18.11.2018 | Australia, Travel

The Gold Coast and lovely Brisbane aka “Brissie”

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Hi guys! After visiting Byron Bay, the last big town in New South Wales before reaching the border to Queensland, we fastly passed the invisible border. Directly next to the border we stopped at the Snapper Rocks.

Snapper Rocks

The Snapper Rocks are a popular photo motive for a lot of travelers. A lot of surfers crowded the ocean to ride the extremely big waves breaking at the rocks. If you walk over the rocks you will have the best view towards the Gold Coast and the skyscrapers, the skyline of the “Surfers Paradise”. Not without reason, it is called Miami of Australia, because of the high-rise buildings next to the ocean. The temperatures increase on the last kilometers was felt strongly and we were able to wear our shortest clothes in the sunshine. We were surrounded by palm trees and everything felt pretty big and crowded after our visit to Byron Bay.

Coolangatta, Palm Beach, and Burleigh Heads Beach

In the next town “Coolangatta” we found again some big buildings located next to the beach. If you are driving along the coast street you will find the “Palm Beach”, however, there weren´t that many palm trees :). We found the nice palm trees on the beaches a few days later further north ;). The “Burleigh Heads Beach” offers white sand beaches, wonderful blue water, and a Life-Saving Club.

Overnight stay at Miami Beach and Surfers Paradise Coast

“Miami” is located 7 km south from Surfers Paradise. It is based on the model of Miami in America and was built to increase the tourism and quality in Queensland. We saw so many people surfing in the sunshine in front of the skyscrapers. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find a free rest area for a campervan at the Gold Coast or around Brisbane. Therefore we booked a night at the “Ocean Caravan Park” in Miami for 48 AUS Dollar powered. The price is cheap compared to the other campsites on the Gold coast and the sanitary facilities were good. Probably the best thing about this campsite was the private entrance to Miami Beach with a comparatively empty beach section. On the right side of the beach, there was a beautiful big rock with a lot of palm trees separating the beach. It was an idyllic place to stay a little while and to look at the water.

Waterways of the Gold Coast and the Miami Keys

The Gold Coast is not only famous for the long beaches, but also for the inland waters and the many villas either orientated to the ocean or to the waterways in the backlands. If you are driving through the river landscape and over the bridges you will notice very quickly that there are a lot of extremely expensive villas with a private yacht. It is pretty popular to own a luxury villa with private water access and a bridge with a yacht right at the front door to move and reside freely on the water. However, the waterways in the backlands were beautiful and a nice place to live in. Nevertheless, there isn´t such a nice town compared to Byron Bay, there are some stores along the big street and the Esplanade at the ocean. Maybe I didn´t find them, because I am a nature child :). I found it pretty interesting to visit the Gold Coast but overall it would be too crowded and noisy for me :). However, the Gold Coast is extremely famous all over the world and the perfect place to live for many people.

The Springbrook Nationalpark

I would highly recommend visiting the Springbrook National Park. Unfortunately, we couldn´t explore it because the road was closed at this time and we didn´t want to accept a long detour. The National Park isn´t far away from the Gold Coast and offers some relaxation after the crowded Miami-Lifestyle. There are some beautiful hiking trails, especially the waterfall is pretty famous: There is a waterfall in a cave illuminated by a hole from above.

Brisbane or “Brissie” as the Aussies call it

We drove from the highway into the center of Brisbane, funnily we chose a route directly through the center (normally you should bypass the center 🙂 ). I have the best secret tip for a free parking space in Brisbane: You have to cross the Story Bridge to South Brisbane. At the end of the “Lower River Terrace” next to the Maritime Museum, you have to pass under the M3. In the left street, you will find free parking spaces for 4 hours. The parking space is located directly at the water and you can easily walk across the pedestrian bridge into the center of Brisbane. In the city center, you probably will not find a cheap parking space and all the car parks are too low for a camper van.

Across the Goodwill Bridge to the Botanical Garden

From the parking space, you can walk a few meters along the water and across the Goodwill Bridge. It is a pedestrian bridge with no cars. There were a few commuters riding their bikes into the center. At the end of the bridge, you will be lead directly to the university and administration building. You should walk the path through the Botanical Garden next to the big buildings, there are a lot of palm gardens, ferns, and even a beautiful bamboo way.

Walk the streets of Brisbane

From the Botanical Garden we walked along Albert Street to the Queen Street, then we strolled through the smaller side roads. We bought some snacks at Woolworth and ate them sitting in the beautiful Port Square Park between the high-rise buildings. A lot of Brissies spent their break here. I would recommend to go to the tourist information in the big shopping street and ask for a free map showing all the sights of Brisbane.

My impression of Brisbane

Brisbane felt a lot smaller than Adelaide, Melbourne or Sydney, almost cute. Nevertheless, there are some very high and modern buildings next to amazing old buildings. Some people told me that the city isn´t that beautiful, but I found it pretty nice and likable. I was impressed by the multicultural inhabitants! In general, the Gold Coast and Brisbane were very interesting, especially because of the good weather, the always shining sun, and the ocean. Anyway, I liked the Sunshine Coast, which is located in the north of Brisbane, a lot more. The Sunshine Coast is less crowded and more relaxed. *** Dieser Artikel enthält Werbung, da Marken genannt werden.