Striking Gold Coast

March 15-20, 2023

Hi friends and family,

After Sydney, Mel and I flew to the Gold Coast, which is a beachy city along the eastern coast of Australia, split between the states of New South Wales and Queensland. The area right around the border of those two states is home to some lovely beach towns and cities like Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Noosa Heads, many of which are popular surf areas. The flights to Gold Coast were super cheap, and we found an awesome Airbnb that was barely more expensive than it would’ve been for us to get two hostel beds. We didn’t have much planned except beach time and some surfing. Gold Coast ended up being our most laid back vacation spot on all of our travels so we were thrilled to have a great place to stay in our Airbnb.

When we arrived on March 15, we were surprised at how spacious and lush the apartment was; it exceeded our expectations from the pictures online. There was a decently-equipped kitchen, a large living room with two comfy couches, a TV, a circular table with chairs, a wide patio outside overlooking a river with two more tables and chairs, a laundry room, a bathroom, and a bedroom with a large closet. In the building, there was also a limited gym, a sauna, and a pool with a hot tub.

After settling in, we walked to the beach, which was an easy ten-minute walk from our apartment complex. I looked for surf on the beach, figuring there would be some since we were in a part of Gold Coast called Surfers Paradise. I was mistaken; the waves were crumbling and therefore not good for surfing, and there were very few surfers in the water despite there being hundreds of people on the beach. My google results confirmed Surfers Paradise was a slight misnomer since the best waves were mostly south of where we were staying by a 45-minute drive or so. Luckily the public transit in the city was great and there were surf shops to rent boards all over the place.

Though we didn’t find the surf I was looking for, we found a market with a bunch of pop-up tents and vendors selling cool products ranging from clothing to food to decorations to anti-aging creams. We strolled through and spent some time at a couple of the clothing vendors but held off for the time being on making purchases because they would set up shop again in a few days.

By the market, there were some public volleyball courts and floodlights. The level of play was high, and we enjoyed watching them play for about an hour. It was the most we’d watched good volleyball since starting our travels and it made us both miss it so much. I talked to the coach running the drills and games and he said he could’ve squeezed us in if it hadn’t been so busy. It would’ve been fun to play a game or two against the impressive competition, but we had a good time watching.

We stopped at Woolworths, a popular grocery chain in Australia, on the way home for groceries and Mel cooked some healthy rice bowls for dinner. Having our own kitchen was really great and we took advantage of that; Mel, being a chef, cooked up some amazing meals and I, not being a chef, washed the dishes.

The next day we made some breakfast bowls before taking the public transit to Currumbin Alley, a beginner-friendly surf spot. We rented big foam boards from a surf school and surfed for about two hours. The waves were pretty small but decent, and the spot reminded me a little of Canoes in Waikiki, the surf break I exclusively went to my first two months surfing, because there were lots of beginners and it was all sand (as opposed to coral reef). The board was subpar since it was really difficult to turn, but the session was still a blast. The only downside was getting burnt (even though I put on sunscreen, rest assured, Mom) from being in the sun for two hours in the middle of the day.

We chilled at our apartment for a bit to stay out of the sun and took advantage of the big TV in our room and the nice shaded pool. We went back to the beach in the evening to try to play volleyball, but all the courts except for one were being used by beach tennis, a sport similar to badminton I’d never seen before. We peppered (hit a volleyball around) on a nearby section of beach using our own ball then made dinner and relaxed at home.

The next day we stayed in the apartment for most of the morning to avoid the sun after our overexposure the day before. Around midday we used the gym, sauna, and pool. It had been a while since I used a sauna and it was as good as I remember it being (and I remembered it being very good). I got ridiculously sweaty since I worked out before and the temperature got up to 65 degrees Celsius (149 Fahrenheit). I was really pushing my limits at the end, but I love the feeling of cooking in a sauna and it makes the cooldown afterwards so gratifying.

We went back to the beach market in the late afternoon and each bought some clothes we’d eyed the first time through. After shopping we peppered on the beach. Back at the Airbnb we had some food and drinks at the pool and in the apartment. It was St. Patrick’s Day and we went out to the bars around 11. The bar scene was mediocre. There were some people out and about but the bars weren’t that fun.

The next morning we checked out a volleyball tournament at the beach just a couple miles south, Broadbeach. The level of play was pretty similar to the volleyball we’d seen on Wednesday night when we got in, but it was exciting to see them trying their hardest in a real competition. We hung out at the beach afterwards, swimming and practicing volleyball on our own.

In the afternoon, we took public transit to Kirra Beach in Coolangatta with the intention of surfing but when we got there the waves were tiny and there were only a couple hours of daylight left. It was still worth it to get down there, though. It was a little removed from the skyscrapers and commotion of Gold Coast, but still accessible, and the natural scenery was more interesting.

Rather than surfing, we bought snacks, chilled on our towels at the beach, and peppered more at the beach, having a little picnic. About 15 minutes before last light, we noticed some volleyball nets with people playing down the beach. The timing was a little sad, since we could’ve asked to join them if there had been more daylight. Still, it was cool to see how popular beach volleyball is in the Gold Coast area. Back at home, Mel made some incredible fried rice for dinner and we started watching “The Good Place”.

On our last full day in Gold Coast, we stayed in the apartment in the morning and ate a big breakfast and lunch. We also planned some logistics for the Whitsunday Islands, the next stop on our journey. We finally left our place around 1 and went to the Surfers Paradise beach to pepper before going down to Burleigh Heads, a nearby national park and surf spot, to catch some waves.

We had limited time for surfing because we had to return the boards to Rip Curl by 5 and it took us some time to find the break. I think after walking for 10-15 minutes I spotted the proper Burleigh Heads break, but it was going to be another 15 minutes of walking so we went to some mushier waves at the main beach with swimmers. It wasn’t too far of a paddle out and the waves were surprisingly alright for how poor they looked from the beach. It was a little scary at first because there weren’t many other surfers around and the water seemed kind of deep, but the water at the break was about waist to chest deep and plenty of other surfers came out. I caught several but they fizzled out after riding for a couple seconds. I’m planning on buying a funboard (typically 6’6”-8’) for the summer swells in Hawai’i soon, so I liked getting some more experience on the 7-foot board I rented.

After surfing, we took public transit back to Surfers Paradise and I went for a run. The path along the beach was pretty nice and the temperatures were much more suitable for running at night. We had Portobello burgers for dinner, recorded a cooking video for an assignment Mel had for a sponsor, and drank the drinks Mel had to make as part of the assignment.

We had a train and plane to catch on the morning of March 20 so we left our fantastic Airbnb early. I got up in time to go to the sauna and pool one last time since I always like getting outside or active in the morning on big travel days. We hurried to clean and pack up, eat food, and make it to the Nerang train station literally seconds before our train left for the Brisbane domestic airport. It was a real nail biter; I sprinted up the stairs and stood in the door until we could both make it on. From Brisbane we flew to Proserpine, the nearest airport to the Whitsundays.

Our time in Gold Coast was very enjoyable. It was the most I’ve felt like I was on a proper vacation during all our travels since there wasn’t much to do in our area besides lounge at the pool or go to the beach. The surfing was a nice addition to spruce up a few of the days, although the waves were pretty lackluster. The stretch of coast we were on is typically a mecca for surfing and the waves are usually good year-round. In fact, at a break called Snapper Rocks just a few minutes of walking away from the Kirra Beach spot we tried to surf at, there was a World Surf League (WSL) competition in May 2022. Having our own volleyball was also great for beach activity. It would’ve been nice to play some beach volleyball, but we had a solid time watching. Overall, it was a lovely, relaxing vacation. It was great for us both to be in a place and not have a bunch of activities we were rushing around to do. The five days in Gold Coast were a great amount of time and I was feeling ready to be more adventurous again for my last 11 days in Australia. That’s all for now. Thanks for reading, all!