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IVEY take you through a perfect day on the Gold Coast

27 November 2020 | 11:41 am | Staff Writer

Ahead of the inaugural Feedback Festival next week, the Gold Coast's own IVEY take us through the perfect day on the GC.

Words by Lachlan McGuffie

I love the Gold Coast.

I lot of people have this stigma about it, like this gross touristy nightclub city or something. But it is teeming with so much culture and so many young people doing dope stuff. Picking five places is much, much too hard. So I’m going to run you through a perfect Gold Coast day in my eyes. Hopefully we have a bit of cash to burn after saving up some pennies because we’re gonna be havin’ some fun.

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I pick you up from Cooly airport on Friday night in my 2008 ford falcon wagon. You’re tired and we watch the sunset, I cook you a curry and we go to bed early for a big day tomorrow. You wake up in the morning. It’s 6am, a beautiful day, let’s get your ass out of bed.

We’re going straight up the mountain, to Tambourine mountain to be exact. We’re going for a lovely, chill 4km hike at Witchers Falls, the mountain air is refreshing and we’re vibing. We go to one of the many cute local cafe’s on Tambo and grab a coffee before heading back down towards the coast.

The sun is well and truly up so we hit up Burleigh/Tallebudgera for a surf or a swim in the morning, even a walk around the headland. Burleigh is gorgeous and has a good point break for surfing and Talle has got that good flat water for swimming where the ocean meets the rivermouth. On a beautiful morning Tallebudgera is usually super super clear and blue. Fresh mountain air and salty skin is the perfect recipe for the start of the day and it’s only just gone 9am.

Hop back in the car and this is a difficult part of the day, choosing somewhere to eat breakfast. Legit there’s so many brilliant cafes on the Gold Coast, like amazing locally owned and locally sourced cafes and bakeries that are killing it. Let’s keep it ultra local for breakfast. I’m from Broadbeach so we’ll stroll on over to Elk. This place is nuts, always pops off. The coffee is super good, there’s always fresh florals decorating the tables and walls and they have a SEASONAL MENU. Yeah u heard - the menu changes with the fucking seasons and it’s always super tasty.

So you’re full, you’ve had the classic Potato Hash meal and an iced latte (iced cause it’s summer and you’re on the Gold Coast and it’s already super hot). Now what? You say you feel like something sweet, a little post-breakfast treat? Fineeeee We pop in at Bam Bam Bakehouse, who do these nuts as bakery creations. My girlfriend's favourite is the lemon tart and mine is the Nutella cronut. Hidden in Mermaid behind the surf life saving club, Bam Bam is internationally renowned for it’s food (it says that Margot Robbie froths them on their menu - they a big deal!)

We get a little treat, delicious. It’s just one of those Saturdays where all of your friends are free, and they want to meet up for a picnic and lunchtime chill. We head back down the coast to Currumbin Rock Pools - now we don’t stop at the first set of pools, we go all the way to the top where you have to climb over a fence that says no climbing (it’s just a small fence don’t worry).

The rains have been good the past couple of weeks and the rock pools are flowing. We pick a nice spot and chow down on some picnic food, have a swim in the fresh water and have a chat. You look around and appreciate the scenery, the land of the Yugambeh people, the First Nations of the Gold Coast. It’s here that you send your respect elders past and present and take in the breathtaking beauty of the Gold Coast hinterland once again. It’s getting a bit too hot now as the clock ticks past 12:30pm. Everyone disperses and does their own things as we’re meeting up later for drinks. We’re getting midday sleepies and need a pick me up.

We go to Alfred’s Apartment in Mermaid and smash a Cold Brew Coffee and take a walk through their store which has loads of dope threads, they’re a bit of an institution. After looking at the clothes you decide you wanna do a bit of local shopping - no worries. Funnily enough we head back down to Burleigh and wander through James Street. James Street is absolutely classic Gold Coast. Shops on either side, no building over two stories and right across from Burleigh beach. It’s where most of the locals go. We take a look through the old book store, Mrs Browns Vintage Store, Three Worlds and grab a quick juice at the Burleigh Fruit Shop (old as heck fruit store, like since the 1940’s and they make the best juices).

We wander on the north side of James Street along the highway and pick where we’re going for sunset drinks with the crew later - Justin Lane, perfect. Jump back in the car, time to wash off, maybe take a quick nap and get ready for tonight. Alright, it’s time. We meet everyone back at Justin Lane for a sunset drink on their rooftop. It overlooks Burleigh Beach, and usually Just Jessie is playing some classic chill house to vibe out too. Everyone's ordering fancy cocktails and feeling much richer than they actually are, it’s nice to treat yourself sometimes. It’s dinner time.

I’ve booked us a spot at Lupo restaurant in mermaid, a beautiful locally run Italian restaurant that specialises in local produce and beautiful meals. The vibe is immaculate in this quaint 1930’s-esque style restaurant, wonderful service and top wine list. The wood fired oven makes the restaurant smell immaculate, and everyone’s a little wine drunk. Feeling wonderful, we make our way to Nobby’s where there’s too many good places to choose from for some later night drinks.

We start at Mexicali for a breath of fresh air and a margarita, before heading down stairs to pop into the comfier confines of Cambus Wallace and Nightcap, intimate bars, with that Melbourne style pub feel. Righto the nights getting on, everyone’s vibing and there are whispers going around - someone said Elsewhere. I mean we may as well. We head on into surfers paradise, specifically the nightclub district. Amongst the chaos of Surfers, Elsewhere’s neon lights shine like a beacon of hope. Up the stairs and into the darkness, Elsewhere is a nightclub built around socialising and house music. With two floors, a smokers area and fun times, this is where we can dance. It’s sometime in the AM, you decide we’re done for the day, absolutely fair enough.

We walk through Surfers and get a kebab or late night Indian takeaway from one of the many hole in the wall shops run by locals, it tastes even better at this time of night. Back to bed, we’ll make sure we’re at the beach tomorrow morning to cure the hangover.

See you then.

IVEY are performing at Feedback Festival on Friday 04 December at Elsewhere with Hot Coffee. Tickets are available HERE.

This feature has been edited and condensed for clarity.

All images provided by IVEY.

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