Castle to Castle

This morning the first words out of Dennis mouth were ‘Hey dad ... Can we make a sand castle?’ As we had not missed a day yet I of course said ‘Yes – after you eat breakfast.’ Dennis wolfed down a box of ‘Coco Pops’ with the last of the milk that Chris and I had been saving for this very occasion. (As an aside here I do have to ask the question why Coco Pops have the same name as the US version while Rice Bubbles are named Rice Krispies in the US?)

The normal morning. Sand Castle wall or two to keep out the waves and a couple of dips in the Tasman Sea. What was different is that I can honestly say today’s Sand Castle did not succumb to the onslaught of the tide. We built the wall quite thick and tall so that when we were done with our second dip the castle was holding its own quite well. So Dennis and I basking in our glory choose to crush the castle walls and rob the tide of its prize.

We left the Dicky Beach holiday park at exactly 10:00am. On our way to White Water World we stopped at Glass House Mountain scenic lookout. The drive to and from the lookout was amazing! We went through some Queensland back roads what were only paved because of the lookout, and they were appropriately devoid of traffic. The lookout was all but empty with great views of all the mountains.

It was another 90 minutes to White Water World. We arrived at 12:30pm and Dennis was wet by 12:35pm. The only thing worth mentioning about White Water World is that they have merchandized the rides. There is a preschooler area stamped with a household Australian Children's Show (I refuse to promote them here!) And there is a school age area that has modern day cartoon characters that are household names to everyone who is reading this blog (Yes even you Dad!)

We finally left (Yes that is an editorial comment by the author) the water park at 3:30pm. Having ridden everything that was open (well Dennis and Chris did, I limited myself to select rides.) one ride is worth talking about - ‘The Ripper.’ This ride was quite simple. A four person inter-tube (yes 4) that went down a very steep chute with one turn. Let me explain. We walked up Seven flights of stairs to the launch. They pushed us out into the dark tube. Just about the time we could not see anymore light from the launch the bottom of the tube fell out and we dropped five stories. Then a sharp right turn (well left as I was going backwards) and we were shot into what is best described as a toilet bowl. A few revolutions around the bowl and a quick drop to the finish.

After the water park we drove 50km to Byron Beach. Byron Beach has the honor of being the eastern most point on the Australian Mainland. We wanted to arrive before night fall, and just barely managed to do so! Because Byron Beach has a light house. I like light houses and this was a working light house. That we got to see in its full glory for by the time we got back from the lookout on the furthest east point of the mainland it was night.

The light house looks like a turret on top of a castle. The lighthouse itself was picturesque against the backdrop of the mountains. I wish we had arrived many hours earlier so we could have looked around the grounds and all the buildings. But as we are staying the night in Byron Bay we plan on another trip in the morning!

Watch this space ...