Why holiday on the Gold Coast? It’s a question I am asked quite often despite our perfect weather, beautiful beaches and laid back way of life. If you are thinking about visiting us here, I have outlined some of the major highlights of our year below, to help you plan your next trip and to make sure you get the most out of your time here.

This calendar is in no way the final word on the matter. The Gold Coast has so many different attractions that I recommend doing some exploring besides checking out these recommendations.

January: How does the Magic Millions Carnival sound? That’s exactly what you’ll find on the Goldy every January with this legendary horse racing event. You’ll find yearling sales, races, formal dinners, parties and more, all leading up to the main event, the Magic Millions Race, where more than $3 Million will go to the winner.

February: Without any specific big event in February, it is often the best time to visit. With school holidays coming to an end, the peak tourist period starting to die, you will be left with more space, more time and a more relaxing experience. Perfect for the holiday maker just wanting to wind down on a beach somewhere.

March: Every March, the surfing world turns their collective attention to the Gold Coast, as the first event on the annual World Championship Tour is fought out on our waves. Given how much Australian surfers love the Gold Coast as a surfing destination generally, March really becomes a special time for surfers local and visiting, who find themselves visiting here.

April: The old school of surfing invades Gold Coast waves in April, as the Malfunction Surf Festival comes to town. You’ll see the longboards getting unloaded from old cars, with guys talking about “hanging 10″ back in the ’70s. Plenty of nostalgia is in the air, while great souvenirs and memorabilia are on display and for sale, with movies and presentations filling out the schedule. Classic surf culture definitely has its day on the beach.

May: Each year in May, over 70 blues artists from OZ and the US and over 100,000 blues lovers and enthusiasts make their way to Broadbeach to appreciate 5 days of blues music in a massive street festival environment – The Broadbeach Blues Festival has come to town. The line up of artists and festival generally gets better and better every year.

June: Whale-watching season is in full swing in June, when nature’s most impressive mammals head North for the annual migration, to the delight of observers and nature lovers on shore.

July: If you are a runner up to the challenge, July’s Gold Coast Marathon is the event for you. Besides the exciting race, an entire weekend of events geared toward the fitness-minded surround the main event.

August: August in the Gold Coast is your time of year if you love to celebrate your taste buds. The annual Tastes of The Gold Coast Festival brings the best of the Gold Coast’s food and wine together, to be tasted and feasted upon, in Australia’s most idyllic settings. It is a true celebration of the Gold Coast lifestyle, wine and food producers, chefs and restaurants, who now count among some of the worlds best.

September: September finds art lover heading down to Currumbin Beach for the annual Swell Sculpture Festival, without comparison in the world. With artists producing sculptures intended for outdoor use, you’ll see some impressive creations that are larger and more imposing than anything sitting in a museum. Of course, with the art comes the party, and you’ll see quite a lively festival surrounding the event, with tourists and artists mingling through it all.

October: Car racing enthusiasts should mark October on the calendar and hit Surfers Paradise for the show. Whether it’s A1 GP or Indy, you’re going to get a taste of speed in this exciting festival.

November and December: When Australian teens finally finish their studies and graduate from secondary school, there’s one obligation left: Schoolies Week. In a party to end all parties, the streets of Surfers Paradise and the Gold Coast at large are jammed with recent diploma holders bent on letting out all the frustrations of a lifetime in the classroom. If you are about to graduate and don’t want the same old boring events at your school, check out Schoolies Week.

For the more mature crowd, this Schoolies Week could seem like something out of a nightmare, but don’t be scared off. Booking a hotel outside of Surfers Paradise will keep you away from the epicenter of things. In Mermaid and Collangatta cooler heads can prevail and a relaxing time enjoyed by all.

Hopefully this planner will help — enjoy.

Damian Papworth has learned there is too much to see for women coming on a Gold Coast holiday. That is just another reason why acquiring the perfect women’s shoes is so crucial.

If your photos are crooked or were scanned into your computer at an angle you don’t need to toss them out. Instead, use Adobe Elements to quickly and easily straighten them out again. Here is how you can use Adobe Elements to straighten your crooked or tilted photo.

Two of the main tools you will use include the measure tool and the crop tool. We use the measure tool to define the level of the picture and straighten it. This is done by selecting the measure tool from the menu and clicking on the background of your photo and dragging it in a straight line to the other end. Doing this sets the level of your photo. Using this tool you can also level items such as roof lines as well as shelves or anything that should be in a straight line. Next you want to select the rotate canvas option to rotate the image and fix it on the canvas. You should see the canvas expanding to match the size of your photo. Finally you will want to use the crop tool to cut the extra unwanted edges.

The crop tool gives you the opportunity to both crop and straighten at the same time. When you use the crop tool you will want to select it from your tools area then click and hold your mouse, dragging a rectangle around the part of the photo that you wish to keep. You will want to position the horizontal edge on the horizontal line to set the level of the image. You can also use this to align any item horizontally as I mentioned above. Next drag the marquee so that its edge merges with the horizon line. This is done to align the edge to a horizontal position.

After one edge is fixed, repeat the same to align the rest of the edges. However, note that if you want to fix the vertical lines on your image, then, do not align them with vertical borders. You can correct them by using ?perspective? option available in the option bar. By selecting the perspective option, you can correct the vertical lines by fixing the corners of the boundary meant to be cropped to the right perspective. Make sure to keep all the corners in the assigned document.

While the perspective element is not immediately available with Photoshop Elements it can be activated by converting the chosen background into a layer by double clicking on the background. With the rise in the popularity of digital cameras also comes the increased amount of tilted and crooked photos. They usually occur when the photographer clicks the shutter while keeping the camera straight and looking at the back screen. This has the tendency to distort the photo by making it disproportionate. With these tips you no longer need to take 4-5 of the same shots of the same subject. Repetition not only wastes your camera’s battery but the memory as well. Easily rid yourself of tilted photos with the amazing tools included inside Adobe Elements.

Did you enjoy this article? Interested in learning Elements fast? Well now you can by reading this free report…what are you waiting for?