I haven't fully recovered from the australia holiday last week, in terms of bank account.. but GSS is already here.. ;)

so here's a quick recap of the trip (24-30 May 2006).

day 1: singapore
finally had the chance to patronize the newly opened budget terminal. it's a small one-level building, a big hall surrounded by few stores. at least they have free internet there. the flight was quite late, departed on 10.35pm.


day 2: darwin
arrived on the wee hours of the morning. rummaged through stacks of brochures and flyers. took cab to city, dropped luggage in a locker and went for a walk at esplanade park. city tour with tour tub bus.
















had a short nap to compensate the lack of sleep and headed to mindil beach for the weekly sunset market. there're lots of asian food down there, japanese, korean, even sate lontong jakarta. they even have indomie mi goreng in their supermarket. tried fruit salad, mexican nachos, pizza, strawberry with ice cream and crocodile meat satay. the satay tasted weird. only after it's finished, I realized the stall selling it is named "you killed it, we grilled it".. animals killed in road accidents are grilled and sold there. ewww.. sunset at mindil beach was breathtaking.
















day 3 & 4: goldcoast

took Airtrain to goldcoast from brisbane airport. it was a really cold morning. strolled along the nice and clean beach and had fish & chip for lunch. went to pacific fair for some shopping.

















movie world! the theme park was not too crowded, and the weather was just perfect. shrek 4D, scooby-doo spooky coaster, police academy stunt show, official matrix exhibit, looney tunes river ride, road runner roller coaster, batman adventure the ride. had magnum nachos for lunch. took bus back to city, went to palazzo versace hotel just for the sake of seeing one =) and to marina mirage.



















day 5 & 6: brisbane

went to botanic gardens. joined the city light tour to mount coo-tha and a short cruise along the river. had beef lasagna with garden salad while savouring the city night view. topped it up with a cup of hot chocolate - the best I've ever had. thick, creamy chocolate drink with marshmallow, whipped cream and chocolate powder sprinkled on top.

took a hot air balloon ride in the morning. picked up by the pilot himself at 5.30am.. it's freezing cold! drove to toowong park where he and his assistant inflated the balloon using hot air. the ride itself was very smooth, took around 40 minutes from the park to another end of the city. had a great panoramic view of bisbane city from the air.. before an ungraceful landing with a toppled basket.. *grin*
















went to lone pine koala sanctuary in the afternoon. koalas are really adorable. they sleep 20 hours a day! pity those who are made to take pictures with tourists. made a mistake of not checking the train schedule earlier, thus the great rush from city to airport.