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GOLD
COAST, Australia—I am writing this while taking a break
from my hectic coverage of the Magic Millions National
Sales, which has become a yearly pilgrimage for me.
I fell
in love with the Gold Coast when I first set foot here
two years ago—also while attending my first Magic
Million National Sales, considered as the biggest horse
sale in the Southern Hemisphere. I also joined a trip
here last year with a couple owners and trainers. This
is actually my fourth straight time in Australia
attending such an activity. My first was three years ago
in
Melbourne
while the next two were here in Gold Coast.
No, I
don’t buy horses, but I really love chronicling the
participation of Filipino horse owners in this annual
event. I also love the never-ending stretch of beach
with its continuously crushing waves. I have never ever
swum in its sea since I always visit in June, which is
the onset of winter. But I never get tired of walking on
the beach in the morning. There are few who, with their
surfboards, brave the icy water and the crumbling big
waves.
Nothing
compares with the powdery sands of the Gold Coast—even
our beaches such as El Nido, Bolinao and Boracay, which
I fortunately visited last summer one after the other in
a span of only a month. (Although each one has
characteristics that separate it from the rest of the
world.) You will feel your feet slowly digging deeper
into the sand as the waves rush to your feet.
We are
billeted at the Genesis Apartment at Markwell Avenue in
the very exciting and very popular
Surfers Paradise Boulevard—scene
of “the action” over the past several days because of
the Queensland Foundation celebration. The place where I
stay is just one block away from the world-famous Q1,
considered the highest apartment in the world today.
On
Saturday, the whole
Surfers Paradise
Beach
opposite the Hanlan Street roundabout was jammed with
people from all over as they celebrated Queensland
Cracker Night, a nightlong celebration of music and
dance punctuated by three major fireworks displays on an
hourly basis. The whole esplanade traffic was closed to
accommodate the throng of people who came from
everywhere.
There
were groups of people drinking everywhere, but,
surprisingly, there were no police patrols to be seen.
Those who were already drunk could be seen holding beer
or liquor bottles while hollering at motorists
crisscrossing the boulevard. Some were already rowdy but
there were no untoward incidents recorded that night.
Next
day, the streets of Gold Coast were almost deserted
after an entire night of merrymaking.
Only a
local newspaper columnist and a government official
noticed the rowdy scenes, which mostly involved
teenagers who engaged in all-night drinking sprees. They
laid the blame on “the lack of taxis servicing the Gold
Coast late at night on weekends.” Australians enjoy
drinking, which is why most of them no longer drive
their cars on weekends, when drinking sprees are common.
A stiff fine or revocation of one’s driving license
await those who are found to be driving after having had
a drink too many.
With
only some 300 taxis servicing the Gold Coast at any
given time (all of them are owned by one operator—Regent
Taxis), one government official was quoted: “The
disgracefully inadequate number of taxis in the Gold
Coast has given Surfers Paradise that lonely, lawless
end-of-the-line feeling.”
Reasoning out that Sydney, whose population is almost
eight times that of the Gold Coast, has a fleet of more
than 5,000 taxis (which means that the Gold Coast must
have a proportioned number of around 650 taxis), the
said government official revealed a plan to introduce
100 “weekend warrior” taxis “to meet the high demand for
taxis on a weekend and help clear the streets of drunks
in the early hours.”
One
distinct characteristic of every motorist that I like
very much here is that they are very polite with the
pedestrians. Even if the light is green on their side,
they won’t budge an inch or sound their horns, much
unlike the drivers in Manila. I noticed that during my
first visit to
Australia,
and it is still very much practiced today. It’s about
time that courtesy to pedestrians be enforced among
Filipino motorists.
Another
bit of big news here is the absence of a major sponsor
for this year’s Indy race at Surfers Paradise, which
might be canceled following the end of Lexmark’s
$2-million-a-year commitment last year. This is the
first time in the 19-year history of the event that
organizers have yet to name a presenting sponsor. The
Queensland government spends around A$12 million a year
in co-organizing the event with the International
Management Group. |
