Brisbane 9-19 June 2023

Day 1 Flew scoot, red eye flight, arrived at 7am goldcoast airport. Had trouble calling car rental company, to our surprise we found a wall phone and gave us free calls to numbers in AU, and managed to then contact them. The car we booked was too small to fit our 2 large luggage bags, we had to rebook a bigger car, initially there was none available, minutes later, someone returned a subaru forester, just the size we needed! We hopped on and drove 2 hrs to Brisbane city where our first house was. En route, we stopped by two shopping malls, had our rounds at Target, Kmart and of course, our favourite supermarket, woolworths or sometimes, Coles, to buy our groceries for dinner. First house was grand and the welcome couldnt have been warmer. An old lady ushered us in chatted with us and even demostrated how to operate her gas oven. There was an outdoor jacuzzi which the boys enjoyed two evenings in a row, I was too lazy and couldnt bear the thought of changing into my swim wear to dip in the water. Plus, dinner cant wait. Nice kitchen and overlooks a beautiful garden designed to welcome wild life like wallaby, cockatoos, and many pretty ones. This house is surely a home away from home. The only complain we had was too cold, and only one shower that ran too little water. The kids loved the wide selection of DVDs and watched Harry potter two nights with a game night in between. Day 2 From Brisbane house, we visited the lonepine koala sanctuary. Koalas are often a hot favourite whenever we come to AU as they are so culdly and so tame. We didnt carry one this time, only stood and captured some shots stroking their soft fur. There was a raptor show, with owls flying within close range , and a very interesting commentator. We spotted some other usual Au animals like wombat, Tasmania devils, kangaroos and lots of birds. Next, we had ramen lunch, quite authentic jap, cafe is almost exactly like one in Japan, small and cozy and wooden. But strangely after that lunch, I had massive digestion issue, kept letting out bug farts, and non stop, thankfully no pain just uncomfortable. We visited the Queensland museum, initially for the dinosaur exhibits, but to the kids' disappointment, there werent actual huge bones, but just life size steel and wooden frames of dinosaurs. There was a rib or tooth, but no biggie. We enjoyed the stuffed animal exhibits the most, giant squid and tiny creatures too. Day 3 It was the only rainy day throughout our entire holiday and it had to rain in seaworld day. we drove about 1.5 hr to goldcoast, arrived sometime past 10am. First stop was the Dolphin show which we enjoyed back in 2014 when we last visited. The kids only went for 2 rides which they loved alot, went twice on both rides. LC and I only went with them one of the rides, it was exhilarating and I screamed all the way and got soaked the worst, somehow. Burgers and fries at the rest stop was pretty good, just quite alot of noisy and tiresome crows zooping all over the eating places, at their attempts to snap up any left overs. We watched another show called the jet ski and stunt bike show, pretty cool but very dangerous. There wasnt much else to do there, alot of walking and waiting, but the weather was cool and wet, glad it wasnt a scorching sunny day.Long tiring ride home, everyone else knocked out in the car except poor daddy who had to take some safely home. Day 4 Time to move to house no 2 at sunshine coast. Another very long drive so we made quite a few stops along the way. Firstly to Mt Cootha, had a view of the whole Brisbane city. The part is daddy's favourite hobby cos he likes to see panoramic view of cities. Then a short walk at Brisbane botanic gardens, which is quite a bore, cant come close to our cloud forest and flower dome. LC hunted down a forsaken Harry potter shop, another big yawn for me, but think the kids liked taking photos there. Closer to house no 2, we did a motor boat hire, no license required and guess who's the one driving most, the youngest and most restless one. We enjoyed the breeze and some nice view of the surrounding scrubs and a far away peak, LC spotted an eagle up in the tree but when we drove closer, it flew away. We were floating on Mudjimba river, actually passed by the river many times. House number 2 is a double storey house, it felt warm but I didnt like the smell that greeted me, moth balls and bleach smell, unpleasant. First thing I did was to air the house, it looked clean enough though, proper kicthen and huge fridge. The bed is firmer than the first house, and the water was strong and hot, thats fhe best. Finally, we bought some rump steak to cook, just over the stove, done in minutes, juicy and tender. Yummy. Gone are the days we would drink wine with food, just juice for everyone. We amused ourselves with a few rounds of charade, lc and I acted mostly, boy tried too, but girl was spoil sport. Turned in early as it had been a long drive here. Day 5 We were half way through our holiday. And doing our very first hike. An easy one, up Mt Coolum 208 m. Mostly shaded and nice stone ro step up. Then we enjoyed a breezy seaside stroll, watching surfers, beach goers, runners. In AU, you just got to have some fish and chips. We did, from an Indian stall, they cooked just as well, the baramudi was great, so soft and fresh, the cod was not good at all. Kind of liked a picnic by the beach. No crows here. yeah. After lunch, we conntinued our stroll to a lighthouse, chanced upon some rocks and stood watching the crashing waves and out to the infinity blue ocean. It was such a hot day, we had to rewarded with some yummy ice cream on crepe, had it at Flo crepery. Next, we did more shopping at Kmart, bought girl a new purple luggage bag which scoot lost on our previous Thailand trip. Mor t shirts, and underwear. Last stop at the supermarket to buy some chicken thighs home to cook and eat. Day 6 More beach day, walked along Mudjimba beach. Chanced upon a short hike in a forest and a beautiful waterfall, We acually spent quite a long time there, surprised by the pleasant cool air and forested nature. We didnt have time to hike all the way up but it could have been pretty lovely. Took many instagramable shots. We journeyed on to AmazeWorld. Just got to play some hide and seek on our trip. It was abig place, enough to have fun for half a day but we were again on the rush to the next appointment - horse riding. but we played golf, giant jenga and more mazes incl a hedge, wooden wall with puzzles to solve, and a rope one which neede plenty of agility to perservere till the very end with many twists and turns. Only the two kids were booked on the horse ride at Slickers horse ride. It was a very compound and they rode for 2 hrs. We drove out to the main street and settled in a nice cozy cafe with a pot of tea and a slice of very delicious mouth watering blueberry cake. The street was lined with lots of home sewn crochet blankets, looks like a village event and ongoing initiative community work. A very colourful and pretty sight. We had pizza take away from a nearby restaurant to our house for a decent amount. Watched the stars at night and enjoyed the cool of the night. Day 7 Another long car ride to house number 3, our final destination before we fly off to another 4 days. This house was the most expensive, had a view of the goldcoast sea and shore line, and it was the warmest since it is an apartment with a private parking garage. We visited some places before arrival, something the kids always enjoyed like picking wild strawberries, sweet and delicious, and climbed a second mountain, Ngun Ngun. This was a tougher climb, higher, hotter, rockier and steeper, but the view was worth it, 360 degrees of the coast line, rivers cutting through the towns and neighbouring mountain peaks. The two kids enjoyed taking portait shots of themselves and the view, something i'm not that excited about for myself anymore. Day 8 We did something very expensive today- booked a whale watch tour. The cruise was 3 hrs long and we were fortunate enough to see two wild whales dancing playfully right in front of our boat. There were other boats nearby and even a jet ski boat where they could literally see the bellies of the boat. I wished I was in that jet ski instead of the big boat where I could catch glimpses of the amazing whales from afar. This is one adventure I wouldnt want to pay to do again. Day 9 The highlight for the kids, I think would be this grand finale at the forest adventure up Mt Tambourine. I was even itching to go on the rope myself. The ziplines were so long you couldnt see the end of it, amongst the tall trees, and there were so many. We were fighting against time as 3 hrs were not nearly enough to finish all courses. They were beat and couldnt even start to imagine the ache they would have the next day. Our last nighy dinner woukd be home cooked salmon with roasted veg, cleared out all the ingredients we bought over the last few days. We had to rush to the car rental to return the car, then the shuttle took us back to the airport, while we waited for the public bus to take us back to the apartment for our last night stay. A kind bus driver gave us a free ride as there was no cash payment on the ride, only prepaid cards, it was near enough, like 4 bus stops! Still, he was nice. A taxi driver actually quoted us $30! But he was nice to tell us better to take a bus instead and told us the bus no to take. All in all, we did meet some nice people during our trip, even the taxi driver who took us to the airport, asked how we liked AU and all. From him, we found out why some rides were close for maintenance as there were two tragic accidents that happened last year with people who died from the fall off the roller coasters. That must have been a terrible disaster for everyone. Never take safety for granted. We dont want to end your life on a thrilling ride. The flight home on scoot was interesting as scoot was closing its services between goldcoast and singapore, the stewardess organised a round of charade with the kids, celebrated one of the kids' Bday and gave complimentary coffee and tea! I asked for 2 rounds of hot water, one for milo and one for oatcare, to sustain me until arrival. The flight home was 8hrs long, I just hate flying. AU is always nice and easy, well, when one person is willing to be the driver. I think as age climbs up for us, soon, it will be the children who will need to do the long distance drive during holidays. It was winter in Brisbane, but we got a tan from the walks and hikes, home cooked dinners was nice, using induction cookers and ovens, they love the milk, I got my milky soy, bought some honey, jam and nuts home. Till next time.