3 Places on the Gold Coast Where you can Enjoy Summer Year Round

The Gold Coast is known for its hot – and sometimes wet – climate with its annual average maximum temperature of 25 degrees Celsius dipping to a lukewarm annual average minimum of 17 degrees. Given the mildness of this region, this high-rise, beach tourist mecca can feel like summer all year to those from colder climes.

There are so many things to do on the Gold Coast – from visiting theme parks, to dining out or taking bushwalks – but listed below are three places that feel like summer all year round.

The Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens

Pack a picnic, a rug and some of your favourite people to enjoy an al fresco meal with a difference. The gardens are only 10 minutes drive from Surfers Paradise and cover 31 hectares which overlooks the Gold Coast Hinterland.

Image credit to promenadeapartments.com.au

Get into the sensory garden – where you can small and touch plants and flowers – or walk off lunch with a mangroves to mountain walk while learning about local plants. Check out the rose garden – smells so good – and the butterfly garden.

Around the lake there is a family-friendly boardwalk, a children’s playground and barbecue area. Pooch lovers will appreciate the off-leash dog area. Guided walking tours are available but need to be booked beforehand.

Adventure Parc - Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Yeah, bring on the cold! Adventure Parc is particularly suited to the cooler months. Designed for fitness and family fun, it will appeal to the daredevil in all ages.

This park has elements of commando training but is delivered in an exciting and fun ropes course through the treetops for children and adults. There are five courses with 80 challenges, all of which are surrounded by wildlife. It combines wire and rope challenges, suspended bridges and altogether there are 11 flying foxes.

Safety equipment such as gloves, harness and overalls are supplied and full instructions are given. Closed shoes must be worn, and a safe Clic-iT Smart Belay system is used. It takes about two hours t complete all the courses and children aged under nine must be with an adult. This is fun!

O'Reilly's Tree Top Walk

More than a century ago the O’Reilly family bought their property; just four years later, the surrounding land was declared as Lamington National Park, effectively isolating the O’Reilly’s property.

Image credit to location.hertz.com.au

In 1994 World Heritage status was given to Lamington National Park because of its high biodiversity in that it is living museum providing evolutionary examples of the development of Australia’s flora today.

Stay at O’Reilly’s, or drive up for a day visit, and take the 180 metre-long tree top walk. Built 25 years ago, the treetop walk comprises nine suspension bridges and is mostly 15 metres above ground. Above the walkway, enclosed laddered steps lead to two observation decks built in a strangler fig, with the highest about 30 metres above ground. The walkway places you into the canopy of flowering and fruiting trees, providing new perspective into the forest.

O’Reilly’s runs a number of tours, including the birds of prey flight show with renowned birdman Mark Culleton and a display of natural aerobatics with owls, falcons and eagles.

These places are worth visiting whichever time of year you travel to the Gold Coast. Share with us your favourite year-round haunts on the Gold Coast.