Day 11 - White Water World

Friday 9^th September

Today we went to White Water World. First we went to the Pipe Line Plunge then we went to ride the huge waterslike called The Rip.  Ally went backwards down an almost vertical drop then it shoots you out into a big circular area and spins you around the funnel and down another almost vertical drop then it takes you to the bottom.  After The Rip, I went on The Bro -  A.K.A The Blue Ringed Octopus.   It takes you through the two circles and spits you out down a long dead end strait.  

We went to the children’s slides and we tried The  Little Rippers.  They are the smaller version of The Rip.  Ally, Dane and I went to the Hydra Coaster slide next.  It was a fun ride too. 

But the scariest water slide is called The Green Room.  You start at 8 stories high. Ally, Dad, Dane and I got in the tube and first you are pushed down a tube in the DARK!  Then it shoots you into a huge funnel shape which is the green room part and you ride it right up each side up and back, like a huge swing until you swing only a little and fall out the tunnel at the end.  It really scared my Dad when he rode it backwards!  We laughed and laughed at him.

Ally, Dane and I went to the hidracoaster it takes you down then up then down und up again (you get the idea).

After lunch we went back to Dreamworld and I was still in my togs so I went on the FlowRider. It is the best ride ever when it was my turn you have to jump into an artificial wave and you have to lean to turn and when you wipe out three times you have to give the board to somebody else.

Then went home and today was the best day so far.

Day 10 - Dreamworld

Thursday 8^th September

Today we went to Dreamworld.  The first thing we did was get tickets then the first ride we went on was the Thunder River Rapids. we got in the raft and went through the first tunnel and saw a gold miner hanging upside down by his ankles then we saw another miner siting on a wheel barrow with a dynamite detonator and then we saw the other miner had  dynamite all arrowed him then we got into the rapids and mum got saturated then we got to the bigger rapids and mum got soaked again! 

We went to the Giant Drop with only my aunty Alison,  we call her Ally.   Dane and I when it was our turn we got the three end seats. we were lifted 120m off the ground then it dropped us. It took three seconds to get back down to the ground.  When we got off we were all green then we went to the Rocky Hollow Log Ride.   When it was our turn we hopped into the log with Dad, and Ally and Mum went first then we went after them, Ally and Mum were soaked then we got soaked too.

Then we went to see the Australian animals.  We saw the crocs, the dingos, the bilby and the wedged tailed eagle then when we were finished with the animals we went to the tiger show.   The tigers did three metre jumps when the keeper put some chicken on a three metre stick and pointed it at the top of the tree and one of the tigers jumped up and climbed the rest of the tree and when it got to the top it grabbed the chicken and jumped off.   When it got to the ground it started eating the chicken. 

When the show was finished we went to the Kite Flyer Ride.   When you get on you have to lie down on your stomach and pull the top down. when it starts it spins you around and up a little bit.  When it speeds up its like you are a kite. Then we rode the Avalanche, the Sky Rocket Roller Coaster. After lunch,  Dane and I went to the Rainforest Rampage with air canons.  The air canons shoot foam balls.  With one type of canon you have to fill a barrel with the balls and go to the gun and hold in the button and the balls are sucked up a pipe to the gun and shot out the end. 

We went to the dodgems and then we went to the arcade and then Ally, Dane and I went on the rollercoaster called the Cyclone.  It takes you under the water slides next door at White Water World and through two upside down loops.  We went to the Motor Coaster which is like driving a motorbike.   It was awesome and Dane went in a side car.  He said it was awesome too.   We went back to the Log Ride and then we went to the Rapids again then we went home

It was the best day so far.

Day 9 - Shopping (do we have to)

Wednesday 7^th September

Today we had breakfast and Dane and I made a shade cover over my aunties second floor stairs then we went to the D.F.O aka the Direct Factory Outlet to get some things, dad got some shirts, I got some shirts, Dane got a hand ball and mum got some shoes. Dad and I got on the internet and had a look at the Dreamworld website to see what rides we could go on when we get there tomorrow…I can’t wait!

Day 8 - Time to Leave Sydney

Tuesday 6^th September

 Today we packed our bags and got ready to go, when we were ready we took our bags down stairs and then we handed the keys in and walked to Central Station and caught a cab to the airport. Once at the airport sent our bags through to the baggage lady and then went to have breakfast. We went to our gate to wait for the plane.  When it arrived we got on and I got to sit window side.  On the plane we watched TV and when we hopped off the plane in Brisbane we grabbed our bags and waited for our  friend to come pick us up.   

Then we went to the playground behind my cousin’s house.  When our cousin Daniel was riding home from school, we saw him and stopped him for a chat.  When he rode off he must have told my other cousins that we were here, so they came down with there dog Cocoa and there sitter Ben.  They had a quick game of tag and went back up to the house. that’s when we left we went to go to our other aunties.  We watched some TV then our aunty came home then we told her about all the things we did in Sydney then we had dinner and went to bed.

Yet another great day.    

Day 7 - A relaxing day ......

Monday 5^th September

Today we caught a light rail to star city casino, when dad got there the first thing he did was go up stairs to have a look at the casino. We are not allowed up, so we stayed in the lobby, when he came back we went to have a look at some of the shops in CBD. We then went to have lunch. 

After lunchwe went back to the Maritime Museum and saw Robert Falcon Scott’s 'Tera-Nova' expedition to the south pole. It was very interesting.

After the Maritime Museum we went home and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Dane, dad and I went for a swim in the motel's heated pool and spa.

We had another great day.

Day 6 - The Maratime Museum & the IMAX Theatre

Sunday 4^th September

Today we went to the Maritime Museum and we got a tour around HMAS Vampire.

The HMAS Vampire, is a destroyer built in Sydney in 1967. The HMAS Vampire was never used in a war.

We went for a tour through the destroyer and it was great. It has tiny sleeping quarters for the common crew and large cabins for the captain and the officers. The Vampire has two big canons that fire bullets that are 12.5cm wide, it has 2 smaller guns that fired bullets 7.5cm wide and 1 smaller gun that fires 3cm wide bullets.

Dane & I also got to sit in the captains seat on the bridge. We also went down into the communications room and see all the electronic stuff, including the radar (which detects objects on the surface of the water and in the air) and the sonar (which detects objects under the water)

After the Vampire we had a look at an army submarine, the HMAS Onslo, it had the smaller size quarters as the Vampire. We saw the torpedo bays and a couple of old torpedos. The are very big and heavy. The submarine is very compact in side and would be difficult to move around with many people.

After the museum we went to the IMAX Theatre and watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two in 3D it was awesome. It is the biggest movie screen in the world.

We came home for a rest before we got ready to go to the football. We caught a bus to the Sydney Football Stadium and saw the Storm vs Roosters. The Roosters won 40-8, I was going for the Storm so was not happy that they lost. It is a very big stadium, but I think Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane is better.

I hope you like the blog.

Day 5 - The Rocks & Manly

Day 5- Saturday 3^rd September

Today we went back to Circular Quay and we went to one of the oldest places in Sydney called The Rocks.  Every weekend at The Rocks they hold Markets and dad bought Star Wars Movie cells with parts of the original film. He bought them for Fathers Day!  Then we caught a ferry to Manly and on the way we saw a lot of sailing races. The sailing boats need to make way for the ferries…so if they get too close they need to turn away!  Lots and lots of people went on the ferry to Manly.   When we got there we went to the beach for a while and played in the sand.  There were lots of surfers in the water trying to catch the waves.   We went to have some lunch along the mall in Manly.   We went to a shop where they sell pizza by the piece.  Each piece is huge….and when you see the whole pizza it is super huge!!!   After lunch we went and got back on the ferry and went home.

We had another awesome day talk to you later.

Day 4 - Bondi Beach & The Opera House

Day 4 – Friday

Today I went to the famous Bondi Beach and saw the guards and saw people rushing to help the people in a crashed plane that crashed off the coast.   We walked back to the bus stop.  We caught the next bus to the Sydney Aquatic Centre and had a look at the swimmers below us. When the next bus came we took it to the Sydney Opera House.  When we got there we went and had a look around. We saw from the pier of the Opera House,  people doing the bridge climb. Dads too chicken to climb because he is scared of heights. When we were ready to go we went to the train station and took the train to Central Station that’s when we got off to go home. 

We are staying in the area of Sydney called Haymarket otherwise known as Chinatown.  We went to Paddy’s Markets and I bought a Michael Jordan basketball singlet.

We had another great day.  

Sydney - Day 3 - The Aquarium

Thursday 1^st September

This morning we got ready to go to the Sydney Aquarium and when we were ready we started walking and when we got there the first thing we saw was the big LEGO Poseidon that was the size of a car. After that we had a look at the LEGO shop.  There was lots of LEGO, knickknacks and souvenirs. When we entered the aquarium, we saw lots of little tanks with fresh water fish and animals…We saw a platypus, a barramundi, and freshwater turtles.  As we moved on we saw Penguins! They were like little old men walking around. We saw Moon Jellyfish in a black tank.  Moon jellyfish do not sting.    

One of the main attractions were the LEGO displays….all  bigger than life size…mermaids, deep sea divers, cowboys and camels. They were amazing.  Everyone tried to see if they could pull a piece off the displays, but they were all glued together…every piece.

We followed the trail down, down, down into a tunnel where two Dugongs swam in an enormous tank with lots of other types of fish.  The dugongs were Wuru the female, and Pig the male.  They both eat 120kg of cos lettuce every day!!! It takes two people all day to cut up 120kg of lettuce!!!  

 After that we went to see the sharks but on the way we saw Moray Eels, Octopuses and Flashlight fish then we went down to see the sharks.  We saw two Great Whites, three Bull Sharks and ten Shovel-Nose sharks and two Loggerhead Turtles.  I loved walking through the glass tunnel, over and under the fish. The tunnel is made completely out of glass so you feel as though you are in the water with the fish!

After the Aquarium, we jumped on to the Sydney Sight Seeing Bus.  It is a big red double decker open air bus.  We sat in the front seats on the top level.  It takes you on a tour around the best parts of Sydney. We started at the IMAX theatre where the movie screen is 8 stories high.  We moved on to places like Darling Harbour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, The Opera House, The Navy Base at Woolloomoolloo, The Australian Museum, Hyde Park, ANZAC Memorial, Circular Quay and Central Station. 

It was a spectacular day!

Ethan's Sydney Holiday - Day 2 - Taronga Zoo

Wednesday 31st August

Today we started our day by moving to an apartment that didn't have a leaky kitchen. 
After we settled in, we got ready to go to Taronga Zoo.  We packed the bag and walked to Central Train Station, caught a train to Circular Quay where the Sydney Harbour Bridge is located.  We hopped on a ferry and crossed the harbour.  On the way, we saw the city, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.  We went passed the Naval Base at Woolloomooloo and saw warships. We landed on the Taronga Zoo wharf and caught a bus up to the gates of Taronga Zoo which is at the top of a hill. 

After buying tickets, we were given maps of the Zoo.  We decided to go and see the Australian animals first.  We walked through bird aviaries and saw Wombats sleeping in their burrow under ground. We saw koalas, kangaroos and emus.

We went and saw the Seal Show. There were four seals that were showing us some of their natural behaviours. They showed us lots of tricks. I really loved "Murphy" the seal that started the show by doing a Tarzan call. 

We made it just in time to see the Gorilla keeper talk about the Gorillas natural behaviours.  The gorilla keepers are not allowed to be in the enclosure with the gorillas because the big Silver Back Gorilla is the very large male leader that could easily hurt anybody that entered his territory.  The Silver Back got really cranky when the younger male tried to steal his food.  He chased him away.  We saw a mother gorilla carrying a little 8 month old baby. 

In the early afternoon we watched the Elephant "play session" with the keepers.  The older elephants played soccer with a huge soccer ball and the baby elephants tried to play too!!! The littlest baby tried to steal peanuts out of the keeper's pockets.  Other behaviours that are taught are pulling logs, catching logs, standing on two feet only, sitting down and lying down.  They are taught these things so that the elephants can be looked at by vets and kept stimulated and healthy.

One of  the best parts of the day was feeding the Giraffes.  We fed the giraffes carrots. They have a 40cm long blue tongue which is really really rough like sandpaper.  My brother Dane had the tongue wrapped around his arm until the giraffe realised that it wasn't a carrot!!!

I really loved seeing the lions up close.  The lioness was really close to the glass and stood super still so I took some really good photos of it. Up the back of the lion enclosure we saw a large male lion with a very wide mane. He was just sitting and sunbaking in the afternoon sun. We also saw the tigers searching for bits of meat that the keepers had hidden in the trees and bushes around its enclosure. It climbed to the top of the tree to grab a bit of meat from a little hole in the tree.

After all that walking up and down the Zoo, our legs were really tired so we decided to watch the Bird Show.  At the start they showed us Birds of Prey, Hawks and Falcons. During the show we saw a Brolga in the water looking for grasshoppers, a galah that took money from a man's hand in the audience and took it back to its keeper.  The keeper then sent the galah back to the man to give the coin back!  What a well trained bird!

The last thing we saw as we walked out of the zoo was a big huge tank window with a seal waving at us. We stopped and as we stared at her, she stared right back at us!!! We thought she was very special.  We had an awesome day! 

Sydney Holiday - Day 1

Tuesday 30th August

On Tuesday our friend drove us to the Brisbane Airport and we went to the cafe for breakfast. We then went on the plane, the plane had TV on the seats in front of us, we watched TV. When we landed in Sydney we collected our bags and went in a cab to our hotel, but our room wasn't ready yet so we went to the PowerHouse Museum.
When we got back the room, it was ready so we took our bags to our room but when we got to the kitchen the whole thing was flooded so we called the front lobby and they said they will move us in to a new room. We had McDonald's for dinner.

At the PowerHouse Museum we saw a lace work exhibit and the lace was awsome my mum realy liked it but the best exhibits were the space and steam exhibits these were the only exhbits on display.

The best part of the space display is the space ship that moves. It makes you feel like you are in space.