Now for my last post. We have had a great time travelling around Australia and will miss it dearly. Although I'm very excited about seeing my friends and getting back in my nice warm bed. But I still have to write up this thing. Well, Gold Coast only three words to describe it. FUN, EXCITEMENT and rain. :.( AT the Gold Coast we had the time of our lives. Theme Parks, Junk Food,  Hot Spas, THEME PARKS. I loved the Theme parks they were the best things ever. I had never been to one before and when I walked in I had never seen anything like it. I just couldn't believe my eyes. Dad and I went on every single ride at Movie World, Sea World and Wet and Wild. My Favourite at Sea World was Jet Rescue, Movie world was Arkam Asylum and Wet and Wild was The Tornado. The are super fun. I loved the dolphin show at Sea World. The trainers are SO lucky. I know what I want to be when I grow up. In my dreams! 

Honestly that's all we did at the Gold Coast. Just theme parks every day all day.  But we did see mums good friend Shani and our tent flooded.

On the way back we visited Our nan and pop in Port Macaqurie. It was really good because we could have home cooked dinners, nice warm beds and you don't have to walked 100m to get to the toilet. So yeah, we caught up with some friends and mainly just relaxed.

Thats all folks. 

Love Marleyxx!

The spa at our camp ground

My brothers and I with our Dad

The awesome spa again

At Movie World with the Superman ride in the background which was pretty scary!

My brothers and I with our Mum.

The Green Lantern ride.

Maroochydore

In Maroochydore we had a ball. We met up with our good friend called Cameron, we went to Eumundi market, we did a painting at Cameron's mum Shirley's house and we went to Australia Zoo. We had something to do everyday.


Firstly, we went to see Cameron. We had so morning tea then went and saw his new apartment. Then we went to Shirley's house and did a lovely painting. We got to use her best paints. She is a artist and does the most amazing artworks. I did the Eiffel tower, Finn did a crocodile and Callam did some abstract art. I learnt that when your painting on canvas its god to do the outline of your drawing with chalk before you paint it because it rubs straight off if you make a mistake.

The next day we went to Eumundi Markets with Cameron. Eumundi Markets was the best markets I've ever been to. I bought some gifts for friends and some things for my self. The markets were absolutely huge. There were every stall you could imagine. My favourite was a Tye dye stall with a pair of Tye dye high top converse. I wasn't allowed to get them though.

Finally we went to Australia Zoo. We were super lucky because the whole Irwin family were there including Bindi. She did some dancing then did a wildlife warriors show with Terri and Robert. It was incredible. There were birds flying over your head and crocs everywhere. We got to feed the elephants and they were so cute. We also saw the set of Bindi's Boot Camp. My favourite animal at the zoo was the otters because they were really funny. Did you that female elephants don't have tusks! I also learnt that Asian Elephants have smaller ears. I recommend a trip to this Zoo. It really is good!

The weather is cooler now so we didn't go swimming at the beach. The days were warm and sunny though.

Rainbow beach-because it has 74 colours in its sand dunes.

While we were in rainbow beach we went horse riding along the beach and through the bush. This was the first time I had ridden a horse all by myself. It was exciting and a lot of fun. I learnt that when a horse is feeling itchy, it may lay down for a sand rub. My poor dad experienced this first hand. He thought he had killed his horse as it fell to the ground. Looking back it was very funny. My horse was called "Dude" was he was a very gentle horse. He liked walking through the water on the beach.

My horse Dude

We also went dolphin kayaking. It was super fun and we saw about 8 dolphins. It was hard to paddle the kayak in the ocean water. We were in a bay area where the dolphins feed by chasing fish. Unfortunately the wind picked up and the water got choppy. It are paddling really hard. On the way back to shore we also saw a small turtle. Driving back down the beach in the 4wheel drive we saw the same dolphins riding the waves no chasing more fish. The fish were leaping out of the water and so were the dolphins.

There was this awesome natural area called Carlos sandblow as well.  The sandblow was called Carlo's because Carlo was one of Captain James Cooks crew members. We surfed down one of the steep dunes but got super sandy and the climb up was exhausting. But it was sooo worth. The view from the top was amazing you could see over the ocean and and all the different colours of blue mixed together looked magnificent.

Dad and I in the distance.

The beautiful colours of the area.

        

 

Looking down from the top of the sand dune.

       

Heading South (Atherton, Airlie Beach and 1770)

Unfortunately we have started to head south. It's getting colder and colder. For all my friends in Canberra, I feel so sorry for you. For me it is going to take a lot of getting used to. Anyway. On my journey south I have visited Atherton, Airlie Beach and 1770/Agnes Waters.

ATHERTON 

In Atherton we unfortunately had to stay in a cabin for three night because it was bucketing down rain and wouldn't clear up. Hehe! In Atherton we also went to the crystal caves. It may look tacky from the outside but wait till you see the inside. There are crystals from all over the world including Mexico and Brazil. I didn't know they could come in so many shapes and size. I think I saw one for every colour of the rainbow. One of my favourites was the crystal ball. 

Crystal  Ball

Bowl Crystals

Empress of Uruguay - This is a giant amethyst at the Crystal Caves

We also went on a scenic drive to the Crater and Milla Milla Falls. The Crater was amazing. When you throw a rock or stick down there it hits the water and sounds like your slapping someone across the face. Milla Milla falls were incredible. They were one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It was just perfect.

Milla Milla Falls

Crater

But my absolute favourite was Dairyland. First we saw the baby calves, goats, pigs and piglets. They were so cute. Next we went to see the cows getting milked. It's so cool that they know when to get on and off the machine. Im happy for the milkers because they don't have to do by hand like they did in the olden days. Afterwards we got some delicious chocolate and some yummy cheese. Which is all gone now. SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!!! 

Cute Piglets

Cows Getting Milked

Mama Pig

AIRLIE BEACH

In Airlie Beach the only thing we really did was go on a tour around the Whitsunday Islands. Which was amazing! On our tour first we went for a trek to a lookout over the beautiful islands. The water was crystal clear and the most pretty blue I had ever seen. We even saw some stingrays floating around down there. Next we went for some lunch and a swim on Whitehaven beach. For lunch we had a BBQ and were encountered by so friendly reptiles. These goannas were everywhere. One was even in the garbage scavenging around. After lunch we went to Mantaray Bay for some snorkelling. I went in a glass bottom boat. We saw a giant trvelly.

Glass Bottom Boat

Mum And I Ready For Our Bush Walk

At Airlie Beach we also went to the markets and saw a sand dragon. it was made completely out of sand and it even had fire blowing out its nostrils. We also learnt how to make sand balls. It's super hard. We put money in the guys bucket because we thought he was really talented.

Sand Dragon

Sand Balls

Giant Fig Tree at Airlie Beach

1770
The first night we were in 1770 we had to stay in a motel because we got there late. The next day we set up and then explored the area. We hung out at the beaches, did a bush walk and had lunch at a cool cafe overlooking the water.

The View From The Cafe

Far North Queensland - Cairns, Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation

CAIRNS

Our campground in Cairns has the best activities for kids. We played mini golf, watched outdoor movies, jumped on the biggest jumping pillow in the world, swam in the pool and spa and played at the splash waterpark.

The Splash Waterpark

 It was great! In Cairns we walked down the Esplanarde. At the end there was playground called Muddy's Playground. It was great but probably more for kids under 10. So Callam and Finn loved it. At the other end there was a lagoon pool with salt water because you can't swim in the sea unless your swimming in a stinger net. But the lagoon was lovely. There were also lots of people running up and down the path with there dogs. 

Cool fish at Muddy's playground

Unfortunately we didn't have the best weather while we were in Cairns so we decided to go to the movies. We saw "The Odd Life Of Timothy Green." 

The next day we went to the Botanical Gardens. It had a tropical theme because we were in tropics FNQ. (Far North Queensland). There were so many amazing plants that I can't explain what they looked like.  I had never seen anything like it. It looked like the scene when Alice first entered Wonderland. Nothing like what you would see in freezing cold Canberra. Here are some snaps of my favourite flowers.

The day after that my Uncle and Aunty came to visit us for 10 days. We went on the scenic railway with them up the side of the mountain to a place called Kuranda. We had loads of fun there. First we walked down the Main Street and looked at all the shops and even bought a thing or two. Then we went to the Butterfly House. There were so many. My favourite was the bright blue Ulysses. We looked at the caterpillars as well. Afterwards we went on the sky rail back down to Cairns. We went over a river and we were up very high. It also went over the tree tops.

the train ride up the mountain

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Ulysses

It was great when they landed on you.

Skyrail ride back down the mountain.

The day we were leaving we stopped off at an aboriginal cultural centre. First we got our face painted as an aboriginal person. Then we went and watched an interesting video about the history of their culture. Then we watched a dance performance. I even got to join in. Then we had some delicious lunch and went to do spear and boomerang throwing. I didn't do a very good job.

Fire Lighting

Joining in the dance.

PORT DOUGLAS

In Port Douglas we went snorkeling out to the Great Barrier Reef. We went on a boat called the Posiedon. It was a big boat that could fit up to 80 people. There were divers and snorkellers on board. Our first stop was on the outer reef. I saw lots of different fish and coral. The coral was beautiful and had lots of colours and shapes. There were many kinds of fish like clown fish and parrot fish and angel fish to name a few. My snorkel partner was Aunty Karyn. At the second site we saw giant clams. They were patterned with colours on the inside. I skipped the last site because I was felling very tired and a little unwell. The trip was interesting and I learnt that coral is an animal and gives birth once a year. (Pulips)This is called spawning.

CAPE TRIBULATION 

On our way to Cape Tribulation we stopped at the Daintree Discovery Centre. we did a variety of boardwalks across the forest. We also climbed up a viewing tower. We had an audio tour that gave us information at special places. We had the device around our necks. I learnt that male Cassowary looks after the baby chicks and the female cassowary is the largest. I also learnt that in 1 square metre of rainforest there can be up to 15 different species of plant. The twisted vines were amazing as they wrapped around each other and larger tree trunks.

Our camping site was right behind the beach. It was like having a beach for a backyard. We explored the area and walked along the beach. We went walking on the boardwalks over the mangroves and into the Daintree Rainforest. Did you know that the Daintree is the oldest rainforest in the world! And it's right here in Australia. There was lots on little creeks and rapids and we even saw a snake lying in the sun. I fell in the water and got my clothes all wet.

Our exciting activity was jungle surfing. This is were you get put in a harness and then you have to walk up to the exit platform. Then you get pulled up to platform 1. After that the instructor clips you to the tree a gets everyone else on the platform. Then you swing down to the next platform. You do that till you get to the ground. On the last one you go upside down. My favourite was the super fast one.  

At the Discovery Centre with Uncle Gareth and Aunty Karyn

Listening to the audio with Finny