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Tall buildings Surfers Paradise

August 17, 2016 by David Herd

Blue-Sky-white-sand-Surfers-Paradise-tall-bulidings

Nerang River

Tall buildings Surfers Paradise

Tall buildings Surfers Paradise where I lived for 25 years before moving to Thailand in October 2011. Personally I preferred the city in the 70s & 80s before the explosion of modern high rise hotels and apartments. Having said all that, it is quite a spectacular part of Australia.

Old motel for sale

I’m surprised this prime property adjacent to the Chevron Island bridge was not developed years ago.

Chevron Renaissance

One of three towers offering apartments and hotel rooms.

The Chevron Renaissance

Quite a spectacular skyline in the heart of Surfers Paradise. Book HERE for a discount.

Q1 and 50 Cavil Avenue

Two more well known Surfers Paradise buildings.

The beach

The beach stretches for miles, this view is looking south.

Lifeguard

These lifeguards do a great job protecting the public.

Surfers Paradise Australia

Watch this video on YouTube

Blue Sky tall buildings Surfers Paradise

Apartments occupy two of the 3 towers with the 3rd a hotel.

Surfers Paradise Hilton

The Hilton offers great views overlooking the beach, book HERE for a good discount.

Orchard Avenue night clubs

Here are three popular night clubs in the heart of Surfers Paradise.

Looking south at Q1

Q1 is an 80 story tower with an observation deck on the top floor. For a great discount book through THIS LINK.

Looking north

Featuring Soul tower with Peppers Hotel. Book through THIS LINK for a terrific room rate.

Soul, Blue Sky tall buildings Surfers Paradise

A magnificent 77 level tower with views of the beautiful Surfers paradise beach.

Looking south along Orchard Avenue

Orchard Avenue is Surfer Paradise’s main late night entertainment street. Be careful after midnight. 🙂

Gold Coast light rail

Transport has greatly improved since the introduction of the light rail system.

Light rail map

Current and future routes, stage 2 will link up with the heavy rail system at Helensvale to make travelling to Brisbane much easier.

Q1 80 story tower

Probably the most iconic Gold Coast building.

Skyline view from the racecourse

Surfers Paradise skyline

Watch this video on YouTube

Surfers Paradise

My home for 25 glorious years, this city provides me with so many wonderful memories.

Melbas on the Park

Finally drinks with good friends Phil Thomson and Greg Craig at Melbas. Thanks for visiting my Blue Sky tall buildings Surfers Paradise photo blog, before you go check out my Isle Of Capri and Bundall blogs.

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That’s all folks

Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

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Australian seafood

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Channel Ferry Dover Calais

June 16, 2016 by David Herd

Uttoxeter in Staffordshire

English Channel Ferry Dover Calais

Channel Ferry Dover Calais from England to France was our starting point for our road trip to Brugge and Versailles, which finished in Brighton on the south coast of England. I was travelling with two English friends Bill Austin & Dave Catchpole, & the reason our trip started in Uttoxeter was to visit my good friend Alan Austin (Bill’s brother) who was a guest of Her Majesty for a rather major indiscretion involving transportation of a certain white powder from Spain to England.

Overnight at Maidstone

We stayed in the Townhouse Hotel in Maidstone which was excellent and left early for Dover, little did I realise at the time that quite a bit of tension would build up between the 3 of us over the coming days. Bill & I had been on successful road trips in the past which went as smooth as silk, however adding Dave to this trip seemed to effect the dynamics resulting in an unfortunate parting of the ways in Brighton.

First glimpse of the white cliffs

We really didn’t explore Dover, instead we went straight to the ferry terminal.

Waiting in the queue

There were certainly a lot of vehicles making the crossing.

Lots of trucks carrying freight

The trucks go on the ferry first then the private vehicles.

Ferries are quite large.

Which is comforting given the weather conditions can be rather rough in the channel.

A little chilly on deck

Bill and I looking forward to leaving Dover.

Incoming Dover Calais Ferry

They seem to be rather frequent travelling both ways.

Farewell to the white cliffs.

I guess any time old guys like me talk about the white cliffs of Dover a particular song comes to mind.

Let’s hear it Vera.

The magnificent white cliffs

The cliffs look quite fantastic, only 22 miles to Calais.

For an excellent hotel room rate in Dover just use THIS LINK.

Dover Calais Ferry, about 2 hours.

Where are all the people?

Arriving in Calais

With nobody to meet us but the seagulls, many thanks for visiting my English Channel Ferry Dover Calais photo blog.

Brexit December 2020

More than 6,000 trucks are stuck in Dover due to Brexit negotiations, those French officials don’t care about the drama that’s being caused.

Checkout some more of my terrific blogs on the links below.

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That’s all folks

Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.

Sabai Wing North Pattaya

The best Pattaya budget hotel, 3 pools & opposite Central Marina shopping mall. For a great room rate just book through THIS LINK.

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White Sands Beach Koh-Chang

September 12, 2013 by David Herd

Welcome to Koh Chang

White Sands Beach Koh-Chang

White Sands Beach Koh-Chang I first visited 10 years ago & I wanted to see whether there were many changes on this lovely island. This jetty is the first thing you see upon arrival, then after a 10 minute hilly drive down the west coast you arrive at White Sands Beach.

It really has not changed much since I was there in 2003.

Ferry was a rust bucket.

The ferry service is very good, 1/2 an hour across the water and only 280 Baht or $9 for our SUV & 2 people. Lots of drinks & snacks on board as well. For those without a vehicle there are busses waiting to take you to your hotel.

White Sands Beach Koh Chang

In many ways Koh Chang reminds me of Koh Samui 15 years ago. I used to love Koh Samui in the 90’s but the more it developed the more the attraction faded. That is until I returned in 2015 and found Chaweng had much more to offer with restaurants, bars & shopping centres.

Pool at the Kacha Resort.

The Kacha Resort was a great place to stay, close to lots of restaurants and bars and probably one of the best hotel rooms I have ever stayed in. This time I lived up to my name, the Five Star Vagabond. Here is a short video showing some details of this terrific hotel.

Use THIS LINK for a great room rate.

Kacha Resort

A great location on the beach & near lots of restaurants & shops.

Nice pool

Pool or beach, decisions decisions. 🙂

A cold Singha beer hits the spot.

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Banpu Resort, White Sands Beach.

A more conventional Thai resort which is right ext door to Kacha.

Nong Bug restaurant.

This Thai seafood restaurant with the great name was the busiest in White Sands Beach by a long way. To us that meant the food was fresh because of the turnover. The price was low and the food excellent.

Street market White Sands Beach.

All the usual stuff is on sale at the street markets, a sexy ladies bikini can be bought for 250 Baht or $8. Naturally you are expected to haggle.

Genuine reproductions here.

There are many art shops in Thailand where you can have your favourite painting copied for a very low cost, want a Picasso? Well this guy will paint you one. 😳

Happy beach vendors.

The beach vendors here are a happy bunch, lots of bracelets, and goodies for 50 to 100 Baht.

Amari Emerald Cove hotel Koh Chang.

The Amari Hotel Emerald Cove is quite an amazing property, absolute luxury. It is on the beach and has the biggest swimming pool I have ever seen in a hotel. If you want to spoil yourself this could be the place for you.

La Dolce Vita.

La Dolce Vita is a very good Italian restaurant in White Sands Beach, the staff are friendly and the food is good. The owner hails from Milan and knows how to make a very good pizza.

Caught up with the owner

A happy Italian who serves up good food.

Beautiful Coconut Beach.

Just 6 kms south of White Sands Beach is Coconut Beach, a beautiful almost deserted stretch of white sand where the water is clean and calm. A number of resorts are here for those who prefer a quieter more peaceful environment. The Coconut Beach Resort is one worth considering.

Coconut Beach Resort.

Much quieter than White Sands Beach, and a much nicer stretch of sand, I imagine it would be an ideal honeymoon destination.

Koh Chang sunset.

Koh Chang is famous for beautiful sunsets, I never get tired of watching the sun set in the west. My next Thai island adventure will probably be a return to Koh Samui.

In fact I went back to Koh Samui in June 2016, & was pleased to see it has improved out of sight.