The Highways and Byways to Gold Coast :)

I often wonder at the marvel of nature's beauty...absolutely striking, unquestionably appeasing, utterly comely and assuredly divine! I become more and more certain of this fact every time i visit a scenic place. The latest additions in my list being Gold Coast, Byron Bay and Coffs Harbour :-) ...and the beautiful country side drive, all through!

The dapper blue Coral sea playing with its ebb and flow of waves along the white sands of Main Beach at Gold Coast imparts a sense of both relaxation and an adrenaline rush! Can't be more contrasting, right? Yet, you feel like spending hours and hours just watching the waves play along the tune of the sea :-) The chic wooden benches facing the beach makes it all the more comfy an experience! You could sit or lie down and partake in the revelry of lively music-filled Surfer's Paradise Boulevard on one side and nature's artistry on the other. :)

While you are in absolute appreciation of your vacation, sitting on the bench, soaking in the sun, if your tummy sets on the alarm, you could easily get your feed from the boulevard across and enjoy it while continuing with the thoughts you left at. :-) And when you feel like rejoicing the charm of calm waters, you are in luck with the river cruises that sail you to Gold Coast canals, broadwaters parked with super luxurious yatchs, multi-million waterfront houses and best of all...the sunset, with hues of pink and orange against the blue-green-grey waters and high-rises touching the sky.

If you yourself want to touch the sky, you could always ascend Skypoint and get flipped over 360° view of Gold Coast from up above the 77th floor. Better still, if you do so at sunset! That way you get to enjoy the vast expanse of sea and the city, both in light and in dark - when the entire city comes to life with a million lights! The view is just too surreal to be expressed in words!

When you drive from Gold Coast to Mt. Tamborine (...and vice versa), you tend to moon over the rustic beauty of stud farms; cattle - super busy chowing down all that they can, never bothering to look up and take a break from hogging the lush greens! Velvety fields; wineries in totally apple-pie order; beautiful little houses in the farms; rivers running along, shimmering with the golden rays...all this is so utopian!  Along the way comes Springbrook National Park where you get yet another chance to laud nature's exceptional wonder...a bridge formed naturally over very many, many, many years....built in such a magnificent way that it allows waterfall through its roof, to form into an emerald green pool beneath! The cave under this bridge gets illuminated at night with tiny little glow worms that abound this place! Just imagine its beauty. Totally breathtaking, isn't it?

While you are still absorbed in the simple charm of the country side with birds on a musical chatter-spree, driving past the pristine scenes, you realize, you have arrived at Byron Bay! This absolutely stunning site is in between Gold Coast and Sydney. More than a century old lighthouse at Byron Bay bears a great stance in solid white against the myriad shades of blue ...of the sky above and the sea below! The rhythm with which the milky white waves splash against the swarthy rocks is captivating and vivid! It transports you to a rather quiet space within...the space you do not get a chance to visit in the huff and puff of busy life. The feeling is both spiritual and uplifting! And yet this place cuts a dash as a categorically romantic site! Imagine the thrill it effects when you are lost in silently relishing the beauty and you suddenly spot a school of fish in the transparent waters below the cliff! And that's not all. It is said that you could even spot the whales during their spawning from May to November. Aah! That gives us a good reason to visit this place again....just to relive the cheer it offers and have a whale of a time! ;-)

Just a few hours drive from Byron Bay is Coffs Harbour. Another stunner! It presents itself as a rather mature and composed place. Not quite sure, whether it was the clouds that put forward this impression though! :) But the greens on the hills followed by another set of greens on the sea level ensuing the beige coloured shore is just as fascinating! The rocks adjacent to the parrots-filled park pose for a picture-perfect setting. Families enjoy their picnic in the park, savouring hot hot food. And particularly cute is to look at the toddlers enjoying a walk with their parents, asking a thousand questions, answers to which always preceded with a smile:-)

You could never be sure when the heavens open in this part...but who cares! Even if you get soaked, you would have still soaked in all the goodness along!

So, super duper big cheers to a vacation well spent, earning wide, wider and still yet wider smiles all the way! :)

-- T :-)