A Singaporean's experience in Gold Coast

Gold Coast - a place of sunshine, sea breeze and endless things to do but alas, I was down with a producing cough prior to the trip and I was sick throughout the trip. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it and hope my post would provide an insight to those who are thinking of going.

C and I flew by Scoot because it was the cheapest and the planes were supposed to be hand-me-downs from SIA. As it was a few hours flight, C upgraded us to long leg room. Off we scooted to Gold Coast and we were satisfied passengers.

After touching down, we were advised to buy shuttle bus tickets which would take us to our apartment - The Breakers.

The living room was huge for two of us and there were storybooks provided for guests. I read Douglas Kennedy books and continued to read his books even after I had returned to Singapore.

The kitchen came with an oven.

We accepted an apartment with no air-con because it had a better view. We realised that air-con was not necessary because the sea breeze was so cold that we had to close the sliding doors and leave only a small gap.

We stayed in The Breakers for 9 nights. We decided to take it slow so we did not complete many activities. The apartment is situated between Surfers Paradise (main town) and Broad Beach (Casino, eateries). 

Getting Around in Gold Coast

We attempted to take a bus and realised that it was very expensive so we decided to rent a car. We rented a car through The Breakers. It was a Kia Rio.

Thank God we decided to pay a bit more to cap the excess at $300 because we lost the deposit due to a hail storm. Tip: Always remember to check that your travel insurance covers car excess. Ours did not.

Things to do in Gold Coast - Been there Done that

Enjoy the Sun and Sea

The water was very clear and clean but COLD! C and I managed to swim in the sea once together. He did not enjoy the cold. I bought a mini surf board and I played with the waves. It was fun. Our apartment had a heated pool facing the sea. We swam there too.

Nature Hikes - Tambourine Mountain

The "Ang Mohs" always have a way of magnifying the beauty of a place. We took a long drive to Tambourine Mountain and took the track to the waterfalls. We were hoping to feast our eyes on an amazing huge waterfall but it was not so. It was so small! Nonetheless, the air was so fresh that it was still worth the hike and trouble. I had to keep emphasising on this so that my husband would not grumble.

Visit Brisbane

Brisbane is only a short drive away from Gold Coast - estimated to be around 1h 30 min. When we reached Brisbane, we were shocked by the deadness of the town. Where were the people? It looked like our CBD area. Thank God we managed to walk around South Banks (see pic below) and we had a cheap seafood meal during Happy Hour. 

Adventures at the Amusement Parks - Movie World

We purchased a three worlds unlimited pass at 89 bucks. Movie World, Sea World and Wet and Wild. Tip - We planned for the visits to the worlds towards the end of the trip. It was too tiring. I suggest to you that you should start with the amusement parks. 

I love this ride (pic above) because it will propel me to the top in less than 10 secs and dropped us down. Woo Hoo!

I only showed two pictures of Movie World because these two rides are my favourite. It was scary but fun. Some of the other rides were scary and still, scary.  At Movie World, we were caught in a hail storm! Thank God we found shelter in the arcade area before it started. We would have been seriously injured because our car had many dents on the roof.

Ouch!

Wet and Wild was fun with more exciting rides than our Adventure Cove in Singapore but we were too tired. Sea World was more suitable for kids. Just imagine a lot of animal feeding shows and animal performances. 

Sea World - Some animal show

Animal Feeding Show

Get close and personal with the animals at Currumbin Animal Sanctuary

This is my favourite. I don't like to visit caged animals or fenced ones. Australia and New Zealands tend to have more authentic experiences with the animals. 

We took photographs with me carrying the Koala. Guess what? It pooped on my hand!

Watch Outback Spectacular Show

I enjoyed the Outback Spectacular Show very much because it tells the cultural story of Australia through performances on horse riding, sheep shepherding etc while providing me with  a three course beef steak meal with unlimited wine and beer. We paid around 60 bucks for it per person because there was a promotion at Movie World whereas a Singaporean family seated beside us had to fork out 90 bucks since he booked online prior to the trip.

This photo was taken at the bar area before the show started. I could not take any photos of the show.

Go Shopping at HARBOURTOWN

Harbourtown is located within Gold Coast and it is a huge shopping area with outlet stores. There are sports brands, Polo Ralph Lauren and the usual surf brands. But these stores were not the ones I spent loads of time in. It was PANDORA! A jewellery shop carries a few brands and one of which was Pandora. It was around 30 bucks cheaper per charm. Some of the charms were going for as low as 20 bucks per charm. I bought many at one go.  Some of them were chosen by my friends as a birthday gift. I sent them a website and they chose for me. So thick skin!

BBQ by the sea

When you are tired of going out, which I highly doubt would happen, you can buy some Australia beef steaks and BBQ! I chose The Breakers also because it had a BBQ pit. Initially, Clem was very skeptical but in the end, he enjoyed it!

Visit the Casino at night

On Mondays, The Jupiter Casino near our apartment would be screening free movies. I caught a comedy. Sign up for membership and you could go for an electronic lucky draw daily. We won a salmon dinner at the Spinners restaurant. It tasted fabulous!

Things to eat in Gold Coast

The food in Gold Coast tasted yummy most of the time. They did their Chinese food nicely too, not some watered down version you tend to find in European countries. 

Within walking distance from The Breakers are Lola's Cafe and a Fish and Chips takeaway outlet.

We ate at Lola's Cafe two to three times. 

Lola's Cafe dessert

Lola's Cafe - Ham and Cheese Croissant

Lola's Cafe - Huge enough for two persons to share

I read online that Australia is famous for her seafood. I got to try it at least once! We managed to eat our BBQ seafood in Brisbane. Look out for happy hour offers!

BBQ Crayfish, prawns, fish

Another thing that I would recommend if you are on a tight budget (each meal is at least S$20 per person) would be to stay in an apartment and head down to a supermarket and purchase their pre packed meals to bake or to heat up. It sounds sad, isn't it? No, we tried it once and we couldn't stop buying. It was yummy! We always looked forward to eating them. 

Our pre packed beef steak only cost us around 7 to 8 bucks

One of my favourite past time would be to top up on my biscuits and curl up on the sofa reading a book. 

Overall, Gold Coast is not a place for nuaing (lazing around) because there are too many things to do. My biggest tip for my readers - Go in fours! Get an apartment with two bedrooms and share the rental of the car! Have fun!