GOLD COAST Every great success story has a start point. For the Gold Coast that was Surfers Paradise. Never spectacular surf, but an escape ‘paradise’ certainly. The original Surfers Paradise was, some 60 years ago a typical beach location, but with the added attraction of something ‘magic’. To this day that buzz remains. The Gold Coast is now a mini metropolis that draws tourists from around the world. A by-product of tourism, weather and very ambitious development the Gold Coast is an ever increasingly charged magnet. Colloquially known as 'Surfers', the suburb has many high-rise apartment buildings and a wide surf beach. The feature of the central business district is Cavill Mall, which runs through the shopping precinct. Cavill Avenue, named after Jim Cavill, an early hotel owner, is one of the busiest shopping strips in Queensland, and the centre of activity for night life. In 1917, a land auction was held by Brisbane real estate company Arthur Blackwood to sell subdivided blocks in Elston as the 'Surfers' Paradise Estate', but the auction failed because access was difficult. This was the first recorded reference to Surfers Paradise.  The boom of the 1950s and 1960s was centred on this area and the first of the tall apartment buildings were constructed in the decades that followed. Little remains of the early vegetation or natural features of the area and even the historical association of the beachfront development with the river are tenuous. So, now everything is new. New churches, new hotels and in truth no museums. Very typical of such rapid new developments. The Kokoda War Memorial is a great representation and memorial monument but stands as  an oxy-moron against such a commercial back-drop. That said this monument will stand the test of time. You can not help but love the place.... Allow a minimum of a week.