Gold Coast- Tweeny’s Highlights

For me these are the to-do’s of the Gold Coast, theme park capital of Australia. 

Gold Coast - Perfect for lazy days!

Some highlights:                                                                       

1.      SeaWorld- Far less queues than Warner Brothers Movie World and much shorter ones too! The longest I waited was 35 minutes. My favourite ride was definitely the jet-ski ride! That is definitely one to look out for if you like going really fast! Here I was tall enough for all the major rides.

WARNING: if you are going to SeaWorld don’t forget to have swimmers with you. You will get very wet! I also suggest checking out the SeaWorld Resort pool. It has a big waterslide called The Mammoth and a kiddie pool.

2.      Tallebudgera Beach- your local beach is all well and fine if you want to wave-jump or boogie-board, but if you want a relaxing beach this is this is the go-to alternative.  It doesn’t have any waves and you can swim across to the opposite beach easily! It’s got far nicer sand to lie down on and not as many people.

3.       The Surfers Paradise Markets – They are on a few times a week in the evening.  There are lots of cool stalls such as my favourites, the custom made Hat Graffiti stall and Your Hand in Wax stall. If you want a graffitied hat I suggest you get in early, as lots of people will have the same idea as you. If you are desperate for those hats they also have a store at Movie World. It is super cute and I’m sure you’ll find something that floats your boat.                               

4.       Firework Wars at Surfers Paradise - we were lucky enough to see the firework wars between 3 companies. They all produce a firework show and the audience decided on a favourite. You will get the best view from the beach.                                                                                     

5.       Hurricanes Bar and Grill in Surfers Paradise- They do the best ribs ever! If you are in a meaty mood, your food destination is sorted.                                     

Gold Coast- Tweeny's Overview

My family and I recently went on a holiday to the Gold Coast in Australia.  It was fun and action packed (with some relaxation).

The best bit of the holiday for me was running into one of my Canberra school friends at Warner Brothers Movie World. It felt like a really busy day and we were walking around the theme park and hey presto there she was! Talk about a coinky-dink! This huge coincidence lead to an amazing visit to SeaWorld! The parents all agreed that we could go to SeaWorld in a few days together. So, a day later we went to SeaWorld together. What’s even weirder is that another Canberra friend called my mum to say they were in the Gold Coast too and they were also going to SeaWorld that day. So the three of us set off on our Seaworld adventure together. We did all the fun-looking rides and had a great time!

We went up Mt Tamborine, to the calmest beach I’ve ever been to, the tastiest rib restaurant, a scary surprise house and much, much more.

The Storm Attraction at SeaWorld

Back to the Gold Coast, Australia

Our very first family vacation (involving a plane trip) was to the Gold Coast, Australia to enjoy sun, sea and some serious beach time when Tweeny was two years old. Everything was scheduled around nap times with the highlight of the trip being the Big Red Car ride at the Wiggle World Attraction at Dream World Theme Park.

This time round Tweeny is ten and tall enough for all (well most) of the rides at the theme parks!! She has made it clear pre-journey she thinks the seven day vacation would be well spent visiting each of the major four theme parks located around the Gold Coast – Dream World, Wet ‘n’ Wild, Sea World and Warner Bros Movie World. Theme Parks are not my idea of a relaxing vacation! I was hoping to spend the vacation exploring the natural beauty around the Gold Coast with scenic drives and walks around beaches and rainforests. The husband is keen for some R&R, reading a book or two in relative peace and quiet (hard to achieve with Tweeny and I around!).

If you are after a crowd pleaser, the Gold Coast certainly gets my vote for a good broad ranging family vacation (Gold Coast is such a crowd pleaser that we ran into two other Canberra families during our week there). It offered everything all three of us wanted in a vacation. There seems to be something to suit all tastes at the Gold Coast, from the crowds and attractions of the theme parks and Surfers Paradise to the quiet isolation of the rainforest.

Leaving our mark on the Gold Coast

For me the key to a successful vacation at the Gold Coast is location of accommodation. Decide as a family if you want to be right in the thick of things at Surfers Paradise or if you prefer a quieter location. I find the crowds at Surfers Paradise a little overwhelming, so we stayed a few beaches down at Mermaid Beach.

So what did we manage to fit into our seven days? Two theme parks, quite a few beach days and a day up in the rainforest and mountains.

A little bit of all of our vacation wish lists were ticked off. All in all, it was a lovely family vacation; I for one could have happily stayed for longer and will not hesitate in instigating another Gold Coast vacation in the future.

Planning Family Vacations

When it comes to plotting, preparing, arranging, and scheduling a family vacation, I am the main instigator. My feet are the itchiest in the family, after living in six different countries and changing school seven times, I still want to see more! I want to share the world a little at a time with my Tweeny Traveler, so I am happy to be the family travel ringleader to make it all happen.

My family travel leadership doesn’t go to the point of being a total control freak with hourly spreadsheets of how we will spend our vacation time (well maybe sometimes but I am working on it). My scheduling stops at researching, booking accommodation and flights (if applicable). With the basics covered of where to stay, how to get there and a general overview of available attractions, natural wonders and activities, I start discussing possibilities with Tweeny Traveler and the husband, so they can also think and marinate about the type of vacation experience they want. Although they don’t add much input!

Our traveling party of three doesn’t always agree, in fact our three visions of the perfect vacation are vastly different. The husband’s ideal vacation day would be spent in Singapore, eating six – seven street meals a day. Tweeny Traveler’s ideal vacation day involves a resort pool, a swim up bar and pool side room service (she knew how to say charge it to my room by age four – I know bad parenting!). My ideal vacation would be in New York, walking, shopping and having cocktails throughout the city but Tweeny wouldn’t mind that so much.

 

Singapore 2013 - The husband ate while Tweeny and I shopped but we all took time out to enjoy the view
 

What works for us, is taking turns to make decisions on how to spend the day. If there is something particularly objectionable to one of us, we also divide up. In Singapore, the husband was not interested in shopping along Orchard Street, so he ditched Tweeny and me to eat some local delicacies (that we were not particularly interested in) while we shopped. Win – Win situation if you ask me.  So far together, we have been to 14 countries and counting. We love travelling, and if we are going on a holiday assume I booked it!