TBJ TRAVELS BRISBANE 2: Gold Coast + Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary + Movie World + Itinerary

On our second day in Brisbane, I'll take you to the top beach destination and popular attractions of the city. We'll discover the world- class Gold Coast, a heritage- listed animal sanctuary, and a theme park inspired by D.C. Comics!

GOLD COAST

Just an hour away from the city is Gold Coast, one of the nearest beach and surfing locations outside Brisbane. Gold Coast is a long stretch of various, sandy beaches with a metropolis resting by the shoreline; it's the down under's version of Miami. There are inland waterways, canals, and rivers, strewn between the metropolis, making it a critical docking point for local and migratory birds as well; it's amazing how the government was able to build a city here without polluting the environment.

Surfer's Paradise is a section of the beach known for huge waves, thus it is called as such. There are a lot of interesting groups of visitors crowding each section of the beach; at Surfer's Paradise, you'll find yuppies and surfers walking from the mall down to the beach clad only in flip flops and board shorts with a surfboard in tow while down at the other parts like Mermaid Beach, you'll find other groups such as families and casual beach goers. 

You can definitely swim in Gold Coast because the waters are clean despite having a giant city beside it and there are changing rooms, bathrooms, and shower rooms by the shore that everyone can use for free!

IS IT SAFE TO SWIM IN GOLD COAST?

Australia is known for its abundant marine life and its unique location and geography makes it highly likely for humans and wildlife to interact whether intentionally or unintentionally. But this is no reason to be afraid; any beach is unsafe if you do not follow rules and practice self- caution. Swimming in Gold Coast is okay as long as you swim within the designated parts of the beach, follow beach rules, and educate yourself on what to do when you encounter wildlife or find yourself in the middle of a dangerous situation (e.g. rip tide currents). There are sharks around the Gold Coast area, but bear in mind that they are naturally recluse, live in deep parts of the sea, are night time dwellers, and they won't attack unless you do. To decrease the chance of running into a shark or worse, getting bitten, do not swim at night, dawn or dusk, do not swim after a rainfall when the water is murky, do not go to the deep parts of the sea without professional supervision, and don't go near schools of fish or swim near fishing boats where there is bait activity. Australia's coast guard is highly trained and reliable, and they patrol the shores of Gold Coast so no need to fret; there will always be help when you need it. Marine life encounter is always possible when you enter the beach because you are going into their natural habitat; this is the case for all beaches, not just Australia. Just follow the rules and your swimming trip will be hassle- free!
Remember, sharks kill about 6 to 7 people in a year while humans kill 700,000+ sharks in a year!

Gold Coast is also known as a shopping destination; over the years, tourists activity in the metropolis has been increasing and this paved the way for some of Brisbane's world- class, luxury malls and lifestyle establishments. Pacific Fair is one of the top malls in the area where you will find some of the world's top luxury brands.

For makeup junkies, Pacific Fair is where you will find Sephora in Brisbane!

Mecca Maxima is a local beauty retailer and one of the biggest in Australia as well; it has the same vibe as Sephora and features brands such as Urban Decay, Hourglass, Sunday Riley, MAC Cosmetics, and even their own exclusive, namesake makeup line.

There are a lot of places to visit in Gold Coast; we just didn't have enough time to visit all plus going around the city is much more efficient in a car or taxi. Our sister-in-law and her husband drove for us, but since we lived far away and they had work the next day, we only visited the popular spots in the area.

HOW TO GET TO GOLD COAST:
There is a train line that goes all the way to Gold Coast from the city. Click HERE to see the timetable, stops, and updates of the train line.
The best and cheapest way to go to trips outside the city is the shared transfer; it's basically a bus/shuttle shared by passengers that picks up and drops off passengers at designated stops. Two of the popular transfer companies in Brisbane are Con-X-Ion and Greyhound. You can pre- book our trips online, which is highly recommended because you might not be able to secure tickets easily on the day of your trip.

CURRUMBIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

Just 24 minutes from Gold Coast is the town of Currumbin, home of Currumbin Wildlife Sacntuary. Built in 1927, it started as a Lorikeet Sanctuary where guests can feed Lorikeets as a solution for Alex to divert them from destroying his crops. The sanctuary eventually grew and is registered as one of Queensland's heritage sanctuaries.

Currumbin is a very interactive wildlife sanctuary; the sanctuary features themed locations that highlight various animals.

My husband with a Red Kangaroo; man, these guys are big and ripped! These are tame Kangaroos and they're used to humans petting them, but still, these are animals with instincts and must be given the space and respect they deserve.

Momma Kangaroos with joeys and pregnant ones. These ladies are pretty feisty because they have their young and we were advised to leave them alone and just admire them from a distance.

Emu Bird! This majestic, giant bird is one of the highlights in the sanctuary; there are a couple and they're just wandering around calmly and seem to be very acquainted with humans. But then again, people shouldn't harass and must treat them with respect because these birds will surely fight back if needed. 

One of the popular attractions in the sanctuary is the Crocodile show where you will see colossal crocs, one of the mightiest creatures that rule Australia. Luckily, it was feeding frenzy the time we visited and we saw in action how the resident crocs would feed and vie for a treat!

The sanctuary also houses threatened species such as the Echidna. We were lucky the time we visited because Echidnas don't go out and wander around when it's hot; it was winter when we visited and the Echidnas were luckily out and wandering!

Other animals to see in the sanctuary are Dingos (wild Aussie dogs; these dogs are huge!), Wallabies, pheasants, Tasmanian Devil, and of course, the Koala.

I highly encourage you to visit Currumbin Sanctuary because they also have conservation and fund- raising efforts, and provide rehabilitation for injured wild animals.

Other animal sanctuaries to visit in Brisbane are Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter's Australia Zoo.

MOVIE WORLD

When traveling, I always look forward to visiting theme parks. If Thailand has the newly- erected Marvel Theme Park, D.C. Comics lovers will delight in Movie World by Warner Brothers studios.

Movie World is a fairly- small park, but packed with very interesting rides featuring popular Warner Brothers movies from Dirty Harry, Batman, Wonder Woman, Scooby Doo, Green Lantern, Hulk, Superman, and Looney Tunes to name a few.

This is one of the super thrilling rides in the theme park: D.C. Rivals Hyper Coaster; it's one of the tallest roller coasters in Australia. No kidding, it felt as if my heart fell off my chest when I we finally did the drop!

Meanwhile, Superman Escape is one of the coolest roller coaster rides because it has a cool storyline; no one prepared me for the final leg of the story and start of the ride when we were ejected like hell from the tunnel! What a fun ride!

Here are the other attractions at the park:

Wild West Falls Adventure Ride is a thrilling canoe ride with a high fall; don't forget to bring extra clothes if you want to experience this!

Wild West also features a lot of instagrammable places so be sure to take a lot of pictures.

One of my favorite rides in the park is Scooby Doo's Spooky Coaster; it's roller coaster in the dark and it's got me laughing in fun and a bit of fear at the same time LOL!

Just like Disneyland, the restaurants are themed like Gotham City Hall eatery. The foods you will find here are classic Aussie treat such as pies, breads, hotdogs, fish and chips, cakes, and a variety of pastries.

The restaurants have a theme as well like Dirty Harry and their diner- inspired menu.

Every hour, the park performers hold mini shows at the Grand Archway like this Marilyn Monroe song number; occasionally, you will also see mascots such as Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Joker, Harlequin, and Wonder Woman to name a few roaming around; you can take pictures with them! Batman also has a cool show where he would beat up bad guys.

A lifesize Bat Mobile!

Before the park closes, a character parade takes place.

Other popular theme parks to visit in Gold Coast are: Aussie World, Dreamworld, Sea World, and Wet 'N Wild.

Movie World may be relatively small, but I like it a lot because I'm a fan of most of Warner Brother's movies and I love D.C. Comics too! The size and number of rides are just right for me because as much as I love theme parks and rides, I love resting in between rides too and I was able to get the best of both worlds because of the size of the park; it didn't feel like I was unproductive.

I hope you enjoyed our second day in Brisbane! Hopefully, you'll get to visit soon!

Tomorrow, let's go to the second popular beach destination in Australia and one of the two only Everglades in the world!

Check out my Brisbane itinerary and costs:

Click to enlarge view

**Please be reminded that this itinerary reflects 80% of our trip in Brisbane; other mini trips have not been included

**Incidentals such as food, drinks, lodging, shopping, transportation, tips, and other miscellaneous expenses are not part of the costing.

**Total expense depends on the PHP-AUD conversion during my time of visit. It will vary from time to time.

Check out my other Brisbane travel diaries:

TBJ TRAVELS BRISBANE 1: Hello, Brisbane + City Tour + Southbank Tour

TBJ TRAVELS BRISBANE 3: Sunshine Coast + Noosa Everglades

TBJ TRAVELS BRISBANE 4: Free Things to do in Brisbane