Gold Coast Holidays
Queensland’s Gold Coast is more than just a holidays destination. It is now Queensland’s second-largest city with over half a million permanent inhabitants. As a residential city, the Gold Coast provides some of the best living conditions in the country. It has an average winter temperature that ranges from 9 to 21 degrees Celcius and an average summer temperature ranging from 19 to 29 degrees Celsius. It also boasts an average of over 260 sunny days each year. With this climate, it is not hard to see why the Gold Coast is also one of Australia’s premier tourist destinations.
It doesn’t matter what time of the year you come to stay on the Gold Coast. There is always so much to see and do. For families, the Gold Coast is the top choice when you ask the kids, where would you like to go for the holidays? All the kids want to go to the theme parks and enjoy the fantastic rides and water parks. Seaworld, Dreamworld, Wet n Wild Waterpark, MovieWorld, Fleay’s Wildlife Sanctuary and the Currumbin Bird and Wildlife Sanctuary are all well-known and provide top-class entertainment for your family. You can spend many days, and many dollars, giving the kids the time of their lives in these incredible establishments.
Gold Coast Attractions
The Gold Coast’s natural attractions are many and varied. The Gold Coast hinterland contains some of the most beautiful forests, spectacular scenery and unique wildlife that you will find anywhere in Queensland. Along the oceanfront, there are 70 kilometres of surfing beaches and a multitude of individual surf clubs and patrolled areas. Lining these beaches from Kingscliff through Coolangatta, Burleigh Heads, Broadbeach, Surfers Paradise, Main Beach and Southport, north to Stradbroke Island is an amazing choice of resorts, hotels and holiday accommodation. Among these is “Q1”, the world’s tallest residential building rising some 322.5 metres above the Gold Coast skyline and having an observation deck on the 82nd level. The Gold Coast has many places to stay to suit families, couples, corporate and international travellers. There is a bewildering array of apartment-style resorts and hotels located in every beachfront suburb along the entire length of the Gold Coast.
The Gold Coast has many important events that attract tourists to visit. In January are the Magic Millions horse racing carnival and thoroughbred auctions. The Big Day Out attracts thousands of young rock fans to the Gold Coast for a fantastic concert. In February, don’t miss the Queensland board riding championships or the Australian Surf Life saving Championships held in April. For athletes, May is the time for the Gold Coast Triathlon and the Gold Coast Marathon in July. The Sanctuary Cove Boat Show is one of the largest of its type in Australia with both wet and dry displays. Hundreds of luxury craft and millions of dollars worth of boating accessories will be on display. The Boat Show happens during the month of May. In the second half of the year, the Broadbeach Jazz Festival is a must. It happens in August, just before the Gold Coast V8 Supercar races. This event runs on a street circuit through Surfers Paradise and Main Beach during October and attracts tens of thousands of visitors. November is the month for Schoolies and at this time school leavers from Queensland and New South Wales flock to the Gold Coast which becomes party central as they celebrate finishing their school life. In December it is time for the traditional celebrations. Carols by candlelight and fantastic New Year’s Eve celebrations are accompanied by gift-giving and fireworks displays.
Gold Coast Travel Destination
The Gold Coast still has much more to offer. For the shopper, the Gold Coast is paradise. Many large shopping plazas are available throughout the region. For the food lover, many fantastic restaurants will tempt you to visit for an evening out and during the day, trendy cafes and bistros provide a relaxing destination for those who like an alfresco stopover and a caffeine fix. Nightclubs rock the night away in many areas for those who want to dance until the sun rises the next morning.
The Gold Coast is very easy to get to with airports in Coolangatta in the south and Brisbane in the north. All domestic airlines have several daily services that come to the Gold Coast. Public transport including busses, trains, monorails and shuttle services are available to most of the best attractions. If you are deciding where your next holiday will be spent, save yourself the trouble and just come and spend your vacation on Queensland’s superb Gold Coast.