Our final morning in Brisbane saw us scrambling to do some last minute postings, faxes and a drop off at the Salvos before packing the car for a short trip down to the Gold Coast. We’ve rented a Hyundai Elantra which essentially has just enough space for us as passengers and as such provided quite the challenge in packing our remaining foods, linens, and suitcases. Each child ended up with a bag on their lap and had to sit with their legs up for lack of any room. Jen was saddled with about 3 bags in front and a large box of teas, spices and other odds and ends on her lap while I had to nonchalantly keep a bag of groceries from spilling as it sat on the divider between Jen and I. The boot was packed to near explosive potential and I nearly had to sit on it to get it closed. We weren’t too worried though as we anticipated most of our extra gear would go no further than the Gold Coast and we’d make it across to Vietnam with a reasonable load – fingers crossed. We spent the remainder of the morning and early afternoon at the Brisbane Science Centre and Museum. We pulled up looking for a park and noticed a good 3 to 4 school buses waiting outside – it made sense as it was the last week before the holidays so naturally every air-breathing and rational teacher had planned some key field trips at the end of the term to alleviate workload. Although at times deafening, the low roar and chaos of hundreds of kids running amok wasn’t too bad and despite a few short moments of anxiety when different kids in our clan were missing from our immediate view, we managed to get through it all relatively unscathed. The museum had some great displays although noticeably some repeats from previous museums we’ve visited over past few months. They had this one massive wall depicting the actual outlines of different animals and humans in both size and shape demonstrating the incredible largess of some and minuteness of others. The themed exhibition was of swimwear through the ages, ranging from the full body costumes of nether years to the topless and floss-like variations of more recent decades. It made you wonder why some would even bother to sport anything at all, leaving virtually nothing to the imagination. A spot of lunch and some smoothies later we crammed ourselves back in our wee Hyundai and followed our SatNav equipped friends, the Beaumonts, onward to the Gold Coast. It was a Tuesday night so the kids were hyped about the imminent episode of Top Gear which has become a weekly custom. Jeremy Clarkson won the most recent challenge yet again, leaving us fulfilled and more enlightened for another week.
Another custom which has evolved is Piper’s early morning venture into our bed for a cuddle. Sometimes we will even wake up to find her there, neither of us with any recollection when she arrived during the night – almost like she morphs herself there. This morning it didn’t end with Piper though. As it was Coley’s birthday, the birthday boy couldn’t contain his excitement with any sort of sleep in and crawled in shortly after Piper, leaving but one child remiss. Not 5 minutes later, Boy 1 (Aidan) found his way in as well leaving one very close happy family on the verge of toppling out of bed. The pressies were opened and much glee had by all. Our caravan park hosted a colouring contest and face painting venture first thing this AM and most of the kids had a go while the adults organized a visit to Movieworld – one of the theme parks in the area purportedly the best to cater to our age group of kidlets and with 4000 square meters undercover to boot. It was a day when we were likely to need such coverage as intermittent showers were forecast. It was a wonderful place but perhaps because it arose as the Australian equivalent to places like Universal Studios or other theme parks based in the USA, didn’t seem to have that same mystique and grandeur that these other parks that we’ve previously visited seemed to have. Upon entering the grounds, Phil, Aidan and I bee-lined for one of the key roller-coaster attractions, the Superman coaster. The line up took a good 40 minutes to get through and as we stepped up to the door that would let us onto the next coaster another wave of rain has coming through and they closed the ride. Beaten but not unbowed we decided to give it 5 minutes as a quick peak outside showed sun as far as the eye could see and sure enough the ride opened again and we had our go. Aidan was completely taken with the ride as it posited us high above the grounds and in a pure vertical descent, dropped us like a stone, threw us around the track in loop de loops and careening corners before, no more than 30 seconds later, deposited us back where we started – completely flushed with adrenalin. The rest of the day we dodged the rain, went to shows, parades and did as many rides as we were physically able to do in the time permitted, closing down the park at its 5 pm curfew. Cole’s B-day party went without a hitch and he blew all but two of his candles out signifying his continued adoration of Isabella and perhaps ….Pearl? Isabella copped a quick kiss on the cheek as he managed to hit the plate with his first slice – ooo – boy germs! Won’t be long before he’s really wooing the girls and likely joining the ranks as a heart-throb – melting all the girls’ hearts with the whimsical smile and ‘je n’ai sais quois’ attitude.
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