Adrenaline Gold Coast - Day 2

I woke up at 6am to see the sun peeking between the buildings with the rays reaching into my room. I actually tot I was late and scrambled for my watch to double check the time. As it was still early and my alarm was set for 7am, I brot the automatic shutters down and went back to sleep.

Met Donald and Ahmad for breakfast at the exec lounge but the food choices there were pathetic. They only had one type of pancake, some egg muffin thingi and that was it!

John and Rachel picked us up at 8am and we were off to Numinbah Valley for the ATV Quad Bike Safari. Took so many wrong turns as they were not familiar with the location. YS came to the rescue with his GPS and we finally reached our destination after 1 hr. Everything was so different in the outskirts. All I saw were vast lands with cows and horses. It was like farm country everywhere you turned. I think they were milk farms. Met the people who ran the outfit and off we went.

The Quad Bike Safari's offers guided ATV tours in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Check out www.atvadventures.com.au.
One gets to experience riding through creeks, mud and forest trails to view great mountain scenery and step in dunk. hahhaa... After a brief brief, we choose our vehicles, out on our helmets and started our engines.

A brief brief on how to handle the bike

The guys all choose the quads bikes so Helen (from NZ) took the Quad car with me as the passenger.

The dirty bike
The dirty cars

Donald was the first casualty of the day as his quad went out of control and hit the barb fencing and all this even before we really took off on the trail.

That's Donald and his fence

As for us, Helen went into every hole and over every bump she could find and when we reached a trough of muddy water, she rushed it and got me all wet and dirty. It was like liquid brown foundation. You should have seen me.

Off on an adventure!

Cheeky Rachel kept honking from the back and ramming up the back of our car.

John and Rachel and their honkers

My favourite part was crossing the creek. We must have deposited so much cow dunk in there : ) Then it was my turn to drive. It was an experience driving the car especially over the uneven ground. Some parts were so uneven, it felt as it the car would turn over on its side. Heart thumping moment.

We stopped at the top of one hill to look in awe at the amazing hinterland scenery and even caught a glimpse of wild kangaroos hopping away from us as well as one lone wallaby. Made part of my day : ) Had tea, coffee and biscuits before heading back. I was anxious by then as I needed to pee very badly.I think my picture taking skills needs work as the scenery was breathtaking...

Dunk I nearly stepped on coming out of the car

Swapped places with YS and rode the bike back. It was hard work and a strain on the arms as the handles are hard to turn. My ass also hurt the next day. Is this how it feels like riding a running horse??

We ate a lot of dust that morning but it was well worth it. But I still felt nothing could beat the off road buggy. Said our goodbyes and drove back to Broadbeach for lunch at Beach House Bar & Grill. Check out www.beachousegrillbar.com
It's a classic Australian restaurant specialising in steaks, ribs and seafood. I order the Wagyu 7 points beef. It's breathtaking!

The raw Wagyu steak being warmed up under the warming lights
The finished product. Don't dip it in anyting. Savour it on its own.

I also order the BBQ Bay Bugs to share with the rest as its something one must try when in Gold Coast. But if you had a choice of the way it is cooked, try it stimmed or boiled without much to disturb its natural taste and juices. I didn't really like the ones served here. The starter bay bugs at the Versace Restaurant was fantastic and served cold.

Bay bugs with rice

I also shared fresh oysters with YS

When eating in Australia, you are sure to put on weight as they serve you bread and dip even before your starters arrive. And some restaurants serve a mean portion of the main meal.

Calamari starter - tink this was over fried

Prawns starter which got our mouths watering

Yummylicious Fish
The Lamb shank comes in 1 or 2 parts. If you had starters, 1 is sufficient
Delectable BBQ Prawns

The gigantic ribs

With our tummy's filled to the brim with that fantastic meal, we drove off to Stapylton to the Dick Johnson Race Museum which is a purpose built race facility which includes a race museum and retail store. It's home to the cars Dick Johnson made famous and is home to the Jim Bean Racing team. Check out djr.com.au

One of their reps gave us a guided tour of the work shop and kept on rattling facts on how their built their cars, maintain them, etc... It was as if he didn't need to take a breath!
To tell you the truth I was bored after a while until I saw.... James... He races for them Car no 18.

Ok, this pic does not do justice as its against the light and he kept moving!
The cars were really beautiful and made me wish I had choosen a different career

The work shop
The famous Dick Johnson

The story goes: In those days, the teams did not have any sponsors and had to sell their souls and asses for money to race. In the final qualifier, someone threw a gigantic stone onto the track and caused Dick's car to crash. As he had no money to get a new car, he was caught on TV crying his heart out as he had actually qualified for the race. In a show of support, the community got together and pooled enough money to get him going. And he went on to be a champion.

Thed had a gigantic transporter which they use to transport their cars as well as use as their resting and control rooms cost at least AUD 2 mil.

The infamous rock

Then it was back to the hotel for some R&R but we went down to the exec floor to partake in some free alcohol and tit bits. Dinner was at the award winning Charters Towers which is situated in the hotel itself overlooking the entrace to the casino.

The entrace to Charters Towers

Interior - we were sitting way at the end in the middle

We were to have dinner with racing legend and Team A1 Australia Alan Jones as well as the man who runs the Nitro GP. Alan Jones was an F1 champion who won the race in 1985 (I think) for Frank Williams whose team we are currently a proud sponsor of : )

The first thing YS pointed out to me was the oysters and lobster. As you can guess, those were his picks of the night. Donald settled for the Wagyu beef.

My BBQ lobster - yummy

Donald was nice enough to break open the claws for me so that I didn't have to get my hands too dirty.

The beer I was consuming through out my stay in Gold Coast.

Made small talk the entire night and then YS was itching to go to the casiso to try his luck. So we said our goodnights and headed off. In 15 mins at the black jack table, YS won AUD 400!!! And then he chicken out, cashed his chips in and left. I roamed the slots table and the next thing I know, everyone had left me all alone in the casino. Sathis stayed for a short chat and then it was time for me to crash and burn. It's been a long day... Hope the media has great fodder for their articles : )

Adrenaline Gold Coast - Day 1

The plane departed LCCT. KL about 9.50pm on Monday night (20 July). Premium Seats were not too bad on the A330 but not as good as the ones on the A340 which were really biz class seats.

Premium Seats

I couldn't sleep a wink throughout the entire 8 hour flight as I couldn't find a comfortable position. But that's just me ;Þ

We landed at the Coolangata airport at 7.35am on Tuesday 21 July, picked up our bags and went out to meet Gus who's from Business Class Transfer. That was when Daniel started on his jokes and on Hooters ;Þ He went on till we left Gold Coast 5 days later ; )

With no food in our belly's, wearing the same old clothes (I was still wearing the same ones I wore to work on Monday) we stopped first at Conrad Jupiter, Broadbeach which we would call home for the next 5 days. You can also find the casino here. Not as big as the one in Genting but passable.

Rooms were not ready so we dropped off our bags and waited for the GCT reps to arrive. John and Rachel showed up 5 mins later and off we were in 2 cars to enjoy a scenic helicopter ride with Gold Coast Helitours at Main Beach. I think they cost AUD 199 per pax for a 20 min ride. It was located right beside the Versace hotel by the pier where the rich and famous dock their yacths and big boats.
Check out www.goldcoasthelitours.com.au


Great views from above, just too bad we didn't see any humpback whales though it was whale season.

View from above

Conrad Jupiter

Q Deck - tallest residential towers

The next item on the itinerary was something I have been looking forward to : ) The adrenaline-pumping ride in an off-road buggy at Off Road Rush at Jacob's Well which offers a V8 engine full of grunt and the freedom to drive hard and fast on a dirt Race Circuit. It was AUD 199 for 8 laps plus 1 hot ride with Chris.
Check out www.offroadrush.com.au

We each chose to either drive the Subaru WRX or the buggy so I choose the big white wheeler. It was scary trying to drive when I could barely see over the steering wheel and the helmet kept slipping down the front. Car nearly went out of control twice but the second time, he made me correct it myself. We were laughing like hyena's when that happen. Thrills!!! Made the big jump over and over again after taking hair raising corners and Chris just kept asking me to go faster and faster! Eat my dust!!!

Our poison ;Þ

That's me driving : )

After everyone was done, Chris took each of us on a hot lap and was he going FAST! I tot the car was touching the ground at every corner! and the jumps! Mind boggling....

YS and I posing in front of the car I drove

Me bout to go on a hot lap with Chris.
It's not easy climbing into these things...

WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!

Aaaaaahhhhhhh!

The rides really woke me up from my slumber (have been awake for 27 hrs by then) and kept the juices pumping throughout my body. What could beat this?

One last picture before we left

With tummy's rumbling, we set off on a half hr ride to DreamWorld, Coomera where we had lunch at the Billabong. Check out www.dreamworld.com.au

Entrace to Dreamworld

Inside Dreamworld

The Billabong

Inside Billabong

They were serving buffet lunch and the potatoes + corn + calamari were spectacular! Beef was so so and the ice cream was the final touch : )

I have been to Australia twice; once to Perth and once to Gold Coast but never seen nor touched the indigenous animals like the kangaroos and koala's. So off we went to the animal sanctuary where I finally touched them! : ) The kangaroos were free roaming and came up to you to be fed. I was like a little kid in the candy store.

I touched a kangaroo!

The lazy bums basking in the sun

Flow Rider

We only managed to play at the Motocoaster and Aliens Vs Predators. I loved the A vs P. We were strapped up in a suit thingi which was linked to a laser gun and we were pitted against teams. All you had to do was shoot the opposite team with your guns and chalk up as many points as possible. I was ranked 4th with 970 points. Not good but better than the guys ;Þ

The Claw

All tired out, I had a quick nap in the car as we headed back to the hotel to check in and freshen up. Tot I could catch more snoozes but then we discovered they served alcohol at the exec lounge from 5-7pm. Who could turn that down?
The room was fantastic and the bed was super comfy. They had 4 set of towels in the bathroom. Wonder why.. You don't want to know YS's and Daniel theory ;Þ

Room 1952

All 5 of us met at level 18 for pre-dinner drinks. The strawberries dipped in chocolate was heaven and with beer, bliss. John arrived to pick us at for dinner at 1two3 at 7pm. We were in for a Mediterranean treat : ) Check out www.1two3restaurant.com.au

1two3 at Broadbeach

YS and Donald are oyster fanatics and between them ate tons of fresh oysters with lemon and tobasco. I was hooked as well. Unlike the ones I have eaten in Malaysia, these oysters were crunchy, not slimy and tasted great. I never knew! Ate them at lunch and dinner for the next 2 1/2 days.

Yummy appetizer

Fresh oysters with a bit of a crunch

My main dish of beef and calamari

Sinful dessert Donald ordered

I didn't reall fancy the wine there so I chased everything down with a hot pot of green tea. Fabulous : ) Throughout my trip, I had lots of local beer and tea with rich food. Put on tons of weight I think ;Þ

The guys and I walked all the way back to the hotel which was a 10 min walk to get the stomach juices going and the food digested. It was a cool night and then it was time to say goodnight as I could barely keep my eyes open. Tomorrow's another day and was I glad to be in Gold Coast...