Hope's Adventures: SeaWorld, Gold Coast, Australia - December 2017

SeaWorld, Gold Coast, is truly awesome. I took my assistance dog, Hope, there earlier this month and she enjoyed herself we had to go back for a second day.

This was the first time Hope had ever seen a dolphin. Little did she know that she was going to get up nice and close later in the day!

They really are beautiful, majestic creatures.

I fed the stingrays - with a cup full of fish. As you can see from the next photo, Hope was less than impressed and refused to 'talk' to me for a while because I didn't give her any of the fish.

You can't go to SeaWorld without watching their Affinity Dolphin Show. It is magnificent. The bond between the trainers and the dolphins is so heart-warming. Even the lagoon used for the show is gorgeous (below). This show is so good that Hope and I saw it 3 times during the 2 days that we visited.

Hope and I enjoyed the show from the best seats in the house (front row). I'll post the video of the dolphin show in another post as I filmed it so I could enjoy it many times over.

After the dolphin show I did the "Dolphin Pat" experience. Here you get to jump into the pool with the dolphins, have a pat, and have your photo taken.

After the 'dolphin pat', Hope was lucky enough to be invited up to the water's edge by the trainers. She then had a great time with one very playful dolphin choosing to splash her. I'd say the dolphins were as interested in Hope as she was in them.

Miss Hope was captivated by the baby penguins. They're so cute and so active.

Next we moved on to see the King Penguins and the Gentoo penguins. Having seen these in the Sydney SeaLife Aquarium and the Melbourne SeaLife Aquarium I was pretty familiar with their behaviours.

SeaWorld offers various 'Animal Adventures'. One of these adventures gives visitors an opportunity to play with and pat the penguins. Captivated by their cuteness I signed up for this experience on the second day we visited. I am so grateful to the wonderful staff at SeaWorld who 'doggy-minded' Miss Hope so that I could participate. The penguins even play with some of the same toys that Hope loves.

The JetSki Stunt show is incredible. I have no idea how these guys pull off all of their tricks and walk away in one piece. Hope, being anything but camera shy, was cool with taking her turn to sit on one of the jet skis with the guys once they had finished their show.

And of course, there are tonnes of photo opportunities at theme parks like SeaWorld. Hope met the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...

She was most excited to see the Paw Patrol characters.

She snuck in a photo with 'Tropical Santa'; who kindly came down to her level and then arranged for her to have a Polar Bear plush toy given to her because she liked it so much!

I didn't manage to get the best shots of the polar bears as they weren't overly visible on the days I was there.

After a long day at the theme park we returned to our lodgings at the SeaWorld Resort. I can't speak highly enough for this resort. It is stunningly beautiful and so relaxing. The buffet (run each night with a different theme) is delicious and fresh! Hope enjoyed walking around the edge of the pool, keeping an eye on me as I took an evening dip. and then she relaxed on the deck chair like a princess.

The 'green screen' photos with cool background are also pretty nice. You get around half a dozen different backgrounds for your pose and can make fridge magnets etc from them.

Of course, having so much fun is exhausting and Hope was more than happy to collapse on the bed in our room after all that fun!

Join us again soon for another one of Hope's Adventures.