Sea World

Wednesday morning we decided to go to the Buffet breakfast.  The kids couldn't believe their eyes! Since we have good eaters they certainly made it good value - we paid their age in $$.  There was all sorts of choices then donuts to finish!

We then headed into Sea World! We made our way to the first show - the Fish Detectives, using trained seals to participate. We LOVED it! The seals are so talented and really make the show.

Following the seal show we made our way through the Sting Ray enclosure, petting the rays and watching them try and get food, coming up the sides of the pool. 

Then we headed to the Affinity Dolphin Presentation.  The dolphin show was AMAZING and a highlight of the day. We loved watching them leap in the air and then propel their trainers into the air. They are an awesome animal that just seem to smile and enjoy themselves while they do their tricks.

After the dolphin show Mars went with Chad, Karli and Brenton on the Storm Coaster ride - a roller coaster ride that ended with a bit of a splash.  They come out on a high and keen for the next ride.

We made our way to the Jet Rescue ride. I lined up with Chad, Karli and Brenton. It was a high speed ride which went up to 70kms/hr. So fun!

There was a Jet Ski show with stunt riders at 1pm so we headed over to watch that. We enjoyed watching them. While the older kids were watching that I headed over to a kids ride with Rowan. It was a very mild roller coaster which went round the track twice. On the second round the ride jerked and he hit the back of his head on the seat. It wasn't very enjoyable for him after that. We then made our way through the underwater viewing platform to watch the sharks, rays and fish (and to enjoy the aircon!).

As it was heating up we decided to go to a 'ride' where we could get wet.  We headed to Castaway Bay where Mars got on the boat with Chad, Karli and Brenton and I stayed on land to 'man' the waterguns! As the boat moved slowly round the 'lake' they came within 'firing' distance of the waterguns, which we had to wind to pump water. On the boat they also had waterguns to fire back at us! After the initial shock of getting wet we laughed our way to the next hideout to attack them again. Sadly the odds were stacked against me with 4 vs 1!  We definitely cooled off though!  The kids continued to go round (and round... and round) and found some other kids to battle with.

While we watched the kids the rain started coming in.  It continued to drizzle so we were well and truly wet. Mars headed back to the hotel room to sort out an issue with our safe and we headed off to watch the dolphin show again. It was just as good the second time round.

After the dolphin show the rain was coming in a lot harder and people were starting to leave the park. Mars left with Rowan and Axel and I went off to the Storm Coaster ride with the kids. So brave. As there was no one else waiting for the ride we would jump off, run round to the entry gate and jump straight back on.  Then we would run to the Jet Ski ride and do the same. Every time we got off the kids would say 'just one more time?' Until finally we did one last ride on the Storm Coaster and then headed back to the hotel - saturated. We had so much fun though!

We decided to head down for a Buffet dinner. After a full-on day they ate well! After dinner we headed back to our room for a well earned sleep.

Wet 'n' Wild

On Tuesday we got up on time and had some breakfast in our room.  Although the room was considerably bigger than our caravan it certainly wasn't spacious.  However, having our own bathroom was AMAZING.

On our way to Wet'n'Wild we stopped to pick up some food for the day, then continued our 20 minute drive to the park.  As we had our tickets already we didn't have to queue so we headed in and found Wet'n'Wild Junior.  Rowan and Axel loved the pool and the older kids could get used to some mild waterslides to ease them into the bigger slides.  My concerns of them being too scared to do the rides were unfounded!

 

 Chad, Karli and Brenton all headed off to the more exciting rides with Mars. I was quite happy to stay in my comfort zone in the kiddies pool! Eventually I managed to persuade Rowan to go and watch Mars and the kids on the rides - just as they were coming to meet me. So we headed off to watch the kids do some more rides, then I even did a few.

 Watching Chad & Karli tube together was so cool! Teamwork!

We rotated through the rides - the Black Hole, Kamikaze and the Tornado. The kids would carry the tubes up ALL the stairs, do the 1 minute ride, then want to head straight back up again! There was a point when we got to the top of the Tornado ride that I told the kids that I wouldn't be able to do the ride - would they go without me? There was no way they were going without me so I just had to grin and try enjoy the ride. And we did! We got to the bottom and headed straight back up again!

After some lunch the kids had to slow down for a while so we went on the lazy Calypso Beach ride.  It was very relaxing and enjoyable!

From there Mars headed off with Chad, Karli and Brenton to do some of the other slides. One of the rides only Mars could do - due to the minimum weight restriction (much to Chads disgust - he was 2kgs too light!)

Axel was having a fabulous sleep so Rowan got to enjoy lots of time in the Junior area.  He eventually made his way over to the small waterslides and bravely did a few.  On one of the rides he fell into a laying position and got a face full of water so he was NOT happy when I got to him! Once he got his confidence back he was going up and down, up and down on another mild water slide.

  

When Chad, Karli and Brenton got back they stayed in the Junior section for a while then we all headed over to the Mammoth Falls, followed by a swim in the Wave Pool.

With an hour till closing time the rides became very quiet so Mars headed off to the 'scarier' rides with the older kids and had a blast!

As we got ready to head out of the park, Rowan gave up trying to stay awake. He was asleep before we got to the carpark!

On our drive back to the hotel we picked up some pizza and had dinner in our room, followed by showers and bed!