How to do things in the Gold Coast, for FREE!

Coming to Australia I wanted to try a large array of different things. I wanted to explore new places, try things I was scared of, and do the things that make me happy. That being said things can be expensive, but I didn’t want that to stop me.

I’ve always been careful with budgeting and making sure I get the best deals. Something else to look out for is opportunities that are free for you to do. This means getting to do amazing new things, but for free!

Here are some of my tips on how I’ve gotten to do some great things on the Gold Coast for FREE!

1. School Events

The school puts on some pretty great events, excursions, and trips. Watch out for all the new and exciting things through your Griffith student email, The Student Guild Facebook page, or Griffith University’s twitter @Griffith_Uni.

Some of the events Griffith University have put on include; the different Orientation week activities, the free breakfasts they’re putting on for exam weeks, or my personal favourite Sunday Funday. At Sunday Funday there was everything from Beach volleyball, a ‘sausage sizzle’ as the Aussies say, kayaking, games, and paddle boarding.

My friends and I went and had a great time doing the different activities and it was a great way to try paddle boarding since it was my first time. I had so much fun and got to spend hours on the water on a beautiful day.

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2. Sharing your experiences

There are a lot of opportunities to look out for with blogging that can help you do even more on the coast. I have a friend who works with Gold Coast Tourism and gets to experience some great things, all around Surfers. All she does is share her experience with others by blogging about it. What I’m doing is slightly the same. I love to write about my experiences and share them with others. After sharing my first blog post, I got a great excursion to go Abseiling in Brisbane.

So I booked the excursion with Riverlife, went up to Brisbane with a friend, then got to do something I’ve never done before. It was such a great day and I started to conquer my fear of heights.

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3. Volunteering

A great way to get to do things for free is to look out for volunteer opportunities. I love music, going to concerts is my favourite thing to do, but I felt like I was in withdrawals. There aren’t a lot of concerts that come to Surfers Paradise and when they do they definitely aren’t all in the price range of trying to save money. When I started to see music festivals coming up, my friend and I applied to volunteer. We got accepted and were even put on the same shift for the event.

We then took the tram, bus, and train all the way to the Sunshine Coast for the Big Pineapple Music Festival. With my journeys on my GoCard through the week I travelled there and back for free, the festival was free and all we had to do was split on accommodation. We got admission to the festival for the whole day, and our 2-8 shift finished early which meant we got even more time at the festival. It was a great day with different artists, things to do, and fun activities.

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4. Explore different National Parks

There are so many beautiful things to see and do here. The ones though that won’t cost you anything extra would be the National Parks. You also get to relax and go through exploring at your own pace. For example, one of the closest to Surfers Paradise is, Burleigh Heads National Park. Burleigh is a great place to go for the day and through the park you can get to the Tumgun lookout, which has stunning views.

This is a beautiful location to see the skyline of Surfers Paradise, see the surfers jumping into the water and catching their next big wave. The hike isn’t too much so it’s great for a beginner or someone who just wants a great lookout point.

 

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These are just a couple tips to help you out while looking for things to do on the Gold Coast. Sometimes it can be hard to find a deal, but keep these tips in mind. Maybe they’ll come to help you keep an eye out for the different things to do, without breaking the bank.

– Jess.