Family Vacation to Australia, Day 2 - Paradise Country and Harbour Town Outlet Shopping

Rise and Shine to the lovely climate and scenery!

Good morning Gold Coast!

We spotted a pretty lorikeet at the balcony and happened to take a snapshot of it taking flight

All ready for Day 2. It was cold and sunny. We could hardly open our eyes and the floor tiles was icy.

We decided to have our breakfast at the cafe in Bel Air before we head to our first destination. The prices for the food are pretty steep. The servings seem pretty big hence we ordered 2 meals to share along with drinks.

Both of them chilling out at the sofa in the cafe

The kids with their latte

She really looks like she need a latte. Haha

After breakfast, it is time to visit the farm animals and the koalas and kangaroos that the kids have been anticipating. However, the GPS directed us to MovieWorld instead. Luckily we saw the directional sign to Paradise Country when we exit from the motorway and we went with our instinct. It was a pretty long drive in to the car park and we had to walk for another approximately 10 minutes before we finally arrive.

We have purchased the tickets online back in Singapore along as we prefer not to spend time queuing for the tickets and there are usually good rates for online purchases.
 

This is the entrance from the car park

Our first family shot

We walked for another 10 minutes before we reach. The cool climate helped to keep us cool.

We missed the billy tea presentation but we were in time for another show. I didn't even realised that I was carrying my boy's bag. Such a glam mummy!

While waiting for the whip-crackling show

 

A group shot with the cow after the cow-milking presentation

The dog was busy sniffing Jayven. Spot how glum his face was

Free to roam. And the little boy want to feel the sheep.

They were trying to feel the sheeps along with other kids. Yes, they managed to feel them eventually

Next, we proceeded to the sheep shearing show. The kids had a good time watching the show.
After which, we had our lunch before we explored the place farther. We did some shopping at the visitors center and proceeded to the farmyard and the koala and kangaroo enclosure to get up close and personal with the animals.

The kangaroos are free to roam and we can buy food to feed them at AUD1 per pack. But the kangaroos were not interested in the food. Guess all were very well fed for the day so we returned the food pack to the vendor when we left. The kids loved the animals. I liked their little courage to touch and feel the different animals.

Guess who he spotted?

The kids love the cuddly koala bears in the enclosure.

The kids enjoyed feeding the lambs at the farmyard

The farmyard is a very interesting place for the kids to learn more about the farm animals especially on their youngs. Piglets, chicks and lambs can be found in the farmyard and the kids got to feed the lambs which they thoroughly enjoyed seeing them nibbling on the food from their hands.

The little ones had a great time in Paradise Country and kept telling us that they loved the animals there. The place closes at 1pm and we left for our second destination, Harbour Town Outlet Shopping.

I did research earlier and I knew that the place is huge. However, we only had a few hours left to shop as the place closes at 5.30pm. First thing to do when we reach there was to visit the Tourism Lounge as they will give tourists a free club card for further discounts from participating outlets. The lounge also offer complimentary refreshments for the tourists. However, we realised that there are not many participating outlets for the further discount with the club card.

In fact, we didn't get anything much from the outlet shopping at all. The prices in most stores ain't exactly that attractive considering that it is an outlet shopping centre.

Spot the different shoes on Janelle? She was whining that it was too cold for her as the jeans were too short to keep her feet warm. That shows how fast she is growing, She wore the same jeans in last September in Japan and it kept her warm. Anyway, we had to buy a pair of boots to keep her feet warm and there was sale going on at Pumpkin Patch. That pair of boots only cost AUD10. But anyway the boots came apart on the last day of our trip. So much for good value huh.

Most stores started closing at 5pm and soon the skies turned dark at 5.30pm. We decided to have our dinner at one of the restaurants as my hubs spotted fish & chips which he has been craving since he reached Australia.

The place that we had our dinner at Harbour Town. At least dining places are still open at 5.30pm

The restaurant is kid-friendly as they have kids menu and colouring to occupy the kids while waiting for food to be served

Yummy clam chowder with lots of seafood

One of their recommended dishes. Cannot remember the dish name though but it was yums

Fish & Chips from the kids menu. Quite a big serving for kids

The fish & chips for adult portion. It tastes different from the kids' version though. I prefer the fish from the kids menu.

As expected, the bill came up to almost AUD100 for the dinner. Food was not bad though could be better. Their service was commendable as the staff were friendly and patient.

It was another early night back to our apartment as most places closes early. We showered the kids and gotten them ready for bed. My hubs and I then decided to check out the convenience shop near Bel Air, only to realise that they are also closing soon at 11pm, which left us with 10mins to shop.

It was freezing cold by then but it felt good to be enjoying the cold breeze which we could never experience in Singapore.