The Griswalds do Dreamworld

Our home exchange family, Graeme, Shelley, Ashleigh and Jake were nice enough to leave us passes to the Gold Coast theme park called Dreamworld. Today we got up early and headed north of for ninety minutes to take it in. We thought we had it all cased out. We got up extra early to beat the crowds, packed a lunch, packed umbrellas and sunscreen….we were set. All was going well we were ahead of the crowd and running for the first ride we could find , the big roller coaster. We ran the spiral staircase that went up four stories…first ones there….perfect. Wait a second Jaxon’s a half of a centimeter too small and not allowed on.The topper...The other boys were too scared to go on the ride. Even after the lecture about how this ride would be lined up in ten minutes and they will likely want to come back to it later it was a no go. That’s how the day started (of course Dad and Zay spent an hour and ten minutes waiting for that same ride later in the afternoon.) Despite the shaky start , the rest of the day was a lot of fun and the boys did come around and start enjoying the rides. We finally saw our first Kangaroos. Stirling got to hold his new favorite animal and even Mom got in on the rides.







We wrapped up the day with Dinner in Surfer's Paradise on the drive home. A perfect close to our touristy day. Sorry , no pics as we were all snapped out after the theme park. There were many shops, restaurants, buskers and partiers in the city that was a cross between Vancouver and Tiajana. Overall another great day in paradise.

Lismore

We just got back from a day in Lismore. We went to the Koala care center at the University and we were able to go for a walk and see Koalas in the wild. We saw 4 in total-A mom and her baby and two others. The boys found other creatures as well including some tiny lizards.

Two rainy days

Well the rain has come (but I am not complaining...) It has been in the forecast for days so we were bound to get it.
















Yesterday morning we went to Bangalow yo do the market (the rain held off first thing so we were able to enjoy the market for a couple of hours before we had to make a run for the car) The Byron Bay lighthouse was next on the agenda. We noticed on the drive to the point, that there were heaps of people still heading to the beach (at this point it was absolutely pouring out) We decided to take a small detour and head to the beach too...,and then we could see why....the waves were great, nice even rollers.
























Rod and Isaiah joined the crowds and headed to the water with their boards.

Stir, Jax and I headed for the light house. Once again the scenery was incredible and it stopped raining about the time we got out to do the walking tour.


By the time we met back up with Rod and Zay the sun had come out so we played at the beach for the rest of the day.

Today it poured buckets again so we took in a mid day movie (called "Old Dogs"-pretty funny)

The boys have been spending a bit of time with "Jed" (our house exchange family have friends with a son that is the same age as Isaiah) Jed's parents asked us over for a bbq this evening-it was so much fun. They live on 5 acres in the country, surrounded by lots of wildlife and sugar cane-the boys loved it. The boys spent time catching tree frogs and playing with the family pet rat, Jacko. We spent the evening talking with Merryn and Allen (Jed's parents) and their other children Keaty (18), Rhett (19) and Sophie (13-Jed's twin) The family was incredibly friendly and kind. We had an amazing evening full of laughs and great conversation!

Boxing Day

We love when the weatherman is wrong....it was suppose to rain today but that was not the case...we had a hot, hot day...the tide was out so we headed to the Pat Morten look-out and board walk. There were some great looking tide pools here so we thought we would snorkel but the bluebottles showed up so explored from shore.









We saw some cool sea shells and creatures (most of which we have no idea what they are)


Jaxon and I spent hours looking under rocks and watching things move...


We spent the afternoon playing in the sun at the beach

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone-we hope you and your family are healthy and having a relaxing, enjoyable day and holiday. Thanks for all of the comments in our blog (and those surfing tips too!!!) We are a day and 1/2 ahead of you so we have already celebrated Christmas....


We went to Christmas eve mass in Bangalow (a small town inland) last night. This little town has an annual, HUGE celebration in the streets with musicians, magicians, buskers, carnival rides, and lots of food and treats-it was fantastic-we had a blast! We then came home and the boys opened a present and then got up today and opened the rest. And as long as LEGO shows up under the tree, you can guess what we did for the next hour or so...Once the troops started getting restless (mostly me) we headed to Ballina for the skate park to try out the new scooter (Jaxon) and skateboard(Isaiah) and shoes (Stirling). Rod and I played scrabble in the sun on the beach (which is right next to the skate park) We are finishing off another great day with a bbq (no turkey this year :0)....
















Rod got this shot of a crab on one of the Rocks by the skate park...

Beach and more beach...

"Yesterday we surfed and boogie boarded all day! The boys are getting better and better. Rod and I can not say the same. Rod has given it more of an effort-I prefer to boogie board. Today was gorgeous out...the ocean was really calm so we spent the whole day at the beach playing in the water..There are no pictures today as I left the camera at home. I asked the boys what I should write about -if there was anything that they saw or did worth mentioning. Stirling said "just that nasty stuff" What he was talking about was all the naked boobs they saw at the beach today. He pointed out to me mid day that "there were a lot of topless girls at the beach the today"him and Isaiah giggled lots, Jax was oblivious...

The "hinterland' and rainforest

It was a little overcast for the past two days so we did some non beach activities. We decided to head inland and explore some hinterland. We headed for Nightcap National Park which is situated in far north-eastern New South Wales. It was only suppose to be an hour drive but with all the windy back roads and the stops at local artisans it took more like 3hrs-It was absolutely the most incredible country side and landscape-We could not stop taking pictures




...When we got to the park we decided to do a 4.5 km hike to the base of a 100 m waterfall. The hike took us through a subtropical rain forest-it was magnificent (for the first 2 hours.....) We saw some extra large trees, "palm valley", beautiful scenery-it looked like something out of Jurassic Park-everything was great......until we got to the bottom of the valley (near the bottom of the climb down) We did not know that leeches live in rain forests-we thought they lived in water-but we discovered that that is not the case-they were everywhere at the bottom of the climb-and then Jaxon got bite by an ant-we have not been able to find out what kind it was but it was not pretty-as you can imagine the boys were freaking out so this went on for about 20minutes-we got about 5 minutes within reaching the bottom of the waterfall but decided to turn back-everyone survived and once we climbed back up out of the bottom of the gully, things seemed to get better. We did bring a few leeches unknowingly home with us....this photo is of Rods foot-it was obviously a tasty snack.

Back "Home"

We made it back to our home in Lennox.


The trip home was INCREDIBLY smooth. On Hamilton Island there is only one airport so they have the whole system of check in, security and departure down to a science. We were picked up at our hotel 50 minutes before our plane departed and with in 30 minutes we were sitting on the plane-we flew out 10 minutes ahead of schedule. When we arrived in Brisbane (we had left our car at a "park and fly") our ride was waiting for us. We got our car and headed home....I said to Rod about 15 minutes into the drive "that was the smoothest trip we had ever had" (Especially given that we got lost on the way there... ) So we stopped at the grocery store after about an hour and loaded up on groceries...well we went to put the groceries into the car-had troubles fitting them in ESPECIALLY with the extra luggage we had picked up...yes, we grabbed someone else luggage....so that "smooth trip" turned into a drive back to the airport and an additional 2 hours drive (added to our 2 1/2 drive). We were so glad to make it home =0)

We went surfing yesterday-the boys did incredible-Isaiah was standing and riding the waves on his first try-Stirling took a few spills until he got it but even Jaxon was able to surf.... but likes the boogie boarding better. We have some cloudy weather setting in-which is better than the cyclone on the other side of the country, so we will take in a few "non-beach" activities over the next couple of days....off to the skatepark....

Relaxing by the Water

Today we were hanging by the water and saw more reef sharks right at our feet. One swam right between Isaiah's legs. Rod and I went snorkleing and saw a turtle...another great day in the sun.

Great Barrier Reef

Absolutely a highlight in our trip (if not lifetime...) We Took a large boat out to the reef-it took about 2 hours and the first hour was through a few islands (that's Jaxon sitting and enjoying the view) The second hour was in open water out to Hardy reef. We were in EXTREMELY rough water-MANY people did not do well on the ride (2 1/2 meter swell) Fortunely our kids did not throw up! When we got to the reef we took an underwater submarine trip-that is where most of our 300+ pictures were from and the family photo Jaxon took. Then we all went snorkelling-we had to wear stinger suits (and notice there is no photo of me in the suit :0)....It was incredible we saw lots of colorful fish, Giant oysters, colorful coral, turtles, etc...Jaxon did amazing and so did the other boys-Stirling spent the most time snorkeling and Zay and Jax observed from the observation deck (like a glass bottom boat) . The ride home was rough too but we made it back safe and sound......Today we are relaxing by the pool until our return tomorrow to the mainland (Brisbane).

The Great Barrier Reef

Today's photos..... a picture of the view from our place and a few "locals" (the birds have visited us on our balcony-we could have petted them-kind of like the tropical seagull)

We have been snorkeling around the island...today we went hiking to a beach called Coral Cove-not a soul there but us-it was an great adventure and the boys were awesome! It was hot and the climb was steep in parts and they never complained once. We snorkeled and saw reef sharks and sting rays (one was the size of Jaxon). The boys were a little freaked out.
We hope to go to the outer reef tomorrow. Unfortunately we are not having the best weather....I know, its not -10, but we have come a long way not to get to the outer reef -so we are crossing our fingers.