15 – 18 July 2018

We visited Gold Coast twice before but decided to return to tick a few new boxes and re-visit some of our favorites. It did not go quite as planned. The first day we encountered heavy traffic delays that prevented us from planned hikes in the Tamborine Mountain area. The last day we had to rush back to make re-scheduled soccer matches for the kids. Despite having less time than hoped, we had a good time on the Gold Coast.

The first full day we spent at Coolangatta Beach, our favorite in Goldie and one our favorite family beaches in Australia. After sunset we played mini-golf at Putt Putt Golf in Mermaid Beach, classic family fun.

The seond full day we took the kids to Warner Brothers Movie World. While Warner Bros pales compared to the many Disney parks we’ve been, it did get high scores for thrill rides, small crowds, and easy in and out.

In the gaps between we enjoyed time at Treasure Island Holiday Resort, our first and one of our favorite caravan parks. We have stayed at dozens of caravan parks in the past year and TI will certainly make our top 5.

Gold Coast is a good time. It feels like a combination of Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida. Not a place we’d want to raise our family but a place we’d like to visit regularly.