Fun on the Gold Coast: Wet'n'Wild and WB Movie World.

Last Monday, we went to the water park Wet'n'Wild to try out some water slides! I was really looking forward to it and it was a really cool day. Before we went there, we bought swimming tops at Big W, right next to the rest area, like most people here in Australia wear when swimming. This way, you don't get sunburned and you don't contaminate the natural waters with sunscreen. The sun's radiation is pretty strong in Australia, and if you're out in the sun all day and in the water, where the cream washes off, the risk of sunburn is very high. Plus, the tops keep you a bit warm in cooler temperatures. So, I invested $15 and Andi invested $25, and then we were well equipped for the water park.

There were a lot of people waiting at the entrance, but we already had our passes, so we could go past everyone. It was really great. Inside, we found out that we had to buy lockers again if we wanted to lock up our stuff. This time it was $10 per day. We paid for it and got a bracelet with a barcode that you scan at the lockers, and then you get assigned a locker and can open it with the bracelet all day. It was a pretty funny system. After we stored our stuff, we headed to the slides. There were looping slides, regular slow slides, a tornado slide where you slide down into a big funnel in a four-person tube, two kamikaze slides that looked like a half pipe, two dark slides, a rafting slide, two regular tube slides, steep slides without tubes, a lazy river where you could float on a tube, some whirlpools, the roller coaster "Surfrider," a surf wave, and a big wave pool. There was a lot to do!

We started with the lazy river. The route was nicely decorated with plants, a beach town, and a waterfall under a bridge. Then we moved on to the more thrilling slides and lined up for the kamikaze slide. That's when I realized that the day wouldn't go exactly as I had imagined. We waited for at least 30 minutes! I didn't think that you would have to wait so long at a water park. But it was true, we had to wait that long at every cool slide except the looping slides. It was really annoying! There were not only adults or people who you would expect to go on the slides, but also really young children! They all wanted to go on those crazy slides! Crazy Australians.

But the wait was worth it because the slides were all really cool. Unfortunately, we couldn't ride the Surfrider that day because it was closed due to some problems when we wanted to line up. It started running again later, but when we went back, it was closed again. Too bad. The looping slides were our favorites because there was no long wait and they really promised an adrenaline rush. Plus, we could slide down together. In all the other slides without tubes, you were not allowed to slide down together, which I understand for the steep ones, but not for the really slow ones. It would have been more fun together. But the tube slides were great too, and the tornado slide was especially exciting. With the four-person tube, you first went down really steep, then you ended up in the funnel and went high up again. It was really fun.

In between all the sliding, we ate something and went back to the locker to get something to drink. In the evening, it got a lot emptier and we were able to ride the kamikaze slide again, another tube slide, and the rafting slide without waiting. We were even second to last on the rafting slide before it closed. We didn't ride the rafting slide before because according to the sign, we would have had to wait for 50 minutes. Crazy. And it was also good that we didn't wait because it wasn't anything special.

The park closed at 5, and we drove to the luxury campground for the night since it was practically right on the other side of the highway, and it wouldn't be a long way to Movie World, which is right next to the water park, the next day. After a whirlpool session and a delicious dinner, we went to bed. By the way, in the kitchen in the evening, we met three Australians who were having their beers there, and when we told them about our travels, they said they could get us a job in Melbourne. That's where they're from, and in the valleys there, they always need backpackers for grape or strawberry picking. Of course, we pretended to be grateful, but we're not really excited about the idea of doing fruit picking again. That will probably be our last resort if we don't find another job.

In the night, there was a really heavy thunderstorm, and we woke up from the lightning and loud thunder. We quickly closed our windows and trunk and hid in the car. It was a good thing we did because it really started to pour. The next day, the ground was all soaked and there were puddles everywhere. We didn't imagine the region to be so wet!

After breakfast, we went to Warner Bros. Movie World. This time, we expected to have to pay for lockers and only took our phones and car keys with us. They should fit in our pockets on the rides. Unfortunately, you couldn't take your things with you, but at least this time there were small storage compartments when you got on the rides where you could store your stuff during the ride. There was only one roller coaster where that wasn't the case because you got on and off in a different place, and even the car key attached to a belt loop was not allowed. Since we could store everything else in the car, I just smuggled the key into my shoe. It really doesn't bother anyone.

The roller coasters themselves were really cool! There was a small one that went upside down and had two loops, a mega fast one where you get shot off, a big one with hanging seats, and a very long and high water ride. There was also a car stunt show and a parade with all the famous characters. There was supposed to be a new ride that had only been open since October, but it was closed, just like the haunted house. Somehow we weren't lucky with the rides in the parks. But it didn't matter, the rest was sufficient and we had a lot of fun. Around noon, we watched the car show, which lasted about 20 minutes and disappointed us a bit. Basically, there were just 2 cars and 1 buggy driving back and forth in the arena the whole time, screeching their tires. In the end, the gas station in the scene exploded and a big flame shot up into the air, but otherwise, the show was rather boring.

At 3:30 pm, there was the parade, and we liked that one a lot more. Scoobidoo, the Looney Tunes characters like Tweety, Bugs Bunny, and Sylvester, as well as the DC Comic heroes and villains Batman, Superman, Supergirl, Green Lantern, Catwoman, and Joker, drove along the main street in several vehicles, waved, and danced on the way back and took photos with the audience. That was really funny.

After the parade, we went to the 4D cinema, where they showed a 3D clip of Coyote and Roadrunner, and the seats moved and fine water was sprayed in your face. That was cool! Very refreshing, and the clip was so funny that we laughed a lot. After that, we rode some more roller coasters, and it was already 5 pm and the park closed. It was an entertaining day!

In the evening, we drove to our rest area again, a bit further north, so we didn't have to spend money on accommodations. The free rest areas in Australia are really great, you save a lot of money, and then you can spend it elsewhere! Of course, you don't have the greatest luxury, but a toilet and a sink are enough. That's backpacker life :D