The Australian Outback Spectacular was, in a word, spectacular. I got a free stockman's hat (already a plus, I love freebies) and the meal was fantastic. Nothing beats a nice piece of Australian steak and mash potatoes. The pre-show is basically you, sitting in a room full of strangers, with a bar, and several horses. This would be excellent for anyone except a lone traveller. As long as I kept moving it didn't feel strange, but the second I stopped I ended up standing next to people who looked at me strangely. Seriously, what's so wrong with being on my own? I'm not eavesdropping on your conversation! Well, maybe I am. Anyway, in the actual show I sat next to an older Aussie couple named Julie and Paul. Paul was actually hilarious, because as the night went on, the wine flowed, and he got more and more drunk. The Aussie accent with a slur is even more difficult to understand than an Aussie on the phone.
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| I love you Phar Lap! |
The show itself was fantastic. Lots of horse tricks, quad bike tricks, songs, stories of Australian history and the story of Phar Lap (a bloody amazing horse by all accounts with a sadly tragic end, look him up), and then they pitted the two "stations" against each other. Basically it was one side of the arena against the other, with half wearing yellow bands on their hats and half wearing red bands (I had red). I can't spell or pronounce our station name, but it began with a W and was something like Wagarra... and we won! Of course we did. I was on the team.
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| I was over on the distant side of this photo, with red hat bands. Boo Yellows! |
When I got home I had new roommates. A couple with the guy from Newcastle (hilarious accent) and the girl from Yorkshire (also hilarious accent). She introduced herself as "Emeh" so, as I am so used to getting to know people with strange sounding names now, I said "nice to meet you Emeh" and then realised she'd said "Amy" with a Yorkshire accent.... basically I had just mocked her accent to her face. Maybe that's why she didn't say much to me after that, but the boyfriend was willing to chat some, although I can't remember his name.
Today I went to Movie World, a theme park in the Gold Coast. It's, well, muehee. Say it out loud and elongate the vowels and it turns into a sort of reluctant sigh. It wasn't bad or anything, but I've been spoiled by the Disneylands of the world and so it just seemed small with not enough rides and not enough restaurants. And some of it was closed, like the fairground games, either because of this weather (which was appalling) or because of the fact it was off season. And I paid $80 for it. $80!!!! Waaaaay overpriced for what it is. And then I had lunch for $14. And then a slushie for $5. And then a chocolate and marshmallow stick covered in chocolate for $4. Very expensive, but it had started raining again so it was get wet or eat and I chose the latter (when don't I?). There were 4 rollercoasters that were genuinely good though, so I did have fun. And one of those was the Scooby-Doo ride, which I was not expecting. And the stunt car show was AWESOME!
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| So amazing and really funny |
Couple incidents though made me laugh and made up for everything. The first was overhearing a family where the son asked his parents how they met [insert name here] and they said "America, hun." And then the son asked "Where did
you meet?" and the mum said "Pub." That's it. Just "pub." Gotta love these Aussies. Also, twice I was waiting for rides where people had to get up and leave the seats for the ride because they were too... um... big... i.e. fat. I have been to quite a few theme parks, and not even in America did I see people actually get asked to leave because the harness wouldn't fit over them. Must be so embarrassing! And then at the "parade" (it had NOTHING on Hong Kong Disneyland) Bugs, Tweety, and several other characters danced to LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem. "Everyday I'm shuff-el-ing." Actually awesome
I have cut my trip to the Gold Coast short, people. I was supposed to leave on Tuesday but I am instead leaving tomorrow as the weather is not going to improve and I can't bear to be trapped inside my hostel again. Plus what's the point in being at the beach when you can't, you know, go to the beach. But hey, I will be back to the city, and you guys know how much I love cities. So till next time...
TTFN!
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