I wanna go back!
August 10, 2007
I knew the Gold Coast was going to be good. I knew there were 4 awesome theme parks and golden beaches and warm weather. But OMG! What an excellent place. People say kiwis are friendly, but they don't come close to Queenslanders.
The trip started at the crack of dawn, we got a 7am flight from Wellington to Brisbane. It seemed like a long flight too - about 4 hours (which is a long time in cattle class!) but we reached Brisbane eventually and grabbed a shuttle to the Coast. Our
hotel was a fabulous
new round building, complete with 'wings' (hence it's name, Wings :o) containing a number of apartments.
We scouted around, admired the pool and wee gym room, then headed off into Surfers itself. A bite of lunch at the local surf club, and a look around the shops, then off for a
wander down the
beach. And what a beach. It truly is everything it seems to be on the brochures!
We did the theme parks in a certain order - Dreamworld, Wet n Wild, Movie World, then Sea World.
I was disappointed in Dreamworld, but I think I was expecting something more fun - instead, I felt nervous and kind of ill the whole day. Going on 'The Claw' as my first ride probably contributed to that though :o/
So I picked the rides I did carefully after that. By 2pm we were all emotionally shattered and I had a
headache the size of texas, so we headed off.
The next day was a rest day (thank god!), so we hit Harbourtown - a big mall type thing full of discount
outlet shops. There's Adidas, Bendon, and numerous other stores with great discounts - well worth a look.
That night we headed to Draculas Cabaret, and if you are ever in Surfers or Melbourne, YOU HAVE TO GO!
It was the most wonderful experience. I'm not going to go into much detail, other than to say take heaps of money coz the cocktails alone are worth the trip (and the cabaret performers are SOOOOO talented).
Wet n Wild was the next park, and it was just fantastic. The best attraction is the 'Tornado' - a big funnel
like thing that has all the thrills of a rollercoaster! The wave pool and the 'twister' were awesome too. Spent a whole day there and could've easily spent more if I'd had 'em.
Following Wet n Wild, we headed to Movie World. This was my favouite theme park. The ScoobyDoo ride is THE BEST RIDE EVER MADE. I did it about 15 times. In fact, I would move to Surfers just so I could do that
ride again. The rest of the rides were good too, I think I liked Movie World
coz the rides were just plain fun - no feeling too sick, no major thrills
- just the kind of rides that keep the smile on your face the whole day. One thing though
- the old school Batman 'ride' is a jip - we queued for about 30 mins and the 'ride' was
really not worth queuing for.
Sea World I thought might be a bit of a let down, and I was gutted that the 'swimming with the sharks' program was sold out. But I have to say that the fact they have polar bears really won me over.
And the polar bears know how
to perform. They were really hamming it up for us. Watching the sharks was pretty cool too,
even though I couldn't get in with them. So it's worth going, though I don't know if I'd pay
the $62 to get in - get a 'fun pass' and its cheaper.
All in all, I'd have to say that this was one of the best holidays I've ever had. And, like every kiwi who returns to NZ after a trip to Queensland.. I'm thinking of moving there!!
The trip started at the crack of dawn, we got a 7am flight from Wellington to Brisbane. It seemed like a long flight too - about 4 hours (which is a long time in cattle class!) but we reached Brisbane eventually and grabbed a shuttle to the Coast. Our
hotel was a fabulous
new round building, complete with 'wings' (hence it's name, Wings :o) containing a number of apartments.
We scouted around, admired the pool and wee gym room, then headed off into Surfers itself. A bite of lunch at the local surf club, and a look around the shops, then off for a
wander down the
beach. And what a beach. It truly is everything it seems to be on the brochures!
We did the theme parks in a certain order - Dreamworld, Wet n Wild, Movie World, then Sea World.
I was disappointed in Dreamworld, but I think I was expecting something more fun - instead, I felt nervous and kind of ill the whole day. Going on 'The Claw' as my first ride probably contributed to that though :o/
So I picked the rides I did carefully after that. By 2pm we were all emotionally shattered and I had a
headache the size of texas, so we headed off.
The next day was a rest day (thank god!), so we hit Harbourtown - a big mall type thing full of discount
outlet shops. There's Adidas, Bendon, and numerous other stores with great discounts - well worth a look.
That night we headed to Draculas Cabaret, and if you are ever in Surfers or Melbourne, YOU HAVE TO GO!
It was the most wonderful experience. I'm not going to go into much detail, other than to say take heaps of money coz the cocktails alone are worth the trip (and the cabaret performers are SOOOOO talented).
Wet n Wild was the next park, and it was just fantastic. The best attraction is the 'Tornado' - a big funnel
like thing that has all the thrills of a rollercoaster! The wave pool and the 'twister' were awesome too. Spent a whole day there and could've easily spent more if I'd had 'em.
Following Wet n Wild, we headed to Movie World. This was my favouite theme park. The ScoobyDoo ride is THE BEST RIDE EVER MADE. I did it about 15 times. In fact, I would move to Surfers just so I could do that
ride again. The rest of the rides were good too, I think I liked Movie World
coz the rides were just plain fun - no feeling too sick, no major thrills
- just the kind of rides that keep the smile on your face the whole day. One thing though
- the old school Batman 'ride' is a jip - we queued for about 30 mins and the 'ride' was
really not worth queuing for.
Sea World I thought might be a bit of a let down, and I was gutted that the 'swimming with the sharks' program was sold out. But I have to say that the fact they have polar bears really won me over.
And the polar bears know how
to perform. They were really hamming it up for us. Watching the sharks was pretty cool too,
even though I couldn't get in with them. So it's worth going, though I don't know if I'd pay
the $62 to get in - get a 'fun pass' and its cheaper.
All in all, I'd have to say that this was one of the best holidays I've ever had. And, like every kiwi who returns to NZ after a trip to Queensland.. I'm thinking of moving there!!
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Wings is a 4 year old hotel almost right between Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. It has all the facilities you'd expect - pool, spa, gymnasium, tennis court and sauna, and a restaurant (though it's not open for breakfast), but it was the gorgeous apartment I stayed in that really won me over. Wings is kind of a short-term apartment hotel, and you have choices of sizes. We got a one bedroom apartment and it had 2 bathrooms! The floor area was huge, the kitchen new and stylish and we had a fabulous balcony as well.
The restaurant ('Beers from Belgium') served yummy food but was expensive - bread, 2 main dishes and 2 drinks cost close to AU$100 so probably not somewhere you'd go every night.
And the clincher - the hotel has a day spa!
The restaurant ('Beers from Belgium') served yummy food but was expensive - bread, 2 main dishes and 2 drinks cost close to AU$100 so probably not somewhere you'd go every night.
And the clincher - the hotel has a day spa!
The pool at Breakfree Wings
