Surfing Life in Gold Coast: Local Perspectives and Landmarks

Currumbin, a lesser-known surf spot, holds a special place in the professional surfer's heart.

### Surfing the Gold Coast: A Local's Guide
* 🌊 The Gold Coast is divided into three main surfing areas: **Coolangatta, Burleigh Heads, and Currumbin**.
* 🏄 Currumbin offers a great, **less crowded wave**.
* 🏖 Tugun, a neighboring suburb, has recently developed a **vibrant cafe culture** and is close to both the **beach and rainforest**.
* 🏫 Palm Beach Currumbin High School has a **strong surfing tradition**, with famous alumni like **Mick Fanning** and **Joel Parkinson**.
* 🏄 Burleigh Heads is known for its **challenging waves** and has undergone **significant gentrification** in recent years.
* 🍽 Local favorites in Burleigh include the **Red Hot Cod** and **Club Burleigh**, with the main street offering a **variety of dining and drinking options**.
* 🌊 Coolangatta, home to the world-famous Snapper Rocks, is a surfer's paradise with the iconic **Superbank**.
* 🏖 Rainbow Bay Surf Club is a historic venue that hosts the **first event of the year, the Quiksilver Pro**, and offers **stunning views of the coastline**.

[Music] [Music] it's somewhere. [Applause] [Music] so basically you break the Gold Coast down into three parts. you know you got cool and gotta end with snapper and Kyra. you've got Burleigh Heads in the north and then Currumbin smack bang in the middle. which is where we're at right now. I move to Currumbin when I was about 15 16 from the south coast in New South Wales. and I'd seriously hammer this wave every morning before school and after school. it's a sick way like it's a SAN bottom right-hand point as well. but it's just not as well known as snapper and Burleigh. at the moment I live in TuneIn which is the neighboring suburb south of Currumbin. sort of known to be not much a few years ago and now it's got this booming cafe culture. have started like usually if you're not sitting at the cafes carrying on with your friends. is you going inland to the rainforest this

is like 30 minutes away. You've got a bit of nightlife if you want to rip in. You obviously got awesome waves to the south and the north. So that's a the beach is basically all one beach and that that's crumb and black and surf table which is like in my eyes probably the best surf club in Australia. You can't get a better view. It's on the beach like beautiful zone. We're gonna pull into salt meal here. This place kind of pops off. It's really busy all the time. This is where I went to high school Tom inch chrome and satellite sounds real fancy not never used to be this fancy of it. This has got a pretty long history of professional surfers that went to it. We all sat in the same sort of area from generation to generation like well like Nick and Joel and Dean Morrison all sat for it for a while down and all the way down through like you know your Paul Fisher's down on addresses and then all the way down to me and Jack free stones.

and we'd do surfing on Mondays for two periods. Where we're going to surf, and Phil McNamara was our coach, like the coach of all coaches. And we're just a bunch of little groms, like carrying on and whinging. And we got like Phil McNamara, like molding us into these surfers. And we didn't even know like he'd like I go and do this like drill or something. And we're just like, Oh, whatever. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Oh, just the big [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] just wine around you guys have the time. Welcome to early heads. I'm go gotta Thompson. Yeah, so here we are at the red-hot Cod. It's one of each local favorites, would fish fresh fish mate from Evans head owns a joint. And they come here quite often with a missus. And it's not that romantic, but it's pretty good food, I could say. I started living here six years old, pretty much I'd lived

in her now at a year or two after that but yeah probably just shy of 30 years. To be honest, I've learned a boogie board here and then. I got like really killed that much and got dropped in every way, so I was forced to stand up. So yeah, as I started surfing, I was about 10 years old, and I'm just in the corner here at Burleigh kiddies corner. Going, I think Burleigh was pretty like, it was pretty full on, you know, there's like a lot of Ramat abuse, but I think it's pretty rad now looking back on it, kind of made who I am today, made me thick-skinned, and, you know, and probably at that as well, I probably wouldn't have ever kind of got as far as I did in professional surfing with the outlet as well, so you know, took some floggings, but yeah. So yeah, up here on the Left, we're coming to a mate's cafe. Start straight a little plug now, but it's amazing coffee, but the Tucker's, they've burned the coffee there so I

freaking smashed that joint on a regular basis. Coming around this bend up here, we got Club Burley. It's like the new billboard riders clubhouse, but um, this little zone through here used to be like a psycho pub. And I actually got my first ever beer there. My brother bought me a tube at all. It's pretty pumped on. And just to my right there, that's the burly bowls club. And me, my grandpa played bowls there for about 30 or 40 years. It's pretty sick. That's never changed. Always like Burly's had a big facelift, but the bowls top still looks the same. So it's kind of, you could say, like the old landmarks makes you still feel like it's like my old Burley town I grew up in. So it's pretty rad little straight. This is Jane Street. This is the Main Street of Burley. So this is like you find everything here. I bring the missus down here and we go to a couple of cool. There's a few little

roof there's a rooftop bar. Just Elaine was kind of the first rooftop bar. And then, then there's all these other rad little bars like little whiskey bars in the back popping up in the back of Burleigh. So which is pretty six. I mean here we are on the lip. This is down you could say essentially the covert op out of the point far to the south. You could say Sharky's. That's kind of my favorite part of the point. It's usually like when it's on it's just a slab. It's super thick and challenging and sectioning. So all the cooks kind of go the Falls and you can kind of get a couple under their guard. And then you've got the code which is pretty quick. And then it slows up for the for the point a little further [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] welcome to Coolangatta yeah so cool and got a tweed heads at twin towns really

do bar is on the tweed side snappers on the sides. We're two towns meet together at the border of New South Wales and Queensland. So we're just heading into cool and get it right now. Cooley Main Street some good restaurants I'd like to go to here then then yeah smoothie shop. So this is my favorite smoothie spot fresh Garden Cafe come and check it out morning Chris how you going. Hi Sue how are you that's good I'll have my usual please. This is where I get a little bit excited usually get my smoothie first before I check the surf usually if the winds are like kind of westerly and there's a little choppy over this side which it is today I'll be coming up here and get a bit excited when I get up to the top of the hill to see what Devo is doing um and so yeah this is snapper just down the hill and here we go the world-famous snapper the super bank this is a start of it up the

top here pretty much one of the best waves in the world. The eagle is very iconic and yes so usually we're just pretty excited at this point. The swells pumping, we're jumping out, just gonna where is it, where is it on a good day, all the way, all the way. Last well we had was pretty good not behind the rock but every other part like greenies got pretty shallow sand's pretty Hollow and even that last well we had um there was pretty good waves off the big groin here let's just say magic here when it's good like it's just like it just doesn't look real you're like kidding me. So yeah we're just heading down to Rainbow Bay Surf Club famous for holding the first event of the year the quickie Pro and it's my local. I am that's where I eat lunch with my beautiful fiance every Friday and where we go for beers with the boys and it's got one of the best views in the world iwase that's good that's alright you got.

new glasses. Happy New Year, boys. Yep, hi, Gram. Welcome to the surf club. There's a bit of history here. Actually, Joel, one of them 2002. I think he beat me in round 2, but anyway, I've got second - Dean Morrison in 2003. I never won it, but if you get to the top of the stairs, you see all these really famous, known, especially this one, and this one, and this one, and then who's at the top? It's me, but guess what? Wasn't cause of a wind. Well, actually, it was a bit of a wind because I made 50 2016. There you go, high five. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Nice long walks, yeah, well. [Music] My heart. [Music] [Music] I'm just a kid.

Stab's Guide to the Gold Coast

Stab: We like to surf

Exploring the Gold Coast's Three Distinct Parts

The Gold Coast is divided into Coolangatta, Burleigh Heads, and Currumbin, each with its own unique characteristics and attractions.

Currumbin has a growing cafe culture, a beautiful beach, and offers easy access to the rainforest, making it a diverse and popular area.

The region is also known for its prestigious high school with a long history of producing professional surfers.

A Surfer's Journey: From Groms to Professional

The speaker's surfing journey began with Phil McNamara as their coach, shaping them into the surfer they are today.

Starting at a young age, they faced challenges and "floggings" at Burleigh, which ultimately contributed to their success in professional surfing.

The speaker also mentions their favorite local spot, the Red-hot Cod, where they have been living and surfing for nearly 30 years.

Exploring Burley, a Charming Town in Australia

The town of Burley has undergone a significant transformation, with new establishments like Club Burley and rooftop bars, while still maintaining old landmarks like the Burley Bowls Club.

Jane Street is the main hub of Burley, offering a variety of bars and shops, including the first rooftop bar, providing a unique and diverse experience for visitors.

Coolangatta and Tweed Heads offer a complementary experience to Burley with its own attractions, making it a must-visit area in Australia.

Exploring Coolangatta and Its Famous Surfing Spots

Coolangatta is a coastal town located on the border of New South Wales and Queensland, known for its great restaurants and the world-famous Snapper super bank for surfing.

The town is also home to the Rainbow Bay Surf Club, which hosts the first event of the year, the Quiksilver Pro, and offers stunning views, making it a favorite spot for locals.

The area is characterized by exciting surfing opportunities with impressive waves, attracting both locals and tourists to experience its magic.

A Surfer's Journey: From Defeat to Victory

The speaker shares their history of competing in the surf club from 2002 to 2016, experiencing both defeats and a significant victory.

Despite not winning, they are proud to have made it to the top, showcasing resilience.

The speaker's journey is a mix of challenges, memorable moments, and ultimately, personal triumph.