Journey to Gold Coast! - Day 4: Skypoint Observation Deck

Skypoint Observation Deck is located at Skypoint Tower, which is right at Surfers Paradise G-link (tram) station.  Once you get out of the tram, you will see the entrance.

Admission is AUD22.00 per entry.  For day and night entry, the cost is AUD29.00.  This is the place where you can find no discount tickets!

Once you are up there, the breath-taking view of Gold Coast is right in front of your eyes, in its best manner.

Skypoint Tower

A view from the top - Part 1

A view from the top - Part 2

There is a cafe on the observation deck.  You can order a cup of coffee, and spend a whole morning/afternoon/evening here.

If you are brave enough, you can participate in the Skypoint Climb as well.

This is definitely a must-visit place when you come to Gold Coast.

Journey to Gold Coast! - Day 3: Currumbin Wildlife Sanctury

Coming to Australia, there is no reason not to have some close encounter with Australia's iconic animals.  Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is a good place to do so.  Took the G-Link tram from Cavill station to Broadbeach South station, then transfer to Bus 700.  Ask the driver to let you know where to alight, as it is not so obvious.  The whole journey takes about 40 minutes.

Admission to the sanctuary is AUD$49 at the door, but if you buy your tickets from http://www.experienceoz.com.au/, you can get it at ~AUD$33, it is quite a discount.

Voila, here comes our cute koala.  Currumbin has almost all the Australian iconic animals, koala, wormbat, Tasmania devil, wallaby, kangaroo, etc.  And you can have some really close encounters with some of them.

This 4-month wallaby is the most memorable one for this trip.  She was rescued from her mother's pouch, and raised by a keeper.  She is friendly to humans.  A lady staff of the sanctuary was very nice to introduce us to this wallaby and we had some enjoyable time with the wallaby.

You can also find a less known species of kangaroo, which is the tree kangaroo.  It is the very first time for me to know that there is such a species.  Tree kangaroo has golden hair, and shining like a pot of gold under the sun.

There are some shows in the sanctuary as well.  One is the bird show, and the other the sheep shearing show.  Both are interesting and entertaining to watch.

Journey to Gold Coast! - Day 2: Sea World

Early morning on Day 2, we caught Bus 705 from Ferny Avenue stop to Sea World.  It is very convenient, Sea World is the last stop.

Sea World is pretty large, and there are many opportunities for you to have close encounter with the sea creatures.

But before that, let's meet some fictitious creatures - The Ninja Turtles!

Sea Lion Show

They have 3 main shows, namely the sea lion show, dolphin show and jet skiing show.  There are 3 in the morning, a repeat of all 3 in the afternoon.

The dolphin show is not always the same.  I saw it twice on two different days.  The first one was just so so, but the second one was much nicer, with more dolphins, and more tricks.


They have a big aquarium where you can have a closer look at how beautiful the sea creatures swim under water.

A Cowtail Stingray

You can basically spend hours there just to watch all the beautiful fishes, sharks, stingrays gliding around.  However, I would say Singapore's SEA Aquarium is much better and offers much more species on display.

The penguins were just lively and very active.  One of them just couldn't stop swimming around in all kinds of styles and positions.

I will stop here.  If you want to know better, you've got to experience it first hand yourself.  :)

Journey to Gold Coast! - Day 1

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.

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!

Journey to Gold Coast!

I am going to use this post as the summary page to list all the related posts.  Please come back to check it out!

Day 1: Arrival
Day 2: Sea World
Day 3: Currumbin Wildlife Sanctury
Day 4: Skypoint Observation Deck
Day 5: Movie World
Day 6: Nerang River Cruise

Todai Seafood Buffet Lunch

When Todai opened first opened its door in Singapore's Marina Bay Sands, it was already a famous restaurant renowned for its seafood buffet, however, reviews from HungryGoWhere.com are mixed.  Half of the people like it, half don't.  So, anyway, I decided to give it a try for this Chinese New Year!

Todai was having an Alaska crab fest, and there were generous amount of Alaska crab legs.  For people who have never had Alaska crab before, it was not bad.  For people who have had Alaska crab before, especially in the states, the crabs are not as fresh, juicy and tasty as those in the states.

Other than crabs, there were also mussels, and baby octopus.

They have a large selection of Japanese cooked food, include octopus balls, miso sesamo, tempura, etc.

There is a large Sushi section as well.

If you don't like Japanese food, you can choose from Asian and western food.

Last but not least, dessert section.

Todai doesn't really have a very large set of selections for you to choose from, but still reasonable.  Their coffee is one weak link in the chain.  Their coffee kind of sucks.

If you pay by UOB credit card or make your reservation online, you will get a 10% discount.  After discount, the cost per person for a lunch buffet on a weekday is ~$45.  I will say you get what you pay for, not GOOD value for money but at least reasonable, especially considering that you get to eat Alaska crab legs.  

Esarn Thai Restaurant

We went for a walk in the morning on the Southern Ridges, and eventually came out near Pasir Panjang MRT station.  A Thai restaurant was just right there, so we decided to have Thai food for lunch.

We ordered a mixed vegetable and beef with basil leaves.

Thai food usually would not disappoint, and neither was this.  The mixed vegetable was nice, and in particular, they must have used some sauce unique to Thai food, as you don't usually have that kind of flavour with a bit hint of sour, which is very appetizing.

Beef was a bit hard, more chewy than tender.  It had a very hot flavor, you really got that 'punch'.  I guess that must be the effects of the basil leaves plus all the different kinds of chili that they used.  One mouthful you will feel hot air coming out right from your nose!

It was a delicious lunch worth mentioning!

Sela Restaurant@Seah Street

We were there on a hot Saturday morning, for their Sat Prosecco brunch at $48++.   The restaurant is tucked in a small shop space in the nostalgic Seah Street.  The decoration is simple yet still elegant, fits the modern European style well.

The first thing that came up was the Prosecco.  It is an Italian sparkling wine.   Forgive my poor knowledge of Italian wine, it was the first time I heard of it.  It tasted like white wine plus bubbles :)  The taste is not strong, very mild, more suitable for ladies, I think.  Prosecco is free flow, that's the beauty of this brunch.

As a European tradition, they served us some bread, to cure the hunger feeling in our stomach first.  The bread was really nice.  It was warm, crispy outside but soft inside, and it was the only food that was served warm for that day :(

Our first courses were seared scallop with bacon, etc.  and grilled asparagus with parma ham, etc.

I don't know why but both were served not hot, or warm, but lukewarm.  The scallop was at room temp, and didn't have the rich flavour they should.  Asparagus and mushroom were not bad, the parma ham was Ok, just a thin slice.

Our main courses were barramundi and tenderloin steak.

Again, both were just slightly warm.  I am not sure whether it was the restaurant's signature?  My friend's barramundi was hard, very hard.  I just tried one small piece and that was enough for me.

My tenderloin steak was actually not bad.  It was medium done, and it was tender, one of the more skillful medium done steaks I have had.  The only thing worth improving was I would like it to be served at a bit higher temperature.  I want to feel the warmth of my food.

My friend got a lemon tart as dessert.  Luckily I didn't make that choice.  It was so sweet that it was like the chef put a whole bottle of sugar in it.

My pudding was sweet too but it was more acceptable.