SkyPoint climb
“Don’t be scared, just come along,” Monique beckons, as we clamber onto an elevator that goes up 77 floors within seconds and stops at Level 77, at a restaurant located at the top of the iconic Q1 building. A lavish breakfast has been laid out, but it’s not just the food you take in; the sights of Gold Coast are on offer too, from inside a glassed deck that lets us know that we’re safe and not dizzy despite the height. An hour and many coffees later, we’re set to climb the highest point in Australia’s only beachside observation deck. Every step seems a challenge, despite the very strong safety net that binds us. Throughout this walk, your heart is always in your mouth — especially when you look below. There’s a small platform on top from which we get a wonderful 360-degree view, right from the coast to the hinterland. I strain hard to catch a glimpse of The Gabba in Brisbane, not far away. I can’t, but I do manage to check out the grounds where the Commonwealth Games will be hosted next year.
Hot air balloon
Remember all those beautiful top-angle shots you see in the movies? We get that view from a hot air balloon, one of the most popular ways to explore the sights of Gold Coast. We are up when it is still dark outside. After a long drive to the take-off site, a dozen of us are packed into a hot air-balloon (pro tip: it might be called ‘hot’, but at that time of the day, it’s quite cold) that takes off, giving us wonderful sights of the farmlands below. There’s an eclectic visual mix in this hour-long trip — hills on one side and commercial towers on the other. The high point of the ride is when someone remarks that we could land right on top of a cow. Thankfully, we don’t, but we do manage to attract the attention of healthy cattle that peer curiously at the group of people who’ve just landed. There’s also a fun group exercise — folding the giant balloon carefully and fitting it into one big container — before we head to O’Reilly’s Vineyard for a well-deserved breakfast.
TreeTop challenge
Fancy jumping from one mountain to the other? We did exactly that — when we took the TreeTop Challenge at Mount Tamborine, which is about a 30-minute drive from the city. Our instructor, Reese, guides us through a path full of trees along which we walk gingerly. In a few minutes, he fastens our safety harnesses and throws open the zip-lining challenge which involves travelling at about 60 kmph from one mountain to the other! Once we overcome the initial fear and kickstart the ride, the adrenaline rush hits us — after all, below your zip-line are some of the tallest trees in the forest and beneath them are huge boulders and a gentle stream that houses crocodiles! The first ride is not just the most exciting but also the one that we feared the most. Once we accomplished that, the smaller challenges — zip-lining through the woods between trees — is a breeze, with some of us even letting our hands free during the attempt. It looks like the adventure never ends at Gold Coast.
