Day one in Gold Coast

We arrived at Swell Resort which was located at Burleigh Heads at about 4.15 pm (Gold Coast time). We were greeted by the friendly staff at the reception desk on arrival. The check-in procedure was fast and we were allocated an apartment on the 4th floor. 

This two bedroom apartment had an ensuite bathroom in the master bedroom and another common bathroom near the other bedroom. This was the first time we booked an apartment for our overseas trip. It definitely costs less than booking two rooms in a hotel. The downside of staying in an apartment was that we had to clear our own rubbish as there would not be frequent housekeeping service. According to the Swell Resort website, they do provide "mid-stay" service if the guests stayed for eight nights or more. For our case, we were only staying for five nights, so there was no housekeeping service. 

Sera was happy to sit on the high chair. A full kitchen behind the bar counter. 

King size bed in master bedroom. I like!

A small walk-in wardrobe in the master bedroom that lead to the ensuite bathroom

Bathtubs in both bathrooms

A rectangular dinner table that could accommodate up to six persons.

The other bedroom had 2 single beds.

The pictures below were taken from the apartment's balcony.

Sera sitting on the sun chair at the balcony

After a long flight, we were all very tired so we rested for a while before venturing out. We wanted to go to a Woolworths supermarket, which was supposed to be the nearest from the Swell Resort. Along the way there were many of these trees.

The flowers were orange, bright and beautiful.

We were a bit lost with no mobile data access to Google Maps. We did not use data roaming as it was pretty expensive and we had intended to purchase a pre-paid sim card in the Gold Coast itself. We approached a man to ask for directions and he actually brought us to the supermarket himself. Such a kind soul! Woolworths was hidden away from the main road so without that kind man's help, we would probably be going up and down the slope with the supermarket nowhere in sight.

We bought some fruits from Woolworths and went to Crust Pizza for dinner. Crust Pizza was just outside the Swell Resort when we took the lift to the ground floor and exited through the carpark . 

After dinner, we headed back to our apartment. We were all very tired and rested early. 

We did not book a sea view room as it was more expensive. We were not so particular about having a sea view. Our apartment was quiet at night.

Related posts:

Planning - Booking of Flight
Booking of Holiday Accommodation and Visa Application
At Changi Airport Terminal 2
Our Scoot Experience - On the Way to Gold Coast
Day Two in Gold Coast
Day Three in Gold Coast
Day Four in Gold Coast
Day Five and Day Six in Gold Coast
Our Scoot Experience- The Return Journey

Our Scoot Experience - On the Way to Gold Coast

Sera was very excited to board the plane. To her, it was her first time onboard an aeroplane. Actually it was her second time. She could not remember her first time onboard an aeroplane as she was too young then.

It was quite cold onboard the Scoot aeroplane, similar to other full service airlines.

After taking off at about 2.30 am, the airline staff (the scootes) went around the cabin with their Scoot cafe's snacks and beverages. Anyone could buy from them. We were already full at that time so there was no need to get any food.

We managed to sleep for about an hour or so. After that, it was quite difficult to fall asleep again for Ardon, Lynn and myself. There were a lot of "ding" sounds arising from passengers pressing the "call for help" buttons which were located at the side of the seat handles of every seat. While some were genuine calls for help, others were pressed accidentally. This included myself and Sera. I accidentally pressed it when I came back from the lavatory as I held onto my seat's handle for support to sit down. Sera accidentally pressed it while she was asleep.

Meals (included in our FlyBagEat package airfare) were served at 6.30 am (Singapore time). Lynn was too tired to eat so she only ate a bit. Sera also took a few bites only. Canned drinks (Coke or green tea) and Toblerone chocolate bars were served with our combo meals. As Lynn and I did not want to consume the canned beverages at that time, we paid another $8 in total for a cup of coffee and a cup of tea. I thought we could keep the canned beverages for later consumption. I only noticed that there was a water dispenser near to the lavatory much later. Then at about 7.30 am, we realised that we had to disembark at the Sydney airport to go through the security checks at the airport again before boarding the same flight TZ 3 Scoot aeroplane. We were too full to drink the Coke and green tea. We had to disembark at around 12.45 pm Sydney time (Sydney is 3 hours ahead of Singapore time). The flight arrived early at around 12.20 pm Sydney time. We had no choice but to leave the canned drinks on board :(. 

After boarding the same TZ 3 flight at around 1.15 pm Sydney time, the plane took off at about 1.55 pm. From Sydney to Gold Coast, there was a baby onboard the flight who kept crying. It seemed that the baby was having some problems and needed medical assistance. The air crew had a busy time doing first aid work.  The plane arrived at the Gold Coast airport at about 3.20 pm. Before landing, there was the strange smell again.

We were told to remain in our seats as the medical team had to come up first to check and help the baby. So, we waited for another 15 minutes or so before we could disembark. We had to walk down a flight of stairs from the aeroplane and take a short walk before reaching the Gold Coast airport terminal building. Luckily we didn't have a lot of carry on baggage with us.

At the airport's public area, there was a cafe so we ate some food before going to our holiday accommodation - the Swell Resort.

Taxis were readily available at the airport. There was someone there to guide us to a Gold Coast cab. The cab driver helped us to load the luggage into the cab and helped us to unload when we arrived at Swell Resort. Such excellent service!

Related posts:

Planning - Booking of Flight
Booking of Holiday Accommodation and Visa Application
At Changi Airport Terminal 2
Day One in Gold Coast
Day Two in Gold Coast
Day Three in Gold Coast
Day Four in Gold Coast
Day Five and Day Six in Gold Coast
Our Scoot Experience- The Return Journey

At Changi Airport Terminal 2

Our flight to the Gold Coast was on 25 Nov 2014 at 1.45 am. This meant that we would have to be at Changi Airport Terminal 2 on 24 Nov 2014 at 10.45 pm, 3 hours before our departure as advised by Flyscoot. As we were early, there was no one in the queue and we were able to check in almost immediately. 

After checking in, we cleared immigration and customs and went into the departure area. As it was an eight hours flight, we went to MacDonald's to eat as we were not sure what time we would be served food on board the flight (we booked "FlyBagEat" with Flyscoot) .

After eating, we had a bit of time before we had to go to the departure gate. So we took a leisurely stroll in the departure area and eventually saw the "Enchanted Garden" and "Orchid Garden and Koi Pond" in the departure transit lounge at level 2.

We were told to be at the boarding gates at 12.45 am, one hour before the flight's departure time. No boarding calls would be made to remind us. So, we kept track of the time and arrived at the departure gate on time. 

We could not bring in the distilled water we bought from the convenience store near MacDonald's through the security checks so we drank most of the water and kept the bottle to be refilled later after clearing security. We waited for a short while before we could board the plane. The plane was able to take off on time at 1.45 am without any delays.


Related posts:

Planning - Booking of Flight
Booking of Holiday Accommodation and Visa Application
Our Scoot Experience - On the Way to Gold Coast
Day One in Gold Coast
Day Two in Gold Coast
Day Three in Gold Coast
Day Four in Gold Coast
Day Five and Day Six in Gold Coast
Our Scoot Experience- The Return Journey