Anyway, it was just a one-nighter. We were booked at a Wotif secret hotel. It was a good deal at just $99 for a 5-star establishment. We rented a car and drove around as we arrived early morning and could only check-in at 1400hrs. And ended up at this place called Tropical Fruit World in a small village called Duranbah. Mama's been wanting to visit this place for ages. Dad was reluctant as he thought it was far as we would be re-entering New South Wales and would exceed the 100km max we could do on the rental car. But, who dares to say "No" to my Mama? She has a way of always getting her way.... Funny how we flew to an airport in Queensland and then drive back into New South Wales. But that's how the way it was.
Seriously, we love the Tropical Fruit World. I was imagining that perhaps this is the life in the tropics that I should aspire to. Hectares upon hectares of fruit trees, miles upon miles of rivers and ponds, millions of branches to climb, millions of birds and ducks to harass....It was only about 15-mins drive from Coolangatta Airport. So Dad was proven wrong.
The cat is not going to write much. Let the pictures do the talking and your fingers do the walking.....
Mama was practically skipping as we entered the Tropical Fruit World...
We signed up for the farm tour and got to ride on the tractor train.
We saw plenty of avocadoes on the tree. Yummm....
Look at those jackfruits....not for cats though, Mama said.
The farm does not cater for pick your own but we stopped by a macadamia nut tree and crack our own nuts.
Rows and rows of dragonfruit plants.
The citrus season is here!
An exotic fruit - the sapote. Looks like persimmon but tastes like ciku.
The farm has animals too. There's the fluffy sheep.
That's Sherman the horse.
A dead bat - considered as pests as they love to attack the lychees and rambutans.
We rode a boat too. Hmmm....more like a ferry with roofs.
We saw ducks that walk on water.
Suntanning turtle....
Oh...the miniature train ride was fun too.
This fancy and colourful bird was oblivious to its surrounding. We saw him near the train station.
Clever use of a disused container. We waited there for the tractor train to pick us up again.
After the tour, a tall glass of exotic smoothie, sundae and icecream at the gift shop cum cafe.
We couldn't resist the fruit shop, of course.
Fruits galore...and educational too.
Fresh macadamia anyone? No worries, they'll crack 'em nuts for free too.
More and more avocadoes. Cheap too.
Mama said this "sentol" fruit is a blast from her youth...
We bought a few kilos of the tamarilloes. Mama wants to make chutney.
The babaco is said to taste like champagne.
Originally from Brazil, the canistel tastes like ciku.
The rollinias look like soursops but taste sweet like custard apples.
Aahhh....beautiful mangosteens.
Dad loves his guanabana (soursop) juice.
As part of the farm tour package, we got to taste whatever was in season. We were in tropical fruit paradise....Eat as much as you can...
It was dark by the time we checked in at the secret hotel in Surfers Paradise. Wow! That was the word Brad used as we enter the room. We were upgraded to a junior suite!!! It was on the 10th floor, a corner unit where we get to see the beach on one side and the Q1 Tower on the other. Oh, we could also see the hotel's swimming pool from our room. Dad said we should have booked for two nights instead of one. Hmmm...maybe next time. Oh, we had Mogul cuisine for dinner and visited Mama and Dad's favourite art gallery at the Piazza adjacent to the hotel.
What a blast! Two queen sized beds!
We could see Q1 Tower - Gold Coast's tallest building - from our room.
Mama and Dad's favourite art gallery.
So, Mama and Dad, where next? purrr.....meow!
Happy Mothers' Day, everyone! In this household, we celebrate Mothers' Day everyday coz it's "Listen to me," and "Do as I say," all the time....hehehehe.... love you Mama....
32 comments:
Wah Cat, nice trip you had I must say - you went to QUEENsland, slept on a QUEEN sized bed, saw JACKfruits, DRAGONfruits but where is the KING of all fruits - the DURIAN??? Like this mama still have to balik kampung and tell her to bring back some of that tamarillo catney :)
Lovely place and great photos too. I wonder we don't have such a place in Malaysia ? It is not that we don't have great fruits.
Oh! you have every reason to love your mom.
Please, please, please...can you please ask nicely whether she can adopt me and my kids too? :)
psst...we would even learn to do the evil laugh if that is a prerequisite..hahah!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to your mom.
Aunty Zendra,
'Tis not the season for durians or lychee. We saw the trees but no fruit. We'll ask those good people when will the right season be. Oh, we bumped into some langsat and pulasan trees too. The tamarillo chutney? We'll see....if Brad doesn't finish it first. purrr....meow!
HRH Monyet King,
We know of at least two similar outfit in Malaysia - one is Penang - Teluk Bahang/Balik Pulau - and one in Pahang. However, location wise they're not like this one in Queensland that it's just 20 minutes away from Gold Coast. My Mama went to the one in Penang about 7 years ago and she said it wasn't professionally run like this one. Maybe you can persuade the Council of Monyets to open one in Hulu Selangor? *winks* purrr....meow!
Aunty Naz,
My Mama says it's not easy to be adopted into our royal family. Our list of prerequisites will be longer than Puteri Gunung Ledang.....har har har *evil laughs*
Was looking if there is any pisang emas or pisang tanduk.
Your Mama wants you to Listen to her and Do as she said because she loves you and knows what is best for you. I am sure you have already known that kan.
Aunty Yatt,
There some varieties of bananas too but we didn't publish the photos here. Papaya pun ada.
Hmmm...seronoklah my Mama you agree with her....purrr....meow!
Meow,
perfecting our evil laugh all morning...hahahahahhaha!
Aunty Naz,
Not good enuff...u got the wrong laugh there too. har har har *evil laughs*
pssst...tip: watch Flintstone more often to learn the laugh.
Has your mama ever brought you to Underwater World maybe... where there are fish, fish, fish all around?
Hi Cat, beautiful pics. I must go visit this place one day. Can you be my guide?
I won't bring my Doberman with me, ha ha.
Have a nice day, Lee.
You guys went to Gold Coast and there were no pictures of the beach?! Hmm...
More pictures please... no censoring ok?! Share!!
Uncle Lee,
Weren't you supposed to come visit us after you won the $50million lottery? We can take you many places with that kind of money....purrrr.....meow!
Aunty Pi,
The fish at Underwater World won't appreciate our presence there. We've been to Sydney Fish Market though...heaven on earth....har har har *evil thoughts*
Aunty Aimy,
One at a time, OK? But I think you realise that cats actually HATE water. And we're not into surfing either.... purrr....meow!
Aiyah! give up already lah...our cheeks are hurting!
better go to sleep la like this... *ghrooohhhhhh!kroh! kreeeekk! ghrooooohhhhh! krohhh! kreeeeekk!*
Aunty Naz,
Could it be that you've been using the wrong technique? Laugh with your stomach, not your cheeks. Hmmm....your snore sounds about right though. har har har *evil laughs*
Very nice Cat. I wish they have similar thing here, we love fruits. I have been to the one in Penang but as you said it is not as good as the one in Queensland. I didn't know of its existence when I was in Gold Coast afew years ago otherwise I would make a beeline for it.
Nice posting CiS.
Aunty NanaDJ,
Time for a re-visit, don't you think? Actually, if that Agri Park in Shah Alam had been left as an agri park and not carved up into housing estates.....imagine the potentials. The one we visited took about 30 years in the making. Didn't happen overnight....purrr....meow!
CIS, with all those fruits, did you buy lots to make preserves - chutney, jams etc? I am most intrigued by the sapote fruit. Do you know if I can get them in KL? How do they look like inside?
Andrea dear,
Unfortunately, the sapotes were not on sale yet. We mistook them for persimmons at first. We were told there are several types - yellow and chocolate among others. The chocolate sapote tastes like chocolate - we tried a choc sapote smoothie and we bought a bottle of the choc sauce. Haven't seen them in KL. We bought heaps of tamarillo and Mama just made chutney. We'll post pix of the bottled chutney soon. Just so you could drool....hehehehe... purrr...meow!
Wow, you are such lucky kitties, Angelina and Brad! Your Mum and Dad have good taste too, choosing such nice travel destinations. I love the tractor, the 'reused' cabin, the fruits, the adorable bird and pretty much everything, but the dead bat made me sad. Bats are our friends. They eat mozzies and provide biological pest control.
Dear Sydney Kitty,
Brilliant update. Love the photos, hope you didnt get finger brun from all that shutter clicking.
c",)
Waah, jeles, jeles...so not only your "Aunty Naz" that's asking for adoption nicely..me me me too, pretty purlezzz...
and as token...some of that avocados pls..or better yet, send your mama's alpukat juice.. ok eh?
"But, who dares to say "No" to my Mama? She has a way of always getting her way..." ~ u dared to voice this out? beware...or u'll be banned from writing and Brad takes over...hehehe...
"Listen to me," and "Do as I say," all the time....hehehehe.... love you Mama.... ~ pandai lah nak cover..haha..
:-)
CO78,
We're all nature lovers in this household. Perhaps you should join us on one of our "adventures" - especially the fruit eating session. I can assure you that neither Brad nor I was responsible for that bat's fate. purrr...meow!
Uncle Razee,
Our camera is very cat friendly. So, no paw burns there. Only our legs were tired after all that walking, climbing, running, tractor, boat and train riding... purrr...meow!
Cheqna,
You want to apply for adoption too? Errr...take a number. har har har *evil laughs*
Hi!I was blogwalking and found your blog! You have very interesting photos. I always love blogs with awesome photos.
Dear TK,
Gee...thanks...I'm blushing now... Welcome to my world.. Your blog is awesome too. purrr....meow!
Cat-in-Sydney,
I saw your presence in a few blogs I visited but did not bother to come over until I saw your comment about Abdul Malik. As I said in my comments on Awang Goneng’s post, I hope you will write the ‘old imam’s’ biography.You do purr and meow on a wide range of subjects. Food does not interest me much but traveling does. I hardly travel these days. So, such writing as this brings back old memories.
Salaam from Pakcik – unfortunately too old to purr and meow.
Dear Pakcik of Al-Manar,
Welcome to my world.
The one good thing about the internet, at least, is you can sit in your living room and "travel" at the same time. We blog so that people from around the world get to share our ordinary life Down Under. You are true, we do purr and and meow about a lot of subjects. And try not to delve into "heavy" stuffs like politics and such. We leave that to the experts. Our Mama has retired from that life and now enjoying a much simpler one. We'll talk to Imam Malik about the biography....who knows.... Wish us luck. purrr....meow!
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