So coming in the second post for our trip down to Gold Coast, I do realise that it is rather hard to detail the event according to our day to day activity because of the things that we had to do while we were there. Instead, I would rather write on the awesome things that you can do while you are down here in Gold Coast!
[View of Surfers Paradise]
A lot of people would tell you that in order to cover Gold Coast, you would have to map on the things that you would want to do while you are there and they are right. Because there are so much options available, you might tend to get a little overwhelmed while you are there. For us, we planned out our trip as such.
First up, was a walk on Surfers Paradise!
Lucky for us that our hotel was located right in the middle of Surfer's Paradise, which is a strip where the main life of Gold Coast is located. What you generally find here are shops, restaurants and clubs that makes this place alive day and night!
[Morning view of Surfers!]
[Dropped by HRC, as per usual to most of my trips!]
[Found the star of my favourite band!]
While Surfers offers a great array of things to see and do, I would advise AGAINST on shopping in this area, simply because that this is one of the most expensive area to shop in Gold Coast. Naturally being a main tourist attraction, things tend to get a bit pricey here.
However this would be the best place for nightlife and most importantly, a source of really cheap food in Gold Coast. I will explain later.
[Surfers Paradise comes to life at night!]
[A reverse bungee park right in the middle of the town!]
One thing I realised that by mere observation, so many types of people walk around in this place and some even bring their own pet companions for a walkabout, which also comes in with different shapes and sizes!
Ranging from the big fluffy ones....
... all the way to the tiny yippie ones!
Once you are done with that, it was time for us to explore on the main thing that they have here in Gold Coast.
Time to visit the beaches!
One would wonder how different would the beaches here in comparison to the ones we have at home, I would say it has it's own personality. Gold Coast is very well known to be one of the main spots in the world for surfing so expect huge waves come crashing down on you while you take a dip in the ocean!
[Coolangatta Beach - top spot for beach hang outs in Gold Coast!]
Generally, I would recommend you to check out two main beaches apart from the one in Surfers which are Coolangatta Beach and Burleigh Heads. These are the famous nice beaches that you would have in Gold Coast so you are more than welcome to try out your surfing skills while you are here!
Unfortunately for us, despite the sun blazing that day, we were still there during winter. This means the sheer wind of the area was enough to freeze us so we opted to just walk around the beach area instead.
[View of the beach in Gold Coast]
[Cliff cove in Burleigh Heads!]
[Loving the beach art here!]
Also, be sure to keep an eye on jungle trails that you have attached to the beach. Like for the one available in Burleigh Heads, you have a 1.5km jungle trail that takes you around the cove area of the beach and gives you a spectacular view of the beach and in the same time a covered vegetation area to check out!
[Tried to blend in the background...]
[Couldn't help but feel a little romantic before taking a stroll. :D]
[I swore I saw a hobbit somewhere here...]
Next up, SHOPPING!
Although one would imagine that the prices here would be mind boggling especially with their currency exchange rates, there is however one place where you can honestly get a bargain price over branded goods, which is a must go for anyone coming to Gold Coast!
What this place is basically a very large factory outlet centre that houses the big names in the fashion industry so you would need to take a day in order for you to cover the area itself. Honestly we went nuts shopping in the area and I was not spared out of this as well! Here, you are bound to find a bargain price on the goods, especially if compared to the prices and variety of the stuff they have in Malaysia. A must go when you are here in Gold Coast!
Not to forget, Savour the food!
One thing that Australia has always been famous for is their steak and beef! They may not have the variety of food like how we have in Malaysia but honestly when it comes to their beef, we are way behind them in that department. And best of all? Seriously cheap food!
be it their burgers...
[OPorto Burgers, best.burger.ever.]
[Beef and mash potatoes!]
[Waitress was tempted to club me with the pepper shaker because of my fussy requests!]
As I mentioned earlier, you will find some of the cheapest steak houses in the middle of Surfers Paradise. Some offering a full steak meal at only AUD8.80 per person which is a great steal if you ask me. And they didn't skimp out on the taste as well!
Finally, Visiting the Skypoint
Their latest addition of attraction in town, the Skypoint is basically a 77 storey tower right in the middle of Surfers Paradise which you can go all the way to the top. There, it basically gives you an aerial panoramic view of the town itself and even on weekend nights, it gets transformed into a salsa bar which you can hang out at!
[Skypoint entrance view]
[Lift took 44.5 seconds to reach to the top and they showed how fast the lift was actually going!]
[View of Gold Coast]
[Shores of Surfers Paradise!]
In the end I would have to admit that there were more things that we could have done there in Gold Coast but because of the lack of time that we were restricted to, we were limited with these activities, Nevertheless we would leave other things, like a visit to the scenic hinterland and river cruises to our next return to Gold Coast then.
There are some main tips I would like to leave you should you visit here:
1. Public transportation is not a cheap option here. We ended up spending almost AUD100 a day on buses which is absurd. SO if possible, get a 3 day bus pass or better yet, opt to rent a car.
2. Be mindful that this place is a BIG PLACE so if you opt to walk, make sure you are prepared for a long one.
3. Get coupons. Seriously there are a lot of them online and they help save A LOT!
4. During winter, it still does get kinda cold, especially for tropical people like us. So mind the wind!
In the end we had a blast in our short visit in Gold Coast and I truly did leave behind some nice memories while being there. Looking forward to coming back again in the near future. Of course, I came there for a mission so there was something at stake here....
that write is up NEXT!
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I love Gold Coast! We went there 2 years ago for our 1st honeymoon and stayed 6days at Holiday Inn, Surfer Paradise. It was awesome! However, we didn't have chance to see whales as we went there in May. Sigh~
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Thanks for the "walkthrough"!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could at least visit Australia one day! :D
I was there too but didn't manage to go to this SkyPoint. I really miss the weather especially the ambience here! Can easily see couple kissing each other. So lovely LOL
ReplyDeleteyou should go back and see the whales! its an experience i tell you!
ReplyDeletewell, I'm sure the opportunity would arise bro, now there is so many cheap options to go there
ReplyDeletethe SkyPoint was recommended to us from a website and it was spot on. It really does give a great view of the coast
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