Clubbies for a day
CROWDS were allowed remarkably close to a relaxed-looking Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall as they strolled the windblown Broadbeach foreshore on day two of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
As junior clubbies from Miami Surf Life Saving Club demonstrated surf safety and resuscitation to the royal couple, Mayor Tom Tate told Charles how he saved the life of his wife Ruth after she suffered a heart attack last year.
The Tates accompanied the future king and his wife Camilla on their hour-long meet-and-greet, during which they stopped to talk, joke and shake hands with delighted crowds.
Camilla, dressed in a flowing pink blouse and draped cream pants, ditched her scarf and shoes and walked into the surf up to her ankles, wearing a big smile.
Charles joked with Broadbeach councillor and Kurrawa SLSC life member Paul Taylor, who is bald, about his lack of “surf hair”.
Member for Gaven Meaghan Scanlon and Ms Tate opted to forgo the customary curtsy when meeting the royals, opting instead for respectful nods.
In his 58 years on the Gold Coast, Charles Dacy had never seen anything like the spectacle.
Mr Dacy, 78, and his mate Geoff Sly, 77, only had to walk across the road from their homes to see their sandy front yard transformed into a crowded welcome fit for a future king.
“Nothing compares to this,” Mr Dacy said as the royal couple passed them for the third time, warmly greeting locals and visitors.
“This is brilliant. I missed all the traffic, missed all the trams, I walked across the road, it was so good. The crowd stayed back, the royals were allowed to walk around and there was no problem – they could have had no security guards and it wouldn’t have made any difference.”
Mr Sly said he’d never been prouder of his beachside home.
“I’ve lived in Broadbeach for 15 years and it’s the best place I’ve ever lived.”
The royal couple were presented with the Final Marker in a new Commonwealth Walkway on the beachfront.
The visit was almost called off when torrential rain dumped down an hour before the royals were due to unveil a plaque on the Commonwealth Walkway, in front of Kurrawa Surf Club on the foreshore at Broadbeach, just after 2pm.
The Commonwealth Walkway stretches 10km from the council’s Southport Chambers down to Surfers Paradise, then across Chevron Island to the council chambers at Evandale and the city’s new Home of the Arts precinct.
It is the first Commonwealth Walkway to open in Australia.
More than 100 walkways are planned across Commonwealth countries. Only six have been completed – in Malta, Canada, New Zealand, Ascension, Scotland and now Australia.
Cr Tate said the experience was “the best” and revealed he had shared the story of the frightening moment he nearly lost his beloved wife.
“I mentioned about what happened with Ruth and he said ‘really?’ so we shared that moment,” the Mayor said.
“And then while we were watching the CPR demonstration, the kids went out swimming in the wrong spot and I had to pull them back – they went straight into the rip, it would have made the news.”