A fortuitous find during the long trip north ... and inside were REAL suits of armour (with real price tags $$$). A certain boy was incredibly excited, even though our stop was brief as we had a ferry to catch.
My island home ... I've been going to Stradbroke Island to my Aunty and Uncle's place since I was a child, and was delighted to finally be able to share it with my family. The island was every bit as beautiful as I remembered.
Our next home was a self contained unit with beach access. The the sky scrapers of the Gold Coast at the far end of the beach, barely visible in the salty haze, could be Paris in a little girl's imagination ;)
None of us minded having this view from our balcony, either.
Moving into Sea World resort was pretty cool because it included unlimited access to wonderful shows like this. We also had a lovely lagoon pool right outside our door, which is good as the room was tiny.
A highlight was when one of the polar bears did lots of backflips in his pool, which we saw from the underwater viewing area. I didn't have a camera on me that day, but he was enormous, pressed up against the glass right in front of us before he pushed off each time!
The kids loved the fairy penguins and each chose a personal favourite ... based of course on the colour of the ID tags!
My favourite place was in the underwater viewing area at Shark Bay. This is the ONLY way I ever want to see sharks, but I do find them fascinating. Late in the day was the best time to see them darting around looking cunning, wild and ready to eat.
We all went on the log ride together once, but only two wanted to repeat the wet and weightless experience.
We ALL loved the gigantic climbing maze at Pirate Cove inside Sea World. There was also a pirate ship ride where dry people could sail and shoot other pirates with water cannons. We must have had lots of enemies because we were absolutely soaked by the end.
We did many other things ... so much fun packed into two weeks away! I might write again later to share some of my reflections on travelling with kids, living in apartments and small rooms, coming home and the scientific results of conducting dietary experiments on small creatures.
