Weather? I am unsure which can be worse in Brisbane, the heat or the cold? My visit was in July in the frosty winter and nighttime was indeed freezing, especially when that wind blew across me! Winter clothing is a MUST, at least for me, in the farms and hills at night.
A week in Brisbane may be too short if you are planning to drive up to Gold Coast or to experience farm stay. Self-drive is definitely the most convenient & efficient way to explore Brisbane. It may be more economical to rent a car as well. Many rental companies are available but you may want to check out East Coast Rental as the rates are pretty low and the cars are new and in great-condition. (http://www.eastcoastcarrentals.com.au/).
Brisbane is a rather slow city and most malls are closed by 5.30pm, even on weekends. For shopping, Queen Street Mall probably has the most number of fashion boutiques as well as souvenirs stores. Be mindful that parking is extremely expensive in most malls at Queenstreet Mall, at $10 per 30 minutes! (We had to reverse from the gantry when we saw that astonishing rate!) The cheaper alternative would be street parking which are situated further away from the malls, along the road on assigned lots. Charges are $4/hours, but parking is restricted to maximum 2 hours on these lots before 6pm from Monday to Friday and before 12pm on Saturday (Parking are free at other times). Payment is made via the parking meter, so do prepare exact change, and a ticket to be displayed will be issued.
There are a variety of weekend markets in Brisbane and they operate on certain days or weeks of the month. Do check out this site to find out more - http://www.ourbrisbane.com/whats-on/markets. Due to the limited time, I have only managed to visit South Bank night market that was a disappointing. There are less than 20 stalls and variety of products (accessories, some clothing; souvenirs etc) is very limited. It was a wasted trip whereby I spent less than 20 minutes in there. Despite that, there is a number of nice restaurants and café at South bank, facing the sea, which may deserve a visit.
Moving into Gold Coast, the selections of hotels available are so wide that you may face dilemma in choosing the ideal one. I settled for Surfers Boulevard which is a well-contained apartment and pretty accessible. Apartment is quite small though, but the bed was warm and cosy. The beach is 5 minutes walking distance away while its town is within 8 minutes drive away. Coles & Kmarts are the largest supermarkets; hence it will be most convenient to get anything you want there. Many boutiques and souvenirs shops, which open till about 9pm, are located in the town. Wide variety of food ranging from Fish & Chips to Indian food can also be found. On Fridays’ & Saturday nights, there is also a night market at Surfers Paradise which sells interesting stuffs like personalized items; frames; accessories etc. This night market is definitely! much better as compared to South Bank night market. Surfers Paradise is absolutely much alive than Brisbane City in the night!
As you may know, Gold Coast is the territory to the different “worlds”. I am personally not into sea animals and wet rides, hence I have settled for only Dreamworld & Movieworld.
Dreamworld, together with Whitewater world are open from 10am to 5pm and is easily accessible if you are staying at Surfer Paradise district. Ticket prices can be found online at http://www.dreamworld.com.au/. I suggest purchasing the tickets online as the prices are the same and the ticket queue is long! The most interesting attractions at Dreamworld are the Koala bear and the free-roaming kangaroos. For a small fee, you can take personalized pictures with the Koala bears too. I am unsure if I missed out other attractions during my visit but I do not seem to see Spongebobs; Dora and other famous characters there, except for the rides & walls. Well well well, Dreamworld probably deserves a visit if you wish to experience close encounter with the Koala Bears and Kangaroos.
Movieworld is real interesting and a full day there is hardly sufficient (Opening hours from 10am to 5.30pm). Details can be found at http://www.movieworld.myfun.com.au/. If you register yourself as a member of My Fun, which is free, you can purchase the tickets online at a discounted price! The variety of attractions in Movieworld is amazing, from thrilling rides to photographs with famous characters to exciting shows! The most interesting show, for me, would be the 4D Shrek movie where you can really feel the effect from the show! The Hollywood Car performance with the blast and stunts was excellent too. Mascots appear frequently from time to time, hence you get plenty of opportunities to take pictures with them as well. There are many souvenirs stores available, ranging from t-shirts to soft toys to photo-frames. My favourite buy-back would be the Gingerbread man (From Shrek Movie!) which is happily “stuck” to my car. I also bought myself a black batman towel and a red Sylvester t-shirt (If you can, children sizes are much cheaper, and the largest size 14 can fit an adult M size nicely). The rides are exciting too, and the best is probably the Superman Roller Coaster which goes off in such high speed before you feel your heart-bear! My “favourite” was the Scooby Doo roller coaster ride which obviously do not sound very scary & I was trustfully conned into trying it. However, it did scare the hell out of me with I ts reverse back-wards movements and the sudden corner steep turns down the dark & creepy tunnel! There are cameras at the corners of all rides, so you may proceed to the counters to see your funniest expression during each of the ride. You may purchase these pictures if you like them. If you could stay till the closing time, you could also enjoy the closing ceremony at MovieWorld whereby all characters will appear. Delicious popcorns are sold at less than half price near closing time as well at only $2! (Usual Price: $7)
Fireflies are commonly known especially in South-East Asia but have you heard of the glowworms? There is a dedicated Glow-Worms research center up in the hills of Springbrook and you will enjoy a educational tour by the ultra-knowledgeable Mr Garry Maguire to explore the glow worms in the forest with a nominal fee of $10 per adult! Tour starts at 7.30pm and appointment must be made prior to the visit. There was in fact no other visitor when I got to the center. Nonetheless, it is amazing to know that there are numerous things to learn about the glowworms like their lifespan and feeding habits etc. If you visit Springbrook in the summer, you can also see luminous mushrooms! There may be other Glow Worm caves around in Gold Coast but the research center in Springbrook more authentic as compared to those in the tourist districts. Springbrook Glow Worms Research Centre is located at 2509 Springbrook Road Springbrook Queensland 4213 or visit their website at www.springbrook.info/glow_worms. The centre can be located by a good GPS and is about an hour drive from Surfers Paradise but be informed that the roads are rather dark and steep. Also, do avoid visiting during full moon, as the night may be too bright to see the glow-worms.
Mount Tambourine, half a hour drive away from Surfers Paradise, is a peaceful getaway paradise to the hinterland of Gold coast. I am lucky to be invited to a nice and cosy home-stay in Mount Tamborine. There is a little tourist town, Gallery Walk, which sells a wide variety of products such as souvenirs; accessories; wines; clocks; clothings etc. Macademia nuts farm is located 5 minute from Gallery Walk and fresh macademia nuts can be purchased in bulk at discounted price. I bought more than 10 packs in different flavors but the preferred one is the natural flavor! Wineries can also be widely found in Mount Tambourine if it interests you.
To conclude, I spent 3 days in Surfers Paradise; 2 days at Lillydale Farmstay (Please refer to earlier blog) and 2 days in Mount Tambourine and they were all too short! Guess I should take at least 14 days the next time??? Perhaps during Autumn or Spring time as well? Enjoy!
A week in Brisbane may be too short if you are planning to drive up to Gold Coast or to experience farm stay. Self-drive is definitely the most convenient & efficient way to explore Brisbane. It may be more economical to rent a car as well. Many rental companies are available but you may want to check out East Coast Rental as the rates are pretty low and the cars are new and in great-condition. (http://www.eastcoastcarrentals.com.au/).
Brisbane is a rather slow city and most malls are closed by 5.30pm, even on weekends. For shopping, Queen Street Mall probably has the most number of fashion boutiques as well as souvenirs stores. Be mindful that parking is extremely expensive in most malls at Queenstreet Mall, at $10 per 30 minutes! (We had to reverse from the gantry when we saw that astonishing rate!) The cheaper alternative would be street parking which are situated further away from the malls, along the road on assigned lots. Charges are $4/hours, but parking is restricted to maximum 2 hours on these lots before 6pm from Monday to Friday and before 12pm on Saturday (Parking are free at other times). Payment is made via the parking meter, so do prepare exact change, and a ticket to be displayed will be issued.
There are a variety of weekend markets in Brisbane and they operate on certain days or weeks of the month. Do check out this site to find out more - http://www.ourbrisbane.com/whats-on/markets. Due to the limited time, I have only managed to visit South Bank night market that was a disappointing. There are less than 20 stalls and variety of products (accessories, some clothing; souvenirs etc) is very limited. It was a wasted trip whereby I spent less than 20 minutes in there. Despite that, there is a number of nice restaurants and café at South bank, facing the sea, which may deserve a visit.
Moving into Gold Coast, the selections of hotels available are so wide that you may face dilemma in choosing the ideal one. I settled for Surfers Boulevard which is a well-contained apartment and pretty accessible. Apartment is quite small though, but the bed was warm and cosy. The beach is 5 minutes walking distance away while its town is within 8 minutes drive away. Coles & Kmarts are the largest supermarkets; hence it will be most convenient to get anything you want there. Many boutiques and souvenirs shops, which open till about 9pm, are located in the town. Wide variety of food ranging from Fish & Chips to Indian food can also be found. On Fridays’ & Saturday nights, there is also a night market at Surfers Paradise which sells interesting stuffs like personalized items; frames; accessories etc. This night market is definitely! much better as compared to South Bank night market. Surfers Paradise is absolutely much alive than Brisbane City in the night!
As you may know, Gold Coast is the territory to the different “worlds”. I am personally not into sea animals and wet rides, hence I have settled for only Dreamworld & Movieworld.
Dreamworld, together with Whitewater world are open from 10am to 5pm and is easily accessible if you are staying at Surfer Paradise district. Ticket prices can be found online at http://www.dreamworld.com.au/. I suggest purchasing the tickets online as the prices are the same and the ticket queue is long! The most interesting attractions at Dreamworld are the Koala bear and the free-roaming kangaroos. For a small fee, you can take personalized pictures with the Koala bears too. I am unsure if I missed out other attractions during my visit but I do not seem to see Spongebobs; Dora and other famous characters there, except for the rides & walls. Well well well, Dreamworld probably deserves a visit if you wish to experience close encounter with the Koala Bears and Kangaroos.
Movieworld is real interesting and a full day there is hardly sufficient (Opening hours from 10am to 5.30pm). Details can be found at http://www.movieworld.myfun.com.au/. If you register yourself as a member of My Fun, which is free, you can purchase the tickets online at a discounted price! The variety of attractions in Movieworld is amazing, from thrilling rides to photographs with famous characters to exciting shows! The most interesting show, for me, would be the 4D Shrek movie where you can really feel the effect from the show! The Hollywood Car performance with the blast and stunts was excellent too. Mascots appear frequently from time to time, hence you get plenty of opportunities to take pictures with them as well. There are many souvenirs stores available, ranging from t-shirts to soft toys to photo-frames. My favourite buy-back would be the Gingerbread man (From Shrek Movie!) which is happily “stuck” to my car. I also bought myself a black batman towel and a red Sylvester t-shirt (If you can, children sizes are much cheaper, and the largest size 14 can fit an adult M size nicely). The rides are exciting too, and the best is probably the Superman Roller Coaster which goes off in such high speed before you feel your heart-bear! My “favourite” was the Scooby Doo roller coaster ride which obviously do not sound very scary & I was trustfully conned into trying it. However, it did scare the hell out of me with I ts reverse back-wards movements and the sudden corner steep turns down the dark & creepy tunnel! There are cameras at the corners of all rides, so you may proceed to the counters to see your funniest expression during each of the ride. You may purchase these pictures if you like them. If you could stay till the closing time, you could also enjoy the closing ceremony at MovieWorld whereby all characters will appear. Delicious popcorns are sold at less than half price near closing time as well at only $2! (Usual Price: $7)
Fireflies are commonly known especially in South-East Asia but have you heard of the glowworms? There is a dedicated Glow-Worms research center up in the hills of Springbrook and you will enjoy a educational tour by the ultra-knowledgeable Mr Garry Maguire to explore the glow worms in the forest with a nominal fee of $10 per adult! Tour starts at 7.30pm and appointment must be made prior to the visit. There was in fact no other visitor when I got to the center. Nonetheless, it is amazing to know that there are numerous things to learn about the glowworms like their lifespan and feeding habits etc. If you visit Springbrook in the summer, you can also see luminous mushrooms! There may be other Glow Worm caves around in Gold Coast but the research center in Springbrook more authentic as compared to those in the tourist districts. Springbrook Glow Worms Research Centre is located at 2509 Springbrook Road Springbrook Queensland 4213 or visit their website at www.springbrook.info/glow_worms. The centre can be located by a good GPS and is about an hour drive from Surfers Paradise but be informed that the roads are rather dark and steep. Also, do avoid visiting during full moon, as the night may be too bright to see the glow-worms.
Mount Tambourine, half a hour drive away from Surfers Paradise, is a peaceful getaway paradise to the hinterland of Gold coast. I am lucky to be invited to a nice and cosy home-stay in Mount Tamborine. There is a little tourist town, Gallery Walk, which sells a wide variety of products such as souvenirs; accessories; wines; clocks; clothings etc. Macademia nuts farm is located 5 minute from Gallery Walk and fresh macademia nuts can be purchased in bulk at discounted price. I bought more than 10 packs in different flavors but the preferred one is the natural flavor! Wineries can also be widely found in Mount Tambourine if it interests you.
To conclude, I spent 3 days in Surfers Paradise; 2 days at Lillydale Farmstay (Please refer to earlier blog) and 2 days in Mount Tambourine and they were all too short! Guess I should take at least 14 days the next time??? Perhaps during Autumn or Spring time as well? Enjoy!
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