THE GARDEN OF SURFERS
HAVING a drink at the Surfers Paradise Beer Garden has been a right of passage for Gold Coasters going back nearly a century.
Located in the heart of the Glitter Strip, the mainstay has been serving customers since businessman Jim Cavill came to a small beachside suburb named Elston and opened a pub. The year was 1925. The first motion picture with sound was two years away, George V was king and there was no Gold Coast.
The future location of the city was populated by a series of small towns and villages including Southport, Coolangatta, Nerang, Mudgeeraba and Coomera.
Cavill, a businessman and publican, arrived in Elston and bought up 25 acres of land near the Nerang River. His Surfers Paradise Hotel was originally made of wood and had 16 rooms. Its opening coincided with the 1925 opening of a bridge across the Nerang River. The 1.6ha hotel complex included gardens and a zoo, and became a popular location.
Cavill soon got a financial boost when he sold off much of his land for subdivision.
The zoo became a major tourist attraction through the 1930s and 1940s, while the hotel was soon so famous its name became synonymous with the area. In 1929 the local surf club bore the Surfers Paradise name, as did a progress association.
In 1933, the suburb of Elston was renamed Surfers Paradise after Cavill and others lobbied the government.
The original hotel burned to the ground in 1936 and a new one was built. It stood on the corner of Surfers Paradise Blvd – now the Gold Coast Highway – and what became known as Cavill Ave.
It was known for its groundlevel Birdwatcher’s Bar, where drinkers could keep an eye on pedestrians in the busy tourist hub and its beer garden.
Jim died in 1952 at the age of 90 but his hotel had already gained iconic status.
In the years after World War II the beer garden gained its own mascot, Matey the dog.
Matey was a homeless kelpie bitzer who first appeared on Cavill Ave in 1945 and took up residence outside the hotel.
He was known for accompanying patrons when they strolled home before returning to the hotel and waiting for his next charge.
Matey was later hit by a car and killed but a memorial to him stands outside Melbas on Cavill Ave.
Through the mid-to-late 20th century the bar was one of the most popular places to go for locals and tourists alike.
Surfers Paradise councillor and former mayor Gary Baildon recently discussed his memories of the beer garden in the 1960s, around the time he opened a newsagency nearby.
“I remember going to the Surfers Paradise beer garden for lunch where Stan Bourne and his band would play each day and he would always open with the same line, ‘Hi folks, my name is Bourne. I was born Bourne and I’m still Bourne’,” Cr Baildon said.
“They had a band as well which was really professional. I would go in there for lunch and sit up the back. You would hear the same jokes day after day but you would laugh every single time.”
The Surfers Paradise Hotel was demolished in 1981 to make way for the the Paradise Centre.
A new Surfers Paradise Beer Garden was opened in the complex and continues to be a popular location.
It has recently undergone a multimillion-dollar upgrade and will re-open on August 16.