Went to the sunny Queensland for seven days. The journey covered Brisbane and Gold Coast areas. A fun mid year break from work and personal matters. A temporary break from the recent death in the family.
We arrived in Gold Coat on 1st May 2013 at around 0830 pm. Custom and immigration process was a breeze (thankfully!). Brought and declared food items from Malaysia and luckily there was no issue on that. Quickly off we went to catch the buses and train to Brisbane. This was a relatively easy part as there were buses outside the airport and we’d only need to refer to Translink for routes and timetable. To get to Brisbane from Coolangatta Airport, you need to board 2 buses (one to Burleigh Heads and the next one takes you to Varsity Lakes station) and 1 train to Brisbane CBD. Our accommodation for the three days stay in Brisbane, Chill Backpackers is within walking distance from Brisbane transit centre.
Day One in Brisbane
I had an exam in Queensland University of Technology in Gardens Point campus. The campus is located in the smack of Brisbane Botanic Garden. The uni is great in the sense that it is accessible to public and it was quite easy to get to places. The buildings are well marked by alphabets and there are maps to guide you to which building that you intend to go. Besides that the park is pretty and relaxing. I could see the students in groups studying under the shady trees. How nice. But I couldn’t enjoy much of the scenery as I was pressed for time. Exam started at about 3pm and ended at 6pm. Not much of studying done + not much sleep for the past 2 nights = idiotic ramblings on the answer sheets. Oh well.
QUT
Botanic Garden
Day Two in Brisbane
Got duped by Moreton Island Adventures. Initially we planned to go to Moreton Island for a bit of snorkeling and sand tobogganing but somehow the operator didnt want to take us there for the said package. Well yeah they did reimburse us back but still we felt that we were cheated by them as there was no info no notice no nothing given by them up until the day itself. We had to go all the way to the port only to be told that we can’t go to the island. Big time frustration!
Got back to South Bank side and spent the rest of the day in the lovely Brisbane CBD. Went to the Queen Street Mall, City Hall and Museum of Brisbane.
Wheel of Brisbane
Day Three in Brisbane
Checked out from Brisbane. Off we went to Gold Coast. Checked in at Atrium Resort, Biggera Waters. About 10kms from Surfers Paradise. There is a lovely beach in front of the apartment, but sadly we didnt have the chance to go there in all three days we were in GC. First day in GC it was scorching hot. At least warm enough for us to get into the water and played with the waves.
hello there wavey waves
the sun has begun to set
We spent the rest of the day+night sight seeing around Surfers Paradise area. Bought some stuff at the Hard Rock shop. But basically the town retired early. If you expect similar excitement such as Kuta and Seminyak in Bali, Patong beach in Phuket, Ao Nang beach in Krabi and Chaweng beach in Koh Samui..well then sorry to disappoint you. Surfers Paradise is a very lay back beach town, nothing fancy nothing crazy. There were plenty of tourists from Middle East, Korean, Japs, Chinese and of course, Malaysians.
(to be continued)
what's brewing? 