The Gold Coast is about an hour’s drive south of Brisbane, the Queensland State capital.

The climate on the Gold Coast is sub tropical. Not too hot or humid, and not too cold. Personally I find it a bit too warm and favor air conditioning for some of the year, however that may be partly due to my being a native of England, where I was born and grew up.

The Gold Coast region is apparently the most biodiverse region in Australia. (Reference: a former girlfriend – university lecturer – Biological Sciences PHD). We have the beaches of course, however not everyone knows that within 30-60 minutes drive of the main coastal strip, which includes Surfers Paradise, we have rainforests – up on Mount Tamborine which is in the hinterland. Years ago I used to live there; up in Eagle Heights. Much cooler than the Gold Coast itself, when on Tamborine Mountain it is very easy to forget how close you are to the glitz and hubub of a sophisticated city with 6 Star hotel/ resorts such as Versace.

There is loads to do here in the Gold Coast region, including some world class shopping, theme parks – Sea World, Movie World, DreamWorld – and fantastic dining. Boating is very popular here, along with fishing. Tourism is not my area of expertise so I will provide a few links so that you can explore stuff yourself.

We are not far from the New South Wales (NSW) border and day trips into the Northern Rivers area of NSW are very worthwhile if you want to get back to nature.

The Gold Coast has so much offer so many different people with varying needs and tastes. It is well worth a visit and in my view is one of the best places to live in Australia.

Here are some key links for you to explore:

Gold Coast – Queensland – Australia Page on my website

Wikipedia – Gold Coast Queensland

The Biodiversity Of Tamborine Mountain- has some great links to other nature sites.

TamborineMountain.Net

CoastSearch.com.au

Q1 – the world’s tallest residential tower.

Google Maps page

Enjoy!

If you’re visiting the Gold Coast and have any questions about the city, need help, or just want to say “Hi”…..

……please get in touch.

Related Posts:

• Schoolies (what ‘little darlings’) will soon start in Surfers Paradise.
• 37% chance of being exposed to Staph if swimming in sub tropics.
• Tasmania trip
• Parking meters from hell and the end of a tourist icon for Surfers Paradise?
• How to have a better experience when you travel
• Amazing! Bird sounds from the Australian lyre bird – David Attenborough – BBC wildlife
• Was The Chef Let Go Because Of The Weevils?
• Funny Election 2010 Spoof Trailer – GetUp!
• Australians pride themselves on giving people a fair go – what about chickens?
• Australia Day 2010 – The Great Australian Internet Blackout

Gold Coast Queensland, Australia – Where I live. is a post from: Joy Wizard Blog

I mean they have all those engineers testing stuff, pilot checks and procedures, air traffic control, pre-flight safety briefings and so on. It is easy to get the impression that safety is a key concern, if not obsession.

But have you ever felt unwell after a plane flight?

Have a read of this disturbing article:

Will your holiday flight poison you? The toxic fumes leaking onto planes and the people who have suffered their effects.

When you read the above article you get the impression that a cover up is going on.

The airline business is very competitive. The lack of profit opportunities will militate against the customer and the service provided. You see, in life you generally tend to get what you pay for. Cheap flights are going to make it much more difficult for airlines to fix problems of the kind covered in the news article.

Sowing and reaping again.

Is it really the airline’s fault? Big business trying to squeeze us?

Who is it who wants the sometimes ridiculously cheap flights? Us – the consumers.

Generally, any area in which there is high downward price pressure will tend to run the risk of corner cutting. At times, real efficiencies or technology leaps can produce cost savings without a reduction in quality, however there are many examples in recent history where this is not the full story. Food quality is one. This is a key reason why organic food costs more, yet usually tastes better. The cruel treatment of chickens for supply to some fast food businesses is another example.

In many respects, we are to blame. We want this and that for the lowest possible price at the highest convenience. We forget though, that we will often end up paying another ‘price’ instead, and often one which is hidden or obscure. Too often we cannot see past the end of our noses.

Perhaps some of us don’t want to know what is really going on. We are nice, decent people right?

When we sit down to our tasty, fast chicken, we don’t want to think about what might have happened to the poor bird. What kind of a life he or she had. If we did, then we might have to reevaluate our self concept of being nice, decent folks. Would nice decent folks eat chickens which had suffered for a low price, or a more expensive chicken which had not suffered? And the sting in the tail? Many of these mass produced chickens will have ingested antibiotics and other (government approved) chemicals – how do you know that eating that stuff won’t cause you health issues later on in life? Sowing and reaping – life gets you back.

Truth is not always pleasant and it is human nature to want to hide in the dark. Don’t kid yourself. Airlines are run by people. They want to make a profit and they have to eat too.

I used to feel sorry for my step father. He was a senior British Army officer and used to return from operations and tours in a noisy C130 Hercules with stringy type seats. If the above article is anything to go by it looks like he was better off.

For more on truth, check out an article I wrote last week:

Embrace truth – even if it hurts.

Related Posts:

• Sitting is Killing You – The Truth About Sitting Down – Infographic
• Emergency Health Care For Drunks – Time For A Change
• The Body Clock Guide To Better Health
• Free Food and Medicine- live off wild and garden foods in your area
• How to have a better experience when you travel
• Happiness At The Dentist
• Australians Benefiting From Cruel Live Export To Middle East
• 16 Facts About Sleep – Infographic
• Execution of the Exmoor Emperor: sadness after giant red stag shot dead

Have you ever felt ill after a plane flight? is a post from: Joy Wizard Blog

Color footage from that era is very rare and being an avid people watcher (the nice sort, don’t worry!) I was looking forward to a color window into the past. Black and white simply does not have the same ‘life’ and seems somewhat unreal. I was not disappointed.

I really enjoyed seeing people as they were back then, which was even more interesting due to the historical timing – shortly before World War 2. The India segment showed what was more or less the last of the British Raj; less than 10 years before independence.

Seeing the effects of the London Blitz in color was moving too. It reminded me of my grandparents (who were really nice people; nice being the general exception in my family) who lost the back half of their house when it was bombed by the Germans. I recall in the 1970′s asking my grandmother why her beautifully polished walnut coffee table had many old, deep scratched and gouges. She replied that the table had been buried under rubble during the bombing. My grandfather was not allowed to perform military service in World War 2 because as a welder (what was called a ‘reserved occupation‘) he had to stay home. He was an ARP* Warden though (*Air Raid Precaution), so was probably out on the streets at times during the bombing.

If you are in Australia and can view SBS then you can still see the last 3 episodes. The SBS site does not have the episode I saw available for web viewing unfortunately. If you are elsewhere in the world, and I know the majority of readers of this blog are in North America, then perhaps you can find the footage some other way. It may also be available for sale on DVD from SBS here in Australia in due course.

Related Posts:

• Population Growth – What Should We Do? (Not Politically Correct).
• Australians Benefiting From Cruel Live Export To Middle East
• Look see post: Did the alphabet destroy the goddess?
• Craigslist – Infographic
• Empathic civilization animated video – scientific, psychological and philosophical information you must see.
• Australians pride themselves on giving people a fair go – what about chickens?
• The Statistics On Prostitution
• Are your children being set a bad example by teachers?
• The Rise Of Social Gaming & Zynga
• A Gun For Everyone – Interesting Facts.

A window into the past. is a post from: Joy Wizard Blog

Tourist

Where will you find good reviews of vacations, hotels, resorts, vacation and travel packages?

TripAdvisor – Unbiased hotel reviews, photos and travel advice for hotels and vacations – Compare prices with just one click.

I have looked into TripAdvisor and learned that they have 5.8 million visitors per month according to a key leading independent statistics site. Why do TripAdvisor get such enormous traffic? Besides their loyal audience that keeps coming back, when studying the search analytics metrics it is clear that there are over 33,000 keywords driving traffic to their site. (If you know anything about search engine optimization (SEO) these figures are enormous).

The site has vast quantities of useful content. You can get advice from real travelers. The site boasts 20,000,000+ traveler reviews & opinions of hotels, vacations & more.

Christine Petersen, senior vice president of marketing for TripAdvisor says: “With 15 million members, you’ll be amazed how many people you know are already on TripAdvisor and you’ll be even more surprised by all the places they’ve been and the knowledge they can share”

According to their site, TripAdvisor® Media Network, attracts nearly 32 million monthly visitors* (across twelve popular travel brands, TripAdvisor®, airfarewatchdog.com™, bookingbuddy.com™, cruisecritic.com™, holidaywatchdog.com™, independenttraveler.com™, onetime.com™, seatguru.com®, smartertravel.com™, travel-library.com™, travelpod.com™ and virtualtourist.com™). TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world.

Related Posts:

• Parking meters from hell and the end of a tourist icon for Surfers Paradise?
• Mumbai, gun control and what to do if you are captured.
• How to have a better experience when you travel
• Was The Chef Let Go Because Of The Weevils?
• Gold Coast Queensland, Australia – Where I live.
• One Unusual Reason I Like The Insurance Industry.
• Schoolies (what ‘little darlings’) will soon start in Surfers Paradise.
• Tasmania trip
• Have you ever felt ill after a plane flight?
• A window into the past.

Where to go for travel advice? is a post from: Joy Wizard Blog

A rather long and unpleasant holiday!

If true, this appears to be an extremely unreasonable and unfair outcome.

The comment is contained within this article:

My strip-search trauma at Dubai airport by Lily… and her showbiz pals Agy and Rhys

The article contains additional information about what happened to some of Britain’s best known stars travelling to the opening of the lavish launch of the world’s most expensive resort in Dubai.

It is clear from the article that the United Arab Emirates has a strong policy against drugs; however it does seem from reading the article about the experience of the stars, and especially that of Keith Brown, that the place is excessive and unfair. That is my view, and I am someone who believes in harsh penalties for serious large scale drug dealers who trade in people’s misery, death and destruction; including in some cases the death penalty. I never take drugs and I hardly drink any alcohol, so have no personal axe to grind.

Bearing in mind that the world is a big place with many wonderful people and countries within it, I chose to travel to places where I feel one would generally get proper and fair justice if problems arose. A just penalty is fine if you have done the crime, but it should be fair. In my view life is too short to travel to places where you can end up being treated like crap. I also take care about the stop overs on long haul.

And yes, I do realise of course that many people travel to the UAE or similar without incident, however the risk profile is there. Years ago, long before the Bali nightclub bombings, I decided I would not travel there partly because of the poor security profile. Some people scoffed, which of course they do not today.

Addendum: 26 Nov, 2008:

Here is an example of a country’s security services being unable to maintain control of the airport serving the capital:

Bangkok airport closed due to protesters

Related Posts:

• How to have a better experience when you travel
• Gold Coast Queensland, Australia – Where I live.
• One Unusual Reason I Like The Insurance Industry.
• Tasmania trip
• Have you ever felt ill after a plane flight?
• A window into the past.
• Places I have lived in – Bath, Somerset, England.
• Parking meters from hell and the end of a tourist icon for Surfers Paradise?
• Need a passport photo without all the usual hassle?
• Mumbai, gun control and what to do if you are captured.

Be careful where you travel. is a post from: Joy Wizard Blog