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    Gold Coast’s Family Attractions

    Gold Coast is the perfect family holiday destination, as it has it all: a seemingly endless supply of theme parks, beaches, shopping, eateries, nightlife and plenty of other visitors to mingle with. Here are some additional attractions to explore during your stay here.

    Creature Thrills

    Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
    Besides the famous Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Gold Coast’s Burleigh Heads is home to another creature hot spot worth visiting, namely the David Fleay Wildlife Park. Named after the naturalist who started it, this conservation park doubles as a research facility and the animals can be admired in enclosures as close to their original habitats as possible here. Kids will absolutely love having a closer look at rare and fascinating species like the endangered cassowary, saltwater crocs, Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo and the nocturnal house creatures, including the bilby, platypuses and dunnarts. There are informative guided walks with knowledgeable rangers on offer as well, so the kids can learn as they have fun.

    Great Heights Thrills

    A great place to start your holiday (after a morning’s surfing on Surfer’s Paradise beach, of course), Sky Point is the highest place on the Gold Coast you can go. Located on the 77th floor of Q1 high-rise resort, the admission tickets to the Observation Deck may seem like a rip-off ($54.50 for 2 adults and 2 children), until you get to the top, that is. Getting there takes all of 43 seconds, and you can track your journey upwards on a plasma screen embedded in the elevator’s roof. It’s all a little mind-boggling, however even those suffering from vertigo should be OK here – just don’t stand too close to the windows once you arrive! The views extending all along the coast and hinterland are truly spectacular and best admired at sunset, over coffee and cake at the Sky Point Café (the food here is a little overpriced), watching the sea of lights slowly switch on. For the select adventurous and brave spirits there is also the option to do the outdoor climb, the highest of its kind in Australia, at 270 meters above sea level. Bear in mind that there is a minimum height requirement of 130cm and children up to 15 must be accompanied by an adult.

    Mini & Rainbow Thrills

    Little ones will enjoy a round of Putt Putt mini golf at the heart of Surfers Paradise, just next to the Flycoaster, the rainbow-neon catapult-like contraption you can send your teenagers up on if they’ve been especially moody. This should give them some super-charged thrills as well as shake them up enough to prevent them from wanting to get into more mischief later in the day.

    Palate Thrills

    It can’t all be about the kids though, so for a bit of a luxury setting, head across the street to finish your day relaxing over delicious and surprisingly reasonably priced Thai food at Chiangmai Thai Restaurant, located inside the Mantra Resort. The kids will love the atmosphere here too, as you can sit inside what looks like mini wooden carriages – carved wooden roof, wheels and all – or in rather impressively massive elephant-shaped chairs. Admiring the sparkly décor will take a good portion of your time, as the place could double as  a warehouse of traditional Thai furnishings, furniture dripping with gold leaf, light-changing elephant fountains (featuring elephants in every pose imaginable), and massive diamante encrusted peacocks (?!), plus the reliable crowds flocking in every night to take it all in. Do be tempted by the desserts here: there is coconut ice-cream, banana fritters and mango sticky rice…to happify all tastebuds during your Gold Coast family holiday!

    Citations: cc flickr photo by Phalinn

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