Okay, so I have kind of messed up my chronological order posting for The Gold Coast. I actually visited twice. Once with Hollie on the way to Brisbane, and once after, but I felt you needed the full story - so let's go back in time.
Our first experience was not great. I didn't really have must knowledge of The Gold Coast prior to our trip. Turns out it's actually a city - not a region. So that was my mind blown already.
We stayed in a complex called The Pines in Elanora which is to the south of The Gold Coast. It was actually a really nice hotel (okay probably more of an apartment). We had views overlooking a lake and we were right next to a shopping mall. There was a pool and a Jacuzzi, a games room and a bar - not that we used any of those facilities - I was too busy taking advantage of the laundry room because I know how to live. The only downside was that there was no Wi-Fi - which is a little annoying when you are so far from home.
We were only in the area for 1 day, so we decided to head to Surfers Paradise - mainly because that's the only place we had heard of, and because it seemed to be the ultimate tourist destination. Our problem was that the weather still hadn't improved. The sky was overcast and the rain was intermittent. Surfers Paradise is built for the sun. In the dull weather, the place just appeared tired and tacky, and we weren't really sure what to do with ourselves. It was too cold for the beach, and too cloudy for the Sky Point Observation Tower. We took a stroll along the beach, and then around the shopping centre and we were none the wiser. We even asked the waiter when we had lunch - what do you do at Surfers Paradise?! And even he couldn't give us an answer. It looked like there were lots of options if we wanted a wild night getting drunk. You couldn't walk anywhere without a club promoter asking 'where are you going tonight' - bed. obviously.
There was also a lot of construction going on - everywhere you looked. This was prep for the Commonwealth Games (they've actually finished now I'm writing this). It was kind of ruining the scenic-ness (is that a word?) of the place.
There was also a lot of construction going on - everywhere you looked. This was prep for the Commonwealth Games (they've actually finished now I'm writing this). It was kind of ruining the scenic-ness (is that a word?) of the place.
In the end, I messaged a friend who lives locally and asked her what we should do - I had tried to avoid this as I was going to stay with her the following week, and didn't want to steal her ideas. But she gave us a list of places we could go, so we set off to place number 1 - Mt Tambourine.
We set off on another little road trip, and before long we had reached signs warning us of steep roads. Being a super nervous passenger who also isn't very keen on heights, I was very uncomfortable about this and didn't really want to go any further - but Hollie was fine so I went along with it. As we grew nearer to the top we suddenly came across a traffic jam - yes, on a mountain. The problem was that the hill was so steep, so when the cars had stopped, they were unable to start again and suddenly we had joined this queue. The cars were all sliding and skidding and I was not built for this kind of stress. I handled this situation by removing myself from the vehicle and having a panic attack in a nearby bush. Hollie on the other hand had it all under control, calmly reversed the vehicle, turned around and waited for me to hop back in so we could just return to the bottom of the hill. In hindsight, I probably could have handled it better. But also that wouldn't have been a funny story to tell.
We set off on another little road trip, and before long we had reached signs warning us of steep roads. Being a super nervous passenger who also isn't very keen on heights, I was very uncomfortable about this and didn't really want to go any further - but Hollie was fine so I went along with it. As we grew nearer to the top we suddenly came across a traffic jam - yes, on a mountain. The problem was that the hill was so steep, so when the cars had stopped, they were unable to start again and suddenly we had joined this queue. The cars were all sliding and skidding and I was not built for this kind of stress. I handled this situation by removing myself from the vehicle and having a panic attack in a nearby bush. Hollie on the other hand had it all under control, calmly reversed the vehicle, turned around and waited for me to hop back in so we could just return to the bottom of the hill. In hindsight, I probably could have handled it better. But also that wouldn't have been a funny story to tell.
So that was the end of that adventure.
Our next attempt at fun was to visit Currumbin. A nice beach further south on the coast. It was a lovely place, but again the weather was preventing us from really doing anything. We drove until we reached Snapper Rocks - that was pretty cool, and pretty pictures were achievable even in the rain.
After that, we had kind of given up. The Gold Coast had been a disappointment. We hadn't been won over.
Fast forward 5 days and it was time for me to head back. I'd just left Hollie at the coach station in Brisbane, and I was off to meet Shelby, a friend from Camp America who I did some travelling in the USA with.
She picked me up from Surfers Paradise, and I could already see an improvement because the sun was out. We headed closer to her home and stopped for sushi on the way. A first for me as I've never really understood the sushi concept. I let Shelby order for me though, and I actually really enjoyed it!
We had a pretty chill afternoon (admittedly I can't for the life of me remember what we even did when I arrived). But the most exciting part of this day was that my driving license had arrived!! It was finally back in my possession and I no longer needed to worry there was someone in the world stealing my identity!
Moving on to day 2 and we headed to Broadbeach in the morning for brunch at Shelby's highly recommended favourite cafe, Elk, and I had to give it to her, it was potentially one of the best breakfast/brunches I have had - and the coffee was great too.
We made a quick ice cream stop in the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre - which is a pretty incredible mall. It has all the shops you could need - including Sephora, and it a very modern layout. There are lots of cool seating areas and plenty of food and entertainment options. I had a really yummy raspberry and white chocolate gelato from Lello Lello, which is a great gelato kiosk on the lower level of the mall. And then found myself a much needed new suitcase.
In the evening when we had returned, we took a trip to Surfers Paradise for drinks. We had a stroll around, as being nighttime, it was like being in a totally different place. We eventually picked a bar to sit in, and I was very impressed by the crazy cocktail menu. Unfortunately Shelby wouldn't let me buy the princess cocktail that came with a tiara, and told me she would leave me on my own if I wore it in public (rude.) so I had to settle for the candy floss cocktail - I forgot until that moment how sickening candy floss is, but it was super cool to look at, and occasionally something it kept exploding and scaring the life out of me.
We spent a majority of the evening watching a very unenthusiastic 'hostess' trying to draw men into the strip club opposite. Strangely fascinating.
We spent a majority of the evening watching a very unenthusiastic 'hostess' trying to draw men into the strip club opposite. Strangely fascinating.
The following day we had decided to have a beach day. This is where I always go wrong when I hang out with Shelby. Some of you may remember the 2014 horrific sunburn of LA. Well, this was the 2018 horrific sunburn of the Gold Coast. When will I realise that my pale ginger-like skin will not be able to keep up with Shelby's Australian glow? But anyway, it was actually a lovely day. We took lilo's and spent a lot of the morning floating in the water (slowly burning away layers of my skin). It was very relaxing.
When I finally realised it was probably time for me to remove myself from the UV rays (lol, bit late Megan), we head to Burleigh Heads for lunch. We picked up some chips - with chicken salt - still don't know what it is, but it tastes nice. We headed to Burleigh Heads Hill to sit and eat lunch. The place was stunning, we had amazing views looking over the sea and you could see the city skyline. The weather was amazing and I was loving every moment. My opinion of The Gold Coast had completely changed. Hollie and I had clearly got to the wrong spots and were unlucky with the weather. But with Shelby showing me the nice places, it was quickly becoming one of my favourite places.
In the evening we headed back to Broadbeach to get some dinner, by this point my sunburn was starting to appear, so I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable (it was still mild at this point). We took a stroll around the area to pick a place to eat. It was a lovely suburb with a great selection of restaurants and bars, lit up with twinkly lights everywhere. We eventually picked an Italian restaurant and I had my final Australian pizza, which was a little emotional.
On my final morning, we headed back to the shopping centre as Shelby had some stuff to do. I had planned to a morning of window shopping and exploring the mall, however, I now looked like a lobster so the only place I was going was an air-conditioned room to watch some Netflix. Not only was I in a lot of pain, I also looked ridiculous.
On a plus note, it eventually turned to a tan, and I have a nice bikini line that 2 months later will still not go away.
At lunchtime, it was time to say goodbye and jump on a train to Brisbane airport. Of course, someone had to sit next to me so my sunburnt legs were squashed up against my backpack the whole way. This was going to be a long trip to New Zealand...
At lunchtime, it was time to say goodbye and jump on a train to Brisbane airport. Of course, someone had to sit next to me so my sunburnt legs were squashed up against my backpack the whole way. This was going to be a long trip to New Zealand...
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