Marc's Public Blog - Trips to other locations


All | Aquariums | Arduino | Btrfs | Cars | Cats | Clubbing | Computers | Dining | Diving | Electronics | Exercising | Festivals | Flying | Halloween | Hiking | Linux | Linuxha | Monuments | Museums | Outings | Public | Rc | Sciencemuseums | Solar | Tfsf | Trips

This is a collection of my blog entries related to short or long trips I went on.
I have some master pages for some specific locations/trips:

paris over many years | UK over many years | Belgium over many years | Holland over many years | Vegas over many years | Australia over many years | Canada over many years | Japan over multiple trips | Italy in 2011 | France in 2013 | Indonesia in 2013 | Japan in 2013 | Japan in 2014 | Taiwan in 2014 | Indonesia in 2014 | New Zealand in 2015 | Japan in 2015 | Costa Rica in 2015 | Singapore in 2016 | South Korea in 2016 | Japan in 2016 | Germany in 2016 | Tasmania 2017 | Japan in winter 2017 | Great Britain in 2017 | Australia Flying Safari 2017 | Philippines 2018 | Spain in 2018 | Alaska in 2019 | England in 2021 | UAE in 2021 | Poland in 2023 | Portugal in 2023 | Thailand in 2023 | Japan Snow 2024 |

>>> Back to post index <<<

2017/10/31 2 Days around The Gold Coast
π 2017-10-31 01:01 in Australia, Ntrips, Trips

After spending 2 days north of brisbane on sunshine coast, we drove down to the gold coast. The gold coast is more commercialized and has a lot to do.


nice view from our hotel room
nice view from our hotel room

partial sea view from our room
partial sea view from our room

The first day was busy with all the things I had lined up:

  • Currumbin Sanctuary
  • Surf World Museum (across the street), as a bonus
  • Superbee Honey Factory
  • David Fleay Wildlife Park
  • Holoverse, an interesting Star Trek like Holodeck simulation
  • Paradise Jet Boating
  • Aquaduck
  • 3 7D movies
  • Salute to the Light Horse Dinner Show
  • We left early-ish and went to Currumbin Sanctuary which nicely opens at 08:00 (30mn drive):


    Jennifer worked on her snake strangling skills since last time we went there :)
    Jennifer worked on her snake strangling skills since last time we went there :)


    that poor quoka was going to come see us but it got bullied by big lizard
    that poor quoka was going to come see us but it got bullied by big lizard




    the kid play area was fun for Jennifer :)
    the kid play area was fun for Jennifer :)

    they had an animal hospital where you could watch surgeries
    they had an animal hospital where you could watch surgeries

    tree kangaroos are cool
    tree kangaroos are cool

    they had nice emus :)
    they had nice emus :)

    Next door was Surf World Museum. Not exactly a planned stop, but we got free tickets from Currumbin Sanctuary:



    motor surf board, cool :)
    motor surf board, cool :)


    Next door, still, was a bee honey shop/museum:


    Next, I drove to David Fleay Wildlife Park, a smaller park that wouldn't be as good in theory, but they had 2 nice finds: a Bilby that Jennifer was able to pet, and a baby koala:

    they also have platypus, but we got there at the wrong time and they were not visible
    they also have platypus, but we got there at the wrong time and they were not visible

    best bilby shot I ever got
    best bilby shot I ever got

    such long ears
    such long ears

    baby koala
    baby koala

    it was learning to climb way for its mom
    it was learning to climb way for its mom

    sugar glider
    sugar glider

    Next, I drove to Holoverse, an interesting Star Trek like Holodeck simulation I found somewhat away from the main town center. It was a bit of a pain to get to, and the opening hours were non optimal (they close at 16:30, WTF?), but it was a super cool experience that cannot be had anywhere else as of yet (that I know of):

    with 3D glasses you get a custom 3D view that is dependent on where you are and where you are looking
    with 3D glasses you get a custom 3D view that is dependent on where you are and where you are looking


    I ducked and then had my head under water
    I ducked and then had my head under water

    the next session was a 3D game based on your body location
    the next session was a 3D game based on your body location

    Holoverse was super cool and definitely a very special experience.

    From there, it was a short drive to paradise jetboat. Honestly the booking staff was cocky and borderline bullish in my opinion (the boat driver was ok thankfully), and the boat could not go full speed due to speed limits, but it was still fun and a nice ride, although they don't allow you to take anything or take pictures (I took my gopro for a few shots, though):


    multi million dollar houses in gated water communitiies
    multi million dollar houses in gated water communitiies

    Because the day wasn't over yet :) we then barely made it to aquaduck as they cancelled their last ride of the day, but we so barely made the previous one




    sea world amusement park
    sea world amusement park






    Since we were back by 17:15, we had a bit of time to walk around town. I figured we'd skip the Ripley's since I've seen a few and there were other things to do, and instead we tried 3 movies at a 7D theatre, and then a walk on the beach:




    It was then time for another 30mn drive to see our dinner show, Salute to the Light Horse. The food was close to appalling (at least my steak was uneatable), but the show was good:





    The 2nd day was a bit easier, I booked a gold coast 4WD tour:

  • 4WD along Hillside Tracks through Eucalyptus & Rainforests
  • Mt. Tamborine's Gallery Walk, the Hinterland's Arts & Crafts centre
  • Rainforest Walk to a Tropical Waterfall
  • BBQ Lunch
  • Tree Top Walk through Lamington National Park
  • Bird Feeding at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat




  • we found this barely alive baby in a tree, not entirely sure what species it was
    we found this barely alive baby in a tree, not entirely sure what species it was


    nice walk through the shops at Mt Tamborine's Gallery Walk
    nice walk through the shops at Mt Tamborine's Gallery Walk








    very eager small parrots
    very eager small parrots



    After getting back, we still had a bit of time for:

  • Infinity attraction
  • Sunset at Skypoint observation deck
  • Hurricane's Grill for Wagyu Beef, which sadly wasn't that good
  • then an early night since we had to get up at 05:30 the next morning for an early flight
  • We had been to Infinity attraction last time in 2011, but we went back as it was fun:




    We just had enough time to get to Skypoint observation deck and made it there 15mn before sunset, which gave us nice day and night pictures:










    On the way back, we hit a market by the boardwalk:




    This eventually got us to Hurricane's Grill which I had booked in the hopes that we'd get melt in your mouth wagyu beef there, but sadly it was just ordinary and no better than a normal good steak:


    See more images for 2 Days around The Gold Coast

    More pages: December 2023 June 2023 April 2023 December 2022 December 2021 February 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 June 2018 May 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 October 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 October 2012 September 2012 June 2012 April 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 June 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 May 2010 January 2010 September 2009 August 2009 June 2009 January 2009 December 2008 August 2008 February 2008 January 2008 October 2007 July 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 August 2006 July 2006 April 2006 March 2006 January 2006 December 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 April 2005 December 2004 October 2004 July 2004 June 2004 January 2004 January 2003 January 2001 August 1997

    >>> Back to post index <<<

    Contact Email