Friday, March 15, 2019

March Holiday to Brisbane

We have been going to Japan to ski in the last 2 years during our March school holiday as it was cheaper and less crowded compared to December. However, Daddy decided it was time to check out Brisbane and the Gold Coast this time instead. It was also partly because Daddy had to go settle his HSBC bank account and also to take a look at our Brisbane property. 

On the first day after we arrived in Brisbane, we headed straight to the HSBC branch in Sunnybank. It was amazing how many chinese live around there and we didn't feel like we were in Australia. Daddy quickly settled the bank stuff and we headed to Logan Street where our condo is located. We looked up Allie who has been assisting Daddy with managing the property and she was very happy to show us around. We had fun running around the rooftop where there is a nice pool and also good views of the city. 


We spent the next few days checking out Brisbane city and went to places like South Bank Parkland where we spent some time at the man made Streets Beach in the city. It feels exactly like a beach with sand and all but the water is not salty so that was kinda strange. We also had lunch at The Charming Squire which served pretty good food and Daddy had his much awaited craft beer. We then walked around the river sidewalk and took many pictures. We also checked out Kangaroo Cliff which overlooks the Brisbane City Center from the other side. In the evening, we headed to Eat Street Northshore Market where there is a large variety of delicious food and desserts and the shops are actual shipping containers. Atmosphere there was electrifying as there were bands playing and families having a good time.  
 

After Brisbane, Daddy drove us to Gold Coast where the real action begins! Daddy was pretty disappointed that the drive from Brisbane to Gold Coast took only an hour as he was looking forward to a long drive. We checked into QT Gold Coast which is only about 300m from the beach. We wasted no time after checking in and headed straight for the beach for our maiden surf lesson. I must say it was tiring fighting the waves and keeping balance on the board but we sure had lots of fun. As Golf Coast is famous for it's theme parks, we also checked out Wet n Wild and I must say it was more fun then the one in Phu Quoc because we got to try out all the different rides there. 
Daddy felt it won't be complete if we didn't see any animals while in Australia so we checked out Sea World and also Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Sea World was a real disappointment but we tried to make the best of our visit there and tried out all the rides and fed the manta rays. Currumbin was ok but not as good compared to Caversham Wildlife in Perth. The one thing that stood out though was the Tree Top Challenge which we totally enjoyed. 

Although we had a lot of fun in Queensland, Daddy feels we won't be back anytime soon as there isn't much for us to do here. We need to look for greener pastures!