ILNAM WINERY (just up the road)
ILNAM Estate Winery is a family run winery in the Gold Coast/Tweed hinterland. Ione, Lachlan, Nathan, Andrea & Mark make up the ILNAM team. They take pride in creating wines for their clients to enjoy that are crafted by hand and heart on site in Carool.
Not only is ILNAM Estate the only winery in Tweed, it is also Australia’s most easterly winery, boasting amazing ocean and hinterland views.
ILNAM Estate Winery is located just a few minutes further up Carool road from Bungalow 6 (Summergrove Estate). They are open 5 days a week (closed Monday and Tuesday) for wine tasting, wine sales, fine dining & live music (last Sunday of the month), so come and relax with ILNAM Estate.
So take a scenic drive to ILNAM Estate and enjoy the natural surroundings while sipping on some beautiful wine and enjoying our homemade cuisine.
Phone: 07 55907703 or Website: www.ilnam.com.au
750 Carool Road,
Carool
GOLD COAST SKYDIVE
Gold Coast SkyDive is the only tandem specific sky diving operation on the Gold Coast. Located in Coolangatta, only minutes from the Gold Coast airport, they are one of the rare companies in Australia with a permit, allowing them to land on the crisp clean beaches of Kirra Beach. These guys can offer you a full photo and video package on the day. Throwing yourself out of a perfectly good plane at 12000 feet? You must add this to your ‘list of things to do’ whilst here! Gold Coast Skydive operates 7 days a week.
Phone: 07 55991920 or Website: www.goldcoastskydive.com.au
SNORKEL SAFARI GOLD COAST
Diving the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads coastline is spectacular and you will find some of the best untapped diving on the east coast of Australia. The dives range from easy scenic dives off Cook Island with a resident turtle population. Cook Island has a large abundance of tropical and sub-tropical fish. For the more experienced diver they can head out to places like Nine Mile Reef which is a brilliant drift dive. Whale watching from June to November and a full range of diving courses to suit your every need.
Phone: 07 55230002 or Website: www.coolydive.com.au
SURF COACHING & LESSONS
Another ‘must do’ on the travellers list is the all important surf lessons and what better place to do it that one of Australia’s best breaks —Snapper Rocks (just ask Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore — it’s their home break!).
And who better to be coached by than Australia’s world coaching champion Dave Davidson of Gold Coast Surf Coaching. Dave is a former professional surfer who has been coaching Gold 
Coast and QLD junior surfing teams for 10 years, was Australian team coach and recently coached Peru to win the 2010 I.S.A World Title.
He’s been teaching people to surf for 25 years in arguably the best learn to surf location in Australia, if not the world. If he can’t get you up on a board then no-one can!
Phone: 0417191629 or Website: www.goldcoastsurfingcentre.com
CURRUMBIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is considered one of the best mother nature experiences on the east coast. Heaps to do and plenty of ‘getting close to the animals’. One of the few places in Australia you can actually hold a koala as well as snakes and baby crocodiles and feed the big mob of local kangaroos. The big crocs are out on display with an educational show most afternoons. Get down there early and feed the lorikeets in the open air feeding circle. Add to this the eagle and dingo encounters and the Aboriginal night corroboree and you are spoilt for choice with things to keep you busy whilst in Coolangatta.
Phone: 07 55341266 or Website: www.cws.org.au
CURRUMBIN ROCK POOLS
It’s a delightful way to spend a few hours on a tranquil summer day, and with Queensland’s temperate climate, the rock pools make an interesting and enjoyable day out all year-round!
To reach the pools, you’ll take a picturesque, relaxing drive through the lush, green Currumbin Valley and into the mountains where the Currumbin Creek is born. The pools are located just 12 km up the valley from Currumbin Beach. Your journey will take you past nurseries, dairies and stud farms where animals graze contentedly in velvety paddocks and local farmers (seasonally) sell organically grown produce on the roadside, and past the lovely Olsen’s Bird Gardens, set in eight hectares of lush subtropical rainforest.
A huge tumble of smooth, gently sloping rocks provides a great playground to scramble about and explore. With its crystal-clear mountain spring water, the deeper waters of the eastern end make an ideal swimming lagoon.
HOT AIR BALLOONING
The Gold Coast and Coolangatta is not all about the surf and ocean. We are surrounded by the stunning hinterlands that take in the Currumbin Valley Hinterlands, Springbrook National Park and the iconic Mount Warning – the very first place you can see the sun rise in Australia every morning.
What better way to see it all than in a hot air balloon! Balloon Down Under is the only ballooning business on the Gold Coast to be acknowledged by the tourism industry for excellence.
An early morning pick up from an agreed location will get you to your take off point followed by a complete experience of setting up the balloon, preparing for take off and enjoying the spectacular views of the area. Drifting gently over the Gold Coast landscape for one hour allows you ample time to take in the panoramic views of the Gold Coast from skimming over the tree tops to up to 2,000 feet high.
Finish this exhilarating experience with a gourmet champagne breakfast before being dropped back in Coolangatta. Another one to tick off the bucket list!!
Phone: 07 55004797 or Website: www.balloondownunder.com.au
STAND UP PADDLE BOARDING (SUP)
Done the surf lesson? Looking for something a bit different? A new challenge perhaps? This is the latest craze to hit the ocean and you can do it right here in the Coolangatta area.
Stand up paddle boarding was first used as a method of transport for the people of Polynesia, but these days it has been turned into a wicked ocean sport. Justin and Jamie Mitchell are the pioneers of SUP in Australia so why not learn with the best, Jamie (current World Champion) and brother Justin.
Phone: 07 5607 0998 or Website: www.jmsup.com
FUNPARKS
Movieworld | Wet’n’Wild | Dreamworld
Whilst you are in the Coolangatta area you can have the best of both worlds—the serenity and the action! The relaxed lifestyle of the beach and hinterland, and just up the road the ‘must do’ theme parks which so many come to visit.
Simply jump on the TX1 bus from Griffith Street, Coolangatta (outside Bakers Delight) at 8.15 am or 8.45 am. The TX1 bus returns from Dreamworld at 4.45 pm or 5.10 pm calling in at Wet‘n’Wild water park 4.58 pm or 5.23 pm then Movieworld at 5.05 pm or 5.30 pm.
Website: www.myfun.com.au
SEAWORLD
And don’t forget Seaworld either!! Take the 760 bus from Griffith Street, Coolangatta every 30 mins during the day to Pacific Fair, Broadbeach. Hop on the 750 bus from Pacific Fair to Seaworld and then same bus numbers on the return. These buses are regular, every 30 minutes from Coolangatta and approximately every 20-30 minutes from Pacific Fair. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
Website: www.seaworld.com.au
SURFERS PARADISE
How about a little day trip up to Surfers? You can visit Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, Infinity, Haunted House, The Wax Museum or King Tutts Putt Putt Golf. Getting there and back is easy with a regular bus service that runs 24 hours a day every 30 minutes.
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not – Website: www.ripleys.com/surfersparadise/
Infinity – Website: www.infinitygc.com.au/
Haunted House
The Wax Museum
King Tutts Putt Putt Golf
