Gold Coast 2009 : Day 6-8 (18-20 June 2009)

Finally...I managed to capture some of our memories in Semenanjung Emas, Ostolia, here posted on the net for the kids to have a peek when they are older (they ajek yg older..not we..haha x sedo diri kah ?).

This entry is a combo of 3 days that we spent in the city of Brisbane. It's never enough time to explore..but it's worth it.

18 June 2009 (Thu)

Checked-out from our temp-home @ Surfer's Mayfair. snap here and there...bubye unit 44. That's Nerang River at the back, we had both sea & riverview from the balcony

Magnificient blue sky welcomed us at the beach...we still got our jacket on when others were on their shorts & bikinis hehe kejakunan yg amat nyata. We hadn't had a chance to stroll on the beach holding hands and all those kekonon romantic stuffs as we exhausted our 'battery' on the themeparks.

Tak puas ambik gambar kat sini but we had to make a move to another important stopover that is :)

Why ? Coz I need to exchange a super-cute boots that was too small to last at least for another 6 months. We read about the bad news in the local newspaper night before while waiting for our hot choc and I prayed..pls pls..not pumpkin patch pls...Alas...my prayer was not answered and Pumpkin Patch outlet was closed due to fire. Huhu. Had our lunch 1st as usual Ispa kebab and few bananas as requested by the kids. Pisangnya sgt menggiurkan sbb kulit tulus mulus, licin gebu, takde injury langsung..mak suke nyah !!

Done with our last minute shopping, I bought 2 Espr1t jeans at AUD19 and few bajus for my siblings only.

We took Pacific Highway to BNE quite late and it was sorta mistake coz we had no idea where the hell is our apartment in CentrePoint @ SpringHill. True enuff, we circled the same road and junction but failed to find the small road leading to our apartment. Once, we even steered back into the hi-way. Temper almost flared until I took over being a map reader and use the main map when I finally managed to squint my eyes and noticed a very fade arrows on each street which were not shown on my other map (mommy sit at the back with the kids). Tu la, pakai lagi different version and my peta-gugel failed sbb ada new road closure.

Problem solved and we checked-in around 8pm, given unit no 43, 3-rooms apartment. Very old place, you could smell the damp air, all 80-an punya style except the bathroom as always...super-clean. Still, I won't recommend this place.

Hannah needed a first-aid, she got itchy bontot due to damp-diaper that we put on, in-case she need to do her business while were are on the road, but she didn't pee or poo on it.

We axed all our plan for the night i.e. to visit the South Bank and view the city at night, instead I made dinner, very domestic me. Before we went to bed we decided that Lone Pine trip should be by Tarago as via ferry will cost us a bomb and time taken gonna be longer to & fro.

19 June 2009 (Fri)

Lone Pine Sanctuary is a farm. That's all. We expected more, nevertheless we had a blast there as we were chased by a famished emu, as well as got a chance to see the Red Kangaroo, melihat anjing ladang mengejar biri2 masuk kandang jua. We took photos with cute koala which were ready for collection within 10-20 minutes. Koala adalah cute tapi pungkoq smelly... haha

You are allowed to snap as many pix using your own camera as long as you purchased the package. We had the original photo ready to be framed (but not framed yet haha typical me)

We spent 1/2 day there and rushed back to our apartment to change, solat & park our ride. City parking is damn expensive like AUD8/hour

Sedang menunggu bas percuma di depan Roma House, aku rasa mcm pernah ternampak bendalah ni, so apa2hal soh bdk2 pose dulu, later balik KL baru gugel..oooo ni community service punya rumah utk homeless located in a heritage-listed site.

We axed our plan for Story Bridge coz it's a bit out of town. We took the free-loop bus to the city which is only 10mins away. Ignored the temptation of Queen St malls and crossed the Victoria Bridge so the kids had a chance to be in Q'land Museum, it's free, it huge and it's amazing. Tho it was only for a brief moment as we had less than 30min before closing, that's enuff to make them glowed and awed...add in your itinerary esp. if u have kids.

In the middle of the earth Queen St, one of the most popular meeting point. Ramai budak skolah time ni, tu haa yg blazer merah2 tu...tgh janji nak dating awek kot.

Too late for library sneak peek (in picture, on the right, the green wall is the library), next time ya kiddos...We took our time to enjoy the city view from across the bridge at Southbank. Let the kids to release their 'steam', golek2 santai..best gile time ni, mmg cool abis until babah mentioned 'lapar'.

Lupa nak cite we lost our list of restaurants so had to sms our BIL, Apiz to gugel. I love technology...we had our dinner at Satay Club Noodle House in Charlotte St. Yummy food, fresh seafood ingredients. Cuma terkejut karna tomyam itu ada button mushroom. Our re-charge meal.

Full tummy won't take you too far. Surprisingly we spent very little time browsing the Queen St. Surprise! surprise! I didn't even step into Myer Centre. Sangkut and went crazy for Cr0cs sale only...the rest were too expensive. We either foolishly or brave-ly decided to walk our feet back to SpringHill which is so close yet so far, as the name already suggested it's location. Putus napas ku and terasa seperti summer di dadaku kerana kami tidak berstroller...tukar ganti dokong Hannah & worst, Adan. Acara dokong & daki namanya...oksigen oksigen...

When everyone were fast asleep mommy went sleepless. Packing time !! I used all my intelligent cells in my brain to slot everything in. Yeah...I'm proud to declare that I am a good-packer.

20 June 2009 (Sat)

Last day in kangaroo land. Had a very jovial & rilex morning preparing breakfast with Hannah. French toast & mushroom soup accompanied by hot thick Milo, maklum la nak habiskan stok :). This is not staged-pose. She did make the toast herself and I handled the flipping.

Checked-out and since we still have time we simply followed signboard to Story Bridge. We made it..yippee. Them kiddos went hyper at the playground where few other families were having picnic with checkered-spread, food basket and all (sgt ideal suasananya). Called my friend, K.Shikin and she said will meet me at the airport, only to cancel last minute due to her car problems. Tho I missed them both (+ Cik CT Zu), I didnt want to push them as they were having their final exam. Plan to surpise CT also spoiled as I lost the gugel map which showed the direction right to her doorstep. Still missing them till now...

We slowly made our way to the airport as we planned to meng'DFO'kan diri kami. Pumped in some gas for Tarago to replace what we had used, we burned about AUD40++ worth of petrol in total..hmmm quiet cheap, RM120++ for 8days.

DFO is much much much better than Harbour T0wn unless you're looking for Canterbury. Pinggan mangkuk maha murah di sana. C0relle Square 16-pc dinner set = AUD49. Pyrex yg canggih manggih. Aku telan air liur je la sbb tau luggage dh full and aku x berani nk remove dari box, kang sampai KL kuar serbuk kristal !!

Another mistake that we made here was that, we should have taken our lunch in the city as eateries at DFO made us was-was still. Kami berlapar ke airport coz Tarago need to be returned by 8.00pm. All done, we checked in our luggage and dumped our tired-ass in the waiting area. Perut keroncong so we got ourselves some snack and hot choc knowing well that our -in-flight meal would be a heavy one.

Our flight back to KL was delayed due to bad weather. We had sunny days for the whole week and it rained only when we boarded our departure flight. Alhamdullillah syukur atas Rahmat-Nya.

Goodbye Australia till we come back again..most probably Sydney & Melbourne or who knows if dapat rezeki melimpah we can bundle the kids on caravan and do the Great Ocean Road ? With that, another tabung ayam created...

Back in flight, food was only served when the kids were half-asleep, closed-eyed Hannah had her briyani (we forgot to order kid's meal b4 the flight left Sydney). Hannah and her big appetite. Who would melantak at 1 in the morning except her ?? Mata pejam sumore..

Muka happy tapi mata nampak sleepy, last2 gone terus haha ini goyang pun tak bangun neh.

All went comatose and ZZzz until we arrived safely at KLIA around 5am on 21 June 2009. Our supir (BIL & wifey) waited in 2 cars. Bought some G0diva for my FIL and my TieRack.

Welcome back home everyone. Back to real world. Back to office to get more $$ and fly off to another fantasyland.

Junks that we managed to drag back. I dumped everything on the floor, took out all clothes due for cleaning and Zzzzzzz...buka mata then Zzzzzz

Thing which are worth to buy overthere..footwear Cr0cs, R0xy, B1llab0ng, Skechers, Havaianas and other beachwear brands even wetsuit for diving, but we got no time to go to that shop. Roxy stuffs were dirt cheap at DFO, sunglasses @ AUD15, Hannah's hat & socks @ AUD 5-10 and the bangles = AUD2 each. In the middle is the P.Patch boot that I couldnt exchange. Sold to fren for RM60.

Dont assume that I'm bragging or boasting about what I bought and how much it cost. It's on display coz I want others to be able to know what's available to help with their budget. One of the objectives of these entries is to assist few of my friends who are silent readers to DIY their GC trip. Some of them were motivated after knowing that I made it all on my own. When I started my 'research' (ceh..nak guna gak ayat tu, maklumla lom merasa buat research ala master) I was clueless on how much $$ to set aside for souvenirs, food etc. coz most blogs won't show what they bought & how much. They said cheap but how cheap ? So here you have it...

* Wait for my final entry. All tips, cost and most of the things u need to know will be in there. All the links, websites that I googled day and night just to make this trip a reality. I hope it's not too late for some of you. I'm now ready for a bigger challenge, who needs tour package when you can save thousands with the help of budget airlines and google (or maybe a hostel in the future).

Fuh...I've fulfilled a promise to myself for this trip. Amiin..