Gold Coast | Brisbane Journal – Part 6

God has been good to us throughout this trip. As we entered into our final day in Surfers Paradise, our itinerary was still very packed. We wanted to experience the life of Australians and get involved in their normal activities during the weekend. Something inexpensive and yet meaningful. We found ourselves visiting 2 weekend markets, beaches and a playground.

Farmers Market – Gold Coast Turf Club

Every Sunday, local Queensland and northern NSW based farmers and artisan food producers bring their fresh and seasonal produce they grow, rear and make direct to the Farmers’ Market for local Gold Coast residents and visitors alike. The Market is home to over 70 regular stallholders who sell a wide range of farm fresh produce, supplying all your weekly fresh food needs.

This is an authentic farmers’ market held every Sundays. Over here, we could see the locals doing their grocery shopping, sipping over a cup of hot coffee and enjoying live performances. This is a place where the locals mingle over the weekend. It is just within 4km drive from Surfers Paradise.

I am a coffee-lover. We came across this store selling organic coffee. This owner has his own coffee farm. He grows, harvests and bring the best of Australian coffee in different varieties to you. The queue was forming when I hopped in.

Whenever we see Australia fruits, we are reminded of the TV show “Food Source” hosted by Pornsak. We felt attached to this land and never get tired of visiting Australia fruits farms and the supermarkets to do grocery shopping. A visit to Tropical Fruit World reminds us of the efforts taken to grow the fruit trees and waiting time before the harvest arrives.

Food, glorious food, everywhere…

The locals chill out here and watch live performances.

Japanese retailers selling burgers.

Slurp…slurp. Fresh orange juice 🙂

You have to wake up real early to visit this market. The Farmers Market opens at 6am and closes at 11am every Sunday. This is not an tourist attraction and you can experience the activities of the heartlanders.

Carrara Markets

Centrally located at Carrara on the beautiful Gold Coast, only a stone’s throw from Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, Carrara Markets is the biggest permanent weekend marketplace in Australia. With over 400 stalls covering 10 acres it’s a treasure trove of the curious and the unusual. It’s also the original home of discount shopping when it comes to fresh produce, fashion, homewares, pots, plants, bric a brac, souvenirs, arts and crafts and just about everything else.

This market opens at 7am and closes at 4pm every Saturday and Sunday. This was the reason why we visited the Farmers Market first as it closes earlier.

We find Carrara Market quite tourist-style. There are many items for sale and you can find almost anything you are looking for. However, the prices may not be cheaper than other places. But still, it is an eye-opener to visit the largest weekend market in Australia.

I particularly like this store. It sells many rugged stuffs.

This is a place to visit if you are a fan of collector items.

The difference between the markets over in Bangkok and here is the space. Over here, it is more spacious. You do not have to move around in cramped places.

Try their freshly baked pastries.

We had breakfast over here.

What’s next after breakfast? It started to drizzle. We wanted to visit a playground where it has a Pirate Ship. Along the way, the GPS failed us again. We ended up at Palm Beach.

We alighted and explored this area as it was near the beach. Anything to see here?

Wow, beautiful beach! Palm Beach is away from Surfers Paradise and over here, it is quieter and more relaxed. The waters is calm as well, making it perfect for kids to swim and play.

M&Ms playing their water guns bought earlier from Carrara Markets for just AUD $2.

Life guards in action. You feel secured swimming here.

Look at the beautiful clouds.

Ok, we were determined to find the Pirate Ship playground. A passer-by told us to continue to drive down the beach. It’s hard to miss this playground. Along the way, we were drawn by the beautiful beach at Burleigh and drove in to explore.

This is the entrance to the Burleigh beach. OMG, Imagine staying at this neighbourhood – a beach at your doorstep!

They were too excited…

The air is very fresh, weather is very cooling and definitely relaxing at the beach!

Does Mindy have the model look?

I find this picture very artistic. It was taken randomly and I was surprised by the effect.

Palm Beach Parklands & Treasure Island Playground

We kept our promises to bring M&Ms to the best playgrounds in Brisbane and Gold Coast. This is it! After some misses, we finally arrived here. This is definitely a place for the entire family to play and relax.

It was a weekend was many kids were there. Some of them were boisterous. We had to be watchful.

The locals having their picnic.

Beaches and beaches everywhere.

M&Ms had so much fun at the playground and the beaches. It was time to wind down. We visit the library before returning to Surfers Paradise.

This vacation was about connecting them to nature and engaging in interactive and educational activities.

Everyone fell asleep on our way back to Surfers Paradise. We dropped our vehicle at the carpark and took the tram to experience the ride. It is cheaper to drive than to take public transport in Australia. We paid AUD 11.50 just to hop onto the tram for one stop of about 650m. Too expensive so we decided it’s better to walk back to our apartment.

We made a wise decision to walk back. We had been so hectic covering so many places within a fixed timing. Finally, we could slow down, took a step back and had a good look at Gold Coast. We strolled and appreciated the streets of Surfers Paradise that night.

We have so many good memories of this trip. There was never a dull moment throughout our journey. Everything was great, but what made the trip even greater was the fact that we are able to spend quality time as a family. Thank you, Ms. Gold Coast and Ms. Brisbane.  🙂

 

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