Question about Gold Coast Australia

[tgeorge]

Hello all

DH has agreed to do a trip to Australia with me next! I was hoping for Japan, but, Australia has been high on my list for a long time also, so I’ll take it

I was talking to someone who has been to Australia a few times and he told me that the Gold Coast is more of a college atmosphere (to which my mind immediately goes to Cancun, but that may be a wee bit excessive) LOL

He did say that Byron Bay was very nice, but he would recommend us not going to the Gold Coast, but pick another location. For those of you who have done this trip (or have been to the Gold Coast), what were your thoughts? This may push us to do another tour or to maybe just go it on our own since everyone says how easy Australia is to get around.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

I guess it depends on what you want to do there and for how long. We flew into Brisbane and spent a day there then drove down to the Gold Coast the next morning. We spent a few hours checking out Movie World and then a few at Wet n Wild. Then we walked around surfers paradise a bit before heading south for about an hour and finding a room for the night. I think a couple of the bars near the beach at surfers paradise were a bit rowdy, but those are easily avoided. If I had another day I would have liked to check out Dreamworld and go to the dinner theater next to wet n wild.

I could see where if you have limited time someone would advise skipping it, because it's kind of where Australians go to vacation, so it's not as "authentic" as other places.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

And it's a long way from Sydney or the Great Barrier Reef. We spent the whole next day just driving and stopped just north of Sydney.

 

[acndis]

I was really bummed when the itinerary changed from Tasmania to the ‘Goldie’ but I can say that hands down it was one of my favorite places to visit EVER. We went to Hawaii right after and the beaches were not as pretty as the Gold Coast. (Imagine that!). The day at Byron Bay is one of the best ABDs days ever and we also enjoyed Mt. Tambourine. The Sheraton where you stay is pricey but the beach is so nice there, you could just hang out there all day.

I totally know how you feel. On its surface, it looks touristy and boring but it really is great. Hopefully, Grifdog and others will chime in because I know he really enjoyed it, too!

 

[Grifdog22]

I agree with acndis...the Gold Coast was a change for the better by ABD. They also have virtually nothing scheduled for your first day at the Gold Coast - because there is so much available to do to suit nearly everyone's interests - i recommend you explore your options to do something you really like to do. The transportation in the Gold Coast area is amazing and easy to access. Initially I bristled at no program schedule for that day. Then I started exploring the options. That first day we simply stayed at the airport and spent the afternoon skydiving. Others went on to the hotel and had apparently really GREAT surfing lessons that they say were x10 better than back in Sydney. Our favorite days were here. Byron Bay ABD activities for us was at the top of the list of what we did, and the Mt. Tamborine was a lot of fun too. None of these things are very far from Gold Coast. I haven't finished the trip report yet for that last little bit (sorry) but we did an add on day to go whale watching from Brisbane (ABD essentially dropped us right there) and were in the middle of humpback whale migration and resting with the calves. Words cannot express how great that is (Our summertime only - no whales in December). All of the Australia ABD trip is great, and the Gold Coast section should not be missed. Indeed, talk at length to your vacationista - they guided us away from some of the things we thought we wanted to do, and gave a lot of information privately as to why we did not want to do things. Once there, and we asked around, they were spot on. We did not find the area to be a college atmosphere. We found it to be eclectic, and exciting. We saw no debauchery, if that is your concern. I don't know how best to describe it - as we've not encountered anything like it before. DD and DW now want very much to move to Australia, now and for retirement. Unfortunately for us, Australia is too smart for that. We can't easily get in, except on a limited tour visa.

In much earlier posts I noted that my cousin was the military attache to New Zealand/Australia and had many recommendations to us on what to do and see. We initially thought of doing Australia on our own. When she saw the ABD schedule, she said without hesitation that we would be fools not to jump on that. So from someone who knew the area well, had shepherded many a bigwig as well as her own family, she said the ABD schedule, opportunities and program topped anything she could do on her own for that about of time and price. She may return to visit, but by way of this ABD trip.

We've done 5 ABD trips, and this hands down remains our favorite. Indeed, looking at other trips as we plan for 2019, all seem to pale in comparison. This trip brought me back into the ABD fold, especially after not having such a good time on some other tour trips and getting exhausted on trying to do stuff on our own. I am happy to answer any questions, comments or concerns you have.

As the Aussies put it - life is short - relax and enjoy! (And give us a pint and a flat white with that please).

 

[EllinK]

All this love for the Australia trip is very compelling. We are off on our first ABD in May so if all goes well, OZ may be our second. Of course I justified the expense for the first trip by saying "we'll just try it". Kind of like I did with DCL -- thought we would be 'one and done'. Fast-forward a few years and -- we will hit platinum level after this summer's cruise.

 

[tgeorge]

Thanks everyone for the the information! The insight is incredibly helpful. It definitely helps to ease my mind and can put ABD back in the running. I have ordered a couple of other brochures from different options and we'll have to go through and see which one has the best itinerary for us, but, I agree, it definitely provides a great overview of different regions of the country with some great tour options. I think my husband is a bit frightened of 'Disney' in the title, but I'm hopeful I've impressed upon him enough that this will be nothing like my Backstage Magic trip

 

[disneyphx]

Hi

I grew up in Brisbane and spent many short and long vacations at the Gold Coast.
As someone indicated above, it is a place where Australians go to vacation, and there is lots to do there. But I would probably argue that makes it more "authentic"!
It is about 35 miles north to south (just checked wikipedia!) and within that strip there are lots of different beaches and neighborhoods that have a variety of 'feels.' One of my favorites is Main Beach which is not too far from the hotel. And as Grifdog said, the white sand beaches are amazing - first time I went to Hawaii I wondered what the bug fuss was about the beaches!
In late November, it is home to 'Schoolies Week,' a celebration for those finishing high school. I would probably avoid the Surfers area then. It is also very crowded and expensive late December through late January - but so is every beach area in Australia at that time of year. Some areas are also very popular with Japanese tourists, but less so than Waikiki.
If you like the rest of the itinerary, I would not let going to the Gold Coast deter you.

Have fun deciding and happy to try to answer any questions,
Michele

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Hi

I grew up in Brisbane and spent many short and long vacations at the Gold Coast.
As someone indicated above, it is a place where Australians go to vacation, and there is lots to do there. But I would probably argue that makes it more "authentic"!
It is about 35 miles north to south (just checked wikipedia!) and within that strip there are lots of different beaches and neighborhoods that have a variety of 'feels.' One of my favorites is Main Beach which is not too far from the hotel. And as Grifdog said, the white sand beaches are amazing - first time I went to Hawaii I wondered what the bug fuss was about the beaches!
In late November, it is home to 'Schoolies Week,' a celebration for those finishing high school. I would probably avoid the Surfers area then. It is also very crowded and expensive late December through late January - but so is every beach area in Australia at that time of year. Some areas are also very popular with Japanese tourists, but less so than Waikiki.
If you like the rest of the itinerary, I would not let going to the Gold Coast deter you.

Have fun deciding and happy to try to answer any questions,
Michele

I live in Brisbane and its (the gold coast) over developed and fake. Its having the Commonwealth Games for no reason. I prefer Noosa or even Byron Bay. Having said that it does have some nice dining. Soul is the best hotel there. Even thought the Versache is really nice. The ABD hotel is close to it. Some of the hotels on route are okay and some well are not. i kind of understand the Uluru one. I personally would not cover so much in Australia. i would just do Sydney and Blue Mountains. or along those lines. I have not been to Hawaii. PS. If you are vegan you could always eat at Urbane. http://urbanerestaurant.com And yes I work there.

Mods I can delete the urbane comment

 

[AdamEfimoff]

There is a nice fish hotel chain called Spicers Its okay I think. Know some chefs that work in them.

 

[tgeorge]

SO much to do there and, I'm sure, not NEARLY enough time. I had thought of adding NZ to the mix, but I just don't think I can do either one of them justice if I try to split my time. I guess that means TWO trips, darn ;-) I really need to start saving more Chase and AMEX points for my flights.

Thanks everyone for the info. We'd definitely add time in Sydney to do the Blue Mountains. If we go the ABD route, we'd definitely do the January Adult Only option (not in 2019, but in 2020). We'd also likely add some time after to go to Melbourne.

This will obviously be a busy time of year, but it also gets us out of the cold, miserable winter in Kansas City, Missouri, so I'll take it

 

[DCPhotoGal]

We spent Christmas at the Gold Coast with our ABD this year. It does have a surfer's mecca feel to it, but there is so much more. This is where we saw the most kangaroos in the wild (on the way to Mt Tamborine) and our group didn't see the koalas, but I understand others have as well. The kayaking was fun as well. We did it on Christmas Day, and while we weren't able to kayak the bay, they took us out on the river that feeds into the bay, and it was pretty cool to celebrate Christmas with tons of Australians who were doing the same thing. It was my first summer Christmas, and a completely different experience.

On Christmas Eve we took an Uber (or maybe a Lyft, I don't remember) to Surfer's Paradise, and it was such a fun, happening place. Santa in surf shorts, all kids of food options, a nice pedestrian zone.

The only part of the ABDs that is Disney-ed are the pins and sometimes the movies they play on the bus. Although for adult only trips they may choose other movies. The rest is pretty much regular tour with Disney-quality attention to detail.

 

[Tsunami]

My family went on the same trip as acndis in December 2017. I was also initially disappointed to see the itinerary had changed from Tasmania to the Gold Coast, and I was a bit concerned when we started driving from the airport and saw a multitude of water/theme parks nearby. I ended up being quite pleasantly surprised and LOVED our time there. Byron Bay is absolutely gorgeous and has the most beautiful water I've ever seen. (Side note: I could have easily spent another day in Byron Bay. One of our guides told us ABD had looked into staying there, but the hotels were uneven and GC was more central to Mt. Tamborine and the airport.). My family split up the next day and only half us went to Mt. Tamborine and they really enjoyed that as well and saw kangaroos and a python (yikes!) in the wild.

The Sheraton where ABD stays has a lovely beach and pool area. We had planned to spend a day surfing, but the surf was just too high while we were there. Instead, we went to a rental shop across the street from the hotel and rented boogie boards, which were great fun. If you do plan to have a beach day, note that they don't rent umbrellas on the beach. They do sell them at the convenience store across the street, and the rental shop I mentioned loaned us a Lipton promotional umbrella right off their storefront (how nice is that?!).

I loved the itinerary and how many different things we got to experience. I also didn't find it very Disney-esque outside the pins and movies as DCPhotoGal mentioned. I've never been a pin trader/collector at the parks, but I found myself looking forward to these pins every day. They are really cute. Please let me know if you have any questions. After two months home, I think I am finally recovered and back into the swing of things.

I live in Brisbane and its (the gold coast) over developed and fake. Its having the Commonwealth Games for no reason. I prefer Noosa or even Byron Bay. Having said that it does have some nice dining. Soul is the best hotel there. Even thought the Versache is really nice. The ABD hotel is close to it. Some of the hotels on route are okay and some well are not. i kind of understand the Uluru one. I personally would not cover so much in Australia. i would just do Sydney and Blue Mountains. or along those lines. I have not been to Hawaii. PS. If you are vegan you could always eat at Urbane. http://urbanerestaurant.com And yes I work there.

Mods I can delete the urbane comment

I'm probably an easy customer in that regard, but I really enjoyed all the hotels on the trip. They are all very different and each had something to offer. One even had laundry, which we appreciated greatly. Since the trip starts in Sydney, it is easy to do that and the Blue Mountains before the trip starts. It is a lot of movement, but it's worth it to see everything on your Australia "bucket list."

I missed your restaurant last time, but this is a place I will be back!