Australia's Gold Coast: The Gold Standard for Business Travelers and Pleasure-Seekers
If your next business trip will take you to Australia's sunny Gold Coast, you've hit the traveler's jackpot. Gold Coast is a seaside city in the state of Queensland. It's beautiful, bustling and bursting with exciting attractions, both natural and manmade.
For starters, Burleigh Head National Park is an oasis of volcanic cliffs along the ocean. The surfing conditions here are as spectacular as the views, and the fishing is first-rate as well. Nature lovers take notice: at Tumgun Lookout, you might glimpse groups of whales passing by. There's also a trail, a mile and a half long, through a dense rainforest brimming with rare and exotic creatures.
Near Burleigh Head is perhaps Gold Coast's biggest draw: Surfers Paradise. A paradise it certainly is – if you're a surfer, no matter your skill and experience level, you simply must tackle its enormous, pounding waves. Beachside, a multitude of eclectic bars, nightclubs and even Irish pubs keep the action going all night long. Bungee jumping and miniature golf facilities are also located nearby.
If it's a quieter, more soothing experience you're after during your business trip breaks, the luxurious spa enRich is just the place. A basic enRich package includes two and a half hours of pure pampering, including a full-body massage, a facial, a foot massage and snacks. By the way, enRich is worth the trip over for its location alone – it's situated amid a three-acre section of rainforest, on the shores of stunning Lake Terranora.
If you and your fellow business travelers want to see Gold Coast from a totally different perspective, head up to the SkyPoint Observation Deck atop the Q1 skyscraper. Nearly nine hundred feet above terra firma, you can relax at SkyPoint's café or bar. On the other hand, if you're especially daring, you might try the SkyPoint Climb. For an extra fee, you can spend an hour and a half traversing stairs, platforms and walkways all around the exterior of the building. In a way, the SkyPoint Climb is dizzying and scary. In another way, however – given the vistas of mountains, beaches, ocean waters and city streets surrounding you – it's a peaceful, even transcendent, experience.
Finally, if you bring your children along on your business trip, or if you're a child at heart, you might want to spend a half day or a full day at Warner Brothers Movie World, probably the most elaborate of Gold Coast's several theme parks. At Movie World, which opened in 1991, you can ride roller coasters, enjoy musical performances and stunt shows, and interact with actors portraying iconic movie stars like Marilyn Monroe.
This post was supplied by the guys at Skedaddle Car Hire, head to their Gold Coast page to score some good deals on car hires on the Gold Coast. You will also find plenty of info on things to do in and around the beautiful Gold Coast area
