Day 21: Waterbom Wins!

Today started with a cooked breakfast at the villa before we ordered a Grab and headed off to Waterbom.

We arrived before the gates opened, joined the queue, and managed to score the perfect spot right beside the kids' water play area. It turned out to be an excellent base for the day.

Waterbom absolutely lived up to the hype. We'd give it a 9.8 out of 10. The only tiny downside was that some of the paths were quite slippery when wet, but apart from that it was incredible. Even though the park was packed, it never felt overcrowded. The queues moved quickly, the facilities were spotless, and everything was so well organised. We could easily see why it's rated as one of the best water parks in the world.

The older three disappeared with Dad to tackle the bigger slides while Mum stayed with Jai in the younger kids' area. Jai happily explored the little slides until one splash landed squarely in his face... and that was apparently the end of his thrill-seeking career. He decided slides were no longer for him.

After a bit of gentle persuasion, Sam managed to convince him to try one of the tube rides together. He wasn't convinced at first, but by the end he admitted it wasn't so bad. The lazy river, however, was a huge hit, and we floated around it several times throughout the day.

The older kids rated Waterbom a solid 10 out of 10.

Sam had one particularly memorable ride where he somehow slid so far up the side of the slide he flipped over and went flying down the slide, facing completely the wrong direction until with some finesse he manovered himself back around even at great speed. He also tackled the biggest freefall slide in the park—the one that looks absolutely terrifying. None of the rest of us were brave (or crazy) enough to join him!

I wasn't planning on going on many rides myself, but the kids assured me the next one was "not scary at all."

They lied.

It wasn't until I was already committed that I noticed the enormous drop ahead. My stomach disappeared somewhere behind me, and I screamed the entire way down while the kids laughed their heads off. In hindsight... it was actually pretty fun!

Of course, no trip to Waterbom would be complete without one of their completely over-the-top milkshakes. Ours arrived piled high with doughnuts, marshmallows, popcorn, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, meringues and just about every sugary topping imaginable. Completely ridiculous... and completely delicious.

We stayed right until the park closed at 6pm, making the most of every minute before catching a Grab back towards our villa.

Dinner was at another little local street market near home, where we somehow managed to feed the whole family around five delicious dishes for roughly $12.

Not a bad way to finish a brilliant day.

Everyone is now completely exhausted, tucked up in bed, and ready for another adventure tomorrow.

Trip Statistics:

- Kids' Waterbom rating: 10/10
- Lazy river laps: Many
- Jai's enthusiasm for slides before water hit his face: 100%
- Jai's enthusiasm after water hit his face: 0%
- Giant freefall slides attempted by Sam: 1
- Giant freefall slides attempted by Mum: Absolutely not.
-"This one isn't scary" rides that definitely were: 2
- Screams from Mum: Countless
- Outrageous milkshakes consumed: 3 shared between 6
- Dollars spent feeding six people dinner: About $12
-Family memories made: CountlessRead more