Dreamworld

Today we met at All Saints - their first day of the new term - before hopping on a bus which took us to the famous theme park, Dreamworld. A sunny morning was an excellent omen for a good day ahead.

Once inside the park, most girls headed for the scary rides. First came the big drop which is the highest vertical drop ride in the world. You are taken up over 39 stories and then held for a while before being dropped at speeds reaching 140kph. Thanks Hannah for screaming in my ear on the way down! Just as well it was a light breakfast as I left my stomach somewhere near the top of the tower. Next came the log flume which saw all of the girls getting soaked and then on to the motor bike ride to "pull some g's". Other scary ones included the Claw and Wipeout (Elise sat next to a young lad who vomited!!) before the real hard core girls conquered the Tower of Terror. This ride sends a 6 tonne car accelerating from 0 - 160 kph in 7 seconds along a horizontal track and then straight up and back down. Great screaming girls.

The park also contains some of Australia's indigenous animals like kangaroos, crocodiles, emus and so on and you can cuddle a Koala! This was a hugely popular part of the park but many of the girls then hurried back to take on the Tower of Terror again. Others went to the animal shows like the crocodile experience where again you could hold a baby croc, Tiger Land which saw a great display by two Bengal Tigers and then the Cougar show (see pics).

At this point it started to rain but we had obviously all been good as this came after we had finished on the rides. A slower bus ride home and then everyone was collected by their hosts for the last night at their homes. Tomorrow we will be off to surfers Paradise for 2 nights at Islander Inn. It is only about 20 minutes down the road so we may well be visited by some of the All Saints girls.