We spent one awesome night at the Gold Coast. The sunset was absolutely incredible. And I stupidly missed its peak by not getting out there early enough. Always get to sunsets and sunrises early and watch them unfold. Don't wait until you see they're nice before going, or you'll be late. Learn to recognize the clouds and future paths of light that will make for a great sunset or sunrise.

Sunset over the main Gold Coast strip shortly *after* sunset had peaked. All the clouds on the left had been brilliant pink and orange mere seconds before. Taken with DJI Phantom 3 Pro. — Sunset over the main Gold Coast strip shortly *after* sunset had peaked. All the clouds on the left had been brilliant pink and orange mere seconds before. Taken with DJI Phantom 3 Pro.

We stayed at the fantastic Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Gold Coast! I paid 12,000 Starwood points for one night. As a Plat75/Lifetime Gold member, they upgraded us to a ginormous 1000 square foot one-bedroom suite! It was an incredible deal as a Platinum member. If we hadn't had a super-early flight out of Brisbane the next morning, we could have also enjoyed free breakfast as a Platinum member, which I'm sure would have been great. I wish I'd've taken the time to photograph some of the beautiful grounds, including gorgeous pools. Ah well, there's always next time. All in all, the Sheraton Grand Gold Coast for SPG Platinums is a fantastic value on either points or cash. Highly recommended.

Sunset over the Sheraton Grand Gold Coast. Taken with DJI Phantom 3 Pro. — Sunset over the Sheraton Grand Gold Coast. Taken with DJI Phantom 3 Pro.

Long exposure photo taken by Fineas of me flying the DJI Phantom 3 while concentrating carefully on photographing the sunset. I was concentrating so closely, I didn't realize he was still taking a photo and I moved halfway through the exposure. But … — Long exposure photo taken by Fineas of me flying the DJI Phantom 3 while concentrating carefully on photographing the sunset. I was concentrating so closely, I didn't realize he was still taking a photo and I moved halfway through the exposure. But I kinda like the effect!

Shot taken down the Gold Coast island, away from the strip. Taken with DJI Phantom 3 Pro. — Shot taken down the Gold Coast island, away from the strip. Taken with DJI Phantom 3 Pro.

Another happy accident photo. This was on my second flight of the evening. My first battery was nearly empty, so I dove for the beach, landed, swapped batteries, and took off again as fast as I could. I failed to notice that when I landed, my camera… — Another happy accident photo. This was on my second flight of the evening. My first battery was nearly empty, so I dove for the beach, landed, swapped batteries, and took off again as fast as I could. I failed to notice that when I landed, my camera had buried its lens in the sand, coating it with sand. When I took off again and took some pictures, the red landing lights of the Phantom reflected off the grains of sand, creating a dreamy bokeh lights effect over the whole photo. Or the photo has chicken pox, depending on whether you're a pessimist or optimist. :-)