Surfers Paradise - City of Australia

Surfers Paradise is a town on Australia's Gold Coast in Queensland. Colloquially known as 'Surfers', the suburb is famous for its many high-rise apartment buildings and wide surf beach. The central feature of the Surfers Paradise central business district is Cavill Mall, which runs through the centre of the main shopping precinct. Cavill Avenue, named after Jim Cavill, an early hotel owner, is one of the busiest shopping strips in Queensland, and is the centre of activity for night life and 'schoolies' trips. It's the most famous feature of the Gold Coast's skyline, although other ares such as Burleigh and Coolangatta are also dotted with skyscrapers, those areas have shorter and less.

James Beattie, a farmer, became the first European to settle in the Surfers Paradise area when he staked out an 80-acre (32 ha) farm on the northern bank of the Nerang River, close to the location of present-day Cavill Avenue. The farm proved unsuccessful and was sold in 1877 to German immigrant Johann Meyer, who turned the land into a sugar farm and mill. Meyer also had little luck growing in the sandy soil and within a decade had auctioned off the farm and started a private ferry service and built the Main Beach hotel as tourist attractions. By 1889, Meyer's hotel had become an official postal receiving office and the subdivisions surrounding it were given the name Elston, named by the Southport Postmaster Mr Palmer after his wife's home village in Nottingham, England. The Main Beach Hotel licence lapsed after Meyer's death in 1901 and for the next 16 years Elston was a tourist town without a hotel or post office.

Some minor changes have occurred in extending the road along the beachfront since the early subdivision and The Esplanade road is now very much a focus of activity in this part of the Gold Coast. Promenading and people-watching takes place in this area where land use encourages not only residential activity but tourism with supporting shops and restaurants. The intensity of activity, centred on Cavill, Orchid and Elkhorn Avenues, is reflected in the density of building development. Of all places on the Gold Coast the buildings in this area constitute a dominant and enduring image visible from many vantage points in the city from as far south as Coolangatta as well as from the mountain resorts of the hinterland and beyond.

The Gold Coast Oceanway is a foreshoreway that travels along a beachfront alignment between Narrowneck and Surfers Central but then diverts inland to travel along a narrow corridor along Garfield and Northcliffe Terraces behind the beachfront highrises. Gold Coast City Council proposed to create a new Oceanway pavement along the public road reserve between the highrise buildings and the dunes but there was considerable opposition from local residents.

Since 1991 the Champ Car World Series has run an annual race on the streets of Surfers Paradise, an event known generically as the Nikon Indy 300. For 2008 the Indy Racing League will take up the event.

Schoolies week is celebrated by around 50,000 high school graduates each November.

Population : 18,501 (2006 Census)
Postcode : 4217
Location : 78 km (48 mi) from Brisbane
LGA : Gold Coast City
State District : Surfers Paradise
Federal Division: Moncrieff