Today's itinerary was dominated by our choice of several possible theme parks in the Brisbane - Surfer's Paradise area. There was an endless list of options including Movie World, Wild Water World, Dinosaur World, The Great Australian Outback Adventure World, etc. and yet our choice was never in doubt - Dreamworld would be the place where we would part with our millions. A mere 25 minutes drive from our campsite we started the day with a swim, a longer-than-Dad-wanted play in the games room, and a special chat with Nannie in Canada. But then we were blasting out of Brisbane and before we knew it wheeling our way into Wally World. I affectionately dubbed it that because I have never felt more like Clarke Griswold than I did pulling into that parking lot.
Once we were in the park we were immediately in ride-mode and hurried over to the Runaway Raptor roller coaster for what would be the most serious coaster experience of the boys' young amusement park careers. I must say they were amazingly patient in all of the lines we stood in and their reward was an admittedly exhilarating, but way too short, screamfest on a smaller version of the Top Gun coaster at Canada's Wonderland. After getting quite "stoked" by that ride they were keen to keep going - unfortunately the next ride we tried broke down just before take off and Allie had to be consoled with a good long session in the Nerf Ball Shooting Gallery. Then we were off to Goldrush town and the wild water raft adventure which was another interminal wait. Why we do these parks to ourselves, I'm not really sure. If ever you wanted to feel like a lemmming...a hot, tired, broke, greasy, impatient lemming...Anyway, while daddy was just able to grin and bear it, the kids were once again patient and composed. And once again, the pay off of the ride was great fun for all and we found ourselves again running through the park looking for the next best "experience".
And this is right about where it got interesting. Alex and Colin soon found themselves on a spinning, whirling, rocking thing on which they had a lot of fun but mom and dad took a pass. Unfortunately, that only inspired them to greater literal heights and dad suddenly found himself strapped into the Reef Diver doing inverted 360 degree spins with Colin screaming "Cooool!" For this 42 year old brain it was far from cool, and as I waited for the agony to end, all I could think about was the strategy of staring straight ahead at something that was not spinning like a figure skater in a death spiral. Sooner than later it was Linton's turn to accompany Alex on the same ride and much to the same effect for her. Given his performance on the Great Ocean Road I was certain Alex would lose his lunch high over Dream World. Fortunately, it didn't happen but mom and dad's heads and stomachs would not be the same until several hours later. A safe train ride and a somewhat soothing slime show later and we were soon out the door walking to our ridiculously far away camper keen to leave the dizzy and less than dazzling sights and sounds of Dream World.
We were now off to our last beach in Byron Bay which would hopefully be about one and a half to two hours south of the park. On our way we decided to drive right through Surfer's Paradise which was a good and a bad decision. It was good because I got to see the unbelievebale development and endless rows of condominiums as well as drive the camper through the tight and trafficky streets that were set up for the upcoming Indy car race. It was bad because I got to see the unebelievable development and endless rows of condominiums as well as drive the camper through the tight and trafficky streets that were set up for the upcoming Indy car race. Surfer's reminded me of a Fort Lauderdale or Miami Beach with little in the way that felt like Australia and a lot in the way that looked like money.
After breaking through the endless strips of tattoo parlours and cheesy motels, we finally got ourselves back on the M1 headed south for Byron Bay. We were quickly into some very picturesque rolling hills and dales and suddenly keen to be back in the familiar and comfortable environs of a trailer park. Byron Bay is famous for its laid back, "hippie" lifestyle and we certainly got a sense of that negotiating the roundabouts and side streets on our way to the campsite. One minor wrong turn later and we were finally turning in to Beaches at Byron Bay. Unfortunately, perhaps because my head was still recovering from its earlier battle with Reef Diver, I took a corner too sharply and managed to slide the roof of the camper along the side of a foolishly placed tree. Linton stopped me in the nick of time and we managed to reverse oursleves out of that potentially deposit clearing altercation. Once parked, albeit very close to everyone on all sides, we fell into our table/bed with dreams of a great beach day to come.
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