The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nation's largest regional city, and Queensland's second-largest city after Brisbane. The city's Central Business District is located roughly in the centre of the Gold Coast in the suburb of Southport, with the suburb holding more corporate office space than anywhere else in the city. The urban area of the Gold Coast is concentrated along the coast sprawling almost 60 kilometers, joining up with the Greater Brisbane Metropolitan Area to the north and to the state border with New South Wales to the south.
Surfers Paradise is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Surfers Paradise had a population of 23,689 people.
Q1 Tower is a 322.5-metre (1,058 ft) supertall skyscraper in Queensland, Australia. The residential tower on the Gold Coast was the world's tallest residential building from 2005 to 2011. As of September 2022, it is the 14th tallest residential tower in the world, the tallest building in Australia, the second tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, and the third-tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, behind the Autograph Tower in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand. The Q1 officially opened in November 2005.
A parking enforcement officer (PEO), traffic warden, parking inspector/parking officer, or civil enforcement officer is a member of a traffic control department or agency who issues tickets for parking violations. The term parking attendant is sometimes considered a synonym but sometimes used to refer to the different profession of parking lot attendant.
Sir Andrew Bruce Small OStJ was an Australian businessman and politician. In Melbourne, he developed Malvern Star bicycles into a household name in Australia, then retired to the Gold Coast, Queensland, where he developed property, and as Mayor of the Gold Coast, promoted the area to Australia and the world as a family friendly holiday destination through the bikini-clad meter maids in Surfers Paradise.
Sea bathing is swimming in the sea or in sea water and a sea bath is a protective enclosure for sea bathing. Unlike bathing in a swimming pool, which is generally done for pleasure or exercise purposes, sea bathing was once thought to have curative or therapeutic value. It arose from the medieval practice of visiting spas for the beneficial effects of the waters. The practice of sea bathing dates back to the 17th century but became popular in the late 18th century. The development of the first swimsuits dates from the period as does the development of the bathing machine.
Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion, and lifestyle surrounding the sport of surfing. The history of surfing began with the ancient Polynesians. That initial culture directly influenced modern surfing, which began to flourish and evolve in the early 20th century, with its popularity peaking during the 1950s and 1960s. It has affected music, fashion, literature, film, art, and youth jargon in popular culture. The number of surfers throughout the world continues to increase as the culture spreads.
Snapper Rocks is a small rocky outcrop on the northern side of Point Danger at the southern end of Rainbow Bay on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is a famous surf break and today the start of the large sand bank known to surfers as the Superbank.
The history of the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia began in prehistoric times with archaeological evidence revealing occupation of the district by indigenous Australians for at least 23,000 years. The first early European colonizers began arriving in the late 1700s, settlement soon followed throughout the 19th century, and by 1959 the town was proclaimed a city. Today, the Gold Coast is one of the fastest-growing cities in Australia.
Sport on the Gold Coast has a rich history. As a popular tourist destination leisure sports like Golf, but most particularly sports associated with its famous beaches, have always been popular. A number of surf clubs line Gold Coasts beaches, who host a variety of swimming and athletic events collected into surf carnivals along with competitions evolved from methods of surf life saving.
Bernie Elsey Snr was a property developer and entrepreneur, associated with early developments on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Ferry Road is a road in Southport, on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Originally a suburban street, it is now part of Southport – Burleigh Road, a state controlled road
A bikini barista is a woman who works as a barista, preparing and serving coffee beverages, while dressed in scanty attire such as a bikini, lingerie or a crop top combined with bikini bottoms or hotpants. In the United States, this marketing technique originated in the Seattle, Washington area in the early 2000s. Similar phenomena have appeared in countries such as Chile and Japan since at least the 1980s.
Cavill Avenue is a street and a pedestrian mall in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is in the heart of the Surfers Paradise shopping and entertainment district. It was named in honour of the man credited as the founder of Surfers Paradise, James Cavill, known as Jim Cavill.
Surfers Paradise Australian Football Club is a Gold Coast based club competing in the AFL Queensland QAFL Australian rules football competition.
Paula Stafford OAM was an Australian fashion designer credited with introducing the bikini to Australia. Graeme Potter, director of Queensland Museum South Bank, called her "Australia's original bikini designer".
The Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman and Ironwoman Series is a professional iron man and iron women racing series, born out of surf livesaving.
Kinkabool is a heritage-listed apartment block at 32-34 Hanlan Street, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by John M. Morton of Lund Hutton Newell Black & Paulsen and built from 1959 to 1960 by J D Booker Constructions Pty Ltd. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 February 2009.
Surfers Paradise Apollo Soccer Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. The club plays in the Football Queensland Premier League 2, the third flight of men's soccer in Queensland and the fourth flight of Australian soccer. Since the club was formed in 1978, Surfers Paradise Apollo have won 3 premierships, 3 championships and one president's cup within the top-flight Gold Coast regional competition, as well as a variety of second tier honours.
Women's surfing is thought to date back to the 17th century. One of the earliest records of women surfing is of princess Keleanohoana’api’api, also known as Kalea or the Maui Surf Riding Princess. It is rumored that Kalea was the trailblazer of surfing and could surf better than both men and women. A few centuries later in the mid-late 1800s, Thrum’s Hawaiian Annual reported that women in ancient Hawaii surfed in equal numbers and frequently better than men. Over the last 50 years, women's surfing has grown in popularity.
