Travel Guides and Stories

Many of the recommended spots on this trip came from Mr. Zhao’s childhood memories, and Warner Bros. Movie World is one of them. This movie-themed park cost several billion USD to build and is located on Australia’s Gold Coast. Every building is modeled after a movie set, creating a dreamlike world. As someone who’s only been to Happy Valley and never seen a major theme park—and as an adult who’s obsessed with this stuff—I was super excited! It felt like “Granny Liu visits the Grand View Garden.” I had to pretend to be calm, even though I was bursting inside! “Secret delight” is such a great phrase—just two words, but perfectly capturing that feeling! I knew that one day, if I visited a place like this, I’d instantly become wide-eyed and childlike. And sure enough, this place really does have magic—everyone who enters seems to forget the real world outside for a while. Every building, every set, even every staff member’s costume, is instantly recognizable from Warner Bros. movies. The staff even mimic the movie characters’ smiles and gestures so well, you feel like you’ve stepped into a scene yourself. The quality of the costumes is far beyond anything I’ve seen in China, and even the actors’ faces make you wonder if they’re real people or actually from the movies!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

The three big Warner Superheroes: Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern. (Spider-Man is actually Marvel!)

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

As soon as you walk in, you see the Superman Escape high-speed roller coaster. Compared to the Green Lantern coaster, Zhao and I decided to take on this straight-drop ride. The back of the train is designed like Superman pushing it—so cute! Before queuing, you find a locker, enter your birthdate, pick a color, answer some questions, and finally get a small locker. After the ride, my neck almost snapped off, and I nearly forgot my locker code—thank goodness I always choose pink! Would’ve been a disaster to forget the password and not get my stuff back!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

This ride looks like a big curve and drop, but it’s nothing like Chinese roller coasters. Instead of click-clacking up and dropping, you roll into a dark, scary tunnel, then stop. Just as you’re wondering what’s next—it suddenly launches at full speed! Even the climb is at top speed! My heart lagged two beats behind my body! When we returned, everyone was stunned for two seconds! This is the biggest, most thrilling ride in the park—just like the Crystal God Wing at Happy Valley. You have to try it! It’ll shake you up and leave you rubbing your neck, but it’s so worth it!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

All these familiar Warner characters are right beside you, ready to take photos and interact: Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, and even Marilyn Monroe!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Bugs Bunny and her “husband” Lola Bunny!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Charlie! The look isn’t quite as cool as Johnny Depp’s, but seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reminded me of watching movies on a tiny iPod with my best friend for hours!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Edward Scissorhands! The makeup wasn’t as spooky as in the movie, but when I invited him for a photo and saw his eyes, my heart melted—Edward is so pitiful! I almost cried!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Scooby-Doo!!!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

This place is truly a city of color! Except for Batman, of course—here, everyone, adults and kids, wears bright, sunny colors, full of energy!

The park is filled with irresistible cute shops, where you can buy superhero capes and Scooby-Doo bowls—but sadly, I never found Marilyn’s iconic white dress!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Even guys lose their “manliness” in these shops—constantly discovering cute stuff and asking me, “Should I buy this? And this?”

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Scooby-Doo Ghost Train!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Batman’s Batmobile!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

My little scooter next to it looked like a joke!

The Hollywood Stunt Driver show is a must-see—amazing car drifting stunts!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Doing drifts in such a small area makes it even more impressive. The interaction between actors and audience is a highlight—they simulate filming a car chase movie. I listened carefully to the host’s jokes, afraid to miss a single punchline. Dedicated Mr. Zhao filmed the whole thing for me!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Vintage luxury cars~

A shy Mr. Zhao, encouraged by his “good wife,” carefully posed with Marilyn Monroe—he looked both happy and nervous! Another guy in our group said he melted when she whispered to him—men are so silly!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Seeing this taxi, I suddenly wanted to be a cab driver!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

We bumped into Batman on patrol! Later, in the main plaza, there was a show where he captured a villain.

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

Two mischievous boys were being rowdy, but when Batman invited them for a photo, they instantly quieted down—super cute!

   
   Warner Bros. Movie World

By the way, Batman has such a great figure—no wonder these three superheroes are so beloved by women! Just standing there, he outshines all the guys drinking Coke with their bellies out. In this moment, I totally understood why men line up to pose with Marilyn—it’s all fair game!

Look at all these people lining up for Coke!

In a fantasy world, you lose all sense of time—it feels like you just arrived and suddenly it’s time to leave. We were led out a back door, took a bumpy old tour bus, and left dreamland for another world: the world of sleep! Wow—koalas! So clumsy and dopey!

The staff brought out a koala while it was awake so we could take photos. It was so cute—I think it thought I was a tree! It just flopped onto me. Koalas are so used to this, they’re total pros—they strike a pose and look at the camera, eager to finish and go back to sleep!

The Australian koala, also known as the “tree bear,” is found only in eastern Australia. The word “koala” comes from an Aboriginal language and means “no water”—they get all their water from eucalyptus leaves (which also makes them super sleepy, so they sleep 18–22 hours a day!).

Besides the sleeping king koala, Australia’s other famous animal is the kangaroo!

The story of the kangaroo’s name is actually pretty funny! When Captain Cook’s crew first saw one in 1770, they asked the local Aboriginals what it was called. The answer “kangaroo” actually meant “I don’t know” in their language! But the English kept it as the name, and it’s stuck ever since.

Those powerful hind legs are scary! I was afraid of being kicked, so I just touched gently.

Kangaroos are so cool and aloof, totally indifferent. I was the only one excited—so annoying!

No matter what I did, they ignored me—so stuck-up!

But for us, they’re novel, though in Australia there are more kangaroos than people! Here you can pet them, but on the other hand, kangaroo meat is served—kind of weird! Because there are so many, you’ll often see kangaroo signs on the road warning of their presence, especially at night. Their eyesight is bad, and they’re curious about headlights, so they’ll hop over to “check it out.” They’re cute, but breed so fast that even if you hit one, you’re not responsible—someone will come collect the body.

⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯ As a national symbol, their lives and deaths are pretty unsentimental—not protected, not memorialized. Even sleeping now, they beg: “Do not disturb!”

When bored, I went to watch the farm shows!

Saw the big dairy cows I always wanted to raise! Dreaming of the farm life!

All kinds of farm performances! The funny staff had the sheepdogs do warm-ups before herding the sheep!

Alpacas! Such high-class, handsome animals!

Up close, they’re just average—curly and black!

   
   Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

I really wanted to see a white one, but this will do.

The shearing show at Paradise Country—the cowboy host had the classic Australian accent and lots of humor. After introducing Australia’s livestock industry and the history of sheep and shearing tools, he brought out a big fat Merino sheep! The electric shears were quick and the sheep was docile—like it was enjoying a haircut. Soon it was naked and skinny, and everyone laughed and applauded. The cowboy explained how shearing used to be by hand, but now it’s electric—much faster, and each person can shear many sheep per day.

   
   Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

The wool is so thick, you can’t touch the skin even with your finger—just like the inside of snow boots!

Another classic hat—should’ve brought a childhood photo to pose with it!

Horseback show—the cowgirl was super cool!

Couldn’t resist a photo with her and her horse.

   
   Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

   
   Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

The big sheep just lazing around~

   
   Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

At Paradise Country, you can hug a koala, mess with kangaroos, watch emus, feed alpacas, and get up close and personal with all kinds of animals; the shows are also wonderful—whip cracking, herding, shearing—all everyday life for locals but a dream for us city folk. What we long for is exactly what we’re missing: harmony between people, animals, and nature! In Australians’ eyes, every plant, animal, and even insect is a vital link between humanity and nature. Even with tourism development, they emphasize harmony. At places like Dolphin Island, visitor numbers are strictly controlled and must be booked in advance. Animal welfare and environmental protection always come first—profit is secondary! They don’t destroy nature for short-term gain, because in the long term, protecting the environment brings the greatest benefit. That’s probably why Mr. Zhao and I love Australia so much—no matter where you are, city or countryside, you’re never far from nature!