TAKING GAMES PULSE OF PARADISE
We have taken the temperature of the party strip in the midst of Surfers Paradise after a pumping day two of Commonwealth Games action in the pool — and operators are feeling a little frosty out there
THURSDAY, at midnight, on Orchid Avenue — the neon-bathed heart of the Surfers Paradise party precinct.
Gold medals have been raining down with Australian swimmers setting world records.
But for Glitter Strip hospitality bosses so far, the Commonwealth Games is a belly flop.
One veteran bar boss says grimly: “We are quiet. We are expecting, hoping, the weekend will get bigger.”
He adds a common refrain — delivery trucks doing drop-offs in the wee hours because of Games restrictions charge like wounded bulls. Extra staff need to meet them.
Costs have temporarily gone up as trade has drastically gone down.
At House of Brews — decked out as the base for Canada with a cocktail served on a medal podium called Pick your Team, Drink your Dream — manager Adam Raz is diplomatic: “We have been easing into it.”
The Bedroom general manager Brad Oliver doesn’t care for diplomacy — they have a crowd of 160 and it’s a third of what they normally get: “I’m not used to seeing the street this quiet.”
Surfers institution Melbas is busy with a queue but promo manager John Styles says it’s nothing to do with the Games — they always attract a crowd of South American and Asian students on Thursdays.
“This is a normal Thursday. But I’m hoping when athletes finish up next week they’ll start coming out.”
Few Games-related patrons are around. Lennox Head netball fan Kellie Standing and Kirra’s Mark Roberts say it’s quieter than they ex-pected. Meanwhile, a Sierra Leone journalist is off to Sin City to see “the nightlife of Australia”.