For many years my brother Chrish has talked about moving from Sydney to the Gold Coast. We never really thought it would happen, so we were pleasantly surprised a few months ago when he sent a message to the family group chat saying he was about to put his house on the market, and was going to move to the Gold Coast.
His best mate and his family live there and also some of our cousins which he is close with, and of course the weather is beautiful, so he finally decided to make the move. He sold his house in Sydney within two days of going on the market and then went up to look for a house a few weeks later and ended up putting an offer on one, which was accepted. It all happened so quickly.
We loved visiting him in Sydney but have been there so often, so we are very excited to have a new 'holiday home' in Queensland. Chrish is always so generous and happy to have us any time, but I'm sure he's going to get very sick of having us as we will be going up there a lot!
I didn't think I would book a holiday up there until the October holidays, but a work colleague reminded me that life was short and it was 'only money' so I ended up booking a trip up there for these school holidays for a week.
Jay just started a new semester of Uni, so he didn't come up with us this time but will come with us when we go again in the summer. We didn't waste any time and went the first Saturday of the holidays. It came up so quickly that I didn't feel very prepared to go. It was such a busy term that I hardly thought about the trip.
It was actually freezing when we arrived in Queensland, but the boys couldn't resist a quick dip in the pool at 10 pm at night, just because it was a novelty to have a pool.
We were so excited to see Chrish's new house and it's so lovely and literally a couple of minute drive from Movie World and Wet N Wild. Mum helped Chrish move up from Sydney so she was already there when we arrived.
It was the first time that Harri had seen Chrish's sports car so he was excited to go on a trip to Bunnings in it with Chrish.
The first day we were there we decided to drive up to have a look at Brisbane as we had never been there before. My cousin Konnie gave us some tips about what to do and see so we caught the free ferry along the river and then had lunch at Southbank before going on the Brisbane Eye and then the museum and art gallery.
We bought yearly passes to Movie World, Sea World and Wet n Wild and couldn't wait to go to Movie World. We probably should've waited another day to go, because the first day we went ended up being a student free day and it was so busy with NSW and SA still being on school holidays.
We got there really early and got in to ride Scooby Doo just after it opened. I was so excited to finally do it with Kobe and Harri as we hadn't been there for 10 years and they were too little to go on last time. Harri loved it but Kobe hated it and found it too scary, so I was disappointed because he wouldn't go on it again.
Mum was with friends on the first day we went to Movie World, but Kobe was happy to walk around on his own while Harri and I lined up to go on Superman. I went on it ten years ago and remember being petrified but it also being awesome, so I was excited (and also nervous!) to go on with Harri. It was just as scary but awesome as I remember it being, and we both loved it and couldn't stop shaking when we got off.
The Justice League ride was more to Kobe's liking.
He also loved the display of Batman costumes from different movies.
Harri had a funny conversation with 'Fred' from Scooby Doo who told him to stay in school so he doesn't have to fight monsters like he does :)
Despite long lines and feeling exhausted we had an awesome day and loved that Chrish's house was just up the road from it. We knew that we would be going back during the week, especially since the weather really wasn't warm enough to go to Wet N Wild (even for us Tasmanians).
Even though we were exhausted the boys were very keen when Chrish's friend Dave offered to take us to Top Golf on his monthly membership. We absolutely loved it even though we were terrible (but Mum was actually good!).
The next day we wanted a quieter day so we went to Surfers Paradise to have lunch on the beach (because it wouldn't have felt like we were in Queensland unless we went to Surfers) and we decided that Surfers really isn't that nice at all. I think we just have fun memories from there from ten years ago when we stayed in a lovely hotel with a pool. We also went to Harbour Town and Pacific Fair but I hate shopping, so I was keen to get in and get out.
That night Mum, Kobe and I went to see Thor. We were so impressed with the fancy cinemas which had recliners which lay back and a very fancy area to get food and drinks.
Kobe loved the movie but Mum and I didn't.
About a month ago we went to my cousin Emily's for lunch to meet her baby Jasper. We got talking about school holidays and were so excited to hear that they were going to be at the Gold Coast at the same time as we were! We worked out some days to go to the theme parks together and met at Sea World the next day.
It was so fun to be there together. We watched the seal and dolphin shows together and Aaron and Sophie came on the jet ski ride with Mum, Harri and I which we absolutely loved (and I think Sophie was shocked as to how fast it went!).
The next day we went back to Movie World and got there early again, so we could get an early ride in before the crowds got there and were hoping we could get rids on Virtual Queues (if you are lucky you can get them for free during the day, where you don't have to line up to get on the ride, but you can only book one at a time and they fill up fast).
By 10:30 we had already ridden Scooby Doo (except for Kobe who decided he's not getting on it again!) and had a VQ for Wild West Falls!
It was so fun to be there with Emily and Aaron.
I loved being able to help out by having Jasper for them so they could go on a ride together, as I remember how tied down you feel when you have a baby (or a child with a disability) and you feel like you can never do anything as a couple. He's the cutest little man.
While we were watching the stunt show at lunch time I was shocked to be able to get a VQ for the DC Rivals Hyper Coaster. It's the fastest, highest and longest coaster in Australia and has only been open for four years. Aaron and Mum said they were keen to go on with me and Sophie was so brave and also came with us! It is 1.4 km long.
Years ago I never would've gone on something like this but I absolutely love rides like this now. I think it's because I love feeling all the feelings - petrified, adrenaline and the laughing at the end. It's like jumping in freezing cold water. It's scary but it makes you feel alive. It was so scary but incredible. Aaron was so calm as we were getting on, but then as we were going up he started saying 'what are we doing!?'. Mum got a cramp in her foot because she was tense!
Emily asked if I wanted to go back again the next day as she was planning on leaving her boys with Aaron in the morning, so we could get some big rides in. I was very keen and although Kobe didn't love the big rides, he loves the atmosphere of Movie World, so he decided to join Emily and Sophie and I there again. Mum and Harri were happy to have a sleep in and quiet day at Chrish's house.
We got there as the gates opened and were on the DC Hyper Coaster by 9:45 am! It was even better the second time and one ride that I could ride over and over and not get sick of it.
By the time we got off we both got a Virtual Queue for Scooby Doo and the Wild West Falls (one each for four people). Kobe wouldn't come on Scooby Doo with us but did brave the Wild West Falls and got very wet!
It wasn't as busy because other states were finishing their school holidays so we fitted so much in.
Aaron and the boys arrived about 11 am and we couldn't believe that we had already had three rides without having to line up. We ended up getting seven rides all day on Virtual Queues between the two families and didn't line up once.
In the end we were getting so tired that we considered just leaving and not even using the rides we had on the VQ as they were in an hour and we were feeling tired.
But time flew and I got another VQ for Scooby Doo and thought that maybe Harri might like to come down to go on it with me, Emily and Sophie. He said he was keen (he felt much better after having a sleep in) and it took him 18 minutes to walk/jog down from Chrish's house! I wish now that I rang him earlier as we had so many rides using the VQ and had four spots for each ride but only three of us would use them.
We were so tired but happy when we left. We couldn't believe how many rides we got to do without lining up and we loved having Emily and Aaron there with us. It was my favourite day of the whole trip.
The next day was the weekend so we decided to go on a road trip to Byron Bay (northern NSW) with Chrish and Mum. None of us had ever been there before and we couldn't get over how beautiful it was. It was so busy at the lighthouse that we couldn't even park the car to get out and have a look.
We bought some lunch and then sat at the beach to eat, before Chrish and us braved the cold water and went for a swim.
The weather was beautiful and it was the first day we felt like we didn't really need to put a jumper on.
That night we had a lovely BBQ at Chrish's house with my cousin Konnie and her family and Dave and Ande and their girls. We are so happy that we will be able to see them more often from now on. 
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