1 The Beach
Life on the Gold Coast really is a beach. The local culture revolves around surf, sand and sunshine. And with 70km of coastline, more than 40 patrolled beaches and 300-plus sunny days a year, it's easy to understand why. The tricky bit is figuring out which beach is best. Surfers Paradise was nominated as the World's Best Beach by The Travel Channel, but it really depends on what you've got in mind. If romantic walks are your thing, avoid the crowds and sink your toes into the powdery white sand of Nobby's Beach, five minutes' drive south of Surfers, and famous for its sunsets. If you've got kids, you may prefer the calm waters of Rainbow Bay, on the Queensland-New South Wales state border, voted the region's cleanest beach in 2002. Prefer peace and privacy? Then jump on a ferry from Runaway Bay Marina for the 20-minute trip to nearby South Stradbroke Island. And if surfing is your passion, take your board to Kirra Point, just north of Coolangatta, to catch the breakers.
2 Gold Coast Hinterland
Known as 'the green behind the gold', the mountainous hinterland offers 100,000 hectares of World Heritage-listed nature reserves just 30 minutes' drive from the beaches. With the greatest biodiversity in Australia, it's the perfect place to unwind and do a little communing with friendly rainforest creatures. Rent a car in Surfers Paradise or join a tour operator, such as CB Tours (tel: 61 410 611 589,
www.cbtours.com), and let a local show you around. Either way, don't miss Natural Bridge, with its brilliant glow-worm colony. After being awed by the country's largest preserved stand of subtropical rainforest, including 4,000-year-old Antarctic beach trees, in Lamington National Park, stop for lunch at O'Reilly's Rainforest Guesthouse (tel: 61 7 5544 0644, ww.oreillys.com.au). Then get your boots on and hike some of the 260km of graded walking tracks, ranging from the easy 2km Treetop Walk in Lamington to full-fledged treks to Mount Merino, Coomera Gorge and Elabana Fall, which can take several days.
3 Whale-watching
Each year from June to November, the Gold Coast's balmy waters are host to some of Mother Nature's most graceful and playful creatures. There's always plenty of tail-slapping, fin-waving and breaching as humpbacks, orcas, minkes and southern right whales pass by on their annual migration from the Antarctic to their breeding grounds off the east coast of Australia. Get close enough to count the barnacles on the belly of a 45-tonne humpback with a Spirit of the Bay cruise (tel: 61 7 5527 6400,
www.spiritofthebay.com.au). Or grab a pair of binoculars and head to Burleigh Headland or Point Danger at the southern end of the Gold Coast and watch the whales from dry land.