Transcript

The Queensland playground.

They call it the Gold Coast. Eldorado.

Surfers Paradise. A place where it's always summer, where the sun and the sand are gold.

It's a strip of 20 miles between two rivers. The Tweed and the Narang.

20 miles of sea and sand on the east coast of Australia, in the north, where the sun shines like gold all the year round, and it's warm.

They call it the Gold Coast, but it's not gold that they look for.

They look for the sun.

They look for the sea. For the holiday atmosphere. For fun and games.

For meeting people. ♪ Had it in the middle, had it in the middle, ♪ had it on the top, had it on the top. ♪ Arm around your partner and you rock and roll around. ♪ Doing the green rock. ♪ Boom!

♪ Had it on the floor, had it on the floor, ♪ had it on the chest, had it on the chest. ♪ Arm around your partner and you rock and roll around. ♪ Doing the green rock. ♪ Boom!

But some people turn from the idyllic atmosphere of the holiday beach.

They look for the bustle and excitement of the city streets.

Surface Paradise, where a man can wear a swimming costume and carry a briefcase. No one will even notice.

There are other things to look at in Surfers Paradise.

The buildings, for instance.

You live an outdoor life on the Gold Coast. You wear the clothes that suit you and the weather. Even the buildings are designed to suit the climate. Fresh, open air, healthy.

And everywhere there are spaces where you can enjoy the sun.

At the motels,

at the hotels.

There are swimming pools where the water is just right all the year round. They catch the sun and they shine until even the bathing beauties are tempted to get wet.

You can sit by the pool if you like and watch from dry land, the splash and the fun of it all. Or you can just sit comfortably in one of the gardens.

Everyone, the people living there, the tourists, they all like outdoor living where they can enjoy the sun and the air, where they can have elaborate meals and no worries.

And then there's the barbecue, where father acts as waiter.

And where in the open air the cooks are busy with our national dish, steak to go with eggs.

The tourist bus is small, friendly.

It doesn't hold crowds of strangers.

But in 20 minutes, in less than 20 miles, it takes you to another world.

The beaches and the streets seem a long way off.

There are tropical fruits growing. Mangoes, paw paws, pineapples, plantations of bananas.

This is a country where the people work, a subtropical country of rich soil.

[music] And soon you come to the mountains that are too wild for cultivation.

But the mountains are not too wild for those with energy, those who know what they want.

And the mountains are worth climbing.

From the mountains you can see the rivers that are the boundaries of the Gold Coast.

The tweed curving to the sea.

The mountain birds and the river birds too fly down them to the coast.

They're the most famous lagoons,

and to one lagoon especially.

Wild birds that are almost tame, lorikeets.

They come here to be fed,

and the people come to feed them.

With a mixture of bread, honey and water, and milk for the kangaroo.

When feeding time is over the birds leave.

They go back home to their mountains, or back to their rivers.

[music] Out by the river there's golf, for those who take their holidays seriously.

But in the town there's mini golf.

You don't have to walk so far and you can still have fun.

And from the beaches there's fishing.

Ocean fishing with sometimes a catch.

There must be more fish in the sea, every fisherman says so.

There's always fishing, or the surfboard riding for those who want excitement and the chance to show their skill.

They ride the breakers, skimming over the water, making a long lazy looking line into the shore.

It's the holiday life.

Swimming and enjoying.

With people to meet, and people to watch. Resting and playing.

With room to move,

and things to see. They call it the Gold Coast, the Queensland playground.

The place where it's always summer, where the sand and the sun are gold.

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