How to make the most of Australias' Gold Coast Twinned with Sydney

We flew out to Brisbane via Singapore with Qantas and were fortunate to be upgraded to premium economy on the final leg. I would definitely recommend this experience if you can afford it as the little touches are so worth it not to mention the larger seats and extra leg room. We were greeted by our host for the trip and whisked off to our first accommodation Peppers Broadbeach. An early check can be quite rare but luck was on our side so as we walked to a nearby diner for breakfast, our luggage was taken up to our apartments. The apartments are stunning in every aspect – décor, size, amenities, cleanliness and the breathtaking views. First activity was a boat trip courtesy of ‘Duffy Down Under Boat Hire’ and I recommend this to everyone visiting the area. They’re the only company in Australia with green-friendly electric boats, and Colin our skipper gave us a great 2 hour trip along the water in the area which by the way has more km of waterways than Venice and Amsterdam combined.

Day 2 started off with a trip to Currumbin Wildlife Centre which is a not-for-profit sanctuary and this place is a load of fun for all age types and group sizes. We fed Kangaroos, zipped through the trees on an adventure challenge, and even watched a sheep shearing show!!

A surf lesson greeted us on Day 3 at Surfers Paradise with our hosts ‘Go Ride A Wave’. It was an unforgettable experience. After a 2 hour lesson I’m now proud to say that I know the basics of how to surf but I still need lots of practice!

We then travelled inland for a couple of hours rising about 1000m above sea level to a place called O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat. We met with Australian wildlife expert Mark who introduced us to some of the indigenous animals they were caring for.

Our host whilst in the mountains was Jana who then guided us round the tree top walk which boasts some stunning views. Before dinner we were taken on O’Reilly’s glow worm tour, we were driven in a 4 x 4 to a clearing and because there is no light pollution we saw some of the star configurations such as the Southern Cross and quite clearly visible was the Mars - breathtaking.

As we trekked through the our final stop on the tour was the glow worm grotto and once everyone had switched off their torches and our eyes became accustomed to the darkness we were treated to a fantastic sight of these creatures in their natural habitat. Dinner was nothing short of spectacular and our evening drew to a close with a nightcap or two in the bar.

Day 4 and I got up early to attend the bird walk tour but as we cannot control nature we did not see so many, however I did come across a few wild Wallabies. We viewed some of the private villas available for rent and checked out the spa facilities before another 4 x 4 experience to Moran Falls. More rainforest trekking with expert guidance from Royd. As we started our descent we stopped off at a park and had a lesson in throwing boomerangs which was an unexpected treat.

Our accommodation for the next 2 nights was the Sea Temple in Surfers Paradise which towered over the beach, Once again stunning apartments with every mod con you could want. We took breakfast at the hotel and my Eggs Benedict were superb.

We strolled along the seafront down towards Skypoint, an observation deck 77 floors up at the top of the iconic Q1 tower which gave us 360 degree views of all the golden beaches and lush Hinterland. We followed this with a hotel inspection of the Hilton and a special lunch menu by renowned Australian chef Luke Mangan which was a mouthwatering treat. One of his signature dishes crab omelette with enoki mushrooms and miso mustard broth looked too good to eat.

Another treat in store that afternoon was a jet boat ride guaranteed to get you wet but all part of the fun, our skipper also slowed down and took time out to show us some of the multimillion dollar waterside homes and tell us about their owners.

On our last night on the Gold Coast we were treated to dinner and a show at Jupiter’s Casino.