Gold Coast is a stretch of coastline south of Brisbane and is home to popular tourist spots such as Surfer’s Paradise, Coolangatta and Byron Bay.
We left Brisbane via the Pacific Motorway and followed this until we saw signs for the Gold Coast Highway which took us to the coast. Following this road took us straight through Surfer’s Paradise which is a city that appears to be made up almost entirely of hotels. We chose not to get out here but the drive through it was nice.
We continued down the coast, passing Coolangatta and crossing the state boundary into New South Wales. Eventually we arrived at Byron Bay, a small but busy place popular with surfers and sunbathers alike. There was nowhere to park in the centre of town so we drove through it and found parking available by the beach, although we found that we could just park at the side of the road and we wouldn’t have to but a ticket.
We spent a few hours at Clarks Beach enjoying the sun, sea and scenery. There were a few stingers in the water but they were nothing more than a pin prick.
Finally we headed further south to Ballina as we had booked accommodation there at the Ballina Motor Inn.
Useful links:
Hertz Car Rental | Gold Coast Official Website
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