Gold Coast, QLD

I must admit I've been a terrible travel blogger on this trip. I haven't visited any theme parks or any of the other great attractions South East Queensland have to offer. I have been on the beach everyday though. It's probably because I've been coming here almost twice a year that it's hard to get motivated to write. I'm in holiday mode: waking up late, walking to the coffee shop, then to the beach, eat, and then sleep. It's very relaxing, and hard to break out of the habit.

Tomorrow I'm catching a flight to Sydney and then straight to Uni (university). What I can say is that Queensland is a popular holiday destination for Australians and Japanese for decades. Now, with our dollar finally dropping more and more Australians will come back. This year was their best for years, and I've noticed the increase in tourist numbers.

Having said all that Sydney is still my home, and one of the best cities in the world. The harbour, the beaches, the restaurants, and for the next six months the warm outdoor lifestyle makes it hard to beat. Summer in Sydney is the best time of the year to visit. Sydney is also where you will find a lot of American ex pats who fell in love with Sydney and never go back. Plus, it's the headquarters of many American companies in this region. If you had the choice of locating your Asia Pacific headquarters in Sydney then wouldn't you? Although I like Honkers (Hong Kong) it's not such a sure bet anymore business wise, and Singapore is a little boring (sorry Singapore).

Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

This is why we come to the Gold Coast, miles of beach and sunny weather. It's been good to stroll around in my flip flops, cargo shorts, and a T shirt, my basic summer attire. I had a bit of a shock coming back from a Prague summer to a cold Australian winter. Now, it's good to get back to what I normally wear for six months of the year.

You might notice that it's easy to get a spot on the beach, but you should swim between the flags where lifeguards keep vigil.

Although Australia has heaps of great beaches, at this time of year, sub tropical QLD has the warmer weather, so many of us fly up to the Goldcoast. I'm not sure whether it's the equivalent of 'Spring Break' or not, but in December school leavers flock up here for the end of year to party.

The Great Barier reef is even further to the North, and you would you have to catch another jet. Australia is a huge country. If you followed my driving trip to the 'Red Centre' or Ayers Rock, you would appreciate how big it is. Most Australians live near the South East Coast between Brisbane and Melbourne. The further inland you go the less and less people you find that's because the centre of Australia is covered by great deserts.

Anyway, as you would expect you can surf at Surfers Paradise, and many people learn to surf at the many surf schools on the beach.

Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is Australia's sixth largest city, and one of the fastest growing. Its just under a 100 km from Brisbane the capital of the State of Queensland.

I flew in from Sydney to Gold Coast Airport a few nights ago. You can also fly direct to the Gold Coast on international flights now. Generally you can get a flight from Sydney from anywhere between $50 and $100. It's only an hour flight. As you can see it's famous for it's long beaches and sunshine.

I'm staying in one of the islands behind the main beach, Surfers Paradise, quieter, but still only five minutes walk to the beach. Most tourists stay at one of the many hotels or high rise apartments.

Because of how dollar due to the Mining Boom many Australians have been holidaying overseas, but with the end of the Mining Boom the dollar is slowly returning to normal and I expect more Australians to return to the Gold Coast.

Apart from the beaches, superb weather, there are many theme parks, not as big as you find in America, but good entertainment nevertheless. The pick for me is probably Sea World, which is also the closest.

In 1925, Brisbane hotelier Jim Cavill opened the Surfers Paradise Hotel. He also opened a zoo next to it. This is why the main drag is called Cavill Avenue. This was the beginning of what would become Surfers Paradise. Out of little things, big things grow. 

Next trip to the Gold Coast, Australia

I arrived back in Sydney to weeks of cold weather,  and rain, which is very un-Sydney like. Winters are generally not that bad. I'm counting the days to Mid Semester break to fly to the Gold Coast in Queensland to get some sun on the beach. Only two and a half weeks to go.

Seriously though, winter in Sydney is not bad at all, for one thing it doesn't snow, except occasionally in the Blue Mountains in the far west of Sydney. We are blessed with long summers of warm weather, beach weather.

Dubai to Sydney

At Dubai airport. I'm thinking that next time I will stay at one of the hotels at the airport, and save the hassle. Then, if you want to see the town you can hire a taxi. Staying at an airport hotel worked well for the departure flight in Sydney.

The flight to Sydney is about 13 hours, and we arrive after the airport curfew just after 6am. Using the Smart passport machines is the quickest way through Customs. Unlike the United States we don't have the fingerprint scanning system, which I believe Australia needs to have for security reasons, although Australia is very safe. It pays to be vigilant.

If you arriving in Sydney the cheapest way to travel is via the bus. I caught the Airport train that leaves from under the airport. You can also travel to the Domestic Airport also via train.

Sydney is my home town, and one of the best cities in the world, although I am of course biased. The weather, the beaches, the cultural life, employment opportunities, National Parks, Sydney Harbour of course, great food, and our egalitarian Australian culture are the highlights. After years of under investment in infrastructure we are making massive investments in infrastructure in Sydney, so we can move more people and goods more easily around our ever growing city.

Further Reading 

Harcher, Peter, The Sweetspot: How Australia Made It's Own Luck and Could Now Throw It all Away

Prague to Dubai

It was sad packing up; I wish we could stay longer, but I'm back for another semester at Uni on Monday. It's when you pack up that you understand how much stuff you packed that you didn't use. I hope you didn't notice too much, but I just used the Apple IPAD Mini to take photographs, although I did pack the Digital SLR and the big lens and a video camera. Next time I'm just going to bring the Daypack with 5 changes of clothes. Most experienced travellers just take carry on luggage.

We caught the tram to the airport I think that must be the cheapest way to get to the airport, which is about 15km away from the City centre. There's 3 terminals, and I believe Terminal 1 is if you flying out of Europe like we were.

The captain said it was a five hour and twenty four minute flight to Dubai. We arrived around midnight I believe local time, so everything was closed, but it was much cooler than arriving mid afternoon on our flight over.

Dubai airport in a few years will be busier than even Heathrow. There's a train to take you from one terminal to the next. The best thing about Dubai is that it is faster than clearing customs at Heathrow.

Tomorrow or is it today, we have a mid morning flight back to Sydney, which is about 13 hours if memory serves me correctly, which is much better than the 24 hour flights to London Australians traditionally went to Europe. I can definitely say I'm more relaxed and refreshed by the stop over in Dubai.

 In any case it's the future - that's where the future of air travel and the growth will be in Asia. It's also in Asia where the massive economic growth will take place, which makes Europe an ever shrinking, albeit still important, market as a share of global GDP. The bustle of Hong Kong is very different from Prague.

Prague - Never tear us apart

This music video is the reason why I first ended up in Prague - http://youtu.be/_VU9DjQpvMQ

from the Australian band, INXS, which is filmed in Prague. The song is called, 'Never tear us apart'. It sort of could be the theme for the Czech Republic. If they can retain their culture and lifestyle, along with the sustained economic growth then they can have the best of both worlds. It's now more important than ever that Europe remains united and defends the new members of NATO and the EU in light of what is happening in the Ukraine. We can't afford to do what Chamberlain did in 1938 with the annexation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany. That ended with the most destructive war in human history.

We saved the best for last and had dinner at a busy local Czech restaurant and bar. This is the signature Czech dish of Pork Knuckle (Pork Knee) served with horseradish and mustard.

This all that was left after ten minutes.

Generally a hearty meal like this one will cost you less than 200 Crowns ($10) and a half litre of beer about 40 Crowns ($2). In the supermarket beer is actually cheaper than water. It's common for Stag Parties from the UK fly to Prague.

Prague is a great place to base yourself for an extended trip to Europe. As you have seen the cost of living is much cheaper than Australia or the United States. There is a thriving music scene where you can see top entertainment acts for $30-40. It's easy to go North to Dresden or Berlin. To the East is Krakow. South is Bratislava, Vienna or Budapest. It's easy to get into with direct flights from Dubai or London. There are plenty of food options from French, Greek, Vietnamese, German, Hungarian , Italian etc that you have seen on this trip. I can recommend staying in Prague 3 near the Zikov tower where we stayed, as it has a variety of restaurants and you can either walk or catch the tram for about a $1 to the Old Town or airport.

Today was our last day in Prague, because we are flying to Dubai for a one night stopover before continuing onto our home, Sydney.  I hope you enjoyed the trip and will consider Prague and the Czech Republic for your next overseas trip.

I love Prague, it's one of my top five places in the world to visit, and I'll be back again some day. In that way, the song, Never tear us apart, is a good theme to end the trip on.

Travel Info

Accommodation - obtained via the great website AirBnB (see link on right side of screen)that we used for last trip in Spain. Around $90 a night for two bedroom apartment in Prague 3.

Transport - Czech trains and trams. Frequent and reliable.
Website - http://czech-transport.com/transport-service