Day 8 - Kamikaze, Tornado & a Blackhole - Broadbeach, Australia
Broadbeach, Australia
This morning I managed to drag myself from bed in time to catch the sunrise over the ocean (see photo). I then quickly snuggled back in. So, we rarely go swimming whilst at home and, although we often visit the beach with Nelly, we never don our swimming costumes. However, we both LOVE water parks. One of the main reasons we visited the Gold Coast was so we could visit 'Wet n Wild'. It may surprise many that for someone who can't swim, dislikes crowds and has a bad neck/back Mark enjoys nothing better than a thrilling 30 second ride down a water flume. After a 45 minute drive along the coast and heading in land we reached 'Wet & Wild'. Parking up and queuing for 30 mins we finally made our way to the locker section, stripped off and blinded the Aussies with our startlingly white limbs slathered in SPF 30 waterproof sunscreen :-) I decided to leave my flip flops in the locker. Mark decided to take his with him. Who made the best decision will be revealed a little later. Looking at the map of the park I suggested to Mark that we start off with a reasonably gentle traditional water flume. He said we should "go hard or go home" and this is why we started out at the Extreme H20 Zone! **To help describe these rides I have extracted the explanation of each from the park's website and also added some of their promo photos to keep the memory alive.** So, without time to jump in a pool and wet ourselves we left Mark's flip flops at the bottom of the slide number 1, strategically positioned next to a lifeguard, and climbed the stairs to the Kamikaze ride, precariously dragging with us a two person yellow inflatable tube thing. **Kamikaze - Lose all control in the Extreme H20 Zone on the crazy Kamikaze, and experience a thrilling sensation of zero gravity. You’ll plunge down a near vertical 11 metre drop at a steep 70 degree angle, and reach speeds of up to 50 km/h. This giant U-shaped slide will have you clinging onto your two-person tube for dear life as you fly in forward and reverse motions. Don’t let go!'** Mark went at the front of the tube facing backwards and I sat at the back facing forward and looking at Mark. With our legs crossed over each other's and white knuckles clinging to the black handles of the tube the ride attendant instructed us to keep our chins tucked into our chests (to help avoid whiplash - christ like we don't already have enough neck problems between us!!) and pushed us over the top. With a series of high pitch squeals from me and low, nervous, laughter from Mark we traversed both sides of the U shaped ride until gravity slowed us down and we settled at the bottom, exhilarated and ready for the next one. **Tornado - This mad’n’massive slide in the H20 Zone will take you on a wild ride right into the eye of the storm. You’ll begin your journey from a 15 metre high platform, then blast down a huge 40 metre log tunnel, spinning around the Tornado’s funnel in a two or four person clover-leaf tube, swirling up and down the sides, before hurtling through the eye of the storm to the calm waters below.** Climbing the stairs to the slide this time we had to take a larger 4 person blue inflatable with us, although only the two of us would ride down in it. Mark took the front and I followed up at the rear. There weren't many people queuing on the steps, as most were waiting on the ground for people to come down and retrieve an inflatable. Therefore, as we climbed we simply had to move in time with those in front of us and also synchronise our own steps as we quickly found that if the one at the front stood still (Mark) and the one at the back (me) climbed and pushed on the inflatable the one at the front would resist and the one at the back would bounce back and stumble down the stairs!!! Once there we clambered into the tube, clung to the handles and launched ourselves into the unknown. The initial ride through the tunnel with a series of twists and turns was thrilling and I had a, I can handle this, smile on my face. However, as soon as we hit the main funnel section, 'the eye of the storm', my smile turned into a strained 'eeekkkk' face. Whilst writing this section of the blog I turned to Mark, pulled the face and asked "how would you describe this face?" He dryly replied - "have you **** yourself?". As we swooshed further into the funnel my back was to the direction of the traffic, feeling brave enough to open my eyes I watched Mark's face change from one of slight panic to smugness. Just 1 second later a wall of water hit me. In my shock I inhaled some of the water, my right contact lenses was dislodged, my wet hair stuck to my face and my right ear became blocked. Mark burst into laughter. As we reached the end of the ride, I tried to recover some dignity but stumbled and fell into the shallow pool. **Slide winders - Take on the Slidewinders, the two longest slides at Wet’n’Wild with your friends and family in the three-person tubes as you twist and turn your way 200 metres to the bottom, or race them down the three lightening fast Jetstream body slides, guaranteed to get your heart racing.** Thankfully this slide more closely resembled a traditional water flume. Making our way to the top of the slide we were in safe company with groups of young boys and fathers with children. Feeling confident I rode at the front of the tube as we slid left and right down the long open, white flume. I even managed to exit the pool sedately. **Black Hole - Make your way to the Extreme H20 Zone and take on the thrilling Blackhole as you are sent into an adrenaline pumping pitch black spiral of darkness. Featuring two fully encapsulated tube slides and a number of heart thumping twists and turns, this ride will have even the most hardened of thrill seekers shaking in their swimmers.** Getting to be seasoned pros we grabbed an inflatable and scaled the steps. Launching ourselves into the flume I had failed to fully appreciate that the inside of this tube is pitch black. You are hurtling forwards but have no way to tell which direction you will be thrust in next or which direction the water will hit you from. After a few hairy twists and turns we hit, what felt like, a never ending loop spinning us round and round and spitting us out into the bright Aussie sunshine at the end. By this time it was 1pm and the sun had warmed the concrete pavement between the slides to a sizzling temperature that seared your soles and within 5 seconds of a wet foot hitting the surface the water had steamed away. Mark, in his flip flops, wondered why people were jogging between the slides but I quickly demonstrated exactly why and, with a few ouches and gasps of pain, I hopped and skipped between patches of grass and shade. At one point I was in no man's land too far from the shade I had come from and too far from any shade I could see. Looking at my panicked face Mark had to instruct me to safety :-) **Mammoth Falls - Share an awesome white-water rafting experience on Mammoth Falls with the whole family. Wind around the raging rapids in mammoth four-person tubes on this 250 metre long slide, as you twist and turn all the way to the bottom.** This is the longest slide and a family favourite so the queue was the longest but as the water park is positioned next to a ranch I spent the time in the queue peering at the horses and catching some sun. At the top we had to share a four person raft with another couple and, as we swept our way down the rapids, I managed to control my squealing :-) Deciding that now was a good time to have lunch and to retrieve my flip flops from the locker we speedily made our way across the park. After devouring our packed lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches and crisps we decided to hit Mark's favourite water ride. **Calypso Beach - Sit back and relax in a soft tube as you float around the lazy river, drifting through sub-tropical gardens, the remains of a pirate castle and a Caribbean Shanty town.** Mark absolutely loves lazy rivers, where the man made current of the water propels you at a steady pace whilst you lie on our hang onto an inflatable tube. The river was pretty busy this afternoon with empty tubes and rowdy groups but we held our own and floated a few times round. At one point Mark decided he wanted to sit on his tube. Leaping out of the water he hoped his bottom would land in the middle. Instead the tube shot off in the other direction, he landed with a splash just on the edge, fully submerged himself and re-emerged in a burst of laughter. Heading back to the hotel we chatted merrily about the day and planned to eat at the local Lowenbrau bar then curl up on the sofa and watch a movie.