8 days in Brisbane and Gold Coast

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 22 April 2015 - 06:54

Lucky you! Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is in Brisbane and can easily be done in a half day. It's beautiful and green and leafy but will be chilly (by Brisbane standards) at that time of year. There is a cool park out that way too called River Rocks Park, but maybe look into that further as some of the activities are water based and may be closed during winter? Australia Zoo is north, and would definitely take a full day, but I've never met a child who didn't have a FANTASTIC time there. It's about an hour north of the northern suburbs of Brisbane. Brisbane is also good for a ride along the river on a City Cat, a whole lap takes a few hours I think, but even if you took it a few stops to check out some of the sights around the city and then came back that might be enough for the kids. To be honest, if you're going to hire a car, I wouldn't worry about staying near the CBD. Public transport in Brisbane is only OK so staying central in the hopes of zipping around on trains/buses is probably not worth it. The James Street Precinct might be nice though. Plenty of cafes and restaurants for you guys and New Farm Park isn't far away for the kids. I know specifically of M & A Apartments, just one block up from James Street. They have two bedroom serviced apartments. As for the GC - well, plenty to do there, all the theme parks are just up the road (consider a multi park pass). The Gold Coast Hinterland will probably provide a nice farm stay. I have no experience with them myself though, sorry. Probably too cold for the beach, but of course, beautiful ones at every turn. Check out a surf club for dinner - a very Australian thing to do. I can't even think of which ones are down there now as it's been a few years for me, but I'm sure google will show which ones have nice areas that overlook the beach. I would recommend your GC accommodation is on the northern end. Will cut down the commute to the theme parks. Surfers Paradise, is obviously the 'hub' of the GC but it's VERY commercialised and most Queenslanders will tell you it's not an authentic 'coast' experience. Keep in mind you will probably be there over school holidays too.

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