What I did on my vacation... part 3!

Friday (aka my dad's birthday) was our day at Seaworld. I would have to say this one was my favourite.

We started off the day checking out the dugongs, then headed off to the seal/sea lion show. This show was good but not my favourite because it was a bit warmer that day and we started out in the sun (I was paranoid about Chickie getting sunburnt the whole holiday). At least it was still earlier in the day so the sun wasn't at its hottest yet.

After that we thought we'd catch the water ski show and figured if we headed over to the stands, we could scope out some good seats in the shade and have an early lunch. Worked out the timing perfectly because we got great seats. The show was fun and some of the stunts were pretty good.

From our seats we could see a 'volcano' that occasionally flamed/erupted and Chickie was desperate to find out what was going on there. After the water ski show we took a ride on the monorail and the spiel they had over the speakers mentioned there was a 'secret' under the volcano in the Bermuda Triangle ride. Of course this made Chickie even more desperate to find out!

We then headed over towards the rides and discovered that the volcano was a water type ride and that was it for Chickie. He'd gotten wet, on the log ride, the day before and didn't want any part of a ride like that today. Mum and dad went on the ride while we headed off for a ride on the 'tennis wheel' - as Chickie kept calling it - aka the Seaworld Eye (a big ferris wheel with enclosed carriages), so at least we found out the secret. Click here for a look at all the rides.

We did a bit of looking around and then headed over to the dolphin pools for the show. This one was my favourite. It's amazing how strong the dolphins are. They jump so high and can carry people, who are standing up, across the water. When they tossed those trainers in the air it was surprising at how high they went.


After the show Chickie and I checked out Shark Bay and this was also very cool. There's a section where you're encouraged to touch the sea stars, sea cucumbers etc. Sea stars are actually quite hard - not exactly what I was expecting. The underwater viewing part of Shark Bay is amazing. The size of some of the fish! We were pretty impressed by it.

We then headed over to the kid's rides and Chickie had a ball on them and playing with the water fountain jets. By that time it was getting late and we headed over to the volcano ride to meet up with J who'd gone on all the water type rides. We then caught the Skyway back to the exit and headed back to the apartment.

We didn't get to do all the rides - the Corkscrew roller coaster and Pirate ship are two I've been on years ago and we knew Chickie would be too young for them. Also both Dreamworld and Seaworld have water attractions (Dreamworld now has White Water World and Seaworld has a pretty cool looking pool and water slide), as well as Wet & Wild being in the area as well. Still, Chickie's too young to really enjoy these things. We're thinking that perhaps we can go again in a few years time (perhaps staying at the Nara Resort) and do all the water worlds.

On Saturday morning, mum and dad left to drive home and we had to do a bit of shopping. Yes, had is the correct word here. At Seaworld one strap on my bag broke and I lost the little screw out of my sunglasses so they only had one arm. My eyes are pretty sensitive to light so if I'm outside, I'm wearing sunnies. A new pair was necessary. I suppose I could have managed my bag with just one strap but it wasn't comfortable.

In the afternoon my sister's husband and 3 of their 4 kids came to visit. We had a swim in the pool and then we all went to see "Meet the Robinsons". A cute movie which all the kids loved.

Our last day (Sunday), we checked out of the apartment and went up to my sister's place for the day. Chickie had so much fun playing with his 'cousins' (that's all he calls them by the way, I don't think he can remember all their names so they are just collectively his 'cousins'). Then later that afternoon we headed back to the Gold Coast and flew home. I thought for sure Chickie would sleep in the plane since it was a late flight home, but no such luck. He wanted to do some colouring in. Oh and his idea of colouring in? He tells me which colours to use and where he wants me to colour. He's not that interested in colouring in himself, he prefers the activities like spot the difference or dot to dots).

Some overall impressions:

The weather was perfect! The day we arrived was a bit overcast but the rest of the time idyllic. I shouldn't have worried about it. Steve mentioned that the rain held off until after we went home, which was very considerate.

Flying with ear infections is not fun. Both J and I had colds just before leaving. Mine was a little chesty but J's gave him ear infections and landing was quite painful for him. Getting sick, for him, was not well-timed. At least it cleared up by the trip home.

A self contained apartment was a very convenient thing for 5 people and having the pool and heated spa was fantastic. Chickie would have spent hours in there if he had the choice.

Edited to include: Daylight savings finishing still screwed up Chickie's inner clock. He got up at 5.30 every morning. I was once able to give him a snack and get him to go back to sleep until 7, every other day he wanted to go swimming. 5.30am is way too early to wake up when you're on holidays. At least now he's getting up at 6.30 again (though, this is still too early, in my opinion).

The food at most of these theme parks didn't seem too great to me. Chips, nuggests, hot dogs etc or pre-prepared salads/sandwiches/wraps. Whilst these would normally be ok, I'm fussy and detest raw onions and mushrooms (they overpower the taste of everything else in the salad so you might as well forget the rest of the stuff and just have mushrooms and onions!). Of course all places had onions etc in their salads so I ended up with chips etc. Not good for the waistline or my health, I'm sure. You're not supposed to take your own food in either. At least Seaworld had a stand selling fruit.

The phrase we heard most from Chickie? This is the best day/place ever!