Travel: Australia - Gold Coast

[babyspike]

Hi pillow28, I do personally think Mt Tambourine will be a nice place to stay, esp if you are on honeymoon, and get to do lots of wine tasting etc. I rem coming across some nice cottages package their stay with hot-air balloon with breakfast + champagne, sounds nice ya? Can’t rem the name though, so you can check at TripAdvisor on recommended accomodation.


As both my hb and I don’t drink, and we prefer not to change accommodation too many times, esp having to lug the kids around, half day at Mt Tambourine is sufficient for us.

Oh yes, there’s a cheese factory which we missed. Sounds like a good place to drop by too.

[pillow28]

Hi thanks for the quick reply . I actually have 2 kiddos in the same age grp as yours so thinkg whether gd idea to stay over

[bigfoot]

Personally, I would never fly using Qantas ever again if I have a choice. My worst experience was when one of the engine caught fire before take off. There was a loud explosion. It was kind of scary. I read from news report that there are many Qantas plane which are old and in need of replacement.


Yes, their service was bad as well. But I would rather not go into details.

Not sure what do you mean by Qantas fly by Emirates. But if it is Emirates, my experience was good. But that was like many years back. Nowadays I try and use SIA whenever possible. Actually their fares quite competitive. For my last trip, I used Scoots. Not bad for the price I paid. Didn't really feel like I was flying budget at all. May fly with them again.

dark chocolate:

Dear all

Can someone advise if there is a difference in terms of service between Quantas and Quantas fly by Emirates for flights to Brisbane? Thks!

[SBKS]

dark chocolate:

Dear all


Can someone advise if there is a difference in terms of service between Quantas and Quantas fly by Emirates for flights to Brisbane? Thks!

i flew qantas from sg to mel and to GC and then back to sg.

all seems ok except when 1 occasion that the seat head rest came up when i tried to adjust it and the plane is taking off. i tot i heard the stewardess \"tsk\" me when i told her and she like kanjiong.

the rest of the flights seem ok.

[december21]

babyspike:

Hi dark chocolate, my boy is 6 and girl is 3. The girl gets to do most of the stuffs for free as she's under 4, except the catch-a-crab cruise. How old is your boy? If he's much older, he can do more thrilling stuffs like the jet boat ride and 4WD ATV tour. My itinerary turned out as follows:


Day 1 (Sun) - Reach Brisbane airport, get dataplan card from Lyca, collect car from Apex, do groceries at Coles, brunch, drive to Lillydale farm, rest. We fore-go the 4pm animal feeding as my nose was running real bad and rather let the kids rest, moreover it rained very heavily by then.

Day 2 (Mon) - Lillydale farm (animal feeding, boomerang throwing, tractor ride in the morning, then bbq dinner and bonfire with marshmellows in evening. bonfire last whole night). You can also explore their dinosaur cave, go horse/pony riding and canoe at their lake. We didn't do as it was too hot. We did the 4pm animal feed too :).

Day 3 (Tue) - Check out Lillydale, head to Tambourine mt (Skywalk, cedar creek course, glow worm cave, galleria walk). Check in to Silvershore apartment. Recommend Fish & Chips from Charis seafood just 5min drive away.

Day 4 (Wed) - Sea World

Day 5 (Thu) - Paradise Country Farm, Movie World

Day 6 (Fri) - Infinity, lunch @ Pancake Paradise, Skypoint, play with sand at surfers paradise (briefly explore market available on Fridays).

Day 7 (Sat) - Catch-a-crab cruise, play sand at Coolanganta beach (could only play less than 30min as sun was scorching when it came out from the clouds). Head back to Silvershore to swim in the pool.

Day 8 (Sun) - check out for return flight.

Hope my iti helps in your planning. Have a great trip!

Hi babyspike,

I am also going GC in early June. Saw ur itinerary and am interested to know how is the glow worm tour? Did you book a tour and which one? Do you it's worth to go for the glowworm tour? I saw the tour cost about $100 each person!
I have also booked two days stay in Lilydale. Can I ask if we can buy out own food for BBQ instead of ordering the BBQ from lilydale? And the activities like boomerang need to book and pay? What is the bonfire about? Is it a group activities or just for a family only?

Thank you.

[babyspike]

Hi december21, we visited the glow worm cave at Tambourine. There wasn't a need to book in advance and entrance fee is quite ok. As it's man-made, it's pretty small, but still interesting for first timers (like us).


The one you are referring to is probably at Springbrook National Park, and the tour includes the transfer so it's expensive. If you are planning to do self-drive, it takes about 1.5 hrs from GC, and it seems the drive back can be challenging as it lacks of road lamps and animals may appear. Else the cost to enter the Glow Worm Observatory is only A$20+ i think, and can get to see interesting plants. I saw from their website there's even glowing mushroom in Dec :).

Great to know you'll be staying at Lillydale too! Yes, you can buy your own food to bbq. All the ovens and cookwares are available for you to use. We were the only family there at that time, so we had the whole bonfire to ourselves. As the bonfire is set up on a grass patch, I believe other families who sign up will join in together. They just set up the bonfire for us and leave it there overnight. We were given a pack of marshmellows, that's all, no planned bonfire activities, so just enjoy the warmth and stars. Perhaps it'll be more fun with more people.

The boomerang throwing and pony grooming (for kids above 5yo) are free as part of the room package. After booking, Bec will email a form of activities you can book in advance, and the list states clearly which are chargeable at per person/family. She's flexible with the timings in case you want to change, very responsive in email replies too.

Hope you and your family had a great time at GC

[december21]

Thank you babyspike for your reply!


Btw, anyone have recommendations on the hotel in surfers paradise? Initially I wanted Hotel Chancellor however I realised the car park is not free. I do not mind booking somewhere away from surfers paradise but My concern is if I drove to surfer paradise, I will need to pay for parking fee.

Thank you.

[december21]

babyspike:

Hi december21, we visited the glow worm cave at Tambourine. There wasn't a need to book in advance and entrance fee is quite ok. As it's man-made, it's pretty small, but still interesting for first timers (like us).


The one you are referring to is probably at Springbrook National Park, and the tour includes the transfer so it's expensive. If you are planning to do self-drive, it takes about 1.5 hrs from GC, and it seems the drive back can be challenging as it lacks of road lamps and animals may appear. Else the cost to enter the Glow Worm Observatory is only A$20+ i think, and can get to see interesting plants. I saw from their website there's even glowing mushroom in Dec :).

Great to know you'll be staying at Lillydale too! Yes, you can buy your own food to bbq. All the ovens and cookwares are available for you to use. We were the only family there at that time, so we had the whole bonfire to ourselves. As the bonfire is set up on a grass patch, I believe other families who sign up will join in together. They just set up the bonfire for us and leave it there overnight. We were given a pack of marshmellows, that's all, no planned bonfire activities, so just enjoy the warmth and stars. Perhaps it'll be more fun with more people.

The boomerang throwing and pony grooming (for kids above 5yo) are free as part of the room package. After booking, Bec will email a form of activities you can book in advance, and the list states clearly which are chargeable at per person/family. She's flexible with the timings in case you want to change, very responsive in email replies too.

Hope you and your family had a great time at GC

Hi Babyspike,

Yes, like what you mentioned..Lillydale has a list of activities, am now going through the list. Have you sign up for any activities? Which activity is more worth the try? May I know what is bonfire? Is it BBQ?

Thank you!

[happydl]

dark chocolate:

Dear all


Can someone advise if there is a difference in terms of service between Quantas and Quantas fly by Emirates for flights to Brisbane? Thks!

I think i know what you are trying to say as I have read about the merging alliances between Qantas and Emirates.

You have to see the timing and airline code. You can book Qantas or Emirates flight and end up taking either one of them. However they will display which flight you will be flying one. For more info you can see below link:

http://www.emirates.com/sg/English/help/faqs/FAQDetails.aspx?faqCategory=1112928

[babyspike]

Hi december21, a bonfire looks like this:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g1125994-d611039-i28968850-Lillydale_Farmstay-Rathdowney_Scenic_Rim_Queensland.html#28968848

Technically can be used as a bbq, but the fire is usually too large. So a quick stretch of arm to toast your marshmellows on skewers is quite fun and toasted marshmellows are nice and crisp on the outside, melted on the inside. The farm has proper bbq grills and utensils. Just wipe the grill clean with the kitchen towels provided before and after cooking.

I only top-up for tractor ride and bonfire as I thought my kids will enjoy them. Didn't try the pony ride as my kids have their unpredictable moods. The adults horse riding looks fun as get to explore far.

There's also plenty of free activities. We didn't get to try these, but they are available - They have lifevests for canoeing at their lake, boots if you want to walk to dino cave, there's a maze too. And there's an Alpaca farm nearby.