It was a perfectly cloudy and cold Wednesday morning, so much excitement and curiosity were running in my mind about taking photos of the cruise experience. My camera lens was ready to capture the fascinating city of the Gold Coast, located almost 70 km from Queensland’s biggest city – Brisbane. After 1 hr of driving I reached Mariners Cove Marina, which is the #1 location for adventures and fun water sports. It is located on Sea World Drive, 4 km North from famous Surfers Paradise. There are 100 berths in the Marina, including the boat I was about to board for my cruise, the Broadwater Canal Cruise. It departs daily at 10 AM and 12 PM for a two hour journey through the wonderful Gold Coast canals.
At 12 PM sharp, captain Steve gave a warm welcome to everyone and then our journey had begun. Despite his New Zealand background, he was very knowledgable of the local area. As the cruise passed through the Nerang River, he provided great general commentary about wildlife, real estate future for the Commonwealth Games as well as property prices for canal homes. This gentle cruise around and along the canals of the area was relaxing, informative and fun. There was an upstairs open air viewing deck where you could still hear the commentary and enjoy the weather. The complimentary self serve morning tea was a welcome addition, especially in the cold weather.
On both sides of the canal, there are extraordinary elegant homes. Their wonderful designs and luxury, makes you definitely happy. Steve mentioned that almost 70% of homes are used for only holiday purposes. The cruise ran through the rivers and canals so you can see close up what the splendid, often rarely lived in, houses of the rich and famous are like!!!!!!!
At the half way mark, the most awaited view of the Gold Coast skyline was spotted clearly from the boats rooftop. Everyone eagerly wanted to capture the beautiful scenic skyscrapers.
We cruised through the man-made canals, which is known as the ‘Venice of Australia’ with a canal system larger than the waterways of Venice and Amsterdam combined. It was little bit windy but overall it was an exemplary unique experience upstairs on this 1965 timber vessel. On the last lap you can capture full panoramic views of city. At 2 PM we were dropped back again at Mariners Cove Marina.
Here are some beautiful glimpses of this lovely cruise tour…
So now, take a couple hours out from your busy day, sit back, relax and enjoy the canal cruise and extensive views of the coast skyline, you won’t regret it!!!!!!
– Mayankkumar
Arjun Patel
July 20, 2016 at 10:59 pmOn reading your experience of Gold Coast, and the amazing pictures posted along with the writeup, I felt that I was over the moon.