The coast is clear

New Zealanders can now fly direct from Auckland to the Gold Coast. ANDREW LAXON took the fast route to the beach.

Americans may be scared to fly after September 11 but the lure of $399 return to the Gold Coast ($393 if you booked on the internet) has been irresistible for holidaymakers using Freedom Air's direct flight from Auckland.

Freedom's general manager Wayne Dodge is confident the Auckland-Gold Coast link and a direct Auckland-Newcastle service, which began in December to the Hunter region, will be successful.

The airline has had a good response to its Gold Coast flights from Hamilton and Palmerston North and my 737 flight is 70 per cent full - about the occupancy mark the airline needs to make the service viable.

The Gold Coast easily tops the list of our favourite overseas destinations. Last year, 163,000 Kiwis went there, well ahead of the 50,000 who visited Fiji, which was hit badly by the aftermath of the coup.

Travel industry people on both sides of the Tasman think the coast will carry on thriving, as New Zealanders still regard Australia as a safe destination.

Of course, not everyone likes the Gold Coast - you need to appreciate the endless skyscrapers lining the beaches as spectacular, not development gone mad - but it's easy to see the appeal, especially for families.

It offers 70km of glorious beaches, usually hot, sunny weather (summer temperatures nudge the 30 deg C mark), giant theme parks for the kids and a huge range of competitively priced accommodation, especially self-catering apartments. There are no language hassles and the natives are remarkably friendly.

Until now New Zealanders wanting a holiday there have had to fly to Brisbane, then drive south for an hour and a quarter along the Pacific Highway. But since Freedom Air launched its direct service in November it's been possible to fly direct five times a week to Coolangatta at the southern end of the coast.

A word of advice for travellers: Freedom is an unashamedly low-cost, no-frills airline, which means you get no meals. Snacks and drinks are reasonably priced from $1 for chips, biscuits and soft drinks to $4 for wine and spirits.

There is no inflight entertainment either, so Freedom's cabin crew run competitions for the best poem written on the back of a serviette. It's all a bit like Hi-de-Hi but the kids enjoy it and it doesn't seem long before those famous white beaches can be seen out the cabin windows.

The Gold Coast stretches from Coolangatta, on the border between Queensland and New South Wales, to Surfers Paradise and Main Beach, with three of the big theme parks further north. Quaintly described by the local tourist bureau's guide as "a string of intimate towns and villages linked by modern highways", it is in fact a sprawling tourism-driven beach city, home to 450,000 people and the fastest-growing region in Australia.

For newcomers who want to get their bearings the best, if not the cheapest, way to see the coast is from a helicopter. A half-hour ride with Professional Helicopter Services at Coolangatta Airport will set you back $A95 but gives a superb aerial view of the dozens of tower blocks in and around Surfers and, behind them, the network of canals flanked by palatial homes.

Or you can see the same thing in comfort over lunch at the Four Winds revolving restaurant at the Park Royal Hotel. It costs $A35 for the magnificent seafood and Asian buffet, but you may need to lie down on the beach for the rest of the day.

For many New Zealanders surfing and lying on the beach is still what the Gold Coast is all about. If you've always secretly longed to take the next step up from lying on your boogie board, the Gold Coast is a good place to learn. Our physically challenged group had a one-hour lesson ($A25) from Noel Kolkka of I Spy Surf and Adventure Tours, who managed to be patient and enthusiastic at the same time.

New Zealand families heading to the Gold Coast usually visit at least one theme park. There are four big ones - Seaworld, Dreamworld, Movieworld and Wet'n'Wild.

Seaworld is the easiest to get to. It lies at the northern end of Surfers and, like its main rival Dreamworld, is a strange blend of theme park and zoo.

Officially the highlights are the new polar bears - two new cubs made their first public appearance on Boxing Day. But the bears were nowhere to be seen when we visited (not surprising on a blazing hot day) and the whole idea of polar bears on the Gold Coast sounds ridiculous anyway.

For the best natural attractions at Seaworld, you're better off catching the slick Indiana Jones-themed seal show with the kids - arrive early to get a seat in the shade - or, for an extra $A150 each, commune with the dolphins in their tastefully designed natural lagoon, only metres away from the sea.

The other major theme parks are about 20 minutes' drive north of Surfers Paradise. Warner Bros Movie World is offering the kids a chance to step inside the world of Harry Potter.

Dreamworld's big attraction is a giant new roller-coaster, imported from Sydney, and dubbed Cyclone. The park prides itself on its thrillseeking rides - two of the most gut-wrenching are the Giant Drop, a 39-storey freefall at 135km/h (you wait for what seems like an eternity before the drop starts) and the Tower of Terror, which takes you from 0 to 161km/h in seven seconds up the same structure and back again.

Dreamworld also has Bengal tigers and a good introduction to Australian wildlife, ranging from cuddly koalas - you can have your photo taken with one - to not-so-cuddly possums and the aggressive and spectacularly ugly cassowary bird.

Compulsive shoppers will enjoy the Gold Coast. It has 12 per cent more retail outlets than the Australian national average, but you need to look around as prices are not all that competitive given the weak New Zealand dollar.

If you're serious about bargain-hunting for top labels, it's worth a half-day trip to Harbour Town, the biggest outlet shopping centre in Australia, which is 15-minutes north of Surfers Paradise. Stores there offer great prices on big name brands from Nike (caps at $A9 when we visited) to Esprit and Polo Ralph Lauren, but you have to be lucky enough to strike the right day.

There is a huge list of other things to do in this highly developed tourism paradise, including top-class golf courses. We played at Coolangatta and Tweed Heads where green fees are a reasonable $A33, although many other courses cost more.

The best restaurants are superb (we tried the Vie restaurant at the magnificent Palazzo Versace hotel and Oskars at Burleigh Heads, which specialises in seafood).

But for a complete break from the tower blocks and theme parks - and after a few days you may need one - head into the hills to sample the vineyards around Mt Tambourine or go south across the border to Byron Bay in northern New South Wales.

We never made it, but it must be good. Even rabid Queenslanders confessed it was stunning.

Seaworld

Movieworld
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Dreamworld