Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia – 1 Day Trip

As discussed in my Brisbane post, my main goal of coming to Brisbane was to visit the Gold Coast, it was much cheaper to fly into Brisbane then it was to fly into the Gold Coast from Auckland.

The conversion rate at the time of writing this post was 1 AUD = 0.75 USD.

Day 1 – Roundtrip visit to Gold Coast 02.19.2020

Trans Link is the public transit in Brisbane, which includes the bus, tram, train, and ferry. I left from Central Station the train takes about one hour and then you transfer to a tram, the tram then takes another 45 minutes to get to the city center of the gold coast. The total cost round trip for me was AUD 22 (USD 16). The rates for taking transit are based on Zones and I recommend getting a GoCard during your stay. I was able to get any amount I didn’t use refunded back onto my credit card.

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Once I arrived I spent about two hours walking up and down the coastline. Australia has some pristine beaches, the sand is soft and white which turns to a golden color when touched by the ocean water. The city had a sandcastle competition going on while I was there, a lot were fairy/folk tale based.

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The next stop was to go to the top of the Skypoint Observation Deck. This is 230 meters high (750 feet) and gives amazing views of the city and the coastline. I spent about two hours up here, having a drink, and walking around the observation deck. The total cost is AUD 27 (USD 20.25) online and I didn’t see if the price was more expensive or cheaper at the door.

Lastly, I stopped to have dinner viewing the ocean. I was surprised there were not many restaurants overlooking the ocean with patio seating. The place was called the Sandbar. Time to head back to Brisbane and prepare for my last day tomorrow before heading back to the United States.

Cheers!