam my tongue in a car door. I came to this zoo because It has the words GET CLOSER on its brochure i thought that would be a awesome place to end up. I thought that a stupid human would get so close that i could see how they tasted but no I’m here small enclose no friends nothing.

I also thought that it would be good because I have never tasted Red Pander, Lemur, Panda but none of them. I don’t like it this place only have like 12 different animals and I can’t even see any of them. My neighbour is like 400ms down the lane. The only time I get to talk to someone is, NEVER!  The stupid keeper took my phone off me so I can’t even talk to MUM, hello we have feelings too.

Well if I were only human I could go for an adventured on the tree climbing course. But if I had to where one of those overalls I would bite the persons head off. Then it hit me all I need is for a little kid to fall of the cable and then I would take all his clothing and BANG look, I’m human, I can Have a good time but what were the chances of that. What person is dumb enough to fall into my evil lair.



Here's the girl who got attacked by the bird who loves blue.



Well I guess I’m being a bit hard on this place, like I get the news paper every Sunday. I heard about this really cool bird show that they have here. I never knew that a bird could grab its pray and eat it all in flight. There was also a little bird who attacked a girl called Taz just because she was wearing blue. After that they took the bird to a special house because they thought that it needed care. What a load of rubbish.  any way you heard from me Tazzie the Tazzie Devil. If I were you I wouldn’t spend my cash here go to Auzzie Zoo 10 times better lots more animals too much on.

White Water World AGAIN

We went back to White Water World because the weather was nice and there was nothing to do at the camp site. It was pretty relaxing at White Water World. We would sit in the wave pool and every now and again we would go off to a water slide. Taj decided that it might be good to go back on the hydrocoaster so off I went with dad and Taj to the hydrocoaster. Taj well............ LOVED IT and when we got off he asked if we could do it again. Dad sat out for this one but I again went on with Taj and this time we went no hands nearly the whole way. The only time we held on was at the first hill!! It’s really good that he liked the slide.

Dreamworld

We went to Dreamworld for the 5^th time. I don’t think I told you about the 4^th time but that was pretty much the same apart from we went on the Giant Drop and mum nearly pooped her pants. When we saw the pic it was soo funny I laughed so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 5^th time I thought was really different to the other times. Taj wanted to go on EVERYTHING. The only things he didn’t go on were the rides he was too small to go on!!  I went on the Giant Drop and Ryley nearly did but he chickened out just before the line! Mum said he was smart but I said he was soo stupid!!!!!!!

This time the Claw was going so Ry and I went on 5 times. It was Ryley’s favourite ever ride! Mum was so proud but I thought it was about time. What’s soo bad about a ride seriously!! On the 5^th day I managed to complete the big 6. Mum also completed the big 6 but she had to do it over every day because she wasn’t going on the Giant Drop again I’m telling you that.

Couchin Creek

We got ripped off at the last place so we had to go back to the forest  with no showers. I didn’t mind this place I caught a fish it was under 15cms. Mum and Dad saw a big shark that kind of looked like a flattie with a dorsal fin. Their was a little dog that loved to chance Turkeys. It was really funny watching him chacing the turkies up trees.

That finishes my 5^th blog. I hope all my fellow school mates have a good week and the weather gets better!!!

Taj's Tattles 4

We went sufing.  I flipped over on my surfboard. When I flipped i felt scared.  I boogie boarded again on little waves.  We found a dog it was a farm dog.  We played with it.  We played sheep.  The game to play sheep is you have to get in a starting line and you have to run up the hill before the dog beats you up.

Me on the beach at Brunswick Heads

There was a skate park at Brunswick Heads. It was very cool.  There wasn’t one person in it.  It was fun as well.

We went to a market.  I lost my hat.  There were lots of people there.  I got a snow cone and some sushi.  They were all yummy. We went to Byron Bay.

Eating yummy sushi at Byron Bay



I'm driving a vintage car at Dreamworld



We went in the car and drove to Tamborine mountain.  We went to Dreamworld a lot. Ry and i got to play cars a lot.  I’m going to go on three big sixes.  They’re the hardest rides to go on.  The giant drop is the hardest one to go on because you go from the drop and then you go down fast.  I went on the Mick Doohan Moto Coaster, the Rocket Coaster and the Hydro Coaster..  I went on a small roller coaster.  I got over my fear as well so did ryley. I’d never been on the Mick Doohan Roller Coaster before.

Ryley is feeding me to s shark.

When we left Mt Tamborine we went fishing.  I was the first one to catch a fish.  I only caught 3 fish in the end.  It was fun, they put on a big fight.  It was pretty hard to reel in.

My biggest catch.

Ry's Report 3

Brunswick Heads Bream

Brunswick heads was a nice place and had lots of room to ride scooters bikes and skate boards. Fishing was ok we only caught 1 bream it was really big. The skate park was awesome I taught Tamsyn  how to drop of steep ramps with a silver bar across the ramp and loved dropping into the bowl and getting really good air.

We’re now at Mt Tamborine it is a really cool rain forest we are about 30 mins from Dreamworld and all the other theme parks. We’ve already been to Dreamworld and Whitewater World at Whitewater World I got over my fear of fast rides so then when we went to dream world I was ready to go on some of the big rides. I went on Wipeout, Shockwave Mick Doohan Motor bikes and one of the roller coasters. Next time I’m going on the other roller coaster and the claw if it opens before we go.

There was one massive water fall at Mt Tamborine it was really cool we found someone's t-shirt and dropped it down the water fall and watched it float down it was funny as.  Mt Tamborine you could just relax it was so quiet and at night you could relax at your camp fire. On the day we were leaving on the way we stopped at a fish farm and went fishing the fish put on a great fight and over all we caught 16 fish I caught the most of all I caught 5 dad caught 4 Taz caught 4 and taj caught 3 we caught silver perch sooty grunter Australian bass and Barcoo grunter and we think we caught a yellow belly perch. 

Mt Tamborine Waterfalls



Mum and Baby Koala at Dreamworld