Goldie Lookin' Coast

The queue that led us to the Metropolis Rapid Transit (MRT) platform was small and fast moving. A short safety warning was issued to passengers before boarding commenced, but there was no reason for concern. The system was friendly, informative, and efficient. No-one expected anything to go wrong. No-one thought we'd suffer a series of earthquakes within seconds of the train leaving the station. A series of earthquakes that caused such devastation that we were unable to stop at the next station. Destruction that turned concrete to dust and brought cars from the street level into the tunnel next to us. The emergency lighting system kicked in and the evacuation warning sounded. An explosion was expected in the tunnel any minute, and this was the moment that the train decided to lose power and seal our fate. There was no escape. No hope for salvation.

As we readied ourselves for the end, a calm and reassuring voice came from behind the train. Almost before the words finished reaching our ears, our bodies accelerated away from their origin at tremendous speed. In 2 seconds, we had reached 100 km /hr and left the tunnel. An explosion behind us screamed out in fury at our escape. Our train flew up to a vertical angle before curving round and flying straight down towards the ground again. After that we flew through various loops & turns before returning to relative safety. The sound of everyone breathing in again was undeniable. The next sound was a unity of voices calling for an encore.

We had as just been on the new 'Superman Escape' ride at Warner Brothers Move World. Ignoring the rest of the park, we walked straight around to the entry and got ready to experience it all again. What a rush!

Elsewhere in the amusement park, we saw a 4D Shrek movie, had photos with cartoon characters, rode the Lethal Weapon rollercoaster, watched The Police Academy Stunt Show and escaped ghosts on the Scooby Doo ride. It was a trip back to my past. I couldn't stop smiling as similarities to a Disney World visit when I was 10 surrounded me. I may have aged 15 years since then, but I'm sure my smile was just as big, if not bigger.

‘Dreamworld’ on the other hand, has no cartoon characters or movies to give background stories to their rides. It is just a choice of pure knuckle-whitening, heart-pumping, pant-staining rides that you’re not sure if you liked or not, but do them again. The advertisements for the park goad thrill seekers into attempting all 5 of the most brutal choices on offer – The Cyclone, The Claw, Wipeout, Tower of Terror, & The Giant Drop. These varied in directions, speed, and duration for how they threw your bodies around, but to illustrate their pedigree I’ll explain what is involved in The Giant Drop (the highest vertical drop ride in the world): A slow ascent to 119 metres, hanging there for what seems like an eternity, before free-falling for 5 seconds and reaching a speed of 135 km / hr and experiencing 4Gs.

I wonder what it is that fascinates us as a species with experiencing things which trick our bodies into thinking we are in mortal danger. Is it a quasi-subconscious feeling of euphoria caused from still being alive after the event, despite logically knowing that you were never actually in danger? Does it go back to an innate sense of proving oneself that must be quenched by other means when partake of war is not possible? A test. A challenge of conquering our fears and setting new boundaries to what we can put ourselves through? Or is it something more dark in nature; a glorified method of self-destruction that is more socially acceptable than a vodka binge? Is it a fascination with living or dying that draws millions of people every year to theme parks like this?

‘Dreamworld’ is also the setting for the Big Brother Studios, a Matrix exhibit, a wild-life section with tigers weighing up to 250kg, 9m long pythons and an 8m long crocodile, and various other themed sections of fun. The rest of the rides offered slightly more complex ways of twisting, turning, disorientating, and speeding you into a zone of adrenaline fueled grins that were impossible to shake for the rest of the day. To make sure, we rode most of the rides at least twice and threw our bodies in every way possible. Thankfully, nothing was ever thrown from our bodies.

Our base for these trips was a place called Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast of Australia, located about an hour drive south of Brisbane and 20 minutes south of Surfers Paradise. Some friends of Lucie’s were kind enough to put up with us for a few days while we raced around and saw as much as possible (thanks Theo and Nora). As well as the theme parks, we went body-boarding in Burleigh Heads, had a brief glimpse at Surfers Paradise (merely an excuse to see X-men 3 at the cinema), met up with Sarah & Gavin again, and spent a day in Brisbane.

'The River City' seemed like a very beautiful city, but we just weren't in the mood to see much that day. I’m not sure if was because of what we had already seen in the area, or just a tiredness that was becoming more draining with our continuous travels. We tried to check out a couple of local points of interest only to see a suit of scaffolding covering them. After that, we made a quick circuit through the streets and found our way to the casino. Lucie has an uncanny knack for winning on fruit machines and we planned to use this skill whenever the possibility presented itself. But that’s it. That’s all I could say about Brisbane.

The Gold Coast has seen a tremendous amount of development over the last 10 years and shows no sign of slowing down. The ‘Warner Brothers’ company is in the process of moving their entire film production operations to the area and building 30,000 homes for the staff. Elsewhere in the area (at the moment) are a dozen other attractions including Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo, & Sea World. Sadly we didn’t have time (or money) to visit the zoo but assured ourselves we would have plenty of other opportunities to see crocs in their natural environment further up the coast. Our travels so far have varied from true outback experiences, interacting with nature, and seeing some national monuments. The stay in the Gold Coast was something different entirely. Just fun. No culture. No genuine Aussie experience. Just a few days of behaving like kids, not worrying, and enjoying ourselves. That's worth a stop for anyone passing through the area.