Can you cuddle like a Koala?

After TFW, we dashed to Currimbin Wildlife Sanctuary and paid far too much entrance fee for the three hours we had left of the day to look around it, but hey, we were there, and it was pretty good.

Beautiful Iittle bird, can't remember his name, answers on a postcard please...





We all know what this little marsupial's name is, and this time, he has a bonus Joey!




Clinging onto mum - I know that feeling Kanga!




A kookaburra, the native Australian kingfisher.





Feeding the kangaroos was fun.







I liked the Emu. Just after I walked away he did a massive green unidentifiable splodge, so that was lucky timing.





Feeding the lorikeets was cool too.










And finally, a photo opportunity with a lovely furry koala, Ben held it, and apparently it's claws dug into his shoulders for dear life - very sensible koala.




Then the next morning, to Broadbeach for a bit of boogie boarding.













I did some too, but funnily there isn't any photographic evidence, all mysteriously deleted...




All in all, a much more relaxing Gold Coast than last time, ahhhh.

Love
Est xxx

Tutti Fruitti

That night we found a perfect campsite, Big 4 Tweed Billabong, just before the Gold Coast, with it's very own billabong! This was obviously a surprise to me as I didn't know a billabong actually was a something, but it turns out that a billabong is an Australian-English word for a lake - you learn something new every day.

Ben loved the billabong, especially as it had a large inflatable platform to swim out to and jump off and then get back onto and then jump off again.. you get the idea. Anyway, I was nervous at first as it was pretty deep and out of his depth, but he was determined, and Benny is nothing if he isn't that, so off he went, armed with the boogie board for security purposes (I would have superglued it to him if I could have). He cautiously used his boogie board the first three times, then after that, he started copying the rest of the kids and throwing the boogie board in, then jumping and swimming to it. I was quietly having a heart attack every single time he did it, but smiled and raised my thumbs in support and he was delighted with his new found skill - well done Benny, at the age of eight, you are already a more confident swimmer than your mum!!!








Naomi too, gasped in awe and amazement at Benny's fantastic swimming achievements!




The last time we were on the Gold Coast for a holiday we spent an exhausting week running from one theme park to another, and at the end of the week, when we asked the kids what they liked the best, they said, 'the beach', so this time, we decided to enjoy some more sedate activities. First stop, Tropical Fruit World - who knew?




We enjoyed an excellent and informative talk all about wierd and wonderful fruits that we had never heard of, then got to have a tasting session.




What a beautiful morning tea - they were all delicious (but some of them I still can't remember the names of).





Jackfruit, amazing! So huge! The largest one they have grown at Tropical Fruit World weighed in at 39kgs, but the world record was a whopping 81kgs (for the English readers, that's even more than I weigh!!!).







Red bananas!




Avocados on a tree, never seen that before either!




Benny brought a dragonfruit home (I think he only wanted it because he liked the name;).




There was the black sapote, or 'chocolate pudding fruit' which actually tastes of chocolate pudding,




the Abui fruit, which tastes of caramel,




and there is even the ice cream bean fruit





- we felt like we were in a scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

With all these wonderful tastes and treats on offer, I will be sure never to fall for that 'tomato is a fruit' trick, ever again;)

Love
Est xxx

Bohemian Byron

We arrived in Byron Bay (or Byron, as the locals call it) last Sunday morning, just in time for the Sunday markets - perfect, where better to take in the gentle and relaxed Bryon Bay atmosphere?

There was an excellent one man band, playing cool vibes whilst gathering the appreciation of a large toe tapping crowd.




There was amazing food and stalls of just about everything, you could have your palm or crystal ball read, lie down for a relaxing massage or even get your hair cut.








In Byron the theme is hippy, happy, alternative and chilled out, man. The days and beards and skirts are long and free flowing, and the ties are well and truly dyed.










Benny and Naomi got into the arty spirit and found the 'Wacky Wax' stall and spent a long time dipping, dipping, dipping, to made a creative candle each.








A rocket and a dolphin (ahhh, of course!).




I wanted to take a few secret photos of the colourful characters with their dreadlocks, beards, hemp kaftans and crocheted bikinis but Alex told me off, so I had to be content just taking a ground shot, but I hope you get the general idea;)




The night before Bryon we stayed at a side of the road rest area where our neighbours were four lovely Swedish girls who were travelling from Cairns to Sydney in three days in one extremely small van because it was cheaper than flying. $100 for three days hire, divided by four people equals, one crazy experience. I had to show you their van;)





Love
Est xxx

Fish Fingers

We got talking with the man who kindly took our photo at the rocks who told us to go to the Big Banana and the Pet Porpoise Pool whilst we were in Coffs Harbour, so the next morning, we proceeded to the Big Banana and the Pet Porpoise Pool in Coffs Harbour - there's nothing like being easily led is there really?

The Big Banana is a banana, orchard (?), with lots of added attractions, like the water slide park...




















(let's do that again!)




..and a tobbagan down the hill, like in Cool Runnings. Benny and I were so slow that apparently we were causing a traffic jam, people (mainly Alex and Naomi:) were banging into us from behind.








There were some bananas too. You can't see the bananas though, as the are covered with bags to keep them safe, and to stop them from getting sunburnt. Honest!




Then onto the Pet Porpoise Pool (there aren't any porpoises:) to be 'Touched my Magic' - that is, enjoy an interactive display with seals and dolphins, and receive some rather wet and sloppy kisses, it really was magic!








Ben was lucky enough to be picked out of the crowd to play ball with the seal. We also fed him some fish (the seal, not Benny). The staff made sure we cleaned our hands with hand sanitiser beforehand, but didn't offer it to us afterwards, so our hands were pretty stinky for a while!




I'm not sure he really enjoyed the kiss though, I think it was a bit of a surprise.








We all had the opportunity to stroke the dolphins underbelly, it was so soft, like velvet.




And also have a kiss!




You could even purchase some genuine seal artwork there if you wanted to, that certainly would be a conversation piece!







What a cute family photo!



Love
Est xxx