When you think of Gold Coast, how many of you think of it as a family destination with theme parks to go to only? We thought the same too, but boy were we so wrong! Here are 10 things that you must do in Gold Coast and beyond other than theme parks!

1. Make new furry friends at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

This has gotta be our favourite activity in Brisbane! The koalas were beyond adorable! And look at the grumpy looking koala in the photo below! Rare shot indeed as it’s hard to catch a koala awake as they spend most of their time sleeping to conserve their energy!

Fun fact: Koalas sleep up to 22 hours a day to conserve their energy as their diet consists of eucalyptus leaves that need a lot of energy to digest. 

Click here for more information!

2. Drive your way around Aussie and have fun with the spontaneous detours!

Actually one of the things that we love most about road trips is the absolute freedom that comes along with it! Like a place? Drive to it. Have time to spare? Why not just drive randomly around and explore the outskirts of a city? Which was exactly what we did when we were at Hervey bay and guess what, we actually spotted wild kangaroos!

After we were done with gushing over the kangaroos, we noticed that the skies were really clear that day and the sunset was sublime. So we found a nice spot, parked our car and snapped a shot of us with the gorgeous sunset as the background 🙂

3. Enjoy a great time with your new feathered friends at Maleny Botanical Garden

Being parrot lovers, we absolutely fell in love with the adorable precious feathered babies here at the Maleny Botanical Garden Aviary! The parrots here were extremely tame and friendly towards human! It was amazing! They’re allowed to fly freely and randomly land on anybody’s head or shoulder! It can be quite hilarious at times when you get caught off guard by a giant Macaw that suddenly landed on your head!

4. Snorkel with the adorable green turtles at Lady Elliot Island

Lady Elliot Island is definitely one of the highlights of our trip in Queensland! The waters there was crystal clear! We really enjoyed our snorkelling session with the green turtles 🙂 If you’d like more details on our Lady Elliot trip, check out our previous blog post on the ultimate road trip in Queensland!

Fun fact: Green turtles are not really green actually. They’re mainly brown! But they’re named green because of the fats underneath their shell.

5. Drink in the gorgeous sunset at Noosa Beach

According to the locals that we spoke to, Noosa Beach is one of the top favourite destination for the locals! It’s not so known to tourists yet, but you will see plenty of locals hanging out by the beach, sun tanning, sipping their cocktails, enjoying the freshest seafood ever!

Tip: If you’re an ice cream lover, you must try the famous Gelato ice cream at Massimo! It’s along Hastings Street. 

6. Busk in the cheery atmosphere at the fresh local markets

Albeit it being a rushed morning, it was still a good experience traipsing around the Eumundi Market which stocks really fresh local organic produce! A fantastic place to pick up interesting souvenirs too!

Tip: Skip your hotel breakfast and head to Eumundi Market with an empty stomach! (We didn’t and regretted our decision when we arrived too full at the market)

7. Come up close with the friendly humpback whales at Hervey Bay

Hervey Bay, also known as the whale watching capital of Australia and the home of the majestic Humpback whale! We had such a great time whale watching at Hervey Bay! We never experienced whales swimming that close to us before. This time we had both mummy whale and her baby swimming and playing really close to our boat!

Ps. Many tours offer guaranteed whale sighting and a full refund should you not be able to see one!

8. Fraser island, the world’s largest sand island

Hendric and Amada drove around Fraser Island via a 4 wheel drive with Nomads Fraser Island Tours! We didn’t get to go on this route, but the adventures that they shared with us were amazing! Fraser island is one of the most beautiful and largest sand island in the world! The entire tour was a 3D2N 4 wheel drive on Fraser Island and both of them agreed that you need at least 3 days to get the full experience!

9. Be blown away by the beauty of the Carlos Sand Blow

Yet again, another spontaneous detour that became one of the highlights of our trip 🙂 This place was gorgeous, it was unbelievable how this much sand got blown over and above the cliff, covering all of the vegetation in its way to form the Carlos Sand Blow!

10.  Indulge in the freshest seafood ever

Foodies will definitely enjoy cruising along in Queensland as the drive is mostly along the coast and that also means, you get really fresh seafood! We had the sumptuous meal below at Surf’s Club at Noosa Beach. The oysters were so good!

So now, you have a long list of exciting things to do in Gold Coast besides only the theme parks!