Paradise in Surfers? Friday, January 22 to 23

We entered Queensland and traveled up the Gold Coast on Friday. We stopped in Burleigh Heads and checked out the first day of the Hurley Burley junior surfing competition (I was later informed by locals that it’s called a surf comp- they abbreviate everything down here!) The grand prize for the five day test of skills in the waves is $25, 000 and these kids are good. People love their surfing down here; there was a new state-of-the-art pair of surf shorts from Hurley and Nike on display in one of the tents. It was enclosed in glass and marketed to the extreme.
Surfer’s Paradise (known affectionately as Surfers) is another must-see for many on the Gold Coast. Welcome to hedonism at its’ best. But Surfers, surprisingly, is more than flesh and partying. Although it’s purely a resort town, with plenty of party people, it’s got a great heart as well and doesn’t come across as snobby. Perched along an extremely long stretch of beach, all of the high-rises here are hotels or apartment buildings. The suburbs of the city consist of waterways, and similar to Bangkok or Venice, most houses are perched on inlets and surrounded by water of some kind.
We camped in the strangest campervan park. It was just outside of the downtown area but still in the middle of the city and very close to the beach. Huge buildings surrounded the pretty, treed complex and we wondered how much money this park is sitting on. A picture in the office revealed people camping here in the 1920s and it’s obvious the park has been in the family for a long time. Still, it was strange to camp in an urban jungle.
The highlight for me was the Q Tower, a new luxury condo complex that is the 20th tallest building in the world. Q boasts an elevator that takes visitors to the 77th floor lookout deck in 43 seconds. Once up there, the views are panoramic. It almost feels like you’re floating overtop the city. We spent several hours up there, appreciating both Surfers beauty and that of the ocean which stretches as far as the eye can see.