A gentleman’s guide to the Gold Coast

Words andrew bain

There’s more to the Gold Coast than theme parks and tourist-soaked beaches. One discerning male suits up to discover the

city’s dandy side, with boutique shopping, sumptuous eating and luxe lodging.

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DAY 1 – 8AMStart as you mean to go on, is my motto. So first stop is Borries Tailors, a store in Marina Mirage shopping centre on Main Beach, specialising in handmade, bespoke suits — the sort you would wear to the Melbourne Cup or Gold Coast’s Magic Millions Carnival rather than the office — that have won customers as famously flash as George Benson and Cliff Richard. “Our market is probably the male who’s got everything and wants to show off a bit,” says tailor Les Sherlock. “It’s for someone who wants to make a statement.” For the ultimate display of opulence, why not place an order for a $10,000 suit pin-striped with 22-carat gold?

NOONThe best of the Gold Coast’s wildlife is not found in the nightclubs — it’s just offshore, in the waters dubbed the Humpback Highway. From Mariner’s Cove Marina I make an early departure on a whale-watching cruise aboard a Tallship Island Adventures wave-piercing catamaran, and the sightings come quickly, with an explosion of water from a breaching humpback in waters still close to the high-rises of Surfers Paradise. For more than an hour we follow a trio of juvenile whales who run through the full humpback playlist: flukes, spy hopping, fin slapping and breaching, sometimes just metres from the ship.

3PMSurfers Paradise is a fast-paced place, but nowhere more so than at RaceCentre. This motor-racing simulator centre, with high-definition screens and Dolby surround sound, has eight linked simulators, so you can race your mates on any one of 1000 tracks available from almost any major series. It’s unnervingly realistic, particularly if you add in race variables such as tyre wear and fuel usage. Expect more crashing than dashing for the first half-hour or so, but soon after you’ll be burning rubber with the best.

7PMThe real windfall inside Jupiters Hotel & Casino is Zen restaurant, which won the 2008 Best Chinese Restaurant award at the Restaurant & Catering Queensland Awards. The food is authentic, and once you taste the powerful, but not overpowering, flavours of the Sichuan

chilli chicken or Peking duck, you will begin to appreciate the accolades.

10PMAfter dinner I head for one of the classiest bars on the coast: Stingray at the QT Gold Coast hotel. Just three blocks — and yet seemingly light years — from central Surfers Paradise, it’s a grown-up, sophisticated watering hole with an industrial-chic look. It’s also the bar of choice for a beautiful crowd which wants something more mellow than the white noise of the neighbourhood’s usual nightlife.

DAY 2 – 8AMFrom my ocean-view room in the sleek towers at Peppers Broadbeach, complete with in-room iPads, I head downstairs to the modish new Oracle shopping and dining precinct. Here, the stripped-bare walls and passionate baristas at No Name Lane combine to create one of the Gold Coast’s most enticing and stylish coffee nooks. The breakfasts are simple — think avocado and tomato on sourdough toast, or macadamia muesli — and the beans are from boutique outfit Black Sheep Coffee Roasters.

10AMReturning to Mariner’s Cove, I board a helicopter for a rapid trip into the hinterland; the green that offsets the coast’s gold. Skimming low over Surfers Paradise’s residential towers, it’s a 15-minute flight into Songbirds Rainforest Retreat on the slopes of Mt Tamborine, where life is kneaded into my body with a fire-lit massage in one of the retreat’s six rainforest-wrapped villas.

NOONIn just a couple of years, the restaurant at Songbirds has earnt itself a swag of local gongs, including a chef’s hat from the Australian Good Food & Travel Guide. It is also found in one of the finest locations imaginable, with views across the retreat’s 20 hectares of private rainforest. Under chef Trent Scarr’s careful supervision, the restaurant’s venison tenderloin with curried Jerusalem artichoke and apple-saffron puree is unmissable, while the white chocolate and cherry panna cotta is deliciously decadent.

2.30PMWashing down lunch is a simple matter on Mt Tamborine. From Songbirds Rainforest Retreat I make the short drive to Tamborine Mountain Distillery, the most-awarded distillery in Australia, with more than 200 international and national accolades to its name. Using a traditional copper pot as well as fresh local fruit and native produce, larger-than-life owner Michael Ward creates 80 varieties of liqueur, including schnapps, gin, vodka and grappa. The wattle-toffee liqueur, in particular, is nectar of the gods. Mt Tamborine is also sprinkled with vineyards, so I head on to the Cedar Creek Estate vineyard and winery and the attached Queensland Wine Centre. As well as selling its own range of 18 red, white and dessert wines, the estate showcases tipples from 15 vineyards around Queensland, including medal-winning drops from the likes of Golden Grove Estate and Sirromet. “There were no state wine centres in a winery setting, so we decided to do one,” says Cedar Creek owner John Penglis. “Generally, dry-grown Mediterranean varieties grow well in Queensland. We produce the best verdelho in the world.”

6.30PMAfter flying back to the coast, I head to Metricon Stadium in Carrara for what has become the greatest sporting show in town: a Gold Coast Suns AFL match. The liveliest, most exciting spot to watch the game is in the Virgin Australia Lounge — its large, funky bar opens onto a barbecue terrace and outdoor seating area, providing arguably the best seats in the stadium, right above the interchange benches. ▶

(clockwise from this image) The twin towers of Peppers Broadbeach; Borries Tailors in Marina Mirage shopping centre; Jupiters Casino; a whale-watching excursion.

(clockwise from above) The Virgin Australia Lounge at Metricon Stadium in Carrara; a selection of spirits and liqueurs at Tamborine Mountain Distillery; chic accommodation at Songbirds Rainforest Retreat; beef with black pepper and honey at Jupiters Hotel & Casino’s Zen restaurant.

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DAY 3 – 7.30AMAn early rise is in order to get the opening tee slot on Sanctuary Cove’s overhauled The Palms golf course, a time when the fairways are busier with kangaroos than golfers. The course reopened in April 2011 after a two-year, $8.8-million redesign by Ross Watson and features GPS-equipped golf buggies, 85 strategically placed bunkers and some of the most challenging greens in the country.

1PMIn the Marine Village in Sanctuary Cove, Soul in Stone Sculptures is a tiny gallery crowded with exquisite sculptures from Zimbabwe. The true rock star here is verdite, dubbed the ‘green stone of Africa’, of which there are only two known deposits in the world — in South Africa and Zimbabwe. “It’s probably one of the most beautiful stones on Earth,” says gallery owner Luis Blasco, pointing to six verdite sculptures on display, priced up to $25,000 each. “These are probably the last pieces of this verdite there will ever be. The deposit closed seven years ago.”

3PMAfter a busy few days, it’s time for some R&R. In the luxurious Manor Suite at the

Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove, which overlooks the resort’s beach lagoon and the cove itself, I can sweat it out in the private sauna — or I can let someone do the relaxation work for me, with a Men’s Ocean Marine facial from the day spa.

7PMInside the resort, The Fireplace is one of the finest restaurants in the area. The open kitchen, decorated with pots and plates, is as welcoming as a farmhouse

kitchen. Blazing up to 450-degree Celsius, the custom-made wood-fired ovens are stoked with ironbark and red-gum wood aged for four to five years, adding subtle smoky flavours to the likes of the signature slow-roasted free-range duck or Tajima wagyu rib fillet. ▶

GETTinG ThERE To book your Virgin Australia flights to the Gold Coast, call 13 67 89 (in Australia) or visit www.virginaustralia.com.

(clockwise from right) The Palms golf course at Sanctuary Cove; chefs at The Fireplace at Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove whip up culinary magic; the resort’s lagoon at dusk.

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LITTLE BLACK BOOK

Borries Tailors Shop 141 Marina Mirage, 74 Seaworld Drive, Main Beach; +61 7 5503 0811; www.borriestailors.com.Cedar Creek Estate vineyard and winery 104–144 Hartley Rd, North Tamborine; +61 7 5545 1666; www.cedarcreekestate.com.au.Gold Coast helitours D Arm, Marina Mirage, 74 Sea World Drive, Main Beach; +61 7 5591 8457; www.goldcoastheli tours.com.au.hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove Manor Circle, Sanctuary Cove Resort; www.sanctuarycove.regency.hyatt.com.

no name Lane 9 Elizabeth St, Broadbeach; +61 7 5538 5221.Peppers Broadbeach Cnr of Surf Parade and Elizabeth Ave; www.peppers.com.au.RaceCentre 1/26 Orchid Ave, Surfers Paradise; +61 7 5538 8008; www.racecentre.com.Songbirds Rainforest Retreat Tamborine Mountain Rd, North Tamborine; www.songbirds.com.au.Soul in Stone Sculptures Marine Village, Sanctuary Cove; +61 7 5514 8211.Stingray QT Gold Coast hotel, 7 Staghorn Ave, Surfers Paradise; +61 7 5584 1200; www.qtgoldcoast.com.au.

Tallship island Adventures Mariner’s Cove Marina, 60 Seaworld Drive, Main Beach; +61 7 5532 2444; www.tallship.com.au.Tamborine Mountain Distillery 87–91 Beacon Rd, North Tamborine; +61 7 5545 3452; www.tamborinemountaindistillery.com.The Palms golf course Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club, The Parkway, Sanctuary Cove; +61 7 5699 9000.Virgin Australia Lounge, Metricon Stadium www.afleventoffice.com.au.Zen Jupiters Hotel & Casino, Broadbeach Island, Broadbeach; +61 7 5592 8100; www.jupitersgoldcoast.com.au.

(clockwise from above left) Wines from the Cedar Creek Estate vineyard and winery; the Zen Garden at Peppers Broadbeach; Stingray lounge at QT Gold Coast hotel.

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