Coast to Coast

Our travels so far; Sunshine Coast to Gold Coast 

I've decided to split my trip down the coast into a few blog posts. The reason being that there is just too much fun and adventures to fit into one post. The first part of our trip started way back on the 11th March when we touched down in the Sunshine Coast. The Sunshine Coast is such an idyllic place and I throughly enjoyed exploring the surrounding areas such as Caloundra, Maroochydore, Alexandra Headland, Mooloolaba and Buderim. It has some of the most gorgeous beaches I have ever seen with the right mixture of cafes and bars. If your ever in Alex Beach, make sure you get a strawberry milkshake from the beach kiosk, there pretty hard to beat.

During our time there we decided to visit Australia Zoo. I was super excited. I grew up watching Steve Irwin's show on TV with my dad so it was a surreal moment to visit the place that he had founded and loved so dearly. I also got to see a real life kangaroo for the first time since reaching Australia!



Before we knew it we had spent just over a month in the Sunshine Coast, but I would highly recommending taking a while to explore this area. Like the name suggests, it's sunny and is surrounded by beautiful coastline.

During my stay at the Sunshine Coast Peter and I also took a trip to Brisbane for 4 days. If you want more information on what I got up to in Brizzie then check out my last blog post.

We also spent time in Noosa Heads, it was an absolute gem. We decided to camp out for one night in Noosa but we easily could have stayed longer. The weather wasn't fantastic but that didn't dampen our spirits. Noosa was still alive with an ecstatic atmosphere. The town had a slight city hustle and bustle atmosphere. There were shops and plenty of bars and restaurants to choose from, as well as the beautiful beaches and walkways. I loved Noosa!

Sunset at our campsite. Overlooking the Noosa River

So the day came, it was time to move on. First stop being the Gold Coast, just over 2 hours from the Sunshine Coast. Do be prepared for it to take longer as traffic is horrendous. We stayed 2 days here. Our first day in the Gold Coast was in Surfers Paradise this was were we had our first experience of a backpackers hostel. It's safe to say I strongly disliked every second of the hostel. We decided on getting a mixed dorm purely because it was way cheaper than a twin room and when your on a backpackers budget every penny counts. I'm glad to say Peter wasn't too keen either. Sharing a room and bathroom with 3 other smelly, sweaty boys, being woken up at all hours of the night and the massive party lifestyle wasn't my idea of 'paradise'' which is ironic being that the name of the hostel was in fact 'Surfers Paradise'.

I would highly recommend Surfers Paradise Backpackers Hostel if your travelling on your own or with a group of friends. It's a great place to meet people and the hostel offers backpackers nights out, volleyball tournaments, free wifi and will even book tickets for various tourist attractions. Surfers Backpackers also offered buses into the city and back again at one hour intervals absolutely free of charge which is definitely a big plus for backpackers with no form of transport.



Personally I was disappointed with Surfers Paradise. Once you had seen the beautiful beach I just wasn't quite sure what else there was to do there. I failed to fall in love with this place. You win some you lose some. But, you never know what's around the corner..quite literally. On our second day in Surfers we decided to travel 20 minutes into Burleigh Heads.








This little suburb was absolutely joyous. We visited the National Park and it was the most fun I had in the Gold Coast. Walking in the sunshine around gorgeous coastal paths, stopping to take in the breathtaking views and watching the surfers catching some waves, it was perfect. Later that day we headed back to our campsite for a few beers and a BBQ. I would highly recommend Burleigh Beach Tourist Park. Great facilities, great location and we met some really lovely people during our stay there.

One thing I would say if your considering travelling around Australia, don't be fooled by the big tourist destinations. Big things come in tiny packages. Sometimes the little quaint suburbs outside of the well known cities or towns are the true spirit and soul of Australia. So just explore that little bit further!