The perfect way to kick off a New Year
RIKI Phillips — a salt-of-theearth Kiwi with three of the cutest grandkids you ever did see — summed it up best.
“No matter where you go in the world, you couldn’t get a better place than this,” he said as he took a moment to reflect on where he was blessed to find himself on the first day of another year.
Riki was talking about The Spit and specifically the spot he and his Upper Coomera clan had decided to call home for the day.
An awning off the 4WD. A collection of camping chairs underneath. A huge paddock for the kids to test out the mini dirt bike Santa brought them for Christmas. Ahh, heaven!
The thing about this city, however, is Riki could’ve been describing infinite places.
Snapper or the Alley, Talle Creek or Tamborine, Purlingbrook or Paradise Point. Each of them — and countless more
— the perfect answer to the question so many of us asked on the morning after the night before: where should we go today?
“My wife and son wanted to go to the beach so we traded off,” smiled Underwood’s Luke Costa as he kept an eye on not one but two fishing lines he’d cast into The Seaway.
“We went to the beach earlier and now they’re sitting somewhere pretending to enjoy the park while I fish.”
A dozen kilometres south, Canberra holiday-maker Dean Vasileski was doing what he’s done so many times during the past week or so — watching two little boys living the dream.
“This would be about the fifth time we’ve done this,” the proud dad said after stumping up the cash so Zander and Neo could yet again ride their favourite motorised animals on a walkway off Cavill Mall.
“They just love them. It’s been pretty full-on for them (staying in Surfers Paradise) because there are so many fun things to do.
“I think they’ll be a bit upset when we go home tomorrow about how boring it is.”
Down on the sand of Surfers, ‘boredom’ was a word that was never going to escape the lips of enthusiastic lifesaver Mick Landon.
“It’s more action-packed here,” the Mermaid resident said of why he chooses to volunteer at Surfers SLSC instead of his home beach.
“You get a variety of people and something’s always happening ... I just love the ocean.
“There’s no better feeling than keeping an eye on people and knowing you can help them if they get in trouble.”
Not that anyone was getting in trouble in the Surfers surf on New Year’s Day.
“Everyone’s been really cooperative and the conditions have been great,” Mick said. “We expected a lot more swimmers but I expect a lot of people might still be sleeping off last night.”
And while that's all well and good, one gets the impression the likes of Riki back at The Spit couldn’t think of a worse way to spend the first day of a new year than with his eyes closed.
“I like it here because there’s always a lot happening,” he said. “Jet-skis, boats, people fishing off the rocks.”
Wife Trisha added: “When we moved here from New Zealand, we were just blown away by how beautiful this spot is.
“It was a million-dollar view and now they’ve tidied it up it’s a multimillion-dollar one.”