Last weekend we had a little getaway to the Gold Coast. It was only for one night, but it was nice to get away even for this short time. We booked it before we realised I had extra homework and an assignment to prepare for uni. So I had to bring some of my work with me to the beach and didn’t get to see as much as I would have liked. I thought I would still share some of the highlights from our little trip.

When Brisbanites want to go to the beach they usually head to the south to the Gold Coast or north to the Sunshine Coast. The Gold Coast is only about an hour from the centre of Brisbane, so it’s a popular choice. There are quite a few neighbourhoods in the Gold Coast region, so you can always see a different beach and discover a new restaurant.

On this trip stayed at the Sheridan Grand Mirage Resort at Main Beach, Southport. This strip of coast features SeaWorld, Marina Mirage Shopping Centre, Federation Walk Coastal Reserve and theirs a stack of touristy activities and restaurants there.

We made our way down to the coast midmorning, so we were pretty hungry by the time we got there. Not far from our hotel I found a little vegetarian cafe, Blend Love. We ordered a couple of dishes to share. We ordered Cheezey ‘Pawk’ Loaded Fries (Hand-cut sweet potato fries, topped with smokey pulled ‘pawk’, cheeze sauce, nut parmesan) and Veggie Burger (on Toasted Gluten Free Quinoa Bun with basil hummus, avocado, rocket, eggplant, tamari field mushroom, roasted capsicum, cashew aioli, tomato). Everything was really delicious and fresh. The burger tasted like a big greek salad and the bun was really great for gluten-free bread. Loaded fries are always good but the sweet potato tasted less fried and the toppings were nice and balance.

 

After settling to the hotel, we visiting walking down to the beach and around the resort. Since Marco had to go to work later that evening, we had to go out for an early dinner. So we headed to the Night Quarter, which is the Gold Coasts evening markets. We actually have a few of these weekend night markets in Brisbane but we have never experienced this one. The market itself is quite massive in size and has a great variety of different cuisines and desserts stands. What I really liked about this market was the that there were so many activities for kids. If we had more time Octavia would have loved to pat some bunnies, jump in the castle and climb in the playground. Unfortunately, we were strapped for time, so we just came to eat.

 

Since I choose lunch, Marco chose the majority of the dinner items. I actually wasn’t very hungry because I ate most of our lunch. Perhaps that’s why I wasn’t too enticed by anything at the market. I did really like the Raspberry Ice Tea, which not too sweet and could be refilled at a lower price. Marco chose the Beef Brisket and Octavia wanted a pizza. To be honest I wasn’t that impressed with either dishes and I’ve had better versions of these at other markets. I was more excited to try some desserts and one store was just brownies, lamingtons and slices galore. So we had a peanut butter brownie and some honey puffs from another vendor. The honey puffs were pretty disappointing since the honey didn’t stick to the fried doughnut, the brownie however was really nice.

 

After dinner, we splashed around in the huge spa in our room and watched the Jungle book on live tv. I was surprised that such a nice hotel didn’t have cable, but it was probably for the best or I wouldn’t have got Octavia to sleep. These photos are from the next morning. The resort is just beautiful and backs right on the beach.

 

I don’t usually like hotel buffet breakfast, but it was included in our stay. The restaurant at the Sheridan is quite nice and the buffet had heaps of options. I tried some of the savoury dishes. The food was ok, but not that tasty. I usually find Australian hotel breakfast buffets quite bland and full of processed factory foods. It was nice to have a Japanese option though and the fruits were nice and fresh. The coffee was complimentary and dreadful. I think the biggest fan of the buffet breakfast was Octavia. She enjoyed her favourite things, croissants, sausages, pancakes, ice cream and (Marco’s) danish. These are not every day or even every week foods and I’m still wondering whether giving in to her for those sausages and ice cream was the right thing, but look how happy she is.

 

After breakfast, we spent our last remaining hour at the beach. The weather was perfect and the water wasn’t too cold. There were plenty of people out enjoying the sun, but not too many that we were crowded. It was just gorgeous. I spent the majority of my time doing journal readings, which was surprisingly nice to do with the sound of waves crashing in the background. Marco and O had fun splashing and swimming about.

 

I hope you enjoyed our brief little trip to the Gold Coast. Have you been to the Gold Coast? Whats your favourite beach?