TAMBORINE MOUNTAIN AGAIN

Went up with Tamborine Mountain on Monday, which was the Labour Day public holiday here. This time, with 2 other families, my visiting bro-in-law with his family and his in-laws' family from Brisbane. We were blessed with a nice day, with breeze and not too sunny. We took them to Heritage Wines, Witches Falls and Cedar Creek Estate, 3 different wineries. Witches Falls had by far the most equipment on site... as well as its own vineyards to boot. They had some nice flower plants in the garden outside the wineries...Here's some at Witches Falls Witches Falls had some really big tanks processing their wines at the back...I sneaked a few shots of their 'brew' cauldrons in the backyard.

More state-of-the art tanks these days... what to do, the price of commercialisation -need to ensure mass production to keep up with growing demands, ... Witches Falls Winery is small but pretty well-known for their unique wines. They have their own special charming concoction of dessert wine named Granite Belt Botrytis made with a special fungi & gives a pleasant uniquely sweet flavour.

traditional wine ageing barrels like these become curio artifacts on display instead..

Was surprised to see maple trees can grow at the Cedar Creek estate:They gave the place a nice autumny feel......with leaves turning yellow & golden. And that's as close to the 'fall effect' as it gets in Queensland. Cedar Creek is more "tourist-y" and quite a popular stop since it has a glow worm cave adjacent to the winery. We both agreed that this time of the year is a nicer time to come here..cooler and more scenic too.

BYRON BAY

Went for a drive on Saturday to Byron Bay in NSW. We heard it had breathtaking sceneries at Cape Byron and wanted to take a look at the 'eastern most point of mainland Australia'. So, we packed lunch and headed off in the morning, hoping perhaps to catch the farmer's market there as well. It is a pleasant one hour's drive from Gold Coast to Byron Bay but alas, we were kinda late to make it there, since Byron Bay is in New South Wales and therefore an hour ahead of Queensland. The market closes at 11am- there are a few there, in Bangalow as well as Mullumbimby. Plus, it was unfamiliar territory so we took some time finding our way around. Well, I must confess, we left with no maps on our hands with the intention of getting some info at the information centre when we stopped by the town centre.

Anyway, we decided that the lighthouse and Cape Byron was a better 1st stop, so we parked downhill (to avoid paying for parking uphill: $7!!) and walked up to the lighthouse at the top of the hill. Good exercise, definitely...There are steps leading the track down to the eastern most point from the lighthouse, so we could catch a scenic view of the waves crashing upon the rocks below.

Beautiful place, and we even saw an outdoor wedding being held there. Romantic venue to get married for sure, that is if the wind isn't too strong to lift off the tablecloths or mess up hairdos ... We walked right till the end of the track where it was officially the eastern most point of mainland Australia.. gotta have this "been there done that" badge, rite??

Cape Byron was named after Lord Byron the famous English poet's granddad, (don't ask me why his grandad and not him. Ask James Cooke) and the lighthouse built in 1901 still functions till this day, guiding ships away from the rocks. The place: Byron Bay was originally known as Cavvanbah by the indigenous people here who are the Arakwal tribe- a subtribe of the Bunjalong people. The name Cavvanbah means 'meeting place'. Today, the Arakwal people are the official custodians of the area. They take care of the parks & the aboriginal reserves of the place and participate actively in decision-making for natural resources here.

 

Cape Byron has been cited as the spiritual 'east gate' of Australia and not surprisingly, Byron Bay has drawn a lot of spiritual-related activities here, including new age, yoga and stuff.. It's very hippy and well-known as a physical hub for spiritual guides and alternative healing and for tolerance towards different religions and lifestyles. There's hooroos for gurus with psychics and astrologists, yoga, pilates and tai chi, day spas, crystals, body care, massage therapy, naturopathy, homeopathy and aromatherapy for relaxation and healing. There are also strong communities of both major and minority mainstream religions and dedicated devotees to the more eclectic spiritual sects. Eccentric place and rather quirky in its own style. You will see many leisure and health-related shops in the town area.

There was this shop with the amusing name of Happy High Herbs. I will leave you to your own imagination what it possibly sells.....

On the way back, we also took at peek at the Macadamia Castle, right beside the M1 highway hoping to see perhaps some factory for producing those nuts and peek at how they might roast those nice wasabe-flavoured macadamias.. ahh let down.. just a shop cum cafe with some playground for kids and a few nut-crackers for free nut sampling. Macadamia ice-cream is divine, though...but not a hit with us. No kick this place...

TAMBORINE MOUNTAIN

Have been waiting to explore the food and wine trail in the Hinterland of Gold Coast all these months and finally, we get to do so today! This part of Gold Coast is totally a different world from the sunny beach culture of the east. Further into the Hinterland and up Mt. Tambourine, it is hilly, surrounded by bushes & tree forests and wide expanse of land, about 40km away from the city area. We went primarily for some wine-tasting today and a look-see at this different part of GC. Gold Coast is not super famous for its wines, as the weather isn't optimum here for vineyards, but there are some good boutique wineries on the hills that churn out decent bottles of fine wines at good prices. We visited several wineries, one of which was the Cedar Creek Estate...

..of course not taste all you like, you were only allowed to sample 2 types of wine... and pay extras to sample the rest.

The Wild Duck Lake at Cedar Creek Estate

and also to visit the Glow-worm caves attached next to it. This is an artificially-built cave to cultivate and sustain glow-worms, a very strange creature with lights emanating from its butts..It seems they can be very useful things for cancer research as well as being an efficient bio-energy source for lights. It was only a small cave and very dark,

The entrance to the glow-worm caves..

but was interesting to see the 'starry' look on the cave walls. Unfortunately not allowed to take pictures so, this shot, I borrowed from the internet to show those creatures displaying their glowing bums...

A good educational tour, but methinks the New Zealand one might be better as it is natural and larger... Next stop was the Gallery Walk at Eagle's Heights which has this row of interesting shops selling chocolates, handicrafts, art pieces, cuckoo clocks, yummy fudge squares and candies..

I loved the German cuckoo clock shop and Jordan thot all the clocks were mad as in 'gone cuckoo'..had to explain why they were named cuckoo clocks.. On the way, we stopped by a shop to buy avocadoes.. $2 for a big bag of 7... We also tasted wine at Witches Fall Winery, another wine estate. I was joking that if the cops ever did a random breath test here, everyone would flunk miserably after all the wine-tasting!!

This was one of our first stops, we saw the word 'COFFEE' and our tyres screeched to a stop... gotta have our cuppa, OF COURSE! So here it was, the Mount Tamborine coffee plantation...

small but quaint place... lovely smooth latte and coconut cheesecake. ..Saw coffee beans for 1st time in their natural unroasted form. The skin is actually quite sweet like grape skin and the bean is pale yellowish colour and covered with gooey slime... one of the workers (or owner maybe) told me the birds do eat some of them but they get kinda 'high' so they don't worry too much about them eating too much!

Mount Tamborine also has quite a number of beer breweries but we didn't stop by any of those spots.. we were also on the lookout for the cheese factory but couldn't seem to locate it, unfortunately...They had lots of lovely lodges and holiday units in quaint cottages available for those who wish to stay the night. There are also some waterfalls in the nature parks, which we didn't get to explore. Nice place, would definitely come back to re-explore and recommend it as a laidback holiday outing for those who love foods, wine and scenic drives.

THE CARRARA WEEKEND MARKET

Last Saturday, we went to the Carrara weekend market, to have a look at stuff there. Thot it would be nice for my mum & aunt to try some market culture from Gold Coast. They had lots of interesting stuff there. From cowskin,..

art & craft, potteries, plants, clothes, toys, collectibles,...

to didgeridoos (a type of ethnic aborigine pipe) ....

to fresh fruits and vege, they had quite a good variety. There was a chinese man playing his dulcimer as demo for music on DVD's being sold.

One thing you won't find here is live animals being sold like in the "pasar malams" in Malaysia. Australian culture is strictly against peddling animals for sale. They've got some humane law probably to protect their rights. So, one won't find live caged birds, or fish in tanks here or dogs for sale. But, you will find instead, their plastic, porcelain replicas in the form of art & craft, clay potteries and little miniatures.

Unfortunately, the two ladies didn't find anything they like except the fruits and vegetables! Not up to their taste, I guess, these western handicraft stuff. The tie dyes and ethnic cloths, they said, could be bought at a fraction of the cost at Thailand. But the strawberries and grapes, - too good to resist for their price & freshness....

CURRUMBIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY & HONEY WORLD

My mum and aunt are visiting. Flew in on July 5th and have been enjoying their company. Well, considering being lonely here without my husband, it is nice to have company from Malaysia for a change. So, 2 days ago, took them to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary for a visit.

Was wondering if it would be too taxing for the two ladies to walk thru the park but I figured, ..since it was my aunt's 1st visit to Australia, she's just gotta see koala bears and kangaroos rite? After all, these are Australian trademark animals proudly unique to this continent and found nowhere else unless through diplomatic zoo exchanges or blackmarket wildlife smuggling. So, off we trudged to Currumbin.

Managed to get 3 adult tickets for kid's price which is at $21.00 per pax. Usually you pay $44.00 for adults and $26 for kids. How did I do it? Easy, bargain hunting for coupon giveaways. This promotion was even better than the measly 10% offered for online bookings.

The weather was lovely, cool but not too windy. Koala bears were all curled up in a furry ball sleeping, so we didn't get to see their faces, too bad. We walked to see the snake show but missed a good portion of it, but managed to take pixes with the possum. (They had other animals for display as well, you see). Jordan was too chicken to take shots with the snake curled round his shoulder, so he opted for posing with the possum instead..

They also had crocodiles, emus, hedgehogs, pelicans, many other bird species, dingos, wombats, tasmanian devils but a good portion of these animals weren't awake. You'll see the nocturnal ones in action more at night, so get the night tickets for the "wild nite tours", - better I think. But oh well, the day tour was good enuff as an appetizer for visitors. The kangaroo section was stinky and full of kangaroo poo on the ground. They were very docile and gentle animals, allowing you to pet them, but boy does the place stink! Glad it's not summer otherwise, flies would have been swarming around.

After the kangaroos and eagles, the older ladies decided they had enuff for the day, so we took the park's free train back to the entrance. We then crossed the street to see the Honeyworld shop which sells honey products.

You get to sample all types of natural Australian honey.

Never knew there were so many honey types including eucalyptus, rainforest, macadamia, wild, etc. I was told Manuka honey is the best type with natural antioxidants. Honey with popcorn is also super lovely. You can also pay for a honey-making show but we didn't go for that.

ROBINA TOWN CENTRE STAGE 2 OPENING- BIGGER, PRETTIER & MORE

Yeah baby.. this is more like it! Now, this is what I call a real shopping centre. Robina Town Centre finally opened its new 2nd phase on April 2nd 2009, 2 days ago with a 900-seat food court, Australia's largest Big W, a second Woolworths, Queensland's largest Country Road store and more than 100 specialty retailers.

The architecture reminds me sorta like malls back in Malaysia/Singapore, more classy, with marbled floors and lotsa, lotsa shops. Lounges and comfy chairs for shoppers and very nice open spaces. $300 million they put into this new phase, it'd better be good. Variety is the name of the game and malls must give it to attract. Otherwise, no deal. So, yeah I'm pretty impressed- it's got something for everyone, what's missing? hmm.. how about a nice big playzone like those in 1 Utama so I can dump the kid there while I go shopping for hours?

Robina Town Centre houses some of Australia’s most exciting and iconic brands including Carla Zampatti, Oroton, Veronika Maine, Guess, Marcs, Mimco, Aldo, JAG, Ben Sherman, Diana Ferrari, L'Occitane and I like the new Borders bookstore with Gloria Jeans cafe attached which sits right above the food court. Noticed there are no escalators, just lifts and walkalators, easy facilities for the aged and disabled. Woolworths is just right next to the parking bays, so I think they really thought thru the convenience mechanics this time for shoppers. The final stage, which includes the redevelopment of The Promenade, the launch of the new cinemas and possibly a Myer, will be unveiled in the middle of 2009.

Robina is also home to the Gold Coast’s only David Jones store. You'll also find Target, Kmart, Coles, Woolworths and Birch Carroll & Coyle cinemas- the old wing. At this point, it is already miles ahead of Pacific Fair, which is more old-fashioned and not as upbeat...and the best part is - I live just 5 minutes drive away from it!

Opening hours: --------------------------------------------

(M-F) 9am -5.30pm; except Thursdays when it closes at 9pm (Sundays) 10.30am-4pm

CHRISTMAS CONCERT@MOVIE WORLD

Well, we never made it into the theme park itself today, but at Karen Young's encouragement "You gotta get yourself out there. It'll be fun! come on!" to go see the christmas show held at the Movie World car park/field area, we decided ya, why not? Just to also experience some of the OZ culture and love for outdoor stage performances.

The Christmas celebration event is held at Movie World for the 2nd time this year, and we didn't know it but it turns out, Karen, Peter Young's wife was the emcee for the event. Movie World is one of the sponsors, and sponsors the venue, stage props and the fireworks display for this event, but the main sponsor is the Gold Coast City Council.

We got sidetracked to the fun & games being held on the same grounds because Jordie was super-interested in these fun rides. He decided against the dangerous looking ones like rock-climbing and super slide and opted for this ride instead - the harnessed bouncer (Intro to scary rides in theme parks 101). He liked it, bouncing up & down ala trampoline style.

They had nice-looking foodstalls too, but we didn't want hotdogs for dinner...

So, we decided to leave earlier because our stomachs voted for dinner over the fireworks, and didn't even get to watch the carols, but hey, at least we pulled ourselves out of the house for another cultural experience....

BROTHER COMES TO VISIT

KAI SEONG (Samuel's younger brother) & his family were in town again this week, and spent 2 nights with us. We enjoyed having them & baby Isaac with us. Jordie is so pleased whenever Isaac points to him when asked where is 'koko'? now the big brother koko concept slowly registering... On 19 Nov (Wed), we brought them to Currumbin Beach, which has a nice cove so its waves are not too rough, but it was still too windy that day. Had been raining on & off for past 2 days...

That's Hui Xi, my sis-in-law, she is "jaga"-ing (watching) baby Isaac who fell asleep in the car, and well, is also actually not a beach fan, so staying off the sand that day.

But look at Jordie on the loose!! no stopping this guy from diving into the sand. he loves it ....

CAR BOMBERS: Cute white seagulls perching there contemplating whether to "bomb" another nuisance car. Obviously, the $1500 fine against dogs on beach suits them just fine... , 'yup, get those irritating canines off our territory.. enough intruders already..."...

Next, we went to Surfer's Paradise & had Italian at La Porchetta's. Ordered pizza, pasta, steak, & fish. Here's Papa bear & baby bear tucking into yummy pasta. Look at them go! It was a rainy day so, we didn't really walk much downtown, but just took a few pictures. Jordie enjoyed wheeling Isaac on his stroller, ...

A LITTLE HISTORY ON GOLD COAST: CAVILL AVENUE and its extension, the Cavill mall, in Surfer's Paradise were named in honor of James 'Jim' Cavill. This Brisbane hotelier had helped to popularise the area as a tourist attraction. Cavill was one of the pioneers of development on the Gold Coast, Australia. Many years after initial entrepreneurial endeavours failed, James Cavill purchased 25 acres (101,000 m²) of land in the Elston subdivision. He built a hotel, which he named the Surfers Paradise Hotel. James Cavill was heavily involved in the early promotion of the Elston, and lobbied hard for the name change to Surfers Paradise (the same as his hotel). The Elston area was slow to take off, but when it finally did, the local newspaper men labelled it the Gold Coast and in 1958 it became the official name for the town. This year is the 75th anniversary of Surfer's Paradise.