Travel Vlog Gold Coast Australia (Day 1)

Travelling is not an expensive exercise if you plan well and stack some savings aside for your trip. There are budget places to stay at which is convenient for your purse. For my travel I used www.booking.com to find a great 4 star rated hotel for accommodation which was within my budget. I choose the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia because of its sunny beaches and touristy attraction away from the big cities. On top of that Gold coast offers both coast and hinterland tourist attraction. Here is an abstract from goggle about Gold Coast or GC as it is affectionately referred to;

The Gold Coast is a metropolitan region south of Brisbane on Australia’s east coast. It's famed for its long sandy beaches, surfing spots and elaborate system of inland canals and waterways. It’s also home to theme parks such as Dreamworld, Sea World and Wet’n’Wild. Inland, hiking trails crisscross Lamington National Park’s mountain ridges and valleys, home to rare birds and rainforest. ― Google

Population: 540,559 (2016) United Nations

Weather: 23°C, Wind SE at 21 km/h, 95% Humidity Weather data

The great thing about GC is that all the suburbs are connected by a G link tram which makes moving around the city so easy. The best way to fly in is into Brisbane International Airport if you are flying from overseas and the cheapest means across to the gold coast would be by the Air train. Of course there are other options which you can use private buses which cost $25 dollars per pax and con X ions is a good one with a customer service desk right in front of the arrival lounge or other options Uber but it all depends on your wallet. We decided to take the fun part and experience GC by train so that means a 5 min walk up to level 3 by lift and across to the train station. The train leaves every 15 min for the GC run so make sure you purchase a Go card and load some dollars on it I suggest a $50 or $60 dollar would be ideal. Then swipe your card and off you go to the platform to take your train. The actually cost for a ticket to GC by train is approx. $24.

You will be passing through the train stations in Brisbane and then when closer to the GC it will run express all the way to Helensvale, after Helensvale you then take a G link tram to the suburb where your hotel is located. The trip should be about 1.5 hours. Once we got to Helensvale we hop off took a lift up to platform 5 (Because we had 2 suitcases) and then took a G link train to South Port. G links tram leaves every 5 min from the platform so you will not miss it. All tram stops are placed on the ceiling and there are maps inside in the tram right next to the door if you want to confirm your next stop or you could always ask the locals who are more than willing to assist you.

For Hotel Accommodation I choose the Meriton Suits at South Port as it is a fully self contained apartment with all the amenities you need with a Woolworths mini mart at the basement. It makes it easier as you can buy food yourself and cook in the apartment. Food in Australia at Coles or Woolworths is not expensive so a $50 dollar can buy you food to last 2-3 days for 1 or 2 persons. You can also opt out of cleaning and do the cleaning yourself, wash your sheets and your towels which can also reduce the price. This would work for people who are environmentally conscious. You also a not too far away from the Australia Fair Shopping Centre about a 6min walk across from the suits across to the beach is the Broadwater Parkland  walkway and waterpark to the left and across to the right over the bridge 10 min walk will take you to Main Beach.