I’ve decided to use some of that time to catch up on my blog. I am digressing as I know how many posts I need to get through until I’m happily up-to-date and I’m not sure how much my head can handle at the moment. To give you a glimpse into my state of mind right now, I’ve just spent around ten minutes in a trance looking at an army of ants surrounding the picnic table I’m sat at. I’m not quite sure what they’re doing or where they are going but they seem more organised than my life is right now. And so begins an inner monologue of how simple an ant’s life is and how many choices are facing me at the moment with my future as well as what I’m going to do in the next country I’m visiting. That combined with the constant factors of money and time whirring through the tired cogs in my brain means that I’m not necessarily close to crazy but I’m feeling the strain a bit. Which leads me back to how, rather than writing about the Gold Coast, I’ve decided to compare my life to an ant. A random dose of escapism and welcome relief certainly, but an underlying sign that the sooner I leave Oz, the saner I’ll feel!
*****
Monday is a duff day for most as it signifies the end of the weekend break and the beginning of another dull plodding working week. All our savings from Sydney are dwindling and the thought of finding a job in Brisbane is slowly creeping up to us.
But this Monday was far from a duff day as it was Mel’s birthday. Steff and I were excited to give Mel her presents and cards. It was, in fact, Steff who excitedly shoved Mel awake. At first Mel frowned and grumbled at Steff until it sank in that today was her day.
Mel received some beautiful presents from her mother including an unexpected shark charm for her Thomas Sabo bracelet. Steff gave Mel her card and a voucher for a spa manicure and pedicure. Mel wasn’t expecting any presents from me so was surprised and thankful for the SeaWorld trinkets that bestowed her. I made sure I wrote a sizable chunk of sentiment in the card rather than the standard sign offs that are given normally.
In our excitable states, we thought that eating breakfast in an all-you-can-eat pancake place was a good idea. It worked out better to buy a pancake set with lashings of extras as the all-you-can-eat pancakes were plain with butter. I need more sugar than that!
After sheepishly asking if they do anything special for birthdays (any chance to get something for free, come on!), Mel received pancakes with the adage of sparklers.
I ate my pancakes without a problem but Mel struggled to finish hers. Steff challenged me to eat another pancake and I probably could have except our next stop was Wet ‘n’ Wild. Regurgitation, I think not.
Getting lost on the way to the water park did take a little shine off of our day but it was all forgotten once we arrived. Unfortunately you can’t take the Go Pro camera down slides so I have no photos but it did mean that we could run wild and enjoy everything without taking care of an expensive piece of kit and wondering whether you captured a good angle.
We started off on the easy wavy slide with mats. You push forward, lying flat and slide down side by side. Each lane was numbered and a digital display showed who came first and so on. Mel and I were comfortably eased into this water slide lark. Before we could consider our next stop Steff wanted to go on the slide next door. A vertical drop? Hell no!
This slide looked scary. You are locked in a capsule at the top and the floor below you drops. You fall down the slide and through a side-ways loop sending you speeding into a massive tub of water. No thank you.
You needed to be weighed before going on. Obviously being too light, you won’t make it round the loop. One poor guy was too heavy to go on. In fact, all the rides had start weights and limits. I’m neither end of the scale so I didn’t have anything to worry about. Although, annoyingly, a lot of the slides were couple rides. You couldn’t go down on your own so I had to wait for Steff to run up and join me.
I went on all but two of the slides - the vertical drop ride and one which was out of service. I think I did pretty well! After going on everything a couple of times, we rested in the wave pool. I cockily started a water fight with Steff but soon lost. I morphed into my childhood self again and attacked Wet ‘n’ Wild like a goofy excitable kid. We’d not had this much fun in a while!
We all ended up spending money needlessly that day. Steff went on a water machine called Flowrider where you can surf or body-board. Mel and I went shopping. They had a swimwear shop with 50% off. I didn’t specifically need anything but the bikinis were really good. Shopping for bikinis is just as hard as bra shopping. A well fitted bikini, for me, is a rarity. I found “the one”, as well as a great pair of swim shorts and a top. Sometimes it’s nice to treat yourself and I didn’t feel guilty for doing so. We decided to leave at that point before we spent any more money!
The facilities at the camp site enabled us to clean ourselves up and look presentable for the night ahead. Mel and I went all out and did our hair (more of a rarity for me then Mel though), full make up (same again) and wore dresses. I decided to crack open one of the two pairs of shoes that I bought in Sydney before I left. I already wore the cream wedges and managed to stay upright through the entire outing. They’re actually quite comfortable too. Having always worn flats or small heels, wedges were a daunting upgrade. Due to my previous triumph, I smugly adorned my second pair. I felt a breeze of contentment as I wrapped each tie around my leg, brandishing a bow for completion. It’s not often that I get to dress up and feel good about myself. For some reason, dresses bring out the giddy girly-girl in me.
Behold the beautiful wedges and ignore the scabby backpacker feet that fills them!
Unfortunately that air of wistfulness cracked slightly as I stumbled to the car like Bambi on ice. Damn. I almost looked complete. I spent most of the time sat down anyway. It was only the walk to and from the car that I had to worry about. I think I got away with it…just. I drew a few stares but it was the wedges which stole the show. One girl looked me up and down, then looked back at the shoes. I think I passed the Aussie-once-over.
As it was Mel’s night, the choice of where to eat was entirely hers. Indian (Mel's favourite) it was. The food was tasty. We left the restaurant and looked out to where we would go next. Bars to the left of us, bars to the right of us, but instead of seeing bright lights and smiling faces, we saw an abundance of dollar signs. We stopped off at a bottle shop and grabbed some ciders instead and headed back to the camp site.
Me: looking happy with my cider purchase. Steff: Looking at me like I'm an idiot.
It was a good job that we did as it rained very hard. It literally started just as I settled down in the tent. The timing was impeccable. I did feel little crestfallen that I’d donned my glad rags (and wedges, don’t forget the wedges!) for only a couple of hours but there’ll be other times I’m sure.
*****
We ate breakfast in a café but we were running late. Mel and Steff rushed off to make the appointment and I was left munching on my toast. I finished a minute later but wasn’t up for chasing after anyone. I wanted my food to settle down but did wonder whether Steff would come back for me or had I been abandoned.
I waited a few minutes and was about to get my laptop out but had second thoughts, so replaced it back in my bag. I turned around and Steff was there laughing at me. We knew that Mel would be a while so went to the arcades. I got flashbacks of my time in Japan at the arcades in Akihabara. They even had a pirate ship game that I played on over there.
Steff went straight to the tower of prizes. It’s a simple game. Two lit-up squares move from left to right. You hit a button and the squares lock in. The aim is to get a tower of squares to the top to get a main prize. It’s a rip off though as Steff hit the button at the right time to lock in the squares at the top and the square jumped across and dropped.
There were plenty of other games to pass the time. I went and bought a card with credit to swipe at each game. This is where things changed.
Steff vs Danielle
3-2
I won two games - shooting hoops and a wack-em game. Steff won at air hockey and a reaction game where you have to touch buttons as they light up. I was at a distinct advantage seen as Steff is tall and has long arms. Oh and I forgot to add, Steff also won the dance mat game. I tried to hide my loser status by ribbing Steff for winning at the dance game. It didn’t work.
We met Mel with her shiny buffed feet and brightly painted nails then decided what we were going to do in the evening. In an effort to do something and not sit around in the tent, we went to the cinema. After seeing a trailer for 21 Jump Street, we decided that a good comedy was in order. It certainly made us laugh and at one point I had tears streaming down my face. This moment was not due to any joke in the film but Steff’s innocent comment about the actor Iced T. Of course, Mel and I knew he meant Ice Cube but it was so funny. It is definitely one of those funny moments that are better witnessed than seen written down.
The night wasn’t over yet. Somehow, Mel had found an ice rink that resembled an abandoned warehouse in the arse end of nowhere. Welcome to Iceland. Mel and Steff were experts but this was my first time. I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect. I’d heard a lot about it but was scared that it’d hurt…ahem. I enjoyed every bit. I didn’t fall over once. Mel and Steff helped me to begin with and then I skated around like a lunatic. I had many close calls and adopted the windmill manoeuvre. That little trick saved me!
An hour or so later and we grew bored of skating around in circles so went back to the tent for some more stories of the blog variety.
** Wednesday 25th April.
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