The Ginger Factory

The last day trip my family and I did at the Sunshine Coast was visit The Ginger Factory. The Ginger Factory is a tourist attraction with a working factory, rides and restaurants. Entry to The Ginger Factory is free but the tours and rides cost money.

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We bought a combo pass for all the tours and rides. The first thing we did was take a tour of the ginger factory. It was December 26^th which is a public holiday known as Boxing Day in Australia, so the factory wasn’t operating. Boxing Day is traditionally a day where employers give a gift to their employees after Christmas to thank them for their service but it’s mostly a sale day where all the extra stock from Christmas is sold.

The factory had just opened so it was just my family and another family on the tour. The guide led us through the factory where the ginger is processed. The ginger is used in candies as well as for seasoning for other foods. They also supply ginger for other brands from all over the world.

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After seeing the factory, we were lead to a tasting room to taste ginger products. We ate some meatballs with ginger, a few canapés and crystallized ginger. I heard coughing and gurgling from behind me and I saw that an eleven year girl was chocking. Luckily, she coughed out the meatball and her mum and the tour guide was on hand. I think her mum looked more annoyed than anything else.

The next tour we went to was the Superbee tour as The Ginger Factory also keeps bees. We learnt about honey production which was interesting but I have since forgotten. There was a honey collecting demonstration which I was kind of nervous about but no bees escaped and the bees were in an enclosure.

When the tour had finished we decided to go on the ride called Overboard. The Overboard ride is a gentle ride on a boat that is on a track. The Overboard ride tells the story of a gingerbread man who escaped from some bakers and travels around the world. As it was Boxing Day, we were allowed unlimited rides. It is not an exciting ride and I think small children would like it more but we rode the ride three times just to make the most out of it. I thought the puppets were very good and it was fun to spot where the gingerbread man and bakers and notice things we missed the first time around.

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We also went on the Ginger train which is a hundred years old sugar cane train. The train went around a track around the factory. The best part was when it went behind the building and their free range chickens appeared. The chickens roam about the park and get excited when the train appears. They ran after the train and the driver threw feed out to them.

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The last thing we did at the Ginger Factory was to look at the gift shops. They have a main gift shop selling ginger and honey products as well as others selling homewares, spices, car memorabilia and dolls.   

The other things I got up to on the Sunshine Coast: 

• Holiday on the Sunshine Coast
• Holiday on the Sunshine Coast part 1
• Australia Zoo
• Underwater World Sea Life Mooloolaba 
• Eumundi Markets

Eumundi Markets

On a family vacation last year, my family and I went to the famous Eumundi Markets on the Sunshine Coast. Eumundi is a small rural town which has a big market every Saturday and Wednesday. The market place is huge and every stallholder needs to sell handmade items. The markets have been a great success for Eumundi providing a good income for the town. Tour groups even go to the markets and there are plenty of cafes, bakeries and restaurants that benefit from them.

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We only had a week on the Sunshine Coast and this trip to the markets was for my parents. They love going to markets and they go to markets whenever they have free time. The market is right in the middle of town and we were impressed at the sight of so many market stalls.  There were many people already at the markets and there were cars parked down lanes and in the suburbs. Luckily, they use the school oval for extra parking so we found a parking space.

The market is free and we got right in it. There were lots of jewellery, art work, handicrafts and clothing on offer and all of it of a professional quality.  While the stuff was lovely to look at, I didn't buy anything. I prefer flea markets with junk at rock bottom prices.

There were also many food stalls selling all kinds of foods from different cultures.  There was so much to look at and we didn't know where to start. After wandering around we decided to get something to eat. I can’t remember what it was but I was looking for some famous food stand but I don’t think it was there any more. Instead, we had satay spring rolls which were delicious. It was the speciality of the Thai food stand and they sold frozen take home spring rolls too. I considered taking some frozen ones home for my friends but I didn't because I wouldn't be able to refrigerate it until hours later.

When we finished eating, we decided to leave Eumundi to go shopping . We looked up the nearest mall and we spent the remainder of the day in the shops before we bought some groceries and went home.

If you want to find out more information: http://www.eumundimarkets.com.au/

You can also read my other accounts of holidaying on the Sunshine Coast:

• Holiday on the Sunshine Coast
• Holiday on the Sunshine Coast part 1
• Australia Zoo
• Underwater World Sea Life Mooloolaba 

Underwater World Sea Life Mooloolaba

On the second day of my family vacation, we went to Underwater World. Underwater World is a small aquarium which has a wide variety of sea life on display. It has tropical and native fish, jellyfish, octopi, stingrays, sharks and seals.

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When we got there we were already tired from our trip to Australia Zoo. The first thing I asked at the Reception Desk was whether they had a café so we could have some coffees. The receptionist was in good humour and said that of course they do and how did I think he got to such a portly size.  We paid for our tickets and they took a photo of us at a photo wall so we could purchase them later.

The first thing we saw on entering was section of rock pools that people could reach in and touch the sea life in them. I don’t remember everything that was in them except that there starfish. Next was a section of small tanks that had tropical fishes such as the clown fish and tiny seahorses.

The exhibit I was most impressed with was the jellyfish. There were lots of tanks of jellyfish and there were LED lights that shone down on the tanks projecting different colours. The jellyfish were white naturally so the colours from the lights added an interesting element to them. The display was mesmerizing. One of the interesting things about jellyfish is that they are not self aware because they don’t have a brain. They don’t think or feel emotions at all, they are just alive.

We also went to see the outdoor tanks which had huge fish. There also other aquariums inside that had fish as large as watermelon. I wonder if they are good eating?

I also liked walking through the underwater aquarium where the sharks and stingrays were housed.

At the end of the day we caught the last seal show. The seals are big creatures, it’s what I picture an aquatic dog would be like. They are agile and intelligent too.

I recommend Underwater World for people visiting Queensland and local tourists. For a small aquatic centre, it has a good variety of sea life on display, the staff is friendly and everything is very clean.

You can read the rest about my holiday here:

•  Holiday at the Sunshine Coast
• Sunshine Coast Holiday Story part 1
• Australia Zoo

Australia Zoo

Australia Zoo is owned by the Irwin Family who are famous for their wildlife conservation and love of crocodiles.  The most famous in the family was Steve Irwin who was known as The Croc Hunter. Steven Irwin had a TV show where he went around the world to learn and interact with different animals. He loved all animals and wasn’t afraid to get close to wildlife. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm for animals led to his downfall and he died after getting stung by a stingray in 2006. Steve Irwin’s legacy still continues through his family. Steve’s widow Terri and their children Bindi and Bob continue to promote animal conservation.

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My family and I decided to go Australia Zoo on our December vacation. I had purchased a two ticket combo for Australia Zoo and Sea Life Underwater World for my family. We decided to go to Australia Zoo because it was the most well known out of the two. We were a bit too eager so we were the first people to arrive at the zoo before opening times.

Once it got closer to opening time, we had about a hundred people lining up to go in. When the gates finally opened, nothing majestic happened, we all just scrambled in. My dad wanted to go on the tour guide circuit so that we could see everything so we did that.

We got off at the Africa animal enclosure which was the farthest part of the park. There giraffes, rhinos and zebras who were in a very big enclosure and were munching on some trees. It was my first time seeing those animals in real life and it was surreal to see them.

Afterwards, we saw the tigers and we were fortunate to being in time to watch the demonstration from the keepers. The tigers seemed skinnier than I imagined. I'm sure that were healthy and well looked after though.

We also saw snakes, otters, kangaroos, koalas and crocodiles. The different zones in the zoo were nicely decorated with statues and plants and each zone was themed. I wish there was more signage though as sometimes we wondered if we were heading in the right direction to see certain exhibits. There were signs but I would have appreciated more.

We were in a hurry wandering around the zoo because we didn’t want to miss the Wildlife Warriors Show which only come on once a day at 12pm. The show is the most popular event at the zoo and it features crocodiles and various birds. The show is hosted in the Crocoseum which is a huge arena where Steve Irwin did many of his crocodile demonstrations for his tv show. It is also where they had Steve’s funeral.

First we decided to have lunch before the show. The Crososeum is attached to the food court. It’s a really big food court which could easily seat 1000 people. They had a variety of food available, everything from burgers, sandwiches to sushi. We had hamburgers which were alright.

After we finished lunch it was time for the Wildlife Warriors show. There were lots of people already at the stadium but there was plenty of room. We sat at the top level, behind a railing which had rope wound around it. I later found out that the rope around the railing was for the birds in the show. When the show began, they had some little birds fly around the arena onto the perches.

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The most fascinating bird was a hawk which had an impressive wingspan. It was a powerful and graceful animal.  When the bird showcase was finished, they brought out the crocodile which was what people were anticipating since crocodiles are the speciality at the zoo. The keeper talked about how crocodiles are stealthy creatures that sense their prey through the vibrations in the water as they live in murky water that is difficult to see in. What I liked most about the show were the birds and the parts where the hosts interacted with the audience. I thought the show was average and I would give it a miss if I went to the zoo again. I was a bit disappointed with Australia Zoo, as I was expecting more animals and I thought the zoo didn't live up to the hype surrounding it.   

Sunshine Coast Holiday Story Part 1

Last year, my family and I went on vacation to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia which I mentioned here. We spent the last December holidays entertaining relatives and friends who came to visit from interstate and overseas.  So, my parents wanted to book a holiday before anyone could come to visit us.

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We decided to go the Sunshine Coast as we hadn’t really explored the area before. The trip was also the first time we had booked a hotel as my parents prefer staying over at relatives or friend’s houses when on vacation. Personally, I don’t like staying over at other people’s houses because you always have to be on your best behaviour and there is little privacy.

View of Kings Beach from our hotel

We booked an apartment so we could save on cost and do things ourselves.  We stocked up on groceries for the trip so that we could cook dinner and breakfast. Dad even bought a small rice cooker so that we could always have Asian meals at home. 

My parent's bedroom

My brother and I also brought two big suitcases because we didn't have smaller ones so we filled it with a lot of clothes. My brother Paul pointed out that we might have a problem with fitting all our stuff into our car. Thankfully, we did manage to fit everything in the car. It was a bit of a tight squeeze as we had stuff by our legs as well. At one point, an alarm went off in the car and it turned out that dad had packed a smoke alarm in case the hotel went on fire!

My room with my brother

The hotel that we booked was a small family business and we were greeted by the owner when we arrived. He was really nice and helped us carry our bags to the third floor. There was no elevator so it was sweaty work hauling all our things up the stairs. The owner was very strong and he carried our suitcases on his shoulder. It was impressive considering he looked about sixty.

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I was pleasantly surprised that the apartment had modern décor. It was generic and sparse but better than I expected. I had looked at their website and the rooms were outdated but clean looking. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom/laundry, living area and balcony.  It was nice having a place for ourselves and I could see how we could live with less stuff.

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We mainly spent the first day, settling in our new home for the week. I think the hotel must have excellent sound proofing or maybe we had quiet neighbours as we didn't hear much noise from anyone.

Kings Beach

After we had recovered from our long journey we decided to go to Kings Beach. Kings Beach was just a short walk away from our hotel. All we had to do was get out from the back gate and walk in a straight line to the beach.  The beach had rock pools and boulders on the outskirts and it was fun to walk around on them. 

Holiday on the Sunshine Coast

Originally, my brother and I were going to go to Cairns for summer vacation. However, we’re now going to spend Christmas on vacation in the Sunshine Coast with our parents. The Sunshine Coast is in north Queensland and it is a popular attraction for tourists. It is a coastal town so people like to come to the Sunshine Coast to swim, fish and surf. There is also rain forests where people can go hiking and camping. Beside natural attractions, there are malls, a zoo, an aquarium, Big Pineapple and restaurants.

Here are some places that I would like to see:

Australia Zoo

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This is the zoo owned by the Irwin family. I don’t know much about the zoo but I know it has a lot of crocodiles. Maybe I’ll get to see Bindi and Bob Irwin as they live at the zoo. Can you believe that Bindi is now 16 and Bob is 11?

Underwater World Sea Life Mooloolaba

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Mooloolaba is where Underwater World is situated, it is an aboriginal word which means mulu for snapper fish or mulla meaning red bellied snake. I think it is an appropriate name for a coastal town. Underwater World is an aquarium which has many sea animals such as fish, octopi, stingrays and sharks. They also have seals and some of them do a seal show. I’ve never been to an aquarium before so I’m looking forward to this. I also learnt that people can also have sleepover parties at the aquarium. I wonder if it’s just for kids? I would love to have a party at the aquarium. I think it would be fun to lie down and watch the fish swim by and go on the after hours tour.

Eumundi Markets

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 The Eumundi Markets are located in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. It is a market that is famed for the fresh produce, locally made goods and street food. Tour groups are bussed to the markets so it must be a good destination. My dad loves markets so we’re going to this market especially for him.

The Ginger Factory

This is a place where ginger products are made such as gingerbread men and crystallized ginger. I like ginger and I wouldn't mind going on the factory tour. There’s also a ride called Overboard which is kinda like the Disney ride It’s a Small World.