Australia Day 6: From Brisbane To Gold Coast & Harbour Town

I don't know what got into me. I blogged about my 2014 trip to Australia previously but then, I stop halfway. And when I browse through my last post regarding this travelogue, it was on 3rd July 2017 - gosh, that's like more than 2 years ago. It's funny how I able to complete my 2017 Australia travelogue but not this one. 

Honestly speaking, I was pretty dilemma whether should I continue with my super long backdated travelogues especially those between 2014 to 2016, or just proceed to blog with trip I went recently like Bangkok and Taiwan? But to think of it, this is the platform or space for me to share my own experiences and adventures. It serves like a diary for me, and that's the reason why I named my blog "Journal". In addition, I can browse through all my travel photos at anytime and anywhere I want. So after the long consideration, I decided to clear all my backlog travelogues as soon as possible before my memories for all these trips slowly fade away from my brain which unable to store plenty of things. 

Continue from here.

Heading To Gold Coast From Brisbane

After Sydney and Brisbane, we moved on to the last leg of this trip, Gold Coast. From Brisbane, we took train which took approximately 70 minutes from South Brisbane Station (cause we stayed nearby) to Nerang Station of Gold Coast. The trains run half hourly from 6am to midnight, 7 days per week. Upon arriving at the station, we then continued by taking bus #740 heading to Surfers Paradise, the most commercialised tourist suburb with the highest concentration of accommodations and attractions. 

#1: Train from South Brisbane Station to Nerang Station of Gold Coast. Then continue by taking bus no.740 to Surfers Paradise. 

Our Stay In Gold Coast

Surfers Paradise is the area where we decided to stay for three nights before leaving Australia. It's the capital of the Gold Coast, the most popular among tourists but I can't deny majority of the accommodations here are come with hefty price tag. But because we saved quite a lot from our stay in Sydney where we overnight at Malaysian Hall Sydney, therefore we plan to splurge for our stay in Gold Coast. We booked one bedroom apartment with an impeccable view overlooking the beach and the ocean. 

#2: One-bed aparment with 2 double beds, a separate toilet and bathroom and also comes with kitchen facitilies. 

Zenith Ocean Front Apartment
Date Stayed: 16 - 19 October 2014 (3 nights)
Rate Per Night: RM464 per night for one-bedroom apartment with 2 double beds


#3: The view outside of the apartment we stayed - overlooking the ocean and the beach.


#4: Surfers Paradise is well-known for surfing. Hence, you will see plenty of homegrown brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong and more around the city.

Harbour Town Outlet Shopping Centre Gold Coast

Since it's our first day in Gold Coast and we already had our plans for the next two days, we try to make our trip more relaxed and laid-back one. One of my friends would like to visit their factory outlet and so, we ended up going to Harbour Town Outlet by taking tram. We travelled using the Go Card we bought when we're in Brisbane. Alternatively, you can purchase the ticket from vending machine at any stop. 

#5: Taking tram to Harbour Town Outlet

By the way, the tram didn't reach directly to the outlet. After aligned at Southport Station, we took bus number 704 in order to reach this outlet. Harbour Town is actually the largest outlet shopping centre in Australia houses vast array of favourite brands such as Nike, Adidas, Fossil and etc with discounted prices. The setting of this outlet looks almost similar to our Johor Premium Outlet (JPO) or even Genting Highlands Premium Outlet. I guess almost all these premium outlets look pretty identical. 

#6: Favourite brands like Nike, Adidas, Fossil and more with discounted price at Harbour Town.


#7


#8: I love luggage tags but I didn't get this cause it's was pricey - AU$8 (approx. to RM24) for one


#9

#10: My shopping haul from the outlet. Randomly walked into a shop and came across a dress for AU$10 (approx. to RM30). I think this is more affordable than buying the luggage tag. 

We spent roughly around 3 hours venturing around the outlet. Frankly speaking, I'm not really into premium outlet and regardless of how many premium outlets I've been, I always left with empty-handed, except for this round. I stumbled upon two dresses for AU$10 each and I also bought a shirt for my friend.  

#10: We went back to the city and settled our dinner there. That's how we spent our first day in Gold Coast, our 6th day in Australia.

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