If you are a fellow Aucklander like me, you know the frustrations we have with the weather. Well into spring, there’s no sign of the summer warmth coming in and this year we’ve had a cooler than usual winter.

Going through my albums I spotted the album on Gold Coast. I went there for the second time last year in February with a friend of mine. I miss the 30 degrees of heat! It’s the perfect getaway for some warmth! If you haven’t been to Gold Coast before, well let me enlighten you.

Gold Coast is a city in the state of Queensland, located in Eastern Australia. It is a major tourist destination. You can either choose to fly in to Brisbane and drive down to Gold Coast or fly straight into Gold Coast. The drive is an hour long. If you’re travelling on a budget, my advice would be to fly to Coolangatta airport (OOL) and to pre-book yourself a seat on the connecting shuttles that will get you to your accommodation. It is the cheaper option.

There are various locations such as Surfer’s Paradise, Broadbeach and so on, where you can choose to stay. My advice would be Surfer’s Paradise. In my opinion (and in the opinions of a few thousand other people) this is the hub to be at when in Gold Coast. So naturally the accommodation prices will be a little hiked. Surfer’s is also the closest to all the major attractions.

The attractions in Gold Coast and in some cases more specific to Surfer’s Paradise are as follows:

• The Surfer’s Paradise beach;
• Q1
• Infinity
• Dracula’s Haunted House
• The wax museum
• And of course, the theme parks!

I’ve been to Infinity both times and it is an exciting activity. I highly recommend it! In regards to the theme parks, last year I went to Dreamworld and when I had gone to the Gold Coast previously I had visited Sea World. There’s also Wet n Wild which I haven’t been to but I suspect it is quite similar to Sea World. Dreamworld is your action packed thrill rides theme park with a few shows of course. I am rather disappointed that I couldn’t make it to Movie World either of the times, but hey let me know how it was if you’ve been. Obviously as goes when there are multiple theme parks to check out, have a look online and see what works best given your itinerary and pre-purchase your tickets. You might even be able to get some good deals. However don’t feel pressured into pre-purchasing before you’ve even landed in the city. I purchased my ticket on the day we went to Dreamworld from our hotel and you should be able to do so as well and still get some discounts possibly. Again if you are travelling on a budget, fear not, the buses are well connected from Surfer’s to the theme parks and they drop you right in front of the entrance.

Q1, again is a must do. It is the tallest building in Australia and in the Southern Hemisphere. I highly recommend going up to the Skypoint Observation Deck. Furthermore, I would recommend going just before sunset and experiencing the sunset and Surfer’s lighting up.

Before I leave, I’ll leave you with some tips on travelling to Australia. If you’ve been to Gold Coast before, tell me what was your experience like?

Until next time,

MiliG