Trip Report Asia 2013: Day 1: Brisbane to Gold Coast

So we are off again – 27 days away; Heading back to Singapore for the Formula 1 Grand Prix via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia first up then onto Bali after Singapore. 

This holiday was booked less than 2 weeks after we returned from Bali in September last year, so it has been almost a year between trips.  We booked with Air Asia when they had their sale so as a result we would be flying out of the Gold Coast Airport.  I don’t mind flying out of the Gold Coast, even though it is a 2 hour drive from home, because we use it as an excuse the start the holiday a day early.

We got stuck in traffic on the way down so didn’t get to the Motel till around 5:30pm.  We booked in at La Costa Motel, Bilinga – which is pretty convenient, located across the road from the airport. The Motel is pretty cool, styled in a classic retro 50’s style of Motel.  The owner/manager was quite friendly and recommended couple of places for dinner.  A really great touch is that they are able to actually pick you up from the Airport or drop you there in the morning.  And they even pack you a small breakfast pack in the Fridge so you don’t have to leave on an empty stomach.  Such a nice touch.  The shower (which is my barometer of judging most hotels) was really good, great water pressure and huge.

La Costa Motel at Bilinga, great motel. Shame about the noisy guests

Dinner was at a nearby Burger joint – Burger Lounge – holy cow! They are fantastic burgers, we had Sweet Potato Fries and a couple of burgers each.  Not the cheapest place to eat – I think 2 burgers, chips, and drinks came to about $40 but the taste was amazing.  They actually make all their relishes and patties on site so you are not just getting the usual cookie cutter burgers you would find elsewhere.

I know – another burger joint! But this place was really tasty…not cheap but well worth it.

It is a shortish walk from the Motel, but we were lazy so drove.  And we also couldn’t help but stop at the great Gelati café next door for a quick dessert before heading back to the room.

We were a bit tired so headed to bed to get a good sleep – that’s where the fun started.

The only downside of this “retro” motel is that there is very little sound protection between the units and at midnight a couple of drunk “Bogans” decided that they wanted to have a very loud conversation whilst drinking out the front of their unit.  We didn’t get any sleep at all.  Such a shame, and totally not the motel’s fault but sadly we will be unlikely to ever want to go back to the motel out of the risk of the same “type” of people keeping us awake again.  The only Karma we got was at 5am when I could hear the guys in their room throwing up and sounding like they had a pretty bad hangover.

I know that everybody deserves to get a chance to take a holiday, but seriously these “people” really interrupted our evening and have also ruined the chances of the Motel gaining our return custom.

Anyway that was day 1 – pretty quiet start to the holiday tomorrow we fly off to Kuala Lumpur.

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow.