Gold Coast holiday ~ your advice here

[Oakie]

So I told Mrs Oakie I'm taking her to the Gold Coast next February for her 50th birthday present. She has often said she'd like to go over and do the theme parks. (Saves me having to wrap something I figure.) We'll probably go for 7 days.

Please feel free to regale me with your advice of what to do or not to do ... what are the hidden treasures or over-rated tourist traps. Any other travelling advice I need?

[Big Dave]

Don't go during School holidays/Early Feb.

[Oakie]

Don't go during School holidays/Early Feb.

Thinking around about 20th to 27th.

[FJRider]

Get a small cheap rental car. (with unlimited mileage) Getting about wont mean you rely on buses and taxi's ...

Easier to get all the stuff you buy at the markets, back to your lodgings ...

[nallac]

The bestest thing i did when there was go to a Pistol club, 150 shots with a .22 and 50 shots with a 9mm, i wish i had go with the 44 magnum thye had for hire..

Oh and the fun parks are ok.
Breakfast at the surf club was good/cheap.

[Big Dave]

Yeah - should be OK then.

The City itself is a bit tired. There are a few derelict buildings and tagging around the place and in parts it's somewhat run down - just behind the facade of the glitter strip.
High crime rate too.
But then the strip and the beaches are still quite beautiful and a lot of it is being refurbished now.

My kids like Dreamworld and Movie World best.

[Big Dave]

My friend Mark says he 'lives in Coolanghetto'.

[mashman]

Take your sunglasses... they serve 2 purposes, the first for keeping out too much light and the second so that yer missus doesn't catch you havin a perve at the local ladies. Have fun :)

[P38]

Take her to Draculas.

It's a bloody scream.

[swtfa]

Sunshine Coast - Noosa etc, a lot better. :yes:

[Laava]

Yes to the rental car, then take your missus to Tamborine Mt and Gallery Walk. She will probbably let you have a bit later!

[Robbo]

Check this site out Oakie, it should give you plenty of information and options to check out. As BD said, avoid the school holidays and don't wander on the streets around central surfers late at night. There have been a lot of assaults in this area lately most being unprovoked and an average of three armed robberies a week. Weather will be quite hot in Feb so pack your thongs (just don't go calling them jandals over here) and your sunnies as there are an abundance of lovely bodies to be found on the beaches with most of them wearing little more than a postage stamp. Are you planning on staying in the one place and doing day trips or hiring a rental car and going travelling? If so, then the Sunshine Coast is worth a trip to.



http://www.visitgoldcoast.com/


Cheers


Robbo

[HenryDorsetCase]

So I told Mrs Oakie I'm taking her to the Gold Coast next February for her 50th birthday present. She has often said she'd like to go over and do the theme parks. (Saves me having to wrap something I figure.) We'll probably go for 7 days.

Please feel free to regale me with your advice of what to do or not to do ... what are the hidden treasures or over-rated tourist traps. Any other travelling advice I need?my advice is flag the gold coast and go to the sunshine coast (north).


Not as built up better beaches way more relaxed. Noosa Maroochydore, Mooloolaba (yes really).

Theres a motorbike hire place in Noosa too.

[Big Dave]

Depends what you want.
The Sunshine Coast is where I'd go to retire. (Or sift around a resort.)
The Gold Coast is where I'd go to Par Tay.

[Oakie]

Interesting. Always good to learn of alternatives too. Continue.

[BMWST?]

go out the back

[skippa1]

dont be conned into the free scratchy cards where "everyone wins a prize"........surf club meals are cheap n cheerful. I wouldnt do it again. Sunshine is better, Melbourne is nice to.

[Big Dave]

Out the back of the Gold Coast:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E-fKclcALas?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Out the Back of the Sunshine Coast:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/or2U6w7xDVI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[merv]

Even in winter the meter maids are on the streets so look out for them - should be in their bikinis again in February.

[Boob Johnson]

Be warned! You are going at the hottest time of the year. I lived on the GC for 3 years & in Feb the sun rises at 4:15am & by 8am it's 30 degrees with 100% humidity, FUCKING hot!!! Get out of the shower that was 98% cold 2% hot water & couldn't towel off, just constantly sweating like a bastard. In the summer of 2000, 20 people died in Brisbane during the peak of summer.

After that if you are still keen to go at the hottest time of the year you MUST have air con in your rental car & accommodation & forget going to any of the fun parks in that heat unless it's Wet n Wild.

Fun things to do? Being a tourist mecca there are 1000's of options. One of my favs was hiring late 60's Mustang convertibles & cruising up n down the coast (Sunshine coast, north of Brisbane & Byron Bay 1 1/2 hours south of the GC). Back then was $140 a day. Currumbin wild life park (near Coolangatta) is worth a look, you can cuddle a Koala bear, feed the (amazing array) of birds.

[Oakie]

Anyone have anything to offer regarding buying a holiday package from a travel agent vs sorting flights and accomodation and any trimmings yourself?

[roadkillnz]

As someone said already, be sure to head to Draculas. A seriously good night.

[steve_t]

Anyone have anything to offer regarding buying a holiday package from a travel agent vs sorting flights and accomodation and any trimmings yourself?

My advice: don't use Flight Centre :angry2:

[Oakie]

My advice: don't use Flight Centre :angry2:

More information required. Used them 4 years ago for a Samoa trip and it all went off without a hitch.

[Macontour]

We used Flight Centre in Nov 2010 and got 11 nights accomm. at Chevron Island 5 mins from centre of Surfers, plus Flights for about $2200. Booked a Cut Price (I think) rental. Picked it up at the Airport and had it for 12 days, for about$450Aus. Nissan Tiida, carried all our gear, did over 1000ks and cost us about $100 in gas.

Sun rises early there, gets hot quick. Currumbin Wildlife reserve was worth a vist. We also went for a drive into the hills through little towns called Montville and Maleney, maybe in the Mount Tambourine area. Fantastic views, lots of little cafes and so on. Road comes out on the Sunshine Coast near Mooloolaba or Maroochydore. Best part of a day to do it but a great escape from the rush of Surfers.

The Q1 tower is worth a visit too. Tallest building on the coast with spectacular views. Can't remember the cost but we got a multivisit pass pretty cheap and went up a few times, daytime and night time just to see the difference but you could just go up late afternoon and stay as it gets dark.

The large shopping centre back along the Coast is worth a visit too, Pacific Fair I think it is called......its huge.

Sunshine Coast is pretty and a bit more laid back too.

Try to find out about the Toll Roads. I'm not sure how much the tolls are or how you pay for them. We managed to avoid them though so shouldn't be an issue.

Try not to worry too much about the dollars, it is a special occasion and you may not get there again.

We were there during Schoolies week, a bit like the infamous American spring break and Surfers was rocking. We walked around late many nights and never really felt a bad vibe.

South Bank Beach in Brisbane is cool too. It's an artificial beach in the middle of the city, a great walk, eateries and a big Ferris wheel.

[Maha]

More information required. Used them 4 years ago for a Samoa trip and it all went off without a hitch.

I recently used Flight Center to bring my daughter back from Perth.
Got a phone call from her from Perth Airport saying ''they wont let me on the plane because the ticket is to Auckland only''
I had booked and paid for her to go Perth/Auckland/Christchurch.
Air NZ had been paid only part of the fare from Flight Centre..so she wasn't allowed to board.
FC couldn't be reached late on a Saturday Night...
Ended up have Air NZ on one line and FC Australia (yes we had to call Aus) on the other, trying to get it sorted so Sam could get on the fricken plane.
Got it sorted in the end and with minutes to spare.
Learned a lesson that night.

[soundbeltfarm]

we took our kids there in june,
they loved it , we had a good time also, we done all the theme parks , all were great and we also went to draculas dinner and show, without the kids and we thought it was bloody great , have to book way in advance . some people love the show and some think it average , but our group loved it. remember you have to wear shoes to dracs as we found out the hard way and had to rush back to our unit to get shoes, give the dracs people heaps of shit and it is a hardcase night.
we also went to the outback spectacular dinner and show with the kids and they loved it also.
it about the outback and from begiining to sort of now. again you have to book early to get in as it is always fully booked.
we hired a car from brisbane airport with redback rentals, they are ex kiwis and were great to deal with . i cant remember the price of the car off the top of my head, it came with 2 toll passes which covered goin to the gold coast from brisbane and the return trip.
they are a pain in the arse unless you are used to tolls, it just an electronic unit on the car, an if you dont pay you dont even know till the rental company gives you a horrendus charge.
we were going to willowbank drags and used the gps to give us a toll free route which was not alot longer.
look on a couple of the tourist websites and you get some pretty great deals.
we got heaps of money off currumbin santuary and other vouchers and it just cost the time searching for them
we ate ate a bowling club with family of four and it cost us 18 dollars, what a score. we had a main meal free with an adult meal and it was also kids eat free which they offered us as well as the free meal deal, was state of O night and mate the aussies put us to shame for getting right into the jist of the game, whole place was decked out in maroon and everyone was dressed up.was an awesome night there. we found the aussies real friendly and never came across any dodgy areas although we were not out early hours of morning except the origin night , we took the kids and wives back to where we stayed and then walked back up town for a night on the gas.
we done a aqua duck tour, that was pretty cool and the kids loved it, they show you all the sights and then enter the water for a cruise around all the flash houses and then re enters and goes back around town,
we found the weather comfortable and were never cold, at thats in june. the aussies think you are crazy wearing singlet and jandles and shorts.
if you do theme parks , they do passes for 3 parks ( wet wild , seaworld and movie world ) which cost us 99 oz dollars and dreamworld was separate with whitewater world built into that ticket which was about 70 dollars.
we got flights from new plymouth to brisbane via auckland return for 2 adults and 2 kids return for around $2200 . thats the works package which included all movies and a meal and also you can choose seat preference. be aware seat preference does not mean you will get those seats as we found out . that was the only complaint i had with airnz i was separate to my family and beside my wife was a young woman travelling on her own, so i dont know what the hiccup was there.
the travel centre could not match the flights we got and i also contacted the place we stayed direct and at the start the travel centre said they could not match the deal i managed to get from the resort direct , but in the end they did match it, we got draculas and outback spectacular and the rental car with travel agent and the theme parks i got myself, i think one website was www.myfun.com.au . we got travel insurance with our flights which was 50 dollars each which was in the total price for flights i mentioned and that covers the horrendus rental car excess you incurr if you crash. we had our window cracked on the way back to airport and it cost us nothing in excess which our travel insurance covered,
credit cards can be used easy over there , we just got quite a bit out at a time as they do charge a bit every time you use it.

[steve_t]

More information required. Used them 4 years ago for a Samoa trip and it all went off without a hitch.

Last year my ex had her flights screwed up and they wouldn't sort her out. Had to go to Disputes Tribunal to get it sorted. What a waste of time.

2 weeks ago, a mate went to the US and his return flight was supposed to be business class (which he paid for) but found out they'd only booked economy seating for him and his preggo fiancee. Not happy

The worst thing is that I know 3-4 people that work for Flight Centre so I have to be careful when slagging the company off :buggerd:

[FROSTY]

Oakie--Ive been over there a few times-Personal recomendations for you
1)Try to fly in and out of Coolungatta-Its only 30 minutes from surfers and everything is easier
2) Stay in Broadbeach rather than Surfers itself. Its not so run down.
3) Nighttime stuff to do- Yep Draculas is good But there is also The Auzzie outback adventure which I enjoyed more than dracs (in fairness I was bored with dracs after a few visits) Last time we were there you could take a gondola dinner"cruise" at night all round the waterways of surfers/broadbeach.
There are some pretty good eateries in Broadbeach.
4)Daytime stuff-Of course theres dreamworld/movie world -now you can get a return pass in there for just $10 australian before you leave for the day. Incidently in Dreamworld theres a big 6 pass in you can buy if you get there at 8.30-8.45 -it gets you in before everybody else so you get on the rides with no lines for an hour. I'd suggest stopping in at movie world on ya way back to the hotel after dreamworld so you can get a program. You almost need two days there -one to see the shows and one to do the rides.-Take your own FROZEN bottled water with you.
Other stuff-Theres a place called Kingston park raceway haldf way back to Brisbane -its a fantastic go kart track.
Way up in the Tamborine mountains is a place called Oreileys -fantastic views and a cool series of swing bridges.You could try a trial scuba dive in the "pool" at the Marriot -The "pool" is basicly a 3.0m deep beach down to a tropical reef with all sorts of fish. Good fun if you want to try scuba.
Yes theres currumban sanctuary which is a relaxing day looking at auzzie wildlife.

I have to say though Id MUCH rather head to fiji or raro

[SMOKEU]

The bestest thing i did when there was go to a Pistol club, 150 shots with a .22 and 50 shots with a 9mm, i wish i had go with the 44 magnum thye had for hire..

Oh and the fun parks are ok.
Breakfast at the surf club was good/cheap.

A mate of mine did exactly that last week. He said the .44 magnum was a bit of a handful, but totally kick ass!

[Oakie]

That's brilliant info guys. Thanks for the effort ... and I'm starting to think 7 days won't be enough!

[duckonin]

That's brilliant info guys. Thanks for the effort ... and I'm starting to think 7 days won't be enough!

Your right on that score !:rolleyes:

[Padmei]

That's brilliant info guys. Thanks for the effort ... and I'm starting to think 7 days won't be enough!

That depends, after 5 days, theme parks with the kids looking around etc i was ready for home (I do love where I live & Nelson is bit of a holiday destination anyway).
Currumbin for us was the best thing & the one we hadn't expected too much from - low key, cool animals & excellent shows & relaxed - also shady. It didn't have the facade that surfers etc has.
We didn't get a rental car & used public transport which was good but expensive - it would have on par with renting a small car.

Our 3 hr flight back from Cooloangatta with ANZ turned into a 3 day trip with 2 extra nights in hotels & 3 x 5am starts to board the same plane with the same resurfacing fault lite. Did you know they don't have spare planes?

My missus went a month or so ago without the kids & with a rental car & she loved it.

[Oakie]

Lucky us. No kids at home anymore :)

[Clockwork]

A mate of mine did exactly that last week. He said the .44 magnum was a bit of a handful, but totally kick ass!

If it kicked him in the ass he was holding it wrong.

[Flip]

Don't go there its full of fucking auzzys.

Fiji or Raro would be my choice.

[Macontour]

We did the Aqua Duck tour as well. Old WW2 landing craft converted same as they have in Rottenrua. Good trip and the Captain let our 2 year old "drive" it, very cool. Also went to Hogs Breath Cafe, not bad for dinner, think we went twice.

There are also night markets that apparently worth a look.

[Oakie]

Woo hoo. Just booked 9 days accom and flights for $2090.

[steve_t]

A mate of mine did exactly that last week. He said the .44 magnum was a bit of a handful, but totally kick ass!

Yep. There's a gun club in Southport. The guns are wired to the wall so you can only point them down the range but there's enough freeplay to point them way off target. The .44 magnum is a frickin hand cannon. I thought I was cool with the 9mm running off rounds as quick as I could but when shells went down my shirt and in my shoe, I realised they were bloody hot and gave me little burns. All in all, one of the highlights of one of my trips there :2thumbsup

[pzkpfw]

We did the Aqua Duck tour as well. Old WW2 landing craft converted same as they have in Rottenrua. Good trip and the Captain let our 2 year old "drive" it, very cool. Also went to Hogs Breath Cafe, not bad for dinner, think we went twice.

There are also night markets that apparently worth a look.

We did Aqua Duck too, but I got the impression it wasn't actually a DUKW but a custom build, based on the same principle. May be totally wrong...

[Oakie]

We will do Movie World, Sea World and Wet 'n' Wild theme parks... a day for each. Doing a 4WD trek one day so that is 4 days taken. Be cool to do the wine trail too. A day for bumming around and shopping. Still a couple of days to sort. I'm told Ripleys Believe it or not is good so may do a part day there. Shooting sounds cool ... it's been a while. Getting a 28 day bus pass so transport and transfers from local airport sorted.

[steve_t]

Oh yeah, there's this place in the Chevron Renaissance plaza that is a trippy maze thingy. Heaps of mirrors so you have to wear white gloves and booties. Some trippy laser rooms and spinny bridge thingy. Can't remember what it's called. The missus liked it. It was a good way to kill a bit of time but quite exy IIRC - maybe AU$25 each or something. Just another option if you're looking for things to do in Surfers

[Smokin]

Woo hoo. Just booked 9 days accom and flights for $2090.

Did you go through a travel agent or sort it your self bud? Thats not a bad price at all.
We are planning on taking the kids over for 10 days in November and if I can save money on flights and accomodation I can spend more on having fun. :banana:

[Oakie]

Did you go through a travel agent or sort it your self bud? Thats not a bad price at all.
We are planning on taking the kids over for 10 days in November and if I can save money on flights and accomodation I can spend more on having fun. :banana:

United Travel had a deal at $769 for 7 days at a particular location. We pushed it up to 9 days, changed the room type from hotel to apartment, changed one of the flights to Jetstar to get over there in the morning instead of late afternoon and got a re-quote. That was too expensive so I got them to look for a cheaper property. They found one having a special and Bob's your uncle! The package we have now bears no resemblance to the initial package but it was a good place to start and just shuffle until we hit the sweet spot.

[Smokin]

Thats some good info there, Thanks very much.