Our Gold Coast Getaway

An Exciting Birthday Suprise

The day began early as I revealed to Coops the special birthday surprise: a trip to the Gold Coast and its thrilling theme parks. He was stoked as he hurried to get ready. However, trying to organize the kids in our household proved to be a shit fight as usual, with much resistance and reluctance to follow instructions. It took several threats of not leaving to finally get them to cooperate.

Once we were packed and ready, we loaded the car and set off on our journey up the coast. The trip included numerous toilet stops and a quick lunch break in Coffs Harbour. We grabbed some Subway and a bit of dodgy food court Thai before continuing on our adventure.

A visit to the Volcom factory was next on the agenda, where we picked up some clothes for the boys and a little something for myself and my wife. Forty minutes later, we arrived at our accommodation, the Ambassador Apartments on Chevron Island. Oh, how fancy. It wasn't too bad considering the reasonable price of $620 for five nights in a two-bedroom unit.

We checked in and familiarized ourselves with the place, although there were no brief and memorable moments this time around, thanks kids. After a brief chill, we headed out for dinner to Sushi Train. Rice rolls with a touch of fish and meat, next minute the bill arrived—$187! I had to double-check, as I didn't recall seeing any rice wrapped in gold leaf. Despite the hefty bill, I settled it, and we took a stroll down Cavill Avenue.

During our walk, Coops spotted the Slingshot ride and eagerly begged me to go on it. Despite the price of $80 for a minute of fun, I decided to indulge him for his birthday and paid the fee. We strapped in and were launched at 160 km/h, soaring to around 90 meters above ground, spinning wildly before hurtling back down. The ride continued for several more thrilling cycles, and Coops' grin was worth every penny—an awesome experience to see him so happy.

After dinner, we headed to TimeZone, as promised, and spent $70 for 14 games each. The games flew by in about 3.2 seconds, and we managed to win the GRAND PRIZE of 715 tickets, which translated into eight small chocolates like the ones you get in the favourites box.

We leave TimeZone and head to the supermarket to grab some breakfast items for the apartment. We walk in and are greeted with empty shelves. Bloody Queenslanders—a little storm and they panic like little girls and clear the shelves of everything! We grab absolutely zero and make our way back to the apartment so I can have a beer and prepare for Movie World tomorrow.

I wasn’t going to put a blog out for the gold coast, but I had a nagging mate putting the pressure on. Enjoy.

The boys loving TimeZonee

Day 2. A Thrilling Day At Movie World

Confronting Fears and Thrills

As we arrive at Movie World, we are greeted by the formidable DC Rivals Hypercoaster. Coops instantly gets excited to take it on straight away, while I feel a wave of nervousness and my hands start sweating. This giant stands at 61.6 meters high with a first drop at a terrifying 89 degrees. It reaches a top speed of 115 km/h and offers 1400 meters of pure thrills. Despite being able to jump off a building, for some reason, this ride scares the living shit out of me.

Coops keeps telling me to stop being scared and to hurry up so we can get on the ride. We line up for 20 minutes and finally, it's our turn. We get strapped in and start our ascent up the 61 meters. As we near the top, my knuckles are white from gripping the harness, while Coops laughs and screams in excitement. We plummet down nearly vertically, get thrown upside down into corkscrews, and after about a minute, we are back where we started. My heart races and I tell Kel she has to try it next time. It’s a firm "no" from her, so we make our way to some smaller roller coasters for Lawson.

We hit up the Wicked Witch Coaster, which is tame in comparison. It stands at only 19.3 meters high and has a top speed of 67 km/h. After getting off, I tell Kel again that she has to try the hypercoaster. She firmly declines, saying the Wicked Witch was enough for her. We then enjoy a few more small rides for the little man before deciding it's time for lunch.

Coops wants some pizza, so I grab him one slice at the bargain basement price of $19, which includes a drink and a small garlic bread. For Kel, Lawson, and myself, I grab a deal of two tacos and chips for $25, though it doesn’t include a drink. The tacos have a very small amount of chicken, and I can't help but think I scored a red-hot deal here. My adrenaline is still pumping, and I need a beer. Off to the bar I go, expecting to be charged $12 for a schooner of Queensland’s finest XXXX. However, to my pleasant surprise, it’s only $8. Not bad at all, considering the day’s excitement.

As we sit down to enjoy our food, I reflect on the mornings excitement. Next up was the Green Lantern, which stands at 33 meters tall, stretches 488 meters long, and reaches a top speed of 66 km/h. Once again, it was just Coops and I, while Kel took Lawson for another round on the smaller rides. We were lucky this time, as there was zero wait. We got strapped in and headed for the top. The first drop was beyond vertical, and once again, I found myself gripping the harness with white knuckles as we got thrown around.

As soon as we get off the Green Lantern, Coops begs to go back on the Hypercoaster. With great hesitancy, I say okay again. My palms are instantly sweating, and I am nervous as hell, even though I have already attacked this thing once today. We get it

done, and I am calling it a day. Too much adrenaline for this old man. I need a few beers and a chill out.

Day 3/4: Coastal Adventures and Indoor Skydiving

We start the day pretty late and decide it’s a beach day. We load the car and set off to Coolangatta, hoping to catch some waves. Upon arrival, we walk down to the beach and are greeted by some pretty small-looking waves. It doesn’t matter; it's good enough for the boys, so we hit the water.

After about an hour, we decide it's time for some lunch. How good is Queensland when it comes to venues on the beach? All the surf clubs up here have restaurants and bars, so we make our way to Greenmount Surf Club. The boys grab some calamari, Kel opts for a burger, and I decide to try the "apparently" best steak sandwich ever.

The food comes out, and it looks pretty good. I take a bite and am greeted by something resembling a dry leather boot. Great. Oh well, at least the beers are ice cold, so I go and grab myself another one and perch up overlooking the beach.

We finish up and start heading back because we have some indoor skydiving to get to. Arriving back, we realize we have to be there soon, so we hurry and start the power walk to the venue. We check in, sign our lives away, and watch the instructional video. We get issued all our gear, don it, and head for the glass tube where we will be flying.

The anticipation builds as we step into the wind tunnel, ready to experience the thrill of indoor skydiving. The instructor gives us final pointers, and then it's our turn. One by one, we each take our position in the tunnel, letting the powerful blower lift us off our feet. First Coops and then Lawson who gets flung around like a rag doll! We all burst into laughter. I am up next and bloody hell what a feeling, the sensation of floating is unbelievable.

As we gain confidence, the instructor starts encouraging us to relax and enjoy the experience and breath which is very hard when you have a fan blowing at 275km/h straight into you face. Flying in the tunnel feels almost like defying gravity, and we can't help but smile and laugh with excitement. On our second run we give the instructor the nod and he sends us up to the very top of the wind tunnel holding on to us so we don’t get flung into the glass, spinning around and around. The session comes to an end and we’re exiting the wind tunnel, still buzzing.

We return our gear and reflect on the week’s adventures from the SlingShot, Extreme roller coasters and skydiving.

The next morning is another slow day, and we head for wet n wild to do a quick little test on the rides for the big day on Saturday. If I’m honest this place isn’t for me, long walks upstairs for a short little thrill are just not worth it. But the kids have some fun and that’s all that matters. The week we have had has been amazing watching my two boys with a smile ear to ear all weekend having the time of their lives.