Burleigh bustling as virus spectre looms
SPINIFEX may be bouncing down Broadbeach Mall, the wind whistling through Cavill Ave, but don’t count on cruising into a conveniently empty carpark at Burleigh.
Amid the coronavirus chaos, beach weather, pumping surf and plenty of people at a loose end have led to a second summer for the beachside bastion.
Drivers are taking up to half an hour to find parking spaces in scenes reminiscent of peak summer season.
Nook Espresso is keeping the crowds calm and caffeinated, albeit minus the keep cups and cash they usually encourage.
Supervising proceedings from the popular hole-in-thewall, co-owner Marcus Wilkins is the best source for Burleigh gossip. So is the world “working from home” on Burleigh Hill?
“It’s crazy, it feels like summer again,” Marcus says.
“I couldn’t get a carpark at 5.30 in the morning yesterday.
“This week the swell has been really good and a lot of people aren’t going into the office, so they’re here getting coffee.
“People are talking about how much work they’ve lost, yet they’re thanking us for being open. We’ve got customers who’ve lost their jobs for two months and they are down here getting a coffee, looking for that bit of positivity in their day.
“There’s so much fresh air here, lots of space – we’re taking things day by day, but it’s kind of a blessing in disguise we don’t have tables and chairs.”
A staff member at nearby Burough Barista says business has been “about the same” despite the panic of some.
“It’s still fairly busy. It hasn’t really died off,” he says.
Trade has even increased at Burleigh Tropicana. Manager
Nonie Singh suggests the Government’s extra $750 stimulus for citizens on concession could be why bustling Burleigh’s bucking the trend.
“It is busier than normal,” he says.
“I think people are sick of sitting of home and they want to go out. Maybe everybody’s getting money from the Government.”
It’s standing room only on the headland, where a bloke is watching the sets roll in. His holiday was cancelled, he says, but two weeks “in paradise” isn’t a bad consolation.
Social distancing isn’t exactly an option as people weave through the crowds on the Oceanview Track.
School’s still in for Burleigh-based primary teacher Rebecca Lachmund, but she’s squeezing in a run before the bell.
It’s a change from her usual gym-based group fitness routine.
“It’s pretty sensible to be out in the fresh air at the moment instead of inside, and it’s great that local businesses are adapting to that,” she says.
If our beaches are the last bastion before tougher lockdown laws, locals seem determined to soak up every last second of sunshine and salty air.