Greg
I live in Brisbane, and I am a member of SAS which is an astro society that covers South Brisbane to the Gold Coast. We have many members who live on the Gold Coast.
My suggestion is to check out the society's website (
www.sas.org.au ) and get in touch with Kevin Dixion (email will be on the website under "Members Contacts"). He will know of any local observing sites and will most probably drag you along with himself and his 16 inch dob for a tour of the southern skies. If you can time it for the dark sky weekend he may well drag you out to our dark sky camp at Leyburn (a bit over 2 hours from the Gold Coast).
Another option for you is to hook up with the Northern Rivers guys just over the border in and around Casino (NSW) - check out the thread in the Star Party section.
cheers
Andrew