The name Coolangatta comes from the local Aboriginal language and translates to “nice place”. The region was first settled around 1830, around the point danger area as a logging station. In 1846 the topsail schooner Coolangatta was wrecked on Kirra Beach, this shipwreck has also added credence to the naming of the town. Coolangatta is blessed with a humid subtropical climate with warm, wet summers and cool, moist winters.
Welcome to Coolangatta, southern gateway to the Gold Coast.
Coolangatta lies approx. 24 km south of Surfers Paradise and is a sun-drenched holiday destination. The Gold Coasts area has grown since the 1950’s to become Australia’s premier domestic and international tourist playground. Coolangatta on the southern end of the Gold Coast has a population of 6500 people. Coolangatta has its fair share of the millions of annual tourist nights spent in the area giving a more populus vibe. Coolangatta and its border straddling neighbouring Tweed Heads has become a time share high rise and retirement apartment block mecca, for the wandering southerners. So how is it now?
Having lived here with work orientated blinkers for two years in the early 90s, it was great to come back and relive our earlier experiences. Work blinkers don’t offer much of a chance to allow local lifestyle sink in. Now revisiting the area 30+ years later and spending a few weeks in and around Coolangatta I get a second chance to have a second look. Again, one doesn’t see that much, only what’s evident on the surface.
During our time in Coolangatta we moved up and down the Gold Coast and over the border into the northern rivers area of New South Wales. One thing that stuck out on these road trips is that the car parking is free! Way back in the old days Surfers paradise marketed itself on its bikini meter maids, that kind of job today would be deemed sexist.
If you’re visiting from abroad, you’ll also notice that there’s an abundance of public toilets, and they’re there where you want them and besides that, they’re free and clean. Which European cities are like that? Not to mention the water fountains with built in dog bowls, even the dogs are looked after.
Great hats in Australia, wear them with pride, this selection is in lesser exploited Mullumbimby.
When I worked here in the 90s Surfers Paradise had a busy city centre, but now as the pearl band of beach and hinterland suburbs have grown the city centre seems to be lagging with many closed businesses and shops. Many of the CBD premises seem to be giving way to nick knacks, late night bars and take away joints creating a cheap & nasty environment with litter being thrown in as an ungrateful byproduct. The recently built tram line runs through the tourist mecca linking together with the local bus services the multitude of high-rise accommodation and shopping alternatives. Traffic is constant with the locals all opting for their own transport.
A school of corugated perch moving into the shallows.
The beaches are themselves the major attraction in Coolangatta, popular lookouts and viewpoints are abundant enabling fantastic views of the coastline and the pumping surf that dominates the local lifestyle. Along the coast from the Tweed are a string of world class beaches with their iconic surf breaks, and Surf Lifesaving clubs.
There are four surf clubs in Coolangatta, the first being built around 1909, surf lifesaving clubs are as Australian as Vegemite and are found on all popular beaches around the country, they are part of the iconic beach lifestyle and culture that is evident every which way you turn.
Kirra Surf Life Saving Club is on Kirra Beach.
Coolangatta Surf Life Saving Club is on Coolangatta Beach.
Greenmount Surf Club is on Greenmount Beach.
Rainbow Bay Surf Life Saving Club is on Rainbow Bay.
No surf but still a multitude of surfers trying their luck and practicing on a grey old day, Burleigh Heads and Surfers Paradise in the distance.
All the surf clubs are funded and budgeted through their own bar and restaurant sales, as a restaurant alternative try out the food in the surf clubs, many have extensive menus with honest food, generally the portions are big “I felt the portions were big almost everywhere we went” but their meals are wholesome and reasonably priced. We found many restaurants closed early.
We were told it’s because the locals are up early, early exercise, morning walk or swim. We were up at 6am most days by this time the walkways and footpaths were well crowded. Keep to your left on all walkways, footpaths and escalators and you’ll reduce the number of dirty looks from the locals, saying good morning to fellow walkers is also the done thing. By daylight the surfers were all at the breaks and the surf clubs start to patrol the beaches at 7am. I even cut my hair, $15:00 what a bargain and I don’t look any worse than when I pay 4 times the total at home, any way the hairdresser opened at 6,30 am.
Our morning walk was down to the beach around the headlands to point danger and back into Tweed a standard 5km pre breakfast footpath hike. If the surf’s up there’s plenty of observation places to watch the action, here it’s plain to see that surfing must be Australia’s number 1 individual sport with people of all ages, gender and ethnicity challenging themselves and the elements.
Our alternative morning walk was down too central Coolangatta around to Kirra beach, along the beach to North Kirra and a swim and lie in the morning sun, also about 5 km, both walks were often followed by a café breakfast along with the locals.
Coolangatta gives the impression that it is a healthy city with health food shops and alternative healthy foods in the supermarkets and restaurants. The entrepreneur lifestyle is evident within this market with small business being adapted to the relaxed lifestyle. Thursday is market day in Coolangatta again, local raw produce and small business producers are selling their wares, the interest in the alternative market and the breakthrough into eco-friendly awareness is obvious. Great products well-presented and competitively priced is always a recipe for success. Look around for interesting activities. Friday night is food truck market night at the Currumbin bird sanctuary, a big social event with a wide selection of food trucks/stands, mingle around, eat in or take away.
The local town vegetable patch just down the road had a free Sauerkraut cooking session, which after the pre breakfast swim and walk along the beach, was my morning highlight.
We tried our hand at Lawn Bowls a bit of fun at the local lawn bowls club. A local night out with a troubadour playing well known Aussie hits, here you could also buy a ticket in the Friday night raffle, the standard meat tray, BBQ tray or a couple of chickens being the much sought after and highly contested big wins on the night. This kind of club night is where the locals mingle and if lawn bowls is your calling, then don’t miss these opportunities and I’m sure it is the same anywhere in Australia.
I found Coolangatta to be very relaxed with its almost country town main drag, Griffith street and its sea front tourist esplanade featuring restaurants and surf shops.
Pumpkin soup on wheels, Queensland blue is the local favorite, giant pumpkins at the Coolangatta market.
The coffee and café culture in Australia is fantastic, the relaxed lifestyle encourage the informal café experience. The selections are free-flowing and creative without any of the old school regulations, the cafes are open early with creative internationally inspired menus stretching from breakfast into lunch. Nice Nice, Bread Social & Espresso Cooly always had a queue to get in.
Cross Eyed Mary’s, a hole in the wall where you write your reservation on a pizza box nailed to the wall outside of the restaurant, A pizza restaurant with 5-6 original pizza, none of this 30-40 standard offerings. We chose “sage against the machine”, a fantastic pizza that stands up to any pizza I’ve eaten anywhere in the world. Here they also have alternative starters and options that made the pizza experience more culinary. Often pizzas can be just shoved down your throat because they’re a solution to a hunger issue. Here the starters made you think, ok there’s pride in what they’re serving, really looking forward to the Pizza.
We also visited the highly recommended local restaurant Siblings in Kirra, “just around the corner”, a great meeting place, a very busy upmarket bistro basically al fredo and open to the elements on the beach, great food, high volume and big portions.
Another trip south into NSW, this time to Murwillumbah, a time warped good old country town, we tried out the big reputation Bistro Livi, a 2 hatted classy city bistro that deserves every bit of its reputation, we took the 8 course menu, “as one does” looking back on it every dish was perfectly balanced with modern big city presentation and tastes. The standout dishes for me were the Morten Bay bugs in curry butter, homemade mullet taramasalata and the precision cut flourless chocolate cake which was also extremely good. The service was very excellent and décor contrasting enough to stick out a mile in its surrounding country town style.
https://www.bistrolivi.com/
The Asian food options are everywhere and varied, most of them are budget priced and tourist orientated, this also means they’re not 100%, we found the local sushi to be under critic and the sushi maki log called aussie sushi to be a culture conflict. I’m sure the Japanese offerings in the flashier Surfers area must be better. Re. Asian food we tried Billy Chow in Kirra on our last night, again a great dinner with stand out dishes and quality throughout. By 8 o’clock the restaurant was empty and was closing as were many other places.
Bistro Livi in Murwillumbah served this fantastic Morten Bay bugs in curry butter with a spelt crumpert. Morten Bay bugs are a local slipper lobster caught in Morten Bay!
We took a bit of a trip down to Byron Bay, first we stopped off in Mullumbimby a colourful town which gave of a successful modern busy vibe, alternative shopping, traditional and trendy & watering holes like the Mullumbimby bath house and retro rock star clothing boutiques with enough garb to clothe the whole band.
Then further on to Byron, Byron used to be one of our great little day excursions when we lived here before. There’s still the one road entry from the highway turnoff to a much busier town, this of course means more roadblocks and traffic, roundabout, roundabout, roundabout. What was once a sleepy seaside destination for those in the know is now a myriad of shopping, apparently the local council stopped MacDonalds, and Starbucks with their watery coffee are also a non-starter, but they let in every other man and his dog, they’ve all staked a claim here now. The result is evident turning Byron Bay from the sleepy seaside destination into a shopping destination. Here is a lesson for all seaside destinations. Do you want to be a shopping centre for day trippers or keep some semblance of own identity. Byron Bay has sold its soul.
Another day trip south of the border this time to Cabarita beach, lifestyle decisions dictates moving to and living in these northern river’s coastal towns. As these towns become more popular the idyllic small-town centres become surrounded by more modern outlying suburbs that are built around great beaches and surf destinations. Theres even a local “White Locust” Halcyon House resort for some cocktails and bar nibbles, a real upmarket swing.
Cabarita Beach from the lookout, great area, great beach the small towns are trying to keep their identity and not get swallowed up in urban expansion.
If you’re staying in Coolangatta and leaving from Brisbane international, consider your transport options. We opted to make it simple and take the pick-up door to door service bus. Ok, so it was bad weather, but the traffic was horrendous, there were a couple more pickups, but the trip took three hours, so think again.
And the sun goes down on a fantastic visit to cooly