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Hey my darlings. I am off to the gold coast in august for 7 days... two of those days we will be in Glenn Innes visiting my family. But what I wanted to know was where to shop, any bargin places there... where to eat, anything really... I have never been there and need some ideas as to how to make my time there even more awesome.

So lay it on me girls........

HI Flame

From memory I think that Pacific Fair out in Broadbeach was pretty amazing. Also, there were markets and I think that were called Carerra Markets which had just about everything that you could possibly want. check out www.goldcoastaustralia.com.au, I think thats the website otherwise just google gold coast australia.

Have a great time and good to hear from you - where have you been anyways girl?

Well... there's the fun parks which I looooove, not sure if you're into rollercoasters and wipeouts. If you just want some gentle fun you might enjoy Movie World where you can just sit and watch everything or walk around and look, its amazing. There's the Aquabus that you catch in Surfers township which turns into a boat!!! and takes you around the waterways to show the really expensive properties on the banks of the river and then back to town again, amazing! Takes about two hours.

As well as Pacific Fair and Australia Fair, pretty large shopping malls there's another good place in Broadbeach which is the Oasis hotel but it has three to four storeys of shopping with some nice cafes and at the very top floor is a food hall where you can get huge servings of anything from roast meals to seafood platters or pizzas, well anything at very very reasonable prices. From memory (the last time I was there was 2002 I think) a large plate cost $7.50 and a small was $5.00 and the small was plenty big enough. The prices are probably higher now but will still be cheap compared to anywhere else, the wines were good too. And on the main highway going in to Surfers from the south is a Pancake Restaurant if you're in to pancakes.

Pacific Fair, 339 shops, The Oasis, 129, Centro Surfers 116, Indooroopilly 286, AUstralia Fair 245, Harbour Town 247. Other things to do, Crystal Castle down at Mullumbimby, Sea World (a must), Australia Zoo 2 hours north of Gold Coast, Tambourine in the hinterland, The Wax Museum, MOvie World, THe AUstralian OUTBACK Spectacular (AND IT IS), and Dream WOrld. That is a synopsis of our trip last year, it was great. 7 days won't be enough, if you can extend then do so, otherwise expect to want to come back again.

True that Delta! That's why it took two trips for me to do the parts I loved again and the parts I didnt get to do the first time round. Both my trips were on special 7 day packages. And now it looks as if I need to go again to do the Australian Outback Spectacular and the Tambourine Hinterland!