Australia's Unique Gold Coast

By Damian Papworth


The eastern coast of Australia is home to some of the most pristine and gorgeous tracts of land on the planet, graced with spectacular beaches and looming ridges that dazzle visitors to these shores. The most popular-and for good reason-of all the wonderful destinations along Australia's Pacific coast would have to be Gold Coast City and the broader Gold Coast area.

The slender stretch of shoreline and the hinterland that make up the larger Gold Coast area are nestled in the southeastern portion of the Australian state of Queensland, not a far trip heading south from the state capital, Brisbane. Mostly thanks to the incredible attractiveness of the Gold Coast, the city itself happens to be the largest non-capital city in the country.

The area blends the extremes of urban, modern life on the one hand and pristine ecological settings on the other hand like no other place on the planet. The most developed portion of Gold Coast City, sitting right on the waterfront on a sand bar, is brimming with high-rises and all of the luxuries and comforts of modern life; then, the areas farther inland as well as the beaches farther from downtown, including the rainforest area in the Gold Coast hinterland, provide the ideal sanctuary for nature lovers, picnickers, and just about anybody looking to get away from the bustle of life in the center.

A truly remarkable quality of this area is its winding grid of man-made canals and waterways, which were built as a way to ease development in what was historically a low-lying marshy area. In their totality, these canals stretch out over a distance that is over nine times longer than the world-famous canals of Venice, which is a fair amount of waterways when you think about it. One of the benefits of this feautre has been that lots of properties are located on the waterfront even if they are not right on the beach, and this has helped boost the Gold Coast's allure.

One of the big claims to fame that the Gold Coast has is its status as a mecca for surfers, and it is definitely among the most select surf destinations in the country and in the entire world. At the top of the list of the many spots along the Gold Coast's more than 35 miles of shoreline are the beaches at Kirra, Burleigh Heads, Palm Beach and Surfers Paradise. The waves here are nothing short of ideal at many times of the year, with another impressive tube about to roll on through at any moment.

Much to the pride of locals, the Gold Coast coastal waters are under the constant vigilance of the Queensland Shark Control Program, and not a single swimmer on the beach has been the victim of a shark attack for many long decades.

Some of the most recognizable places in the Gold Coast are the Q1 building, a soaring tower with an observing deck that is only beaten out in height by one other tower (also in Australia) in all of the southern hemisphere, at about 754 feet tall. Then there is the beauty of Lamington Park, which figures on the World Heritage Site list compiled by the United Nations because of the ecological diversity and spectacular natural vistas. Finally, just about evey beach along the entire length of the Gold Coast-it ought to go without saying-is on its own a landmark worthy of recognition.

All in all, the Gold Coast has plenty to offer people of all tastes-a fact that is well attested to by the 10 million visitors that come to this corner of Queensland every year. The fact that a majority of those people are themselves Australian is further proof of the fact that this is one of the most naturally pleasing and rewarding landscapes in the vast and intriguing country/continent of Australia.




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