Life's a beach on Australia's Gold Coast
Nov 26 2009 by Steve Murphy, Birmingham Post
Ant and Dec call this place home during filming of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. Paris Hilton and U2 have also made this their Gold Coast venue of choice. Venture further up the road and you’ll find fab beaches, secluded coves and a much slower pace of life, but it was back in town where I’d be staying and it was the sort of place that was hard to miss.
The Q1 Resort and Spa is 230 metres high, with claims to be the tallest residential building in the world. I’d landed a serviced apartment on the 49th floor and it’s by far the most spectacular room I’ve ever stayed in.
The suite had a vast 30ft-long living area with white high gloss kitchen... all very Miami Vice. It had two en-suite bedrooms, one of which had a hydro bath and a balcony area. In any normal setting the apartment alone would have been enough to get my vote, but with every wall on one side being glass, each room had jaw-dropping panoramic views stretching from coast below to the distant mountain ranges.
After a morning coffee on the balcony watching the beach below came to life, it was time to go to work. I cut the labels off my freshly purchased ‘cool’ surf gear, slipped on my thongs (flip flops) and wandered down to the beach only a street away.
Ex world champion Cheyne Horan runs a surf school in Surfer’s Paradise. My instructor, Mark Potter, was the ultimate surf dude... dreadlocked blonde hair, sunvisor, clothes that looked ‘really cool’ and deep golden tan. Girls were milling around almost queuing to get a look at him and pushing past the bald pasty guy from Birmingham.
At first I wanted to punch him or at least rough him up a bit but I had to swallow my pride, this was my guru, my mentor, my way into the surfing lifestyle.
After a safety check and thick coating of sunscreen we got to the fun stuff. At first all we had to do was lie on the board and come in with the surf, simple enough on the beach but less so in the water. What looked to be a fair size wave became a monster, smashing me off my feet.
Just getting out far enough to catch a wave was energy sapping. The sun was now making light work of my factor 50 and I’d still got an hour left, enough time to have a go at standing up. The first few attempts were encouraging. I’d been almost standing, well sort of crouching while waving like a lunatic, but as fatigue crept in things were getting worse. Patches of skin were missing from my shins, back and knees. My face had been ‘beautified’ along the sea floor too many times to count. My lungs were burning and the sun was now setting fire to my matchstick red head.
“Take it easy, you’re almost there. Take a breath before you jump up, don’t rush it and pick the right wave,” said Mark after watching me and my board take separate journeys to the beach again.
And so it was. I took my time, made one last attempt and it all came together. Not exactly like the slow motion advertisement clips, but I’d been able to stand up in control and even look across at the breaking wave before one last nose dive dismount into the surf.
I ran down the beach waving my top round my head, basking in the adulation of my new found buddies, before collapsing on the sand. My life was complete… I was a surf king in Queensland.
FACTBOX:
* Flights with Emirates: Fares from Birmingham to Brisbane (via Dubai) cost from £666 per person. Valid for travel April 20 – June 30, 2010. Book by November 30. For further information and reservations contact Emirates on 0844 800 2777 or visit www.emirates.com/uk
* Hotels: Limes Hotel, 142 Constance Street, Fortitude Valley www.limeshotel.com.au
* Q1 Resort & Spa: Cnr Hamilton Ave & Surfers Paradise Blvd, Surfers Paradise, www.q1.com.au
* For more details visit www.australia.com
