Living on Kauai, our world has a natural boundary. The island small. So there is something quietly thrilling about renting a car on the mainland and just — driving. No ocean stopping you. No loop bringing you back around. Just open road and whatever is waiting at the end of it.
Our day trip from Brisbane took us up to Tamborine Mountain glow worm caves, then down through some of the most beautiful Australian countryside we saw the whole trip, ending up on the Gold Coast for the afternoon. It was one of those days that didn’t have a single dramatic moment but somehow felt full from start to finish.
The Drive to Tamborine Mountain
From Brisbane the drive to Tamborine Mountain is just over an hour. We kept our eyes on the trees the whole way hoping to spot a koala in the wild — no luck, but the anticipation made the drive its own kind of fun. The scenery opened up beautifully as we climbed into the hills and all four of us just took it in.
Tamborine Mountain Glow Worm Caves — What to Expect
We had booked our cave tour just a day in advance which worked out fine — worth doing ahead of time though as spots do fill up. When we arrived we waited briefly before being led into the cave for a short documentary video about glow worms before the tour began.
Then the lights went out.
What you see in the darkness is genuinely magical — hundreds of tiny blue green lights dotting the cave ceiling like a living constellation. It’s quiet, it’s cool, and it’s completely unlike anything we’d experienced before. The kids were transfixed. The guide was knowledgeable and engaging and at one point asked the group a question about what glow worms eat. Easton shouted his guess and he got it right — we were quietly beaming.
The whole experience including the video ran about 30 minutes which felt just right. Not so long that younger kids lose interest, long enough to feel the full wonder of it. There aren’t many places in the world where you can see glow worms and we’re really glad we made the detour for this one.
If you’re not combining this with a Gold Coast visit, Tamborine Mountain has plenty to fill a full day — the Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk, Treetop Challenge at Thunderbird Park, hiking trails, and vineyard and distillery options for the adults. We would have loved more time up here but the Gold Coast was calling.
At time of writing: $31 AUD adults, $18 AUD children ages 4-12, $1 AUD children under 4, $89 AUD family of four (two adults and two children). Book in advance at the Glow Worm Caves website. https://www.tamborineglowworms.com.au/
The Drive Down to the Gold Coast
From Tamborine Mountain it’s about 45 minutes down to the Gold Coast. The drive down was beautiful — green rolling hills giving way to the coast as you descend. No specific stops worth calling out, just the kind of scenic drive that reminds you why having a car was the right call.
Blend Love — One of the Best Vegan Meals of the Entire Trip
We pulled into the Gold Coast ready for lunch and found Blend Love — a fully plant based restaurant that immediately became one of the top vegan meals of our entire three weeks in Australia. Up there with Shift Eatery in Sydney, which is saying something.
You order at the counter and they bring everything out to you. The menu is creative and generous and nothing on the table disappointed. The kids ordered rose french toast and mini pancakes with scrambled tofu — breakfast is served all day. Matt and I went savory and each had a BBQ protein cheeze burger. Every plate was completely cleaned.
But the real discovery was the iced Biscoff latte. Neither of us had expected it on the menu and the first sip was one of those moments where you look at each other without saying anything because the coffee does the talking. We had no idea at that point that Biscoff had been woven into Australian food culture in a way we were only beginning to discover — it would follow us all the way to Cairns in the form of a vegan Biscoff frozen yogurt that the kids still talk about. But Blend Love is where it started for us.
Meals averaged around $15-25 AUD which felt very reasonable, especially with the exchange rate working in our favor. Worth noting for anyone reading this post without having read our others — the Australian dollar was running at roughly 60 US cents to the dollar during our trip, which made everything feel like an extra discount on top of already reasonable prices.
→ Blend Love, Surfers Paradise — fully plant based, highly recommended
HOTA — Home of the Arts
After lunch we stopped at HOTA, the Home of the Arts, which has a free main gallery and a children’s area. We spent most of our time in the kids area where they got to do an arts and craft activity and explore the space. Walking in there was an eye catching installation — a convertible car filled with water that stopped Easton in his tracks. We weren’t blown away overall but the kids had fun, it was free, and it was a relaxed way to spend an hour before heading to the beach. Worth a stop if you’re nearby, not worth going out of your way for.
Main gallery and children’s area are free. Some ticketed exhibitions available.
Surfers Paradise and the Gold Coast Oceanway
From HOTA we drove into Surfers Paradise and spent the rest of the afternoon walking the Gold Coast Oceanway. We made our way up and down the beach strip for a couple of hours — the kids played on the exercise equipment along the path, we watched surfers out in the water, found a small playground, and popped into a few shops along the way. The Gold Coast has a real energy to it — lively, sun soaked, equal parts relaxed and buzzing. Very different from anything else we experienced in Australia.
Before heading back we stopped at a grocery store to grab some snacks for the drive home. We were still full from our late Blend Love lunch so we kept it light on the road and cooked dinner back at the apartment when we got in.
We spent about five hours on the Gold Coast between arriving at Blend Love and leaving, which felt like just enough to get a real feel for it without rushing.
Could You Spend More Time Here?
Absolutely. The Gold Coast is easily a full day or more on its own — and for thrill seekers and theme park families there is a lot waiting for you here. Warner Bros. Movie World, Dreamworld, Sea World, Wet’n’Wild, and more are all based here. We opted out this trip partly because we didn’t want two long driving days back to back and partly because at three and six, Milo was still a little young for a lot of the bigger rides. But we could feel the potential for a future trip.
Brisbane vs Gold Coast — How We Decided
When we were planning the three weeks we went back and forth on this. Stay in Brisbane with a day trip to the Gold Coast, or base ourselves on the Gold Coast instead? We chose Brisbane and it was absolutely the right call for our family at this stage. Brisbane had so much for kids aged three and six — Lone Pine, Bluey World, SparkLab, incredible playgrounds, a walkable city center. The Gold Coast felt like it would shine even brighter when the kids are a little older and can fully appreciate the theme parks and surf culture.
If we make it back to this part of Australia, we’d do the Gold Coast as the main base. But right now Brisbane was exactly what we needed and we don’t regret a single day there.
If you have time for both — do both. They complement each other perfectly.
As we drove back toward Brisbane that evening, the sun dropping behind us, all four of us quiet and full and happy, it felt like one of those days that doesn’t need a headline moment to be worth everything. Glow worms in the dark. A Biscoff latte we didn’t see coming. Sand between our toes on one of the world’s most famous beaches. And a gentle reminder from Easton — still proud of himself for answering that glow worm question right — that the best travel days teach you something too.
Not every great travel day announces itself. Sometimes it just arrives, fills you up, and carries you home.
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