Last East Coast

This will be my last post about the east coast so bear with me if it gets to long. Anyways, from Fraser Island we drove back towards Brisbane but this time we stopped about half way at a place called The Glasshouse Mountains. The Glasshouse Mountains are a collection of small jagged hills sticking up from the surrounding landscape. They are the volcanic cores of a series of volcanoes that were present about 26 million years ago. There are two good lookouts over the Glasshouse Mountains, the best one is in my opinion the Wild Horse Mountain lookout on top Wild Horse Mountain. The hill has an amazing 360 degrees view and on a clear day you can see all the way to the outskirts of Brisbane. The picture is of Mt. Coonowrin, the most impressive of the Glasshouse Mountains.

We drove right past Brisbane this time and headed for the Gold Coast, Australia's top tourist destination. The capitol of the Gold Coast is Surfers Paradise, a strip of tall buildings along Surfers Paradise Beach. The name might suggest that surfing is good here, but the truth is that Byron Bay and even Coolangatta just half an hour away is a better surfing spot. Surfers Paradise is famous for something and that is the crazy nightlife, rich tourists and lazy days on the beach. However it is winter now and the weather was to cold to chill on the beach so we looked around the city instead. We quickly discovered that there is not much to do in Surfers Paradise in the winter. We looked around in the shopping centers and bought discount tickets for Movie World, one of the many theme parks in the Gold Coast. I also remembered that the only Hard Rock Cafe in Australia is in Surfers Paradise, so we found that and Annina bought me a Hard Rock Cafe singlet. :)

When I did my ultimate surfing adventure back in September our last stop was Coolangatta and I have never forgotten the amazing fries they sell at the hostel where we stayed. I wanted Annina to taste them as well and since we were this close to Coolangatta we took the trip there. The hostel looked just like it did 9 months ago and the fries still tasted amazing. I also showed Annina the view of Surfers Paradise from the beach in Coolangatta.

Movie World

The next morning we got up early and drove the short distance from where we camped to Movie World to get there before it opened. All of Australia's theme parks are located in the Gold Coast and after looking through brochures and reading about the different ones we decided on Movie World. We could see roller coasters from outside the entrance so it looked promising! Movie World reminded me a lot from when I went to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida with my family. Every roller coaster, ride, shop or other attraction has a theme connected with a movie or franchise. We went on a Saturday and I was afraid it would be as packed as Universal Studios, but I think we got extremely lucky. It was a gorgeous day, but because of winter it was the off season. The longest we ever had to wait in line was 30 minutes and on most rides we waited 5-10 minutes.

Movie World has two good roller coasters, Superman Escape and Lethal Weapon. We both decided that Superman Escape was the best ride and took that the most number of times. After a slow circuit inside a building where you get the story of the ride, the roller coaster shoots out of the building reaching 100km/h in 2 seconds and then climbs straight up a vertical climb. Here it almost stops before plummeting down again on the other side. The Lethal Weapon roller coaster was also great. It is a steel inverted roller coaster which means your feet are dangling in the air and the track is above you. The Lethal Weapon ride was the loopy ride of Movie World with many loops and twists. I won't go into detail about every ride, that would make this post both boring and way to long. However I will comment on a show we watched called Hollywood Stunt Driver. It was set up to look like a movie set with a director and crew filming a few car chase scenes from a movie. The show we (the audience) were watching was the stunt drivers driving around doing all sorts of tricks with the cars at high speed. The best trick was when three cars were all driving around on two wheels. Also the finale was really good. It is hard to describe but if you ever get the chance to go to Movie World Australia don't miss Hollywood Stunt Driver.

It was illegal to bring food inside the park (yet another way to milk money from the customers) so we decided to just go the whole day without food and then eat when we left. Although I was really hungry in the end I was also happy that we did it like this. Usually after I eat I start feeling a little bit sick after to many rides, but this time the whole day flew past and I could do as many rides as I wanted while feeling great. At 5:00PM the rides closed and everyone gathered along the main street in the park to watch the closing parade with all the different characters from the rides and shows. My favorite character was Batman. He even drove the real car that was used in the movie "The Dark Knight". We both agreed that Movie World was worth the money and that we both had a great time.



Movie World: 17. July 2010

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Our next stop along the east coast towards Sydney was Nimbin, a small but famous town to Australians. For the last 30-40 years it has been known as the hippie capitol of Australia and attracts a special group of people. In later years tourists flock here to look at the oddly colored houses, meet the free thinking community and buy ecological produce. Some people travel to Nimbin to buy what is legal in Netherlands, but I will not go down that road now. The real reason we went to Nimbin was because it was along the way to Mt. Warning, one of the highest mountains in northern NSW. We only stopped for about an hour in Nimbin to look around and visit the local Museum. However the Museum is something special and unique and captures the atmosphere of Nimbin very well. It was very interesting and cool to walk through it.

Mt. Warning

We reached Mt. Warning in the afternoon and set up camp. Mt. Warning is 1.156 meters over see level and because it is located so close to the easternmost point of the Australian continent it is the first place in mainland Australia to receive sunlight each morning. Our plan was to climb up during the night and reach the top in time for the sunrise. The path to the top is 8.8km return with 500 meters in the end that you have to climb with a chain. We got up at 2:30AM and started the walk by 3:00AM. We brought a bag with food and warm cloths and a flashlight. Without the flashlight it would have been impossible to do it. It was pitch black along the track and all we saw was the meter ahead of us that the torch lit up. After about an hour we reached the halfway mark where we stopped for a quick rest before continuing on. After another hour we reached the chain climbing section. Here we had to take turns climbing, first I climbed a few meters then I had to light the way for Annina who didn't have a flashlight. We finally reached the summit after two and a half hours of walking. The first light was just visible over the horizon but it would be another 45 minutes before sunrise so we sat down and ate cookies and relaxed.

At first we were alone but as time passed and the sunrise came closer more and more people arrived. By the time the sun came into view at least 20 people had gathered on the lookout atop Mt. Warning. And this was a Monday morning! The sunrise was very beautiful and we both decided it was well worth the climb in the dark. The view was also spectacular. We could see the cape of Byron Bay in the horizon and small towns scattered across the landscape. What made it even more beautiful was the mist that lay thick in the valleys. Green forests, white mist and the golden sun! I tried to capture the magic on camera but I think to be there is more impressive. There are more photos in the album below!

When the sun was fully visible we started our hike back down. We could now properly see the track we had walked earlier in the night. The chain climb was the most shocking, that we did that in the dark was unbelievable. The path further down was also narrow several places with steep banks on either side. If we had fallen down there in the dark it would not have ended good. I don't want to scare anyone though, it is possible. I mean all 20 of us made it up that night and I am sure there are at least the same number of people any other night. And I have not heard of any accidents and it's not illegal to climb up during the night. Just be careful and you will be okay. The walk back down only took 1.5 hours and we arrived at the car happy and proud. We had done everything we wanted on the east coast and it was now time to drive back to Sydney and sell the car.

Mt. Warning: 19. July 2010

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