Gold Coast Guide
I was lucky enough to experience a weekend away down the Gold Coast for the Logies with the experts – Tourism Queensland.
With a jam-packed itinerary we headed down the coast on the Saturday morning with Limoso Luxury Transport (definitely my first private car experience and could defs get use to that #boujee).
This was seriously an AMAZING weekend. I have spent a lot of time down the coast, but had never tried any of these places. No idea how. Immediately add these to your hit list. I promise you will not regret this.
This year was the first for Queensland and the Gold Coast to host the Logies – super exciting for the GC! None other than The Star was host to this National event. Given the trip was based around this event, we were lucky enough to stay here where all the action was happening!
Our first stop after checking-in, was 8th Ave Terrace for lunch. Oh. My. Fkn. God. This place is INCRED. They change their menu monthly to suit what produce is fresh and in season. This is hands down one of the best places to dine to on the Gold Coast. I think our whole conversation over lunch was, “oh my god”, “have you tried the…” “yep, holy sht”, “try this”, “so good”, “fcccccck”… etc. etc. This mandarin cocktail was indescribably delicious, and I hope they are still serving it when you go to visit!
What a way to spend a food coma! After lunch we headed to Greenhouse (and surprisingly didn’t sink in the magnesium pool). Such a cute and relaxing spot! Doesn’t feel like you’re in the middle of the Gold Coast. We had a glass of bubbles and enjoyed the different spas, saunas, steam rooms and bottomless tea.
And it’s dinner time (this weekend revolves around food, as you can see). At the top of The Star Grand is Nineteen. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. Firstly, our aperol spritz was the size of a fish bowl (please refer to evidence below) and secondly, the food was just amazing. We had lobster bolognese and fresh prawns for entree, followed by steak and duck for mains. It’s safe to say we had to be wheeled out of dinner, similar to lunch. This is definitely a spot I recommend and would happily dine at again. It was a fine dining experience and the food was stand-out.
Bam Bam is somewhere I have ALWAYS wanted to go, but somehow and for some godforsaken reason, never been. If Bam Bam’s infamous pastries and croissants somehow haven’t graced your Instagram feed, go check them out immediately. This croissant eggs benny has been on my must-try list for months! I’m hungry again writing this. We started with a coffees and shared an almond croissant (who says brekky can’t be two courses?) and then shared the famous eggs benny and breakfast nasi goreng. Of course, we also took a box full of pastries away, and also felt sick all day… but in a good “I’ve eaten too many croissants, nutella donuts and pastries” sick kind of way.
Given we just ate our weight in pastries, we then walked to The Village Markets in Burleigh. Had another coffee and roamed the stalls. The pop-up second-hand fashion market was on too – i.e. incredibly dangerous but some great steals! This market is full of great local businesses… and more food.
The Logies
Ahhh… finally Logies night! It was so cool to see The Star and The Garden Bar area be transformed into the red carpet. And boy, people were EVERYWHERE. We got ready and sat to watch the red carpet (prior to the Logies) from the bleachers. Safe to say there were some die-hard fans there. It was a great experience to see the behind-the-scenes of how it all comes together, as well as the reality of the red carpet! Hours of photos and interviews – I feel ya gals in those gowns and heels! But it was lots of fun, and definitely lots of headaches the next morning.
The next morning we woke up, had brekky downstairs at the M&G and sadly had to check-out. I was getting use to this… It was such a special experience and so great to be introduced to these places I would have never tried, but will now 150% be returning too (just not in my private car, gah srsly!).
