Surface paradise

From Gold Coast

We had another opportunity to escape the Canberra winter by going to the Gold Coast in Queensland for 5 days during the ACT school holidays. As usual in our household, days leading up to the trip had some stress and anxiety. Nicholas was getting over his cold and my cough seemed to be getting worse. It was a good thing I was able to get another round of antibiotics to take with me. We were also obsessively following the Gold Coast forecast as it seemed like it would be raining for most of the time we’d be in town.

I think it’s fair to say that we had a good holiday in the end. We left Canberra on a beautiful winter afternoon. We picked up Catherine from childcare and went straight to the airport. Both flights to and from Canberra were non-events. Catherine was a bit clingy on landing, so she ended up on my lap with an infant seatbelt even though she had her own seat. And after navigating our way out of Brisbane in the dark, we eventually arrived at our apartment in Surfers Paradise around 9.30pm. We went straight to bed after we discovered our apartment had plenty of space and a great view of the ocean from the 6th floor. The sound of crashing waves lulled us to sleep the next few nights.

As expected, we had an overcast then rainy first day. At least it was warm. We went out for breakfast at the big shopping complex, Australia Fair, and then did grocery shopping for our stay. The rest of the day we stayed at the apartment reading, drawing, resting, playing games and spending some time at the apartment’s indoor pool. The place wasn’t entirely child-friendly so we had to keep a careful eye on Catherine’s moves. We went a little stir-crazy in the late afternoon and decided to go for a walk in the rain before dinner. Catherine stayed nice and dry, protected by a stroller shield, while the rest of us were soaked within 5 minutes. Nicholas wasn’t too happy. Luckily we had a dryer back at the apartment.

The next morning was beautiful and we took advantage of it by going to the beach as soon as we could. Nicholas was a happy camper in the water, while Catherine preferred playing with the sand. We all enjoyed the morning sunshine, relaxing on the beach. In the afternoon we decided to go for a drive to Tamborine Mountain. It was completely covered in cloud. We explored some of the quaint village shops and went on a short muddy walk in the rainforest. That was our adventure for the day. Dinner that night was at The Hard Rock Cafe in Surfers Paradise followed by a walk around the city centre.

The third day was another lazy one. The weather seemed a little unpredictable again, so we mostly stayed inside. We had a swim in the indoor pool in the morning. I went for a short walk into town by myself in the afternoon. I did a little grocery shopping after paying a visit to Starbucks. Catherine was still sleeping when I returned so I stayed with her while Phil took Nicholas to the beach.

On the fourth day we went to Sea World. It started off a bit cool, but the weather was perfect in the end. It was a pleasant day to spend at a theme park. We went on the cable car first and then to the dolphin show. Nicholas seemed to enjoy it although he was a little distracted because we had spotted a friend from his school. Catherine at first seemed interested in the dolphins, but then got a little antsy having to sit still.

After the show we discovered Castaway Bay and Nicholas really enjoyed Battle Boats – a water fight between people on boats and people on land. He had fun running away. Catherine was more interested in eating, so we had morning tea while the boys climbed up the Sky Fort.

Nicholas went on his first big ride at Sea World – Viking’s Revenge Flume Ride. He didn’t even make a sound while I screamed as we dropped. He enjoyed it and seemed keen to try bigger rides. We rode a few more kiddie rides with Catherine, watched a Dora show and saw more sea animals. Our favourites were the fish in the aquarium at Shark Bay and the penguins. We also watched the Jet Stunt Extreme show before leaving the park. We picked up takeaway fish and chips for dinner at Peter’s Fish Market.

Check-out was at 10am on our last day. After packing, cleaning up the apartment and taking photos at the beach, we drove back to Brisbane. It was about an hour drive to Brisbane’s South Bank Parklands after being stuck in traffic for 20 minutes just outside of Surfer’s Paradise. We took the kids to Aquativity Water Park and the playground at South Bank to let out some energy after being stuck in the car and before being stuck in a plane for the next hour and a half. Lunch was at The Crepe Cafe before we returned our hire car at Brisbane Airport.

Our overall impression of the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise was positive. I think I expected a bit more bling and grandeur, but I wasn’t too disappointed. (Phil’s impressions: A bit like Florida without the hurricanes; some retirees, some theme parks, a few rednecks, a bit dated.) But some of the high-rise hotels were quite impressive to look at and there seemed to be plenty happening around there. Shops stayed open until 9pm and I was happy to be able to go into a couple of American establishments. The only thing we had to watch out for were drivers ignoring the pedestrian crosswalks. So we had a pleasant few days thawing out and now we’re back in sunny, icy Canberra.