Well, actually it won't be a singular photo a day, but instead lots! :)
(All photos taken with the G10, because I had to be realistic about spending the whole day out and about with 2 kids, one of whom can be clingy and had a high probability of needing to go in the Ergo carrier when she got tired of the stroller, so carrying the DSLR just wasn't going to be doable... I think I still managed to capture the essence of our day with the G10 though!)
Today we went to Dreamworld and Whitewater World and had such an awesome day... Elizabeth was super duper excited about going to Wiggles World... and then she caught a glimpse of some towels and swimmers I had packed and when she found out we were also going to Wiggle Bay... well the excitement just went off the radar!
We set off at about 8:30am this morning and whilst cruising down the motorway, we happened upon a massive group of Harley Davidson motorbikes also going for a morning cruise... It was most likely an organised club meet and they were actually quite orderly and didn't speed and were actually very interesting to watch, seeing their shiny bikes, the cool accesories and jackets... and of course hearing that well renown grumble of the bikes themselves... it made for a very interesting start of the trip! There would have easily been between 100-200 motorbikes on the road! This photo is just part of the convoy, there were more behind us!
We got there and because we'd bought our tickets online, we got early bird entry to the Dreamworld (park normally opens at 10am... we got there at 9:30am... )... so we beat the crowds (although in general, it really wasn't very busy today at either of the theme parks). First stop - Wiggles World -
We noticed that there was already a very small lineup for the Big Red Car ride, so we decided to join the queue for that, since it was popular... good thing we did, because it can be a very long wait for that ride! Elizabeth thought the ride was awesome and sang along with all the songs! It was a good ride to do because we all got to go on it as a family since Catherine could come along too... She enjoyed it too and clapped along with the songs!
After the big red car ride, Elizabeth and I went on the Dorothy Tea Cup ride... which is was actually terrified of... she didn't like the way it moved, she freaked out when it was spinning... she clung onto me for dear life. When she got off she told Phan "That was scary!"
After the teacup ride we started wandering towards the Nickelodeon area and as were were strolling along, we noticed a river boat that was just about to leave... it only runs 3 times a day, so we thought "what the heck, let's hop on"... So we did... and then as the boat started moving, the captain of the boat welcomed everyone aboard and informed us that the trip would be about half an hour! What the?! Phan and I looked at each other, cracked up laughing and wondered what on earth we'd gotten ourselves in for! Since the boat was already moving, there was no getting off, so we just made the most of it and we all had some morning tea... After about 10 minutes Elizabeth starting sighing and saying "This is boring!"... LOL... Luckily about 5 minutes later, the boat stopped to let people on and off, so we jumped at the chance to get off!!! So here's some photos of us stuck on the boat -
Having got off the boat, we wandered over to the Tiger area. Elizabeth, being the drama llama she is started freaking out about and saying "I don't like tigers.. they are scary, they might eat me... look there's a tunnel... are there tigers in the tunnel?" She is such a chicken. Anyway, once we actually saw the tigers, she was fine about it when she realised they couldn't get to her and eat her! The white tiger was beautiful... apparently he is the oldest one they have and is 16 years old.
After the tigers a quick walk past the Nickolodeon area and a ride on a merry-go-round before we headed over to Wiggle Bay... (which btw, Elizabeth nagged us incessantly about... she was absolutely desperate to go to Wiggle Bay and kept asking to look at the map and showing us where we needed to go!)
We made a bee line straight to Wiggle Bay, got changed and Elizabeth jumped in and started frolicking... she was crazy... the water was freezing cold and she was having a blast! She loved playing the flower showers and just generally paddling about. She went down the waterslides and then Phan convinced her to go on a curly one, but she couldn't keep her balance very well freaked out a bit and then refused to go on it anymore! We also got to meet Henry the Octopus, which Elizabeth was pretty happy about!
After we'd had enough of Wiggle Bay, we wandered over to the wave pool. Phan and Elizabeth aren't actually in this photo, but this is what the wave pool looks like -
And then time for some fish and chips for lunch... and after lunch Elizabeth said she was tired, and Catherine started looking pretty weary... Elizabeth curled up on a plastic kabana chair and I cuddled Catherine a bit and within 10 minutes, they were both fast asleep! So I transfered Catherine to the stroller and covered her up and Phan told me to go and have some fun and try out some rides. I felt like such a teenager again, lining up for the rides with all these young kids around me... I felt *old*! The first ride I went on, I decided to try based purely on the fact the line was long (but not too long) and it seemed popular. Silly me, didn't really associate "popular" with meaning "freaking scary"... So I hopped on this ride, with these two young girls sharing the clover shaped mat with me (who were absolutely terrified too!) and we screamed our way down the ride... we basically went through this pitch black tunnel and then fell down this massive drop into a funnel and then slid from side to side in the funnel and then came out the bottom. Was it scary? Completely and utterly! Was it fun? Absolutely! Would I go on it again? In a heartbeat! I loved it! The adrenalin rush was fantastic and it was just sooo cool!
So after that adrenalin pumping experience, I went back to check on the girls (who were still asleep) and told Phan about it (who thought I was a tad crazy!) and went off to try another ride - The Wedgie. This one was least favourite ride of all the ones I went on... You step into a vertical capsule like thing and put your hands behind your neck and there's a stream of water falling on your head like a shower... then ride operator says "1, 2, 3" and then releases the floor from under your feet and you go shooting vertically down this tube and then it curves around a couple of times at extreme speed with a tonne of water swirling around you (that you inevitably end up inhaling a bit of) You want to scream, but you can't because you end up swallowing water. It's a super quick ride and is over in about 10 seconds flat, but I hate the sensation of inhaling water! (The bottom photo shows the vertical shute that you fall down.)
Another quick check-in with Phan (both girls still asleep!) and I wandered over to try out the Bro which is a slide racer. You get a special mat and you go down this slide on your stomach, face first and you race other people. I sucked at this and came last, but it was still fun... quite tame compared to the previous two rides I'd tried! After that ride, I went on the Rip which is very similar to the Green Room, marginally less scary, but scary all the same.... you kind of get sucked down a swirly funnel. I went on this ride with a guy and his two young-ish sons (about 11 or 12) who were funny and good company and I was in a backwards facing position on the mat which made the beginning even more terrifying because it was pitch black and I couldn't even see when there was going to be light at the end of the tunnel!
After that, back to see Phan and I found that Elizabeth had woken up. I think I'd done pretty well to do 4 rides in about 1 hour because there weren't that many people and it wasn't crowded. I imagine in peak season, the waits are long! Elizabeth and I went and had another paddle in the wave pool and then it was time to get changed... and then I took Elizabeth around to show her the rides I had been on (and to take photos of them, since I hadn't taken any when I was actually going on them). Back to Phan and Catherine had woken up, so we packed up and asked Elizabeth if there was anything she wanted to do, and she wanted to go back to Wiggles World. So we went back to Wiggles World again and Elizabeth and I went on the teacup ride again and this time she didn't freak out and actually enjoyed it! I think because she knew what to expect, she was a lot better about it... and while were here, Dorothy the Dinosaur made an appearance and we got to meet her... (she doesn't look it in the photo, but Elizabeth was quite excited about meeting her!)
And then Catherine got a chance to have some fun in this great little toy area designed for her age group - she loved the xylophones.
And that was the end of our fun day at Dreamworld and Whitewater World. We stopped into Trang's on the way home for dinner (a perfect way to end the day) and then home. On the whole, the girls were so well behaved in the car and while we at the theme parks, it made for an enjoyable experience for all of us... The weather was also kind to us... it was the ideal day to go and do the theme parks warm enough to be in and out of the water, but not crazy humid so that it is horrible and hot to be walking around.
I'll end this huge post with one last random photo I took of Elizabeth just as we were about to leave Dreamworld... I thought these ornate scales were pretty cool!
