Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Queensland

Brisbane is the capitol city and the Gold Coast is a coastal city of the state of Queensland in Australia. I had the privilege of travelling to Brisbane and the Gold Coast earlier this year and I have to say it was pretty fantastic! There was so many fun activities to do, so much good food to eat and people there were just beyond lovely and welcoming. No matter what age there is always something to do in Brisbane! There are great resorts for couples, lively nightlife for you and your friends and there is also fun activities for families!

Activities

These are some activities I found to be the most memorable and fun! I would highly recommend visiting the theme parks in the Gold Coast, specifically Wet n Wild and Movie World. The following are a list of my top 5 favorite rides from both these worlds.

1. Superman Escape
2. Batwing Spaceshot
3. Scooby- Doo Spooky Coaster
4. Wild West Falls Adventure Ride
5. Tornado
6. Mammoth Falls
7. Surf Rider
8. Arkham Asylum
9. Green Lantern
10. Wave Pool

For more information and purchase of  passes to these fantastic theme parks go to http://themeparks.com.au/

Since I only spent one week in Brisbane I didn’t get to explore as much as I would like but if you are a major shopaholic I would most definitely suggest you stop by Carindale Shopping Centre! It is filled with all the brands and has stores for all ages, the food court has the usuals (McDonalds, KFC etc.), but also has so many different cuisines. If you’re more into the quirky clothing and chilled bars it would be highly recommend taking a trip down to fortitude valley, this is where I was informed the night life is at its best, with live music and fantastic people! On my journey from Brisbane city to Fortitude Valley we stumbled upon its Chinatown, it has beautiful buildings, lights and the best part a mini outdoor cinema which are perfect for a date or just a nice night out with friends.

Other fun places to explore

There were several places I heard about that I wanted to do unfortunately I did not get the chance! However, if you are able to you should visit the following:

•  Dreamworld
•  White Water World
•  Seaworld
• Koala Park Sanctuary

Food

In Brisbane I found the most amazing sushi restrauant called Oishi Sushi Bar in Sunnybank Hills! It is a cute little restrauant with many unique and delicious sushi dishes! They also make a killer deep friend tempera ice cream you should check out. 

This is a sushi cake created by the talented chefs at Oishi Sushi Bar!

Check out the reviews and recommendations of their local and tourist customers here 

Accomodation

Well, you are most definitely going to want to stay in Queensland for more than a day, so you will obviously need a place to stay! There are many places to stay and you will most definitely be able to find one that fits your budget. If you are planning on visiting the theme parks you should stay at the Sea World Resort, it would greatly add to your trip whether you are with friends, family, partner or even alone!

For more information on the resort visit, http://seaworldresort.com.au/

For more information and maps on things to do, eat, see and stay in the beautiful cities of the Gold Coast and Brisbane click here

San Fransisco, california!

Hello!! This blog is about San Francisco. San Francisco is a city in the state of California in USA. As already mentioned before this blog is aimed to provide information about San Francisco if you were thinking of spending your holiday there.

In December 2012, I visited San Francisco for a month & a half, which was great fun as I got to see my family, friends & went to many great places in San Francisco.

San Francisco has a population number of 776,733, which means that it is not overpopulated when compared to another city like New York City.

Mark Twain once said, "If you don’t like the weather in New England, wait a few minutes." However this is not the case in San Francisco, as for the most part the weather in San Francisco is temperate & predictable. It has its jumps every now & then of course, but in general the weather in San Francisco is autumn, where it’s not too cold but doesn’t get hot either. This is a good thing as the consistency in the weather allows you to not need to pack many items of clothing when visiting.

There are many great places in San Francisco, which I was glad that I was able to visit most of them. Great places to visit in San Francisco include: The Golden Gate Bridge, wax museum, Alcatraz, Fisherman’s wharf & plenty more!!

The Golden Gate Bridge is the most recognized landmark in San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937. & every year more than 9 million visitors cross the 2737metres (1.7 mile) bridge either by car, bike or by foot.

The wax museum was an amazing place to go to, as it included wax figures ranging from celebrities to presidents to Religious leaders to sport players & it even had a wax figure of Jack & Rose!!

San Francisco is also a great family destination when travelling with your entire family, especially with young kids, as it has many places for kids & their parents to have fun at. One place that stood out the most for me that is great fun for kids is Chuck E Cheese!!

Chuck E Cheese is a pizza place that also has arcade games that use tokens which come with the food you order. It also has fun shows. This means kids can have fun & play while their parents sit down relax & talk WHILE EATING PIZZA :D PS they have other delicious food if you are not a fan of pizza :)

 

Another thing that I thought was great about San Francisco are the malls. Every mall is decorated in a different way, which meant that every mall has something special about it. What is also great is the variety of stores every mall has. You can find plenty of stores that sell all type of things at a reasonable price.

This was my blog about San Francisco, hope it was informative & gave you an idea of the city & encouraged you to visit it one day !!

 

Here are some useful links for more information about San Francisco if you are interested, the links also provide useful information about accommodation is San Francisco:

http://www.sanfrancisco.com/

http://www.sanfrancisco.travel/

http://www.citypass.com/san-francisco/things-to-do-san-francisco

Thank You !!! Natalie ~

Queenstown, New Zealand

So my first travel post is about Queenstown, NZ, "The Adventure Capital of the Southern Hemisphere". I lived in Queenstown for about six months, and will do my best to give you advice on where this amazing town!

Queenstown is located on the South Island of New Zealand in the Central Otago region. Known for wine and extreme sports, Queenstown is an amazing place to visit.

Whether you visit in Summer or Winter you will find something that will get the adrenaline pumping! Don't let that fool you though, Queenstown is beautiful and has a calm serenity about it that can help the most stressed businessman relax (which might be why so many companies choose to have their retreats there!).

Activities

I will start with the adreniline pumping activities that you can take a part of in Queenstown. The most famous of course are the winter sports. If you're a beginner or a pro, there is something in Queenstown for you! If you are planning a trip to Queenstown, you should buy your ski passes as early as possible, there are so many early bird deals available, you could end up saving hundreds of dollars.

Don't fret if you are planning a trip in the Summer months, there is still plenty to do! If you're an adrenaline junkie you can take your pick from bungy jumping, sky diving and the worlds first jet boat ride with Shotover Jet! In my opinion, the best is definitely the Canyon Swing (I'm not the bravest of people). I could try to describe the experience myself, but I'm pretty sure this video does better than I ever could!

Crazy right?!

If you're looking for something a bit slower, then nothing can beat a trip on the steamship TSS Earnslaw. From $55 you can go on a 1.5 hour cruise, and travels over the Walter Peak Farm

Accommodation

Now when you're in Queenstown you will need somewhere to stay! Queenstown has a great variety of accommodation from backpackers, all the way up to 5 star boutique hotels that are quite popular amongst the rich and famous.The best place to go to find somewhere to stay is http://www.newzealand.com/au/accommodation/. Just search the Central Otago Region, and you can choose want price point you would like to look at. 

Restaurants and Bars

If I had to recommend one restaurant and bar that you have to visit while in Queenstown, it would be Winnies Gourmet Pizza Bar. With it's open roof top, classic wooden architecture and a bar that you're not only allowed, but encouraged to dance on, you can' go wrong. The food is amazing as well. I would personally recommend the Montonara pizza, but there will definitely be something there that you will love!

So that's a quick introduction to Queenstown, I would definitely recommend looking into it further! There are so many amazing things to see and do that I can't describe them all here without having a post that's 10 pages long!

-Steph

Welcome!

I thought I would start off with a post just explaining what this blog is about and who will be posting to it.

This is a travel blog. There are four university students posting fairly regularly about places that we have visited, or places that we would love to visit! Each post will be on a different city/tourist attraction and will include cool places to go, hotels to stay at, and restaurants and bars in the area (because food and drink is the most important part of any holiday!)

We hope that you enjoy our blog, our first proper post should be up shortly, and feel free to leave comments asking us about the places that we talk about!

-Steph