I have 30k burning a hole in my pocket and would like to make some serious money with it in a couple years time.

I hate to say this, but you sound like a pigeon waiting to be taken by some get rich quick scam artist. I'm certain you're smarter than that!

I would like to see what kind of fun I can have with this money

It's fun when stock prices go up, not so fun when they go down. The volatilty of the last couple of weeks has reminded me to stick to my basic asset allocations. I was trending toward too much in small cap and international stocks and funds.

For my $0.02, I suggest you stick to a sound financial strategy involving a diversified portfolio. When you're ready, you can cash out what you need to buy the property you want.