My flight touched down at Brisbane Airport at around 7 o'clock in the morning. As I am holding a passport with an RFID, I went through their new immigration clearance system. First, you insert your passport in a machine, the machine will automatically detect what language to display based on your passport. You answer a few questions, then you will get a blue ticket. Bring the blue ticket to the next station, insert it in the machine, face the camera and smile. Voila, there you go. You have got through your immigration clearance! It is quite efficient. Custom clearance is also a breeze. No more dogs going around to poke at your luggage.
There is a train station right outside Brisbane Airport's international terminal. Here, you can get your Go Card if you plan to use their public transport system. You can find more information at their office website: http://translink.com.au/. They have a very useful journey planner at the site, which you can use to plan your trips in Brisbane and Gold Coast easily. You can also download their app from Apple app store or Android store.
For Go Card, they have this concession that if you use the Go Card for 9 journeys, Monday to Sunday, all the remaining trips for the week is free. Take note that it always starts from a Monday, and ends on a Sunday, not any 7-day period.
One journey is from point A to point B, regardless of intermediate transfers. For example, if you go from point A to point B, stay at point B for an hour, then go from point B to point C, then it is considered to be 2 journeys. If you go from point A to point B, then transfer to point C within 60 minutes, then your journey from point A to point C is considered as only one journey.
There is a AUD10.00 deposit for the card. When you leave Queensland, you can refund the Go Card and get back your balance and the deposit. It is quite cool!
There is a direct train service from Brisbane to Gold Coast's Nerang Station. From Nerang Station, you can take local bus #740 to Surfers Paradise, which is the center of everything in Gold Coast.
Here I am inside the Gold Coast train. It is quite modern and comfortable. There is a toilet in the train too. Very convenient for people who need to meet some bio needs.
My journey from Brisbane Airport to Surfers Paradise took about 1.5 hours. The hotel I stayed is just 5 minutes walk from Bus 740's terminal station at Cypress Avenue.
The hotel room is very basic, nothing fancy to wow about.
But it does have a good view.
The most important point is its good location. It is 5 minutes walk to Cavill tram station, 10 minutes walk to Surfers Paradise beach. There are three supermarkets within 10 minutes walk for you to choose from, numerous shops and restaurants nearby.
In addition, there is a bus stop which is 30m away from the hotel where you can board bus TX2 to take you to Movie World and Wet 'n' Wild, TX3 to Dream World, and 705 to Sea World. You really feel the world is at your finger tips. 100m away is the pier where you can board your Nerang River cruise. Fantastic location!
Dinner was at Bavarian Haus, a German restaurant, said to be famous for pork knuckles. The restaurant opens for dinner at 5.30pm, and we were there at 5.30pm. We were told that the place was fully booked for the night. However, they offered us a table till 6.30pm.
The deco in the restaurant is interesting, lots of beer mugs hanging in the ceiling. By 7pm, the place was full, full of Asian tourists from China and Japan.
The pork knuckle was huge. If you don't have a big stomach, I really suggest you share it with at least one other person.
The skin was indeed very crispy. You could hear it crack in your mouth. The meat was a bit on the dry and hard side, and VERY salty!
We also ordered the Bavarian Haus Teller. Don't really know what it means. Basically it includes two types of German sausages, a piece of bacon and a pork steak. The pork steak was the only item that was not very salty, and it was easy to eat!
Brisbane Airport International Terminal
Train Station Platform
There is a train station right outside Brisbane Airport's international terminal. Here, you can get your Go Card if you plan to use their public transport system. You can find more information at their office website: http://translink.com.au/. They have a very useful journey planner at the site, which you can use to plan your trips in Brisbane and Gold Coast easily. You can also download their app from Apple app store or Android store.
For Go Card, they have this concession that if you use the Go Card for 9 journeys, Monday to Sunday, all the remaining trips for the week is free. Take note that it always starts from a Monday, and ends on a Sunday, not any 7-day period.
One journey is from point A to point B, regardless of intermediate transfers. For example, if you go from point A to point B, stay at point B for an hour, then go from point B to point C, then it is considered to be 2 journeys. If you go from point A to point B, then transfer to point C within 60 minutes, then your journey from point A to point C is considered as only one journey.
There is a AUD10.00 deposit for the card. When you leave Queensland, you can refund the Go Card and get back your balance and the deposit. It is quite cool!
There is a direct train service from Brisbane to Gold Coast's Nerang Station. From Nerang Station, you can take local bus #740 to Surfers Paradise, which is the center of everything in Gold Coast.
Train Interior
Here I am inside the Gold Coast train. It is quite modern and comfortable. There is a toilet in the train too. Very convenient for people who need to meet some bio needs.
My journey from Brisbane Airport to Surfers Paradise took about 1.5 hours. The hotel I stayed is just 5 minutes walk from Bus 740's terminal station at Cypress Avenue.
The hotel room is very basic, nothing fancy to wow about.
But it does have a good view.
The most important point is its good location. It is 5 minutes walk to Cavill tram station, 10 minutes walk to Surfers Paradise beach. There are three supermarkets within 10 minutes walk for you to choose from, numerous shops and restaurants nearby.
In addition, there is a bus stop which is 30m away from the hotel where you can board bus TX2 to take you to Movie World and Wet 'n' Wild, TX3 to Dream World, and 705 to Sea World. You really feel the world is at your finger tips. 100m away is the pier where you can board your Nerang River cruise. Fantastic location!
Dinner was at Bavarian Haus, a German restaurant, said to be famous for pork knuckles. The restaurant opens for dinner at 5.30pm, and we were there at 5.30pm. We were told that the place was fully booked for the night. However, they offered us a table till 6.30pm.
The deco in the restaurant is interesting, lots of beer mugs hanging in the ceiling. By 7pm, the place was full, full of Asian tourists from China and Japan.
Crispy Pork Knuckles
The pork knuckle was huge. If you don't have a big stomach, I really suggest you share it with at least one other person.
The skin was indeed very crispy. You could hear it crack in your mouth. The meat was a bit on the dry and hard side, and VERY salty!
Bavarian Haus Teller
We also ordered the Bavarian Haus Teller. Don't really know what it means. Basically it includes two types of German sausages, a piece of bacon and a pork steak. The pork steak was the only item that was not very salty, and it was easy to eat!
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