DAY 1: Sunday
We arrived at Gold Coast Airport from Sydney early in the morning and got a bus to Surfer's Paradise. Once there we got an early check in at our hotel in the Q1 building at about 12.15, and went out to look around. We checked out the shops and beach. We had an ocean view from our room and could see and hear the waves.
DAY 2: Monday
Day two's weather was punctuated by rain showers but we were doing mostly indoor activities, so it wasn't a big problem. We started out at Ripley's which was just off the main street in Surfer's Paradise.
Ripley's Believe it or Not
Robert Ripley (February 22, 1890 – May 27, 1949) began his career as a sportsman and cartoonist. He was fascinated by unusual events and objects, leading to his "Believe it or Not!" comic strips which became very popular. He enjoyed travelling the world to find oddities and opened his first museum in Chicago in 1933, then known as the Odditorium. In 1936 he was voted the most popular man in America, and he also received an honorary degree from Dartmouth College. He had a radio show for 18 years, and late in life he began a television show, which only ran for 13 episodes before he grew ill and died. The Ripley museums are now owned by a corporation. There are 32 museums located in North America, Europe, Asia and this one in Australia.
The roof of Ripley's Believe it or Not! The octopus's eyes and blue rings light up at night.
A life-size wax model of the Jaguar Woman (preferred name), more commonly known as the Vampire Woman. MarÃa José Cristerna Méndez is a lawyer, tattooist and businesswoman who chose to transform herself as a sign of strength after suffering domestic violence. She has a clothing line called Mujeres Vampiro (Vampire Women). I would like to meet the real Maria one day.
This bridge goes through a spinning tunnel of lights. It is really hard to walk through but it makes a great photo!
An artwork of Ray Charles made of lint by Heidi Hooper.
Portraits of Jack Nicholson, Elizabeth Taylor and Boris Karloff painted on Quail Eggs. No artist listed.
The Last Supper on pieces of toast by Tadahiko Ogawa. This took 280 pieces of toast.
Squadron Supreme comic book. The ink is made from the ashes of comic book writer Mark Gruenwald.
A dress made of computer keys and chips and a dress made of post its. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the plaque so I don't know who made them.
A handbag made out of long-outdated phone cards. No artist attribution.
A portrait of Audrey Hepburn made out of movie film by Erika Simmons.
Lady Gaga's high heels.
An example of one of the syndicated newspaper panels Ripley's used to produce.
An artwork made on a typewriter by V.L. Budnick.
This photograph was printed with polluted water instead of photographic developing chemicals by Jeremy Lynch. This depicts Ripley's Niagara Falls and was developed using water from Ontario Falls and the Niagara river.
A piece of wood that naturally formed to look like a face.
A piece of the original transatlantic cable
A horse hoof candlestick.
A bronze statue of the sword-swallowing record. I think this is Space Cowboy (AKA Chayne Hultgren), an Australian street performer. As of 2016 he held 44 Guinness World Records, I am not sure how many have been broken.
I am pretty sure this has to be a copy of the Titanic menu as the condition looks much too good! Nothing on the plaque says it is original.
An early vaccuum cleaner. Not really that weird but definitely interesting.
The "devil faced fish" in a tiny coffin looked pretty cute.
Who doesn't want to look half as fabulous as this taxidermy fox by Lucia Macnay. She was inspired by kitsunes and Marie Antoinette.
Fake taxidermy such as this "fur covered trout" are known as gaffs. You can read more about it and other gaffs in
this article.After Ripley's, we went on to Home of the Arts. Post coming soon!
I remember reading Ripley's Believe It or Not comics in the newspaper when I was a kid. (Yes, I'm that old, groan!) I've certainly been to Niagara Falls a few times, but never made it to the Ripley's museum there. So many odd things to look at! I enjoyed the comics where the ink was made with a cartoonist's ashes. Very fitting memorial.
ReplyDeleteIt would certainly be interesting to go to another one, surely they all have different things!
DeleteRipley's Believe It or Not looks like a fascinating place, well worth having a rainy day for! xxx
ReplyDeleteIt was!
DeleteHow weird & wonderful! Funnily enough, I had never heard of Mr Ripley and his museums before. Reminds me a little of Sir Hans Soane's Museum in London.
ReplyDeleteOoh, that sounds like an interesting place if I get back to London some day!
DeleteThe typewriter art is seriously cool! I wonder how they did it...
ReplyDeleteI think we had a go at typewriter art when I was a kid and we had an old typewriter but it wasn't easy. I think maybe you also need very thick paper so you can type over the same bit again and again!
DeleteWhat a fascinating place! That taxidermy fox is very regal looking and the dress made from computer keys is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteYour dress is gorgeous, the print is cool! xxx
I loved the fox, definitely envious of her hat!
DeleteThe dress is from Dangerfield, an Australian label that have had some pretty fabulous quirky prints over the years!
Ooh, that's definitely a place I would visit too, Laura! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading!
DeleteI left a comment but I guess Blogger ate it! If this one gets through, check your spam file, it's probably there.
ReplyDeleteyes, thank you for mentioning this! this comment came into my normal folder but then I checked my spam folder and there were more legit comments than in the normal folder!
DeleteHi Laura, What a fabulous place and one that would definitely be top of my list should I ever find myself in the area. So many eclectic exhibits. Maria looks like a walking work of art, but it's sad to hear the story behind her look. The Last Supper made from toast is incredible, as are those dresses and the piece of wood taking on the appearance of a face. I could easily lose hours in a place like that! :-)
ReplyDeleteI think Blogger ate my comment too! That is just the kind of place I would seek out. What a fascinating and eclectic mix of exhibits!
ReplyDelete