My little bro has opened my eyes to a whole new part of Australia. For as long as I can remember the Gold Coast was known as Australia’s Bogan Capital. It was always the holiday destination of choice for larger louts long before discount airlines made Bali an affordable alternative. News headlines constantly proclaimed it one of the nation’s crime hot spots and graduating high school students flocked in their thousands for an annual “Schoolies” week of drunken revelry.
As a result, I’ve never had a burning ambition to visit the Gold Coast. Until recently my experience of the region had been limited to its popular Theme Parks and a brief afternoon excursion to see the iconic beach at Surfers Paradise. It was therefore with some trepidation that I signed up for a weekend away with my brothers on Gold Coast.
However, my fears proved to be unfounded. Little bro Matt gave my brother Hamish and I an entertaining eye opening tour of the Gold Coast. Over three days we dined in style, shopped for designer labels and enjoyed an afternoon winding through the quirky back roads of Mount Tamborine.
Matt showed us shade-dappled streets lined with swanky cafes and country lanes teeming with boutique wineries and micro-breweries. In fact the only remotely Bogan experience we enjoyed was a crazy evening of laughs at Dracula’s adult cabaret; and a less than impressive Thai meal on our final night out.
The genesis of our weekend away was my brother Hamish’s forthcoming 50th birthday. Matt suggested we schedule some time out together to celebrate while noting that I’d missed a family gathering in Rarotonga for my own 50th birthday two years earlier. The Cook Islands excursion occurred three months after Garry and I had acquired our company. At the time our initial learning curve was simply overwhelming as we worked towards the company’s busiest trading period of the year.
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