A Brief Moment In Time

Nick and Nora took advantage of Lifeline's outstanding annual book fair in July to rummage through some literary treasures and went away with four books about the Gold Coast.

This book, naturally enough entitled the Gold Coast was certainly a must have.

Published in 1977, like many titles bout our city is very Surfers Paradise centric. The front cover showing a rather uncluttered skyline with the newly constructed fully circular Focus Apartments, the Q1 of its day, dominating the scene.


But that's okay, especially when they reveal gems like this picture looking south on what is now Surfers Paradise Boulevard.

In this neon wonderland, you can see The Walk Arcade (at the far right of the picture), an arcade incorrectly identified by Nora, previously as being on the beach side of the street but as this picture clearly shows, it is on the western side of the street, looking south.

Don't forget to click on the picture of a larger view.

Sadly, all of that stretch has since been redeveloped, which translates to razed, recomposed, realigned.

Here's today's view thanks to the incomparable Google maps:


View Larger Map

In a way the loss of the buildings is nothing - it's ephemera such as the charming and innocent animated Coppertone billboard, on which a child at the beach is losing her pants, that one really misses. The photo captures the moment at which the little girl's bikini briefs, tugged by a terrier, are at half mast.

Try getting away with a sign like that today.