We were ready to go out about 9.30am when someone knocked on the door and BIL went to open. There was a Caucasian standing at the door and asked if the red Toyota Camry belonged to BIL. Apparently there was a small dent on his car with a bit of red paint. So BIL had to go with the guy to look at the damage while the rest of us waited. I was thinking what bad luck to have this happening at the start of the vacation.
Finally BIL came back and told us that the dent was very small and he had scraped away the red paint. The guy told BIL that it was his first car so he would like to claim insurance from BIL. BIL told the guy that he could go to the workshop to get an official quote, if the amount is small, he would settle with him there and then in cash as claiming insurance from Hertz on such a small dent is almost impossible. As most of the time, we would not be in so BIL told him that he could slot the official quote under our apartment door. Finally we went out at 10am and it took around 30 minutes to reach Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS). BIL paid A$5 to a CWS staff at the entrance of the carpark and was told that the money would be going to some wildlife projects.
We went into CWS through the gift shop and sis saw a fisherman’s hat on the rack. She took a greyish blue one and stood there browsing the rest and trying a few other designs. Finally BIL took the one that sis was still holding from her and made payment in the shop. After the happy purchase, we proceeded to the ticket counter to buy tickets. BIL said he was very tempted to pass me off as the third child coz the price for a single adult ticket was very expensive. The lady at the counter informed BIL that they were having this “Green Challenge” going on and visitors were welcomed to participate and that the ticket price also includes entrance to Super Bee Honeyworld.
Anyway, we finally got through and we walked according to the map. There was a station for taking photos with koalas but there was a short queue and the kids were not interested. Well... they had photos taken with koalas during the Perth trip few years back and I did not want to hold the rest back by queuing for it so we moved on to look at the rest of the animals. Saw snakes, lizards, turtles, birds, koalas, crocodiles, kangaroos, wallabies and so on.
Some photos of the animals in CWS :
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There was an open enclosure where kangaroos and wallabies were allowed to roam about and visitors were allowed to feed them with the kangaroo’s food available for sale in the area. BIL bought 2-3 packets and let the kids feed the animals. I tried my hands at feeding too for a while and then content myself by patting and taking photos of the kangaroos and wallabies. A staff explained that the male kangaroos were mostly lying on their backs coz it was the mating season. The male kangaroos expose their chests to give off a certain scent from the glands to attract the females. Just then, we saw a pair of kangaroos in action and BIL quickly took photos. Wallaby’s fur was not as smooth as those of the kangaroos and they were smaller in size and darker in colours. Ry likes anything soft, so much so that he was practically hogging one of the kangaroos and even placed his face against the back of that kangaroo.
Some photos of the Kangaroos and Wallabies :
 Feeding Time  Joey inside the pouch |  Males on their backs  Joey outside the pouch |
A pair of kangaroos in action
After they had finished feeding, we went to a cafe kiosk for lunch and it happened to be the place where visitors could register for the “Green Challenge”. There was not much food choices at the kiosk and so BIL bought three sets of sandwiches, one sausage roll, one chicken & leek pie and three bottles of soft drinks to share. While eating, BIL asked the kids if they wanted to participate in the “Green Challenge”. Lyn was eager to try and BIL tried to persuade Ry to join. So in the end, BIL, Ry and Lyn registered for the event after lunch. They were given a long-sleeve jumper each to suit up; sis got two lockers for their clothing and bags. Then they walked to another place with a small hut where the safety supervisor added carabiners and other stuff onto their jumpers before showing them a video of some safety procedures, etc. Took BIL’s DSLR and started taking photos as they started the obstacle course.
Some photos from the "Green Challenge" :
 Lyn in jumper  Watching the safety video |  Gearing up  Ry and Lyn |
Brother-In-Law
The courses were separated into easy, medium and hard and they chose the medium (green) course. The kids were fast and soon they left their dad behind. Sis and I followed them on the ground and sis occasionally called out to the kids to slow down to wait for their father. Very soon they completed the course and the kids wanted more. So they attempted the hard (red) course while their father surrendered and took photos of them instead. After about half an hour or less, the kids were back to the starting point and together with their father, they went back to the cafe kiosk to return the jumpers and collect their belongings from the lockers.
Then we headed to the gift shop where I bought two t-shirts, Lyn bought the “Green Challenge” t-shirt, Ry bought a soft toy and BIL a fridge magnet. Left CWS about 4pm and crossed over to the Super Bee Honeyworld. One of the staff there told us that the live bee show had been booked out due to a coach of tourists and he advised us that we could go back another day with the tickets to catch the live bee show.
So we browsed around the shop and tasted some honey. There were the Australia raw honey, Currumbin raw honey, macadamia honey, Tasmanian leatherwood honey, yellow box honey, flora honey, rainforest honey and other honey-related products such as eye cream, hand cream, body lotion and so on. Ry’s friend requested for a bottle of honey before the trip and so he bought one bottle. BIL bought a couple more bottles and two bottles of manuka honey while I just grabbed two boxes of the small sachets ones and a gift pack of two small jars before leaving the place about 4.30pm.
BIL suggested going to Pacific Fair Shopping Centre to get food since Ry wanted to go to Coles to get instant noodles. Went into Coles, took a couple of cup noodles, an economy pack of beef-flavour Maggie mee, a normal pack of mi-goreng flavour Maggie mee and a pack of beef sausages. Then they all stopped in front of the grilled section where BIL told me that he would be sharing a roast chicken with the kids and asked if I wanted to share. If yes, then he would get two chickens. Sis voiced out that she would not be eating roast chicken and that she would be going elsewhere to look for food. So I followed her decision and BIL only bought one roast chicken.
Left Coles and we saw that most of the shops were closed or closing. Entered a pastry shop and saw many lovely cakes. Asked sis if she would be getting and she said no but I could get if I wanted to. As we walked out, I told her that once she stepped out of that shop, she would not be able to go back coz it was closing up for the day. In the end, as we made our way to the carpark, we really could not find other food. After we got back, unpacked a bit and I went for shower. Came out, saw BIL and kids eating the roast chicken, sis just sat around the living room and I took the seat farthest away from them. Watched some tv, wrote blog and after they were done eating, I went to cook mi-goreng for dinner. Asked sis if she wanted to eat and she said no, she would be cooking the beef-flavour later on. I ate on the dining table while Lyn sat beside me to take photos of her souvenirs using her dad’s DSLR and BIL went to take a nap.
Thoughts: Brought windbreakers and bottles of water along but there was no need for them. The weather was sunny most part of the day. Even though it got cloudy half way, it did not rain and was cooling for the kids to do the “Green Challenge”. Pity we did not get to cover CWS entirely even though it was not very big and did not get to see the live bee show.
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