choonie:

Hi we are planning to go GC in June 14. Trying to source for a good apartment or hotel with the following criteria:


Walking distance to beach
Near to eating places & supermarket
Room with balcony & views of the sea
Near to bus stop where we can take public buses to the theme parks

Can someone help to give some recommendation? we have 2 kids aged 8 & 5.

Thanks a lot!

My family stayed at a sea facing mid-to-high floor apartment at BreakFree Peninsula in 2012. We liked it. This place may probably suit your requirements.

LST:

Hi anyone know if the theme parks and places of interest will be closed during the festive week between 25Dec to 1Jan?

I think you should be able to find out from the websites of the respective theme parks and places of interest. For theme parks, you could even find out which particular ride may be closed for maintenance on a certain day.

mummyof2girls:

Hi im bringing my 2 young kids to Gold Coast this oct too.

will stay for 7 nights.
I have booked Victoria square apartment at broadbeach and rented a car from Apex.
I will be taking Scoot night flight.
Can share some experiences about Scoot?
Im thinking to go Tropical fruit farm too, but cant seems to fit in my plan. doesnt seems to have much time.

My plan as follows:
Day 1 AM Reach Gold Coast\t
\t Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary\t
\t 2pm Check In Victoria Square Apartment\t
\t Pacific Fair Shopping Centre/\t
\t Oasis Shopping Centre\t
\t\t
Day 2 Dreamworld\t
\t Stroll around Broadbeach / Jupiter's Casino\t
\t\t
Day 3 Seaworld \t
\t Qdeck/Centro Surfers Paradise\t
\t Surfers Paradise Night Market\t
\t\t
Day 4 \t Paradise Country Farm\t
\t Habourtown Shopping Centre\t
\t Australia Fair Shopping Centre\t
\t\t
Day 5\tMovie World\t
\tWild N Wet\t
\tQdeck/Surfers Paradise Night Market\t
\t\t
Day 6 \tMount Tambourine Glow Worm Cave / Walk around Mount Tambourine\t
\tShopping at Centro Surfers Paradise\t
\t\t
Day 7 \tCararra Markets\t
\tRobina Town Centre\t
\t\t
Day 8 AM Scoot home

What do your think?

Ever considered \"Catch A Crab\"? It will probably take you half a day.

My family stayed in Le Meridien Phuket in 2011. It has a huge pool and a nice beach right infront of the resort. We enjoyed our stay there.

syen27:

Hi BuzyDad,

My hubby got it for his iPhone4S. So they have micro SIM card then.. The usual SIM card should also have.. Though not so confident on nano SIM.

Thanks, syen27.

syen27:

Hi,


There are free wi-fi at many places, but at the apartment that we rented, the wi-fi is chargeable. We got a pre-paid card at Optus shop along Cavill Avenue for about AUD 30 which has unlimited calls and data for certain number of days (I think 15 or 16 days), if I can remember correctly. Good for us as we have a local number to use and data anywhere we like. But the telco controls it such that the data cannot be shared out (i.e. tethered).

Hi syen27, what is the size of the SIM card? Can it be used for iPhone 4 (micro card) or even iPhone 5 (Nano card)? Or it can only be used for phones that use the previous standard size SIM card? Thanks for sharing.

miffy_ang:

Hi, any recommendation for kids family hotels in karon or kata beach?

I found Le Meridien Phuket good. Huge pool, and nice beach infront of the resort.

snower:

Hi Buzydad, thanks for your reply. Will probably try the Tangalooma Resort. I wonder how is the public transport over there, is the cab expensive? We are going to the zoo by ourselves. Our agent quoted us $660 for 4 to arrange the transport to zoo and thereafter to watch the crocodile which is far too expensive.

We were on package tours the last 2 times we were there (one of which was a Gold Coast - Sydney tour). We only had 1 free day in Gold Coast. We didn't go very far. We took the tour guide's suggestion to try out the public bus service to go to Pacific Fair then, just to have an experience of the bus ride there. Well, not a bad experience. We got to see some small streets and less crowded area. On the way, we saw the bus driver patiently listening to the enquiry of an old lady who boarded the bus and slowly explained to her something. And people slowly alighted the bus after pressing the bell (need not to worry the bus driver drove off too early or other people staring at you). Life seemed relax and slow. That bus ride was about 8 years ago, not sure if it is still the similar situation now. We took a cab back to the hotel then. Can't remember how much it cost now.

I guess, for your case, the transportation charges could be quite high if you are not renting a car because the places you are going to could be far away from your hotel.

I am also planning to go to Gold Coast with my family this year.


Anyone ever stayed in Paradise Centre Apartments? Are the apartments there good? Any free car parking lot for the guest staying there?

snower:

Hi Pojo, thanks for your reply. That's great, my younger boy love animals. Has anyone go for the whale watching, firefly cave and zoo? Any good shopping place to go? Any chinese food there? Thanks for all the questions.

I had tried glow worm cave and stargazing with my family some years back. Personally I felt the glow worm trip was nothing very special. The star gazing was supposed to be interesting (as I always find the universe fascinating since I was a primary school kid), but it happened to be on a night before or after the full moon night - the sky was too bright. (what a pity!).

You might want to consider farm stay (real farm stay - not those commercial \"show\" farms) or Moreton Island (Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort / Desert)? We had been to the zoo and the Underwater World near/on Sunshine Coast (if I remember correctly, I was told Jacky Chan filmed one of his movies in the Underwater World). Well, both places were ok, but not something very fantastic (Between the two, I liked the Underwater World more). We passed by a place near Sunshine Coast (couldn't recall the name of the palce now) and bought quite a number of art and craft items there.

Well, I guess whether you find a place / activity interesting or not - it much depends on your interest..