Briefing

Taking the world best airlines, Singapore Airlines, from Haneda Airport. The flight was departing midnight, so we went to the airport after work.

Day.2 Arriving in Australia (10th June)

Stopping at Singapore as a transit, we came to Brisbane Airport. Make sure you arrive your ETAS already approved prior to entering Australia. Waiting for one of our luggages, we found out that some of the fragile items comes out from different area. To avoid the huge fine, don't bring food and snacks. If you are carrying any of those by any chance, make sure to tell the customs officer.

Cheap & fast way to get to Gold Coast is to take an Airtrain... and we just found out that we've missed the last train when we finally got out of the airport, ohh no! Well, we've taken a bus instead. It was so easy that they took us directly to the Aquarius Backpackers Hostel, but it took few hours because it was stopping every passenger's residence.

Day.3 Freezing Kayak and Pub Crawl (11th June)

This day, we joined the Australian Kayaking Adventures tour. But unfortunately, it was a very cloudy day, even freezing outside the Water.

Our first stop was at a small bay in Wave Break Island. We had breakfast and some time for the snorkelling. Though there were some fish visible even outside the water, it was too cold to swim :(

Back to the kayak, we came to South Stradbroke Island where you can see rare animals and plants. This beach was so clean and long!

Walking in the bush, we were looking for the wallaby.

Look! There is a wallaby looking at us!!

We went back to the beach where we started the tour. It was really fun tour, but at least we wished the weather could be much nicer.

In the evening, we joined the hostel's pub crawl tour called Gold Coast Backpackers Big Night Out. They had a bus stopping at every hostel in the area to pick up the partygoers. It was cool tour because they offered a free drink at every clubs we visited.

Day.4 O'Reillys and Cowboy Show (12th June)

It was another day without good weather. We were heading O'Reillys for the mini bus tour called OReillys, Lamington National Park and Tamborine Mountain Tour.

Our first stop was at a little gift shop on the way to O'Reillys. They had Alpaca greeting us, and we had delicious scones for breakfast, yummy!

The guide as well as the driver explained us about the story of the Stinson plane crash in the jungle of Lamington National Park happened on the stormy afternoon on 19 February 1937. The airliner was from Brisbane bound for Sydney with 7 people on board. O'Reilly was the person who found two survivors, and the monument describes about the miracle of his discovery of the crash site.

We had a walk inside the jungle of O'Reilly. They had this tree top walk, the hanging bridge connecting the tall trees. Hey, they say 6 people maximum per span. It's dangerous, so don't come closer! :/

Back to the bus, we've moved to the Tamborine National Park. Walking inside the forest, we've been to the Curtis Falls.

Having lunch at one of the shop, we came to the Gallery Walk shopping street. Here, you can buy local products including cheese and wines. :)

In the evening, we've been to another tour, the Australian Outback Spectacular. It is a dinner show with the story of Australian Outback. The performance was really cool because they were riding real horses in front of us :D

Day.5 Koala and the Beach (13th June)

We took a local bus to the Wet'n'Wild Water World, which is next to Outback Spectacular we came last night. We then walked towards the Paradise Country where you can meet Koalas. Behind the Australian Outback Spectacular, there is a road where they keep many animals for the show.

But in the electric fence :S

As you can now imagine, the Australian Outback Spectacular and the Paradise Country are run by the same company, so we met one of the performer from last night in the park. So amazing that he remembered me although I didn't talk him a lot :D

So, this is their main attraction. They have several animal shows a day, so you've got to check the show schedule when you are going.

This time, they showed us how we can Shear the Sheeps :)

You will need a reservation to secure a slot for taking photos with Koala. You will also need reservation for lunch, too. Make sure to secure your place once you arrive the park!

Next to the Koala Photo booth, there is a place you can see Koalas on the trees.

At Kangaroo Enclosure, you can even take photos with them, but at your own risk!

Back to the city, we've passed the city to take a walk along the coast.

When we arrived at the city centre of Surfers Paradise, we saw the sunset! The beach was really in a gold colour :)

After it got dark, we enjoyed the shopping at Surfers Paradise. Don't remember the name, but there was a shop on sale with everything half price on the already discounted clothing!

Day.6 Skypoint and Casino (14th June)

Taking a local bus towards the tall building on south, we came to Skypoint.

Skypoint is not an ordinary sky scraper. They got a fun screen at the ceiling of the lift :)

There is not many sky scrapers in Gold Coast, so you can really enjoy clear view of the wonderful coast line.

There is a cafe at the top. They also turns into a lounge bar every Friday and Saturday night from 8pm.

Taking a local bus again towards the south, we went to Jupiters Casino. The monorail is linking the main street of Gold Coast Hwy and the casino.

In fact, I wouldn't recommend taking the monorail, but the casino is worth a visit! We've also visited Pacific Fair shopoing mall, which is a very large shopping mall walking distance from the casino. You will need hours for shopping because we just didn't have enough time to look around :(

Picking up our luggage at the hostel, we took a bus to the train station. We were about to miss the train again, but hopefully we managed it! Yeah :)

Brisbane Airport is not a big airport, but it was clean and comfortable.