QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA - LAMINGTON NATIONAL PARK (DAY 5)
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I have always loved the idea of scenic drive since we drove in Switzerland. There is something very calming about driving. I have studied about the route I am taking for this short scenic drive and also find those sweet lookout spots.
We had breakfast and packed our lunch. So, in short today we are going to drive inside the Lamington National Park to visit Alpaca Farm and the lookout point name Kamerun. Then, we planned to head down for some shopping at Harbour Town - its like JPO, but better.
Check the petrol and off we go on the early morning. We drove thru some suburbs and see schools, clinics, grocery store and people going on with their lives. The weather was amazing with blue skies above and sun is out.
We can easily spot the transition of city to suburb and it gets more greener as we journey to the inland. There are two places you can venture out for some nature appreciation which is Lamington Park or Mount Tamborine. I've tried to squeeze Mount Tamborine but these two locations are on the different side of the national reserve.
There is a lot to see here - there's the O'Reilly's place which you can have tree top walks to Glow worm cave. I just wish we had more time to explore Gold Coast. To get to the national park, we usually go on the same route as the Mount Tamborine. There are few routes you can choose but all will pass a town call Cannugra.
This was the road signs for places in the National Park |
Overtaking lanes |
Beautiful clear blue sky |
Also, they have a lot of a one lane street - You have to wait at on your end to let some one on the opposite traffic pass the road. There were 5 of these along the way but it was mark clearly. These one way lane is usually 250m long. So please stop at the STOP sign. Look if there is a car approaching from opposite direction. Blind corners here put Genting Highland to shame.
We finally arrive at the Alpaca Farm- AND IT'S CLOSE! What kind of business is close on Tuesday? We parks anyway and got to see the alpaca from outside. The souvenir shop was open and the ladies were very kind to let us in the alfresco cafe that overlooks its gorgeous valley. The travel buddy even got to use the toilet. We took gazillion of pictures and bought some cookie and postcard from the shop. It's a shame that the farm were close that day.
Hello! They do spit. |
The Alfresco view of the Lamington valley |
Although while doing the Hindustan moves, we are caution about the Kangaroos poop everywhere. Come on guys.
3 stooges |
Almost twist my arm to get this bloody shot. |
Magical. |
Panorama view |
This was the most descent Hindustan pose we had. Trust me you don't wanna know. |
It took 45 minutes to reach there and it was raining when we descend from the Kamerun lookout. Drizzling is the best word to describe it. Syima was asleep as always. My SJ400 battery died during halfway of journey - that explain why I have few footage on the journey. I screw the camera to a bicycle mount attached to my rear view mirror.
We arrived at HB and had our lunch in the car then we went out hunting! We first went to Target - there was a clearance sale. I picked 2 tshirt and 1 cardigan, gave syima $30 to pay while I went back to the car to get my wallet. *facepalm*.
When I returned to Syima, she told me that ALL of our clothes are $30. I was shocked and check the receipe. Indeed!!!! There was a 80% discount on top of the already discounted price. I ended up to pay ONLY AUD8 for 3 piece of garments. Cheap! Thought of going back but the queue diminish my desire.
We went our separate ways inside the huge complex. What we buy:
- Went in Cotton On to buy my nephews tshirt, Feeza got some for her friend's kid.
- Went to Sunglass hut where I bought a Ray Ban Aviator for AUD86 = RM 240.8. It was on Sale. Ko gila ray Ban dap at harga ni?
- Went to Sketchers where Syima and I bought our shoes for AUD29 = RM81. Damn cheap!
- Chemist to buy perfumes for my friend and had some churros.
We lost track of time and the Harbour Town is closing. Syima and I ended up praying at an empty parking lot because the surau there was closed. The adaptability of Muslim women.
We headed off to Surfer Paradise where we cook dinner and rest. We went out again to shop for souvenirs at Surfer's Paradise. We ended up buying from several stores including one own by a Malaysian. It was cheap. You can get a tshirt for AUD5-8. I already got the magnets in Cairns and we went to a store to buy some nougats.
It happens that it was St Patrick's Day and the pub's are full with people wearing green. At first I thought of buying Nougats but then I tasted the macadamia nuts mix. It was awesomely delicious! It came with several flavour - I bought chocolate coated and original. Travel buddies bought them too. It was a hit at the office. Syima finally decided that she need an extra luggage - imagine the horror of our face. We went back to the hotel for packing and some laundry. This was our last night in Australia!
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