The trip has pretty awesome despite some speed bumps such as. Weather while on the Gold Coast was not conducive to sunrise shots despite having a balcony directly facing the sunrise over the ocean. I did manage some on 1 day of the 5 we were there. On top of this, my LCW ND fader broke (the glass came off the ring so it wouldn’t rotate) and my 24-105 lens stopped working, here’s the post. While horsing around with my kid, I managed to get my fist/hand hit by the ceiling fan. Luckily for me, even though the fan was at max, I only got a smallish cut, not deep enough for stitches but it sure was painful. The worst of it was my finger’s allergic reaction to the Rapaid brand of “band aid”. So my finger looked like my feet prior to being healed. Which also started blistering from all the walking. More info on my blistering feet here. This was day 4 of our 10 day trip. I also had a molar break in half and my computer stopped working “properly”.
The apartment complex we were in is called Dorchester on the Beach it’s right on the beach, and although our unit had the balcony on the side, you can still get a great sunrise view. Lots of awesome opportunities for great beach, ocean, sunrise shots can be had here especially if you get a balcony fully facing the ocean. More photo opportunities await depending on which route you take to Surfer’s Paradise (15-25 minute walk depending on the route). If you choose the beach it’ll take you longer to walk due to the difficulty of walking on sand. Choose the sidewalk and you’ll get your “street” shots. More Dorchester apt. and area shots in our Flickr Gallery.
After enjoying three theme parks, Movieworld, Dreamworld and Seaworld and wishing there was more time to enjoy the many many other attractions, it was time to fly off to Sydney.
Of course while in Sydney you have to check out the Opera House, Harbour bridge. St. Mary’s Cathedral was really nice too. We joined a free walking tour (we chose to donate as it was REEAALLY good). They showed us alot of the historic sites (photo worthy), gave us a bit of a history lesson (interesting) and wasn’t rushing at all. They’re called I’m free walking tours. This will give you a really good idea of what is where so you can mentally plan your time and shoot. If you’re lucky you may get a wedding shoot or two as your backdrop.
Overall, as always, my trip was not long enough. I want/need to go back ! ! ! Photos to follow on Flickr when I get enough time to put some up. Will update this post as well.