Booked: Sun, Sand, and Australian Lamb

Greetings from the Gold Coast! After a fantastic time with the Prince of Travel team putting on the inaugural Travel Summit in Toronto, I high-tailed it to Brisbane via Vancouver for some relaxing time in the sun.

My wife and I will be visiting friends and family in various parts of the country, and I’m excited to visit some new spots and review some great luxury hotels on this trip. We were last here in January 2020, right before the world turned upside down, so being here again feels quite nice.

I wound up scoring some great deals on hotels and flights for this trip, so here’s what the breakdown looks like.

The Trip

This will be my fourth trip to Australia. I first came here in 2007 on a working holiday, where I stomached working in a slaughterhouse for four months to finance the rest of my eight-month trip to Thailand, Nepal, India, and the UK.

I have familial ties to the country, so there’s always a good reason to come down and visit. My sister has been living here for 16 years, and my uncle, aunt, and cousins moved from Saskatchewan in 1997.

Over the years and visits, we’ve had the pleasure of meeting much of my aunt’s extended family, so coming down to Australia always feels like a homecoming. I’m also looking forward to catching up with friends and colleagues in Newcastle and Melbourne who recently made the move.

My wife and I really appreciate all that Australia has to offer. November can be a dreary, wet month at our home on Vancouver Island, so spending time in the sunshine at the ocean, on beaches, and in forests is a very welcome change.

Furthermore, we have grown to very much appreciate the food and wine scene in Australia, which we find to be very much in line with our tastes. It’s also refreshing to be surrounded by the easygoing demeanour that Australians are known for, and we’re sure to have many laughs over the next few weeks.

We’re getting over the jet lag by spending some time in Queensland along the Gold Coast and in Brisbane. From there, we’ll stop in Newcastle and Canberra to catch up with friends and family, taking advantage of Virgin Australia lounges and intra-Australian flights booked with Aeroplan points. 

My family has raved about Tasmania for years now, and I’m very keen to spend three nights on the island to experience it for myself this time. We have a quick stop in Melbourne to meet up with two members of the…