CategoriesGold Coast By Sam Barnes

Locals Guide – Best Farmers Markets Gold Coast 

Although I can not claim to be the Gold Coasts official farmers market rating judge, I can share my opinion and lay out some reasons why.. So without further ado, drum roll please….
..

The 2022 best farmers markets award goes to..

HOTA Markets

The HOTA Farmers Market is held every Sunday at the evandale parklands on the outskirts of Surfers Paradise, along the Nerang river. The recently completed cultural precinct, Home of the Arts provides the perfect backdrop for a thriving farmers market. It seems to have attracted the best of the best stall operators and has created an amazing atmosphere to enjoy a lazy Sunday morning. 

Best Markets Gold Coast

The Food, The Music and The Vibe..

My partner and I have made the HOTA Markets somewhat of a bi-weekly tradition. Our obsession are the chilli pickled garlic cloves (don’t be afraid, the pickling process seems to mellow out the intensity of garlic) and ridiculous feta from Byron Bay Olives. 

Byron Bay Olive Co

Another favourite is the meats from Dunavs Small Goods. We then make an effort to try a little something from a new stall each time we go.

Dunav Smallgoods

There seems to be 4 or 5 actual farmers competing for our business for fresh fruit and vegetables.

Organic Farmers Market Gold Coast

The music is always right on point to set the family friendly vibe on the Evandale Parklands. As the parklands are on a corner of the Nerang River, it seems to create a perfect mix of City and Nature. 

Evandale Parklands

Getting to the HOTA Farmers Markets

There are a few ways to get to the HOTA Markets, and Google Maps may seem like the obvious option, but I am going to let you in on a little secret..

Gold Coast traffic sucks. To add to that, if you are not planning on arriving to the markets before 7am, the HOTA parking can get quite hectic to find a park. So here are a few other options to make the day more enjoyable:

  1. Ride a bike – The Lime Bike hire system is perfect for adults only who are staying within 5km of the markets. They are power assisted and seem to be everywhere!
  2. Walk – It is actually a pretty nice walk from any coastal situated hotel. You will get to take in the Nerang River at some parts.
  3. The HOPO Ferry – Admittedly, I haven’t tried it as I am a local and the pickup spot is not quite close enough to my home. But it does looks like the perfect tourist option to hop on in Surfers Paradise and hop off right at the markets 
  4. Park at Chevron Island – This is a local secret.. If you are arriving after 7-8am and coming from Surfers Paradise side, I suggest finding a park as close to the walking bridge opposite Standhill Park. Thank me later 😉
  5. Public Transport – Find out more on the official HOTA Website

Standhill Park Bridge

Best free things to do on the Gold Coast 

From my experience, I believe the Gold Coast Farmers markets are the best free things to do. Although it will be difficult to avoid some of the delicious offerings, it is perfectly acceptable to pack your own picnic and just go to enjoy the music and the vibe. Especially if you are looking for things to do with the kids around Surfers Paradise. HOTA farmers markets have created the perfect chill out area in the Evandale Parklands. Evandale Lake even has a very shallow water beach for the kids to splash around and play.

Things to do with kids surfers paradise

Other Notable Mentions & Night Markets Gold Coast

Now there is a high chance my partner and I are somehow biassed and have not given the other markets a chance. It is also hard to compare the Gold Coast Night Market options with the morning farmers markets. The night markets are more of a pop up street food experience. 

  1. The Palm Beach Farmers Market – Every Sat 6.30am – 11am
  2. Burleigh Farmers Market Every Sat 7am – 12pm
  3. Surfers Paradise Beach Markets Every Wed, Fri, Sat 4pm – 9pm 
  4. Miami Marketta Every Wed, Fri, Sat from 5pm
  5. Sanctuary Markets – Every Friday  4pm – 9pm

Boracay beach view
CategoriesAsia Diving Sailing By Sam Barnes

A perfect getaway at The Lind Boracay

I was recently invited to tag along my partner’s work trip. It was a last minute invite (2 weeks before) The trip was to be half pleasure – 4 days and Boracay, half business – 5 days in Manila. As the trip had already been planned months in advance, all I had to do was book my flights. I did no research on the places we were staying, so it came as quite the surprise when we checked into one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen..

Small distance, long Journey

Coming from Australia, the direct distance to Boracay is not actually too far. As the trip was in 2022, some countries were still semi locked down, meaning our flight path was not the most efficient route.

After 30 hours of travel, we arrived at the island of Boracay in the dark. Our final flight had been delayed but luckily The Lind workers waited at the port to assist us with the final leg of our journey.

Time to explore Boracay

After a well needed rest in a seriously comfy bed, we made our way down to the buffet breakfast where my partner’s boss and his wife were waiting to greet us. It was at this moment we realized how special this place really was. The view from the bar/restaurant could be a painting! After about 3 full plates from the Buffet, we were eager to explore the island. As we did not have anything booked for the day, my partner and I set off exploring the west side of the island. 

The beach is clean and tropical, the ocean is the most amazing aqua blue and the temperature is perfect (we were there in June)

exploring boracay
Boracay beach view

Boracay Sunset

After a morning of exploring, my partner had her heart set on an afternoon of lounging by the pool at The Lind. There are two pools, one in the middle of the resort (the building casts a shadow over this pool in the afternoon) and a second level infinity pool. 

the lind infinity pool

To our surprise, not many guests went to this pool. The view from this infinity pool has got to be in the top 10 places in the world to watch the sunset, up there with Cafe Mambos, Ibiza and Santorini, Greece!

Boracay the lind sunset view
Boracay Sunset

Island Hopping Boracay

Our hosts had been here before. My partner’s boss is Filipino, so he knew exactly where to stay and exactly what to do. On the second day, he had organised for us to do a 5 hour island hopping boat trip. He booked a private boat and even went with the tour guide early in the morning to the fish market to help choose the day’s cuisine. 

boracay boat trip

Once again, the weather was perfect and the tour seemed to be the perfect mix of activities and relaxation. After stopping at a few spots to go snorkelling, we stopped at a tiny island for some cliff jumping. Soon after, we were served our freshly cooked seafood lunch. The food was delicious and we were all on cloud nine. It was a day to remember! 

Island Hopping Boracay
boracay cliff jump

Boracay Nightlife

By our second or third night, we were ready to see what the nightlife at Boracay had to offer. There are probably close to 100 venues to choose from within a 4km walk of The Lind Hotel, so we started at the most mellow venue and worked our way down the beach to more and more energetic venues. One thing we all noticed was how extra friendly all the people we met were. 

Sunset Boracay

Every bar we went to, almost instantly we were chatting away with mostly Filipinos who were also on holidays. As Australians, It was a welcomed surprise to be the minority of travelers. By 10pm we were at what seemed to be the most popular nightclub, they even had a Las Vegas style bottle service option. 

OM Boracay 

We thought it was quite funny that they were trying to abide by the new Covid-19 rules and put tables on the dance floor to discourage stand up dancing. With a DJ 5 meters away playing pumping music, that was never going to work! Within 20 minutes of being there, we had broken the rules and about 10 tables surrounding us quickly joined the party. It was loose!

OM Nightclub Boracay

The Lind Boracay Wedding

On our last night, the beach front restaurant of The Lind had been set up with fairy lights to host the most beautiful Wedding reception we had ever seen. We did not want to intrude too much, so we only hung around for a couple of minutes as we arrived back from our final night time beach stroll. It seems the resort has 3 or 4 options for the perfect wedding. From the top level ballrooms, to the infinity pool area and down on the sand where this wedding was, all options seemed beautiful.

boracay wedding

Noosa
CategoriesAustralia Surfing By Huw Williams

First Point Noosa – Worlds Longest Wave?

First Point, Noosa does not always produce the goods. But when it does work, you better come prepared, because this wave is a serious leg burner!

Huw Williams from Coastal Content was in the right place at the right time when Cyclone Seth bought some excellent surf to Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. Now before there is any backlash on the claim, the wave has not been submitted to the Guinness World Record book, but we think it is worth a mention!

best rock pools mornington peninsula
CategoriesAustralia By Sam Barnes

Best rock pools in Mornington Peninsula

Locals Guide to the best rock pools on the peninsula

Just don’t tell them we sent you! The Mornington Peninsula has many secret spots that have become super popular with tourist in the passed few years. One of the many reasons to visit the Mornington Peninsula is the rock pools of Sorrento, Portsea and many other cliff jumping spots like Mount Martha. Here is a list of the top spots/

  • Sorrento Beach
  • Portsea Beach
  • Mount Martha Cliff Jumps

Sorrento Beach

Mentawai Island
CategoriesSurfing By Sam Barnes

The Ultimate Indonesian Surf Trip – Pit Stop Hill, Mentawai Islands.

It was almost over before it began..

The journey to the Mentawai Islands involves a 4-6 hour boat trip from Pedang to the islands. Unfortunately for us, the usually calm crossing was borderline dangerous. 3-4 meter choppy wind swells had 6 out of the 10 lads on board holding on for dear life whilst taking it in turns of being sea sick directly off the back of the boat. One freak wave even had the navigator air born before slamming hard back on deck. I would be lying if I didn’t mention the thought of capsizing didn’t cross my mind. For context, one of the lads on board had done the same trip 7 times (14 if you count both ways) and mentioned it was freakishly bad. So I hope that hasn’t deterred anyone from making the journey, because even for us, it was well worth it!

Mentawais journey

Mentawai Surf 

Now to be honest, I was the amateur of the group. I literally bought my first short board about 2 weeks before the trip. I was well outside of my comfort zone at times. But luckily for us, our surf camp included two fast boats. One headed to the absolute best spot for anyone wanting to charge and the other to a more forgiving break each day. We also lucked out (in my opinion) by not having any pulsing swell above 5 foot. However I did hear stories of the famous spot “Bank Vaults” getting pretty heavy. 

Metawais surf break

 

Looking over towards E-Bay Surf Spot

PitStop Hill

As it was our groups first trip, we might be biased. But it does seem Pit Stop Hill is the crème de la crème of surf camps in the Mentawai Islands. A beautiful villa style resort for a maximum of 10 guests, with around 15 staff helping make the experience worth remembering. The Villa has an epic look out over the originally named Pit Stop Surf Spot and a big open living area for all the day of surfing debriefs. Special mention to our surf guide FAUZIIIII, full of energy and absolutely ripped when he felt like showing us kooks off in the nicest possible way. 

Pit Stop Hill Accom

Mentawai Islands, We will be back

But incase life gets in the way, I made a video to look back on for years to come. Special mention to Tommy Williams Photography for the epic shots (He was half Surf guide, half photographer on our trip) These last few shots were his, and his photos feature throughout my video. Hope you enjoy!