Gold Coast mined

It may be a flaky thought but I’ve always believed that the spirit of a particular area is revealed within its marketplaces. The bustle of merchants and bargain hunters combined with the motley assortment of local goods divulge the customs, preferences, and lifestyle of the people living in the area. Plying the Gold Coast shopping circuit reveals that, in Australia’s most popular holiday beach destination, people really do take to heart the laid-back and casual reputation bestowed upon those residing Down Under.

The marketplaces and malls in the Gold Coast are bazaars of comfortable cotton, skin-baring clothing, low-maintenance footwear, and water-resistant clothing – all adherences to the clothing code of the dressed-down, wave-worshipping, sun-loving Gold Coast resident. Boutiques are awash with bikinis, sundresses, mini skirts, boardshorts, and singlets. People in this beach town don’t have issues with baring skin. Half-naked bodies walk around the boardwalk, malls, and even movietheaters without eliciting stares or malicious whispers.

Of the six main beaches in the Gold Coast, Surfer’s Paradise stands out as the tourist-drawer. The spring/summer season brings in visitors (mainly Aussie university students on break, Caucasian surfers, and Japanese tourists) who crowd the beach for watersports, and pack into the main shopping center, the Paradise Center Mall, for some beachwear buys.

The Paradise Center Mall stands just across Surfer’s Paradise, encompassing a two-block stretch. About eighty percent of the mall is dedicated to the beachcomber. Australian labels Billabong, Quiksilver and Roxy, Brazilian flipflop brand Havaianas, and the monkey-touting Paul Frank label are boutique staples. A bigger mall, the Pacific Fair shopping center has the same merchandise, although the choices are more extensive. Located a few hundred feet from the Gold Coast highway, Pacific Fair – the Gold Coast equivalent of our Glorietta – is Queensland’s largest shopping mall. 280 stores, including bargain havens Kmart and Target, and class act Myers are the heavies amongst smaller retail locales such as athlete fave Foot Locker, Brothers Nielsen (one of Australia’s biggest beachwear suppliers), Sunglass Hut, Nine West, and Esprit.

Designer brands are not lost in the Gold Coast. The Paradise Center has a Duty Free boutique that sells Coach, Dior, and Ferragamo. Free-standing Escada , Furla, and Prada boutiques are also scattered around the Surfer’s Paradise area, along Cavill Avenue. Most big-name brand shops, however are assembled at the Marina Mirage, a small and ritzy shopping fronting the Gold Coast’s main yacht dock along Main Avenue. The Marina Mirage has Hermés, Louis Vuitton, and Australian designer Lisa Ho. Brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Lacroix and Marc Jacobs footwear, and designer jean labels Paper Denim & Cloth and Marcs are also offered in classy boutiques. Just beside the Marina Mirage stands the Palazzo Versace, the first Versace hotel built by the late Gianni Versace.

Acknowledged by locals to be one of the few six-star hotels in the world, the Palazzo Versace has about 300 rooms, an intimidating columned lobby, world-class spas and restaurants, an indoor beach replete with white sand beach and toddlers stuffed in plastic salbabidas, and the expected Versace lifestyle boutique that sells everything from Medusa-decorated neckties to the brand’s flamboyant home collection.

Clothes-shopping in Australia is generally expensive but my visit in December coincided with huge holiday sales offering bikinis for about a thousand pesos and skin-baring tops for P150. The days leading up to the New Year offer the best bargains. Most of the mall boutiques sell their goods for up to seventy-five percent off. Shopping hours can be a tad disconcerting. Most shops close at six in the evening, a surprise to the Manila shopper used to malls that don’t close until 9 p.m.

For bargain shopping the whole-year round, the Gold Coast is big on weekend and nightmarkets. The area’s largest marketplace is the Carrara weekend market (a five minute car ride from Pacific Fair), five acres of shopping stalls that sell clothing, crafts, jewelry, pottery, vegetable produce, fruits, furniture, hardware, fabric, and pets.

Beachwear, shoes, and summer clothing are amongst Carrara’s biggest bargains, selling for about ten to fifteen Australian dollars (roughly three hundred to five hundred pesos) less than the merchandise sold at the mall. One section is dedicated to antiques items. Lace dresses from the Fifties, gold filigree jewelry, lamé bags, dog-eared first edition books, and leather trunks are some of the vintage treasures that can be found at Carrara. Souvenir shopping is best done at Carrara. Hats made from Australian leather and kangaroo fur accessories, the Australian wind instrument didgeridoo, and the popular boomerang are sold significantly cheaper here than in the city malls.

Weekend night markets are usually set up along the beach boardwalk from about six to ten in the evening. The Surfer’s Paradise night market is set up every Friday night. Stalls hawking quaint merchandise such as stuffed crocodile heads, funky pet collars, and Murano-type glass tableware attract the curious tourist.

More cheap shopping is available at the Harbour Town Outlet Center, a 20-minute ride from Surfer’s Paradise. Harbour Town’s come-ons include outlets for name brands Nike, Nine West, Esprit, Fila, Calvin Klein lingerie, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Lisa Ho. One shop called The Designer Room offers designer biggies Kenzo, Dolce & Gabbana, Jean Paul Gaultier, Prada, and DKNY for about 50 to 70 percent off. The stores that gather the most crowds, however, are still those that sell beach-friendly garb. Surf Girl Heaven Wet Wet Wet, City Beach Surf Australia, and Beach Imports sell pieces from the last season collection of Roxy, Quiksilver, Wet Wet Wet, and Billabong up to fifty percent off.

In the Gold Coast the vibe is relaxed, the people are carefree – at times sodden – and the smiles are as sunny as the weather. To quote the name of one of Surfer’s Paradise shops, "Life’s a beach."