Day 5: Beach/Harbour Town

This morning was reserved for the beach. Everyone made it a point to wake up earlier so that we did not miss out the best time of the day for the beach. The sand and the surf was not something that you can get in Singapore or Malaysia.

We managed to reach the beach by around 9:30am. The sun was already high in the sky. Son No 1 expressed surprise that there were already a lot of people there (uh-ba-then?). The sand on the beach was soft, fine and clean. The water was cold despite the sun and after a while, Son No 3 was shivering and asked to change out of his wet top and back to his t-shirt. We were at the beach for about 1.5 hours. We were careful not to get sunburnt so that we could return to the beach another day.

The next itinerary for the day was a half-day shopping trip to Harbour Town Outlet Shopping which was a short 20-minute drive by car along the Gold Coast Highway. We realized that a highway here was not what we imagined. All along the highway, there were traffic lights and towards the end of the highway, it narrowed down to a one lane street with suburban shophouses lining both sides of the streets. We were kind of alarmed and double-checked the map as we thought we had meandered off the track. But we had not - that was the highway. What we normally call the highway or expressway would be known as the motorway here.

The outlet shopping center was huge – it was like a theme park for shoppers, if you like. One of the first things we did when we arrived was to get a copy of the center map and directory to help us plan our shopping tour. The stores were gaily-coloured, vibrant and beautifully decked out. You wouldn’t think it was bargain shopping at all due to the pleasant ambience and designer brand names.
Our first stop was lunch – the children were ravenous after their morning at the beach. We spotted Nando’s and decided to give it a try. We knew that Nando’s came from Malaysia but we had not tried it before in KL. So now, it was as good a time as any to try it at the Gold Coast. Lol! We wiped our plates clean in no time and Son No 1 got us a second helping.

I remember the last time we were at the Gold Coast in 2000 (without the two younger boys), we had some super bargains at this outlet shopping center. This time, I was disappointed. It might have been better if I had gone there without any expectations. Or maybe, this time with 3 boys in tow, it was really difficult to get into any mood for shopping.

We did find some good bargains but choices were limited. We got an Adidas hoodie at A$27, down from A$90 and a Nike backpack at half price at A$25. But nothing terribly exciting or mind-blowing. Son No 3 grazed his knee while running around outside the shops and Son No 1 found a A$2 coin. We left when the shops closed at five.

That was not the end of shopping, though. Pacific Fair had extended trading hours to midnight as it was the night before Christmas Eve. But the children needed a rest and so, while the children watched the Drake and Josh Christmas Special on TV at home with hubby, I walked over to the shopping center by myself. I only had a one-hour window – 7 to 8 – before we met up for dinner. I needed to do some serious intensive shopping if I were to get gifts for everyone or anyone. But the shopping mood continued to be elusive. It was a mad dash from shop to shop without much time for browsing and I hated to buy things in a rush. Oh well... In the end, I only had time to get one gift from Myers for the most important person in the world who was not in Australia then - my own mum.

The boys were waiting for me outside Coles at 8pm (above). As usual, they were starving. And as usual, we did not know where to go for dinner. Son No 1 wanted to have a steak dinner but all we could see were fast-food-like or coffee outlets around. To save time, we asked the lady at the information counter for assistance and indeed, the lady confirmed there was no proper restaurant there.

To us, a huge shopping center without a good restaurant might sound strange but on reflection, it was probably that over here, shopping and dining were two different experiences for the locals. At the Broadbeach town center, there were many fine restaurants along the streets and the Aussies would congregate and linger the whole night, chatting over their wine. At a shopping mall, it was probably grab-and-bite sort of thing that was more suitable. Nevertheless, the lady at the reception directed us to a place where steak might be served.

I cannot remember the name of the cafe now but I remember the internal deco was one of the rainforest. Son No 1 and I had T-bone steaks (no other choice for steaks) while hubby had the seafood platter (below).


But this place would probably be remembered for having “the worst fettucine carbonara ever”, according to the boys. Both Sons No 2 and 3 were grimacing over their carbonara (see below) and when we tried it, we knew why. Totally tasteless… how could the cream-based sauce be so bland, it really made us wonder.

After dinner, we dropped by at Target, the local discount store. Son No 2 and 3 bought new swimwear and Son No 1 bought a DVD, Click. After a long, long day, we were all exhausted. We abandoned our plan to shop until midnight and went home at 10-plus, tired but happy.

[PS: At the top picture, the tallest point shows the Q1 Tower (Queensland Number One) which is the highest residential tower in the world and in the Southern hemisphere. It is currently the 19th highest building in the world. There is an observation deck on the top storeys but we did not go there as the entry charges were not cheap and the children would probably not appreciate the view more than what they would get off the aeroplane.]