Gold Coast audiotours

The Gold Coast got its name around 1950 as a mild insult from people who thought the prices were too high along Queensland's southeast coastline. Locals objected at the time; they don't anymore. The region has 260 kilometres of residential canals, nine times longer than Venice's, threading between houses with boats parked where other cities park cars. Half of the city's land area is forested. The World Heritage-listed Lamington National Park forms the hinterland backdrop behind a coastline that runs 70 kilometres of surf beaches south toward the New South Wales border.

Q1, completed in 2005 and standing 322.

5 metres, was at the time Australia's tallest building and the world's 17th tallest residential tower. Surfers Paradise, the neighbourhood at the city's heart, has been self-consciously photogenic since 1965 when the Surfers Paradise Meter Maids began dispensing coins for expired parking meters, a promotional stunt that somehow became an institution. The city hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the first to achieve gender parity in athlete events.