Gold Coast is popular with its beaches and theme parks. This is why thousands of tourists come here every year.

We bought VIP Passes to the Big 3 – Warner Bros Movie World, Sea World and Wet ‘n’ Wild a month earlier, only a day before the offer on their website ended. With these VIP passes that costed $109.99 each, we got unlimited entry to any of these three theme parks until June 2012.

Warner Bros Movie World

This is our first theme park at Gold Coast. There are plenty of rides, from family rides to the super thrill rides.

Besides going for rides, there are also performances by the movie characters here. One of the best performances was the Hell Drivers – Hollywood Stunt performance. It was really exciting and entertaining to witness the car drift, chase and explosion. Check out this video for a glimpse of the show.

I was surprised to see a musalla or prayer room in the middle of the theme park. Wash basins for ablution and the separation of prayer halls for male and female were provided.

Sea World Theme Park

This is another theme park in Gold Coast with the sea and ocean theme. We visited Sea World on our second day here. There are not many rides compared to the first one.

However, there was so much to see here and the main attractions were the animal performances. We really enjoyed the dolphin show and the sea lion show. They were brilliant! Besides that, we also got to see other marine life such as sharks, open water fishes and ray fishes.

Since Sea World is larger than Movie World, there are cable cars and monorails provided to save the visitors’ feet and provide great view of the entire park.

Sea World also provides prayer rooms for their Muslim visitors with separate entrances for both male and female.

Wet & Wild Water World

So this is the Gold Coast version of Malaysia’s Sunway Lagoon water theme park. I really enjoyed all the extreme water rides and slides. It is good to have adrenaline rush while challenging yourself with the zero gravity free fall and stuff.

In the end of the day, we all got really tanned because of the whole day being under the sun. Not many pictures were taken at Wet ‘n’ Wild as we kept our belongings - including the camera in one of the lockers provided. It was strongly advised by the staff to do so as the park was wet and people don’t have pockets to keep their stuff anyway as they were all wearing swim wear.

Well, that’s all the theme parks that we’ve been to. Our VIP passes are still available until June 2012. We might consider to come again to Gold Coast for another round of fun. But I know it won’t be as fun as going with the family.

After having a good night’s rest at our hotel, we had another 9-hour journey heading back home on the next day.

The second day of our family vacation was spent in Newcastle. Before we reached Newcastle from Sydney, my parents-in-law were already excited to see our house, the house we’ve been living in for the past 9 months.

Well, I can say that there’s nothing much to see in Newcastle, compared to Sydney. We planned to go see the beaches Newcastle offers, perform Friday prayers at the Newcastle Mosque, visit University of Newcastle and do some shopping at Glendale.

Newcastle Beach

My wife prepared Nasi Lemak with Sambal Udang in the morning. We then went to the Newcastle Beach and had our Nasi Lemak there by the beach. After that, we strolled along the beach towards the Newcastle Ocean Baths.

We also showed our family how Newcastle city looks like with most of the old buildings still existing. Here the town is small and quiet, unlike Sydney which is densely concentrated with skyscrapers in its CBD.

Newcastle Mosque

As it was Friday, all males should go to the mosque. I went to the mosque in Wallsend together with my in-laws for Friday prayer. As usual, the khutbah was in Arabic and English with multi-ethnicity of Muslims in the prayer hall.

Stockland Glendale

This is the third stop for today. My parents in-law who are a big fan of juicy fruits were really excited to go to Harris Farm Markets to buy fresh and cheap fruits and vegetables there. We got a good bargain of bananas for only 99cents perkilo which is cheaper and tastier compared to the bananas at Woolies or Coles.

Then we toured the other shops at Stockland Glendale and went to Kmart and Target and browsed through their Christmas sale.

University of Newcastle

I guess it is a must to visit the university here for some photo souvenir. This is where my wife is studying architecture at the moment, the university within the woods.

Well, that’s all for the second day. It is another great day well spent with the family. The following day was going to be a big day for us as we were going for a road trip to Gold Coast.

Day 3 – Road trip to Gold Coast

It was my first time driving for the longest distance so far. It is about 700 km from Newcastle to Gold Coast. Our destination was Currumbin, near to Gold Coast Airport.

We departed at about 9am and we arrived about 5pm. It was a 9-hour journey but to my surprise, Queensland did not observe Daylight Saving Time and that was why when we reached there, it seemed like it was only an 8-hour journey.

We checked in at Sanctuary Beach Resort and had a good rest preparing ourselves for the next fun-filled days in Gold Coast.

To be continued in the next post.

My family came to Australia last December to visit us. It was our official family vacation 2011.

Early in the morning, I went to Newcastle Car & Rental to get the rental van. My wife and I departed from Newcastle at around 8.30am and arrived at Sydney Airport at 11.00am. The weather was good and it was my first time driving from Newcastle to Sydney.

The thing I hate about the parking here in Sydney, it is very expensive. So I think we were lucky at the airport as we managed to get 15 minutes parking for free because our family just arrived and already waited for us at the arrival terminal. 15-30 minutes cost $7 and 30-60 minutes cost $15 at the Sydney Airport. After we fetched them from the airport, we went for sightseeing around Sydney.

Sydney Fish Market

Sydney Fish Market is one of the biggest marketplaces to get fresh seafood in Sydney and one of the famous tourists’ attractions as well. We decided to have lunch here as most seafood served here is halal. Besides that, we also bought some fresh prawns and snapper fish to cook for dinner at home.

We had a combination of delicious deep fried seafood at the waterfront, while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the riverside.

Darling Harbour

This is our second destination of the day. It is one of the best tourist attractions in Sydney. We had a walk along Darling Harbour straight to the jetty for our ferry ride and enjoyed the view.

We bought ferry tickets to Circular Quay and it costed $5.30 per ride. The ride took about 35 minutes to reach our destination. We sat on the upper deck to have a better view along the river.

We really enjoyed the view of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House from the ferry.

Then we hopped off the ferry and strolled along Circular Quay to enjoy the view of Sydney Opera House from this side of the harbour. This is my second time being here, but this is a must visit tourist attraction here. We took pictures together before going back.

The parking rate in Sydney is very expensive. We parked our van at World Square for the rate of $11 per hour.

Everyone was already tired and we headed back home to Newcastle. It was a fun and enjoyable day at Sydney.

To be continued in the next post.

Salam.

It’s already the fourth of January. Time sure flies really fast for the past one year.

2011 is the first year of my married life; as a husband, a bread winner and a traveller in a foreign country.

It is one of the most challenging year in my life, struggling to make ends meet, especially living in Australia.

Throughout the way, I really thank Allah for all His blessings, bounties and mercies. Living in the land down under, it really teaches me the meaning of life besides giving me valuable experience.

I may not be able to get design projects like I used to back in Malaysia. But the thing is, I had explored the road that I might not have taken if I were in Malaysia.

This is what I call the road not taken, the road less travelled.

2011 is the year where I build my foundation, where I plant the seed and InsyaAllah, 2012 will be the year where I’m going to make the best of myself.

New year resolution?

It is always the same thing, every year. Let me say I don’t have any resolution this year, but I sure have my own goals. It is more like a long term goal which may not be attainable within this 366 days.

I’ll just keep them to myself.

Anyway, I’m wishing all of you guys, my readers and visitors a Happy New Year. May you achieve your dreams and may success be with you always.

Photo credits to Sydney New Years Eve website.

This is our first time celebrating Eidul Fitr overseas and away from our beloved parents and relatives. It is also our first time celebrating it as husband and wife.

I find it funny that some Muslims in Australia celebrated Eid on Tuesday the 30th August while the rest celebrated it on 31st August. Even here in Newcastle, two mosques celebrated it on two different days.

However, we Malaysians here follow the Newcastle Mosque and celebrated Eid on the 31st August. Our colourful baju raya made us stand out among other Muslims at the mosque. And lots of families held open houses, just like in Malaysia. So we did have an enjoyable Eid here eventhough we didn’t get to be with our family and relatives.

Oh by the way, the picture above was taken right after we performed Eid prayer. It was taken near the Newcastle City Council building opposite Civic train station.

Till then, may you have an enjoyable Eid no matter where you are!

Salam. I’m wishing a belated Ramadhan Kareem to all my Muslim readers and visitors.

Sorry it’s a little bit late since its already 5th Ramadhan. I should have wished earlier.

Ramadhan has been an unique experience for me. For the past four years, I’ve been in Ramadhan at all different places.

In 2008, I experience Ramadhan in Penang. I was there for internship for three months. In 2009, I worked at Mentari Court near Sunway while in 2010, I worked at Plaza Damas in Hartamas.

This year, 2011 is the first time in my life to celebrate Ramadhan overseas. I’m going to experience Ramadhan in Australia which is absolutely different compared to Malaysia. The best part is that I now have the opportunity to experience Ramadhan during winter.

I think that’s for now. I’ll be sharing the experience in the coming entries.

Let’s indulge in ibadah and make the best of Ramadhan this time, InshaAllah.

In the first entry of this series, I’ll share about one of the popular spots in Newcastle which is the Nobbys Breakwater.

History of Nobbys

An early problem facing captains of sailing ships entering Newcastle was the loss of wind in the ship’s sails as they passed the towering Nobbys outcrop at the Port’s entrance.

Nobbys was joined to the mainland and then reduced to half its original height, now 27.5 metres.

A ship approaching Newcastle Harbour, assisted by couples of tugboats.

Nobbys are well known for the beach, breakwater and the weather station a.k.a Newcastle lighthouse which is the prominent landmark in Newcastle city.

Many people came here for brisk walking, jogging or fishing. Some just came to appreciate the scenic view this place has to offer. Not to forget the feeling of peace and tranquillity walking along the breakwater. We ourselves walked along the breakwater and experienced it and even had a quick breakfast while enjoying the view of Newcastle Harbour.

The Nobbys Breakwater is approximately 1400m long, measured from the vehicle turning circle.

At the end of the breakwater, there’s a tower with a big reflective orange panel. I guess it functions as a guide for ships coming to Newcastle.

More interesting places in Newcastle coming soon!

Circular Quay

This is the first venue of the day. Circular Quay is one of the Sydney’s tourist attraction where it houses the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. This is the map showing the point of interest here. It portrays one of the spectacular Harbour City in the world. We couldn’t get enough of it.

Huda’s project

At Harold Square, part of the project site. The red area in the map above shows the location of the site.

Apparently, this is what made me so eager to visit Circular Quay. My wife’s studio project’s site is here which is at 1 Alfred Street. I’ve been assisting her with the 3D models and renderings of the site surrounding throughout this semester. Before this I only got to visualize it after studying Google Maps and with help from photos. I really wanted to see the site before my eyes. We got the idea how the project was going to look like once we visited the site again.

Sydney Opera House

The Opera House is located about 200 meters from the site. It’s like a dream come true, when I witnessed one of the world iconic landmark right in front of me.

Harbour Bridge

This is another iconic landmark in Sydney and it is located within walking distance from Circular Quay station. We had lunch with a view towards the bridge.

After that, we took an elevator up to the Cahill Walk along the Cahill Expressway for a better view of the the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

Customs House

My wife said that there is a 3D model of the whole city of Sydney showcased under the glass of the ground floor of the building. You can actually step on the glass and take a tour of the mini city there. The building houses a library, cafes, lounge and information center which is a prefect place to start exploring Sydney from. The Customs House was supposed to be opened 7 days a week. Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there. Anyway, something special was going to happen here tonight.

After spending some time here at the Harbour City, we headed to our next destination which is Lakemba. Will be continued in the next entry.

Credit image of Sydney Opera House Sails from Sydney Architecture

The plan was to take a train to Sydney. We were going to buy MyMulti Day Pass Ticket which enable us to take any train within CityRail network in one day.

Due to trackwork as stated in the CityRail website, they provided a shuttle bus directly from Broadmeadow station to Central station in Sydney.

The journey took about 2.5 hours from Newcastle to Sydney via F3 Highway. It’s my first time on a express bus in Australia. It reminds me of ‘balik kampong’ trip in Malaysia. Finally we arrived at the Central station at 12.45pm.

Central Station, Sydney

This is one of the oldest rail station in Sydney. It was built in 1855 and has undergone a few expansion since then. It connects all the major rail lines for interchange in the heart of the city. It is also known as the ‘grandest rail station in Australia’. [Source]

My wife at the Grand Concourse of the Central station.

The concourse from another angle.

There are also a few train models in a display case, showing some section cut of the train.

They still have the steam locomotive at the station. I thought it is just for exhibition but it is actually still functioning.

CityRail network

Then I took a booklet of the train timetable to plan our journey. In the centerfold of the booklet, there is a map of the entire Cityrail Sydney suburban network.

It is quite complicated and massive. I have to understand which line each of the station is located at when planning for my journey.

Well that’s all for now. Our first destination is Circular Quay.

Stay tuned and I’ll update more photos in the coming entries.

It was a simple birthday celebration with my wife and our house mates, Reza and Aimi. As midnight approached, I was wondering why my wife wasn’t in the room and there were voices coming from the kitchen.

It was my wife discussing something with our housemate. I know there must be something going on. I didn’t expect that they were planning my surprise mini birthday party!

No more Secret Recipe for the time being

I missed Secret Recipe from Malaysia. Usually I’ll have SR cake at least once a month. Even my wedding cake was a carrot cake from SR.

For your information, Secret Recipe Australia only has four outlets in Melbourne. I hope they will open their new outlet near Sydney or Newcastle soon.

As an alternative to SR, we had Michel’s Patisserie. The cake was delicious and tasty. Thanks to my wife for choosing the Cookies & Cream cake.

My wife intended to bake a special cheese cake for my birthday. However because she is nearing to her final submission, we’ll just have to postpone that and make do with the cake from Michel’s.

I’m 25 years old now and I’m glad I have achieved a few of my goals in life. The most important one is getting married by 25.

My life in Australia needs some adjustment. I still have a few more goals needed to be achieved by the next financial year. (Just imitating the commercials here)

P/S: I missed how I used to celebrate my birthday with my friends back in IIUM and with my beloved family back in Malaysia.