Virgin Lounge Access - Should I purchase lounge membership or wait until I’ve earnt the Gold Status?

I’m going to be flying a lot with Virgin for work across AUS/NZ (every 2nd week) and was wondering if I should cough up for the lounge membership ($399) or whether I should be waiting until I’ve earnt enough points to achieve gold status? If I’m to wait do you know how many flights it normally takes to earn gold status (currently red status with 27 credit points)