Rollercoaster ride to Surfers

After eight months of being back in my hometown of Perth, Australia - the most isolated city in the world - I was finally on my way to my next holiday... this time in Australia. The Gold Coast on Queensland's Sunshine Coast had been a place I wanted to visit ever since I was a teen and a planned family trip was cancelled last minute. Now back from London, it was on my list of holidays for the next year along with Hong Kong and Japan.

My partner and I met my cousin and her husband in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast and we weren't greeted by the best weather. Rain for the first three days and sunshine for the next four, Gold Coast definitely lived up to it's tropical climate.

Surfers Paradise beach

The Gold Coast's biggest tourist attractions are it's four main theme parks - Movie World, Wet 'n' Wild, Sea World and Dream World. We spent four days exploring these parks and enjoying all the thrill seeking rides. One of the best things was being there in off season meaning there weren't long lines, however it also meant that there were a number of attractions closed for maintenance. Some of my highlights were the Superman, Green Lantern and Scooby-Doo at Movie World; polar bears and penguins at Sea World; Tower of Terror and Buzzsaw at Dream World; and FlowRider, Kamikazee and Tornado at Wet 'n' Wild. 

On the Superman ride at Movie World

Penguins at Sea World

Buzzsaw at Dream World

Ready to ride a slide at Wet 'n' Wild

I must say after four days of theme parks, we were definitely over them. Whilst on the Gold Coast we also enjoyed a romantic dinner at Palazzo Versace, VIP treatment at Draculas including show and dinner (strongly encourage booking the VIP option as the vampires make it known who's high rolling and who's poor), shooting at the shooting range (watch your ears), a visit to the casino in Broadbeach, a night out at Sin City and Vanity nightclub, and everything else Gold Coast. 

In the foyer at Palazzo Versace

Some of the characters at Draculas

Meter Maids in Surfers Paradise