Our sweet, sweet So-Po. There’s something we just love about Southport, maybe it’s the fact that they’ve got bulk bars and restaurants so hunger never has to enter our vocabulary again. Or maybe it’s how you can get a coffee hit and hit of golf done in half a day and then soak up those Broadwater views for the rest of it – shall we go on?

All we know is that there are so many goodies in this CBD gem we couldn’t list them all or you’d be here all day and we know you’re all about less reading and more eating (same). Here’s our round-up of local approved must-do’s!

The all-in-ones
The retailers in Southport get that you’re busy – it is the CBD after all – so time is of the essence and efficiency is the word over here. Brickworks Ferry Rd has everything from the Standard Market Co to get those dinner essentials or to make the perfect charcuterie board, ‘grammable acai bowls at Cardamom Pod and bites like Bird Royale because we’ve always got time for some cheeky chicken.

Upping the ante with a little bit of everything, Queen Street Village is just off the Smith St Motorway so you can pop in for the essentials from gourmet grocer Jones & Co IGA. No time to meal prep? Grab some Asian eats at Wu Kong with peckish plates to keep you going, or a classic pub feed from Queen’s Arms for your parmy fix. When all that eating has got you zonked, get your caffeine hit at Sens Coffee and pop into DENDY to catch the latest flicks and a moment of peace and quiet.

Now did we hear you say retail therapy? Enter: Australia Fair. With the big names in fashion all in one spot along with our biggest vice Kmart on the store list, say goodbye to your savings but hello to a fresh new look. Once you’ve shopped til you dropped it’s time to start your Tour-de-Food at Australia Fair Metro, think pho, dumplings and desserts by the dozen.

For bakery treats
With a name like Sacre Coeur Patisserie it’s no wonder these guys have mastered the art of French pastries so prepare to stock up on croissants in allll the flavours from pistachio to raspberry and everything in between.

No man is left behind at Made With Love who deliver on 100% vegan cakes, pies and pastries because you know what, a donut a day keeps the doctor away or something like that and why should our vegans not be part of the action.

Keeping with the Euro-bakery theme is FARINA & Co, pastries are made onsite daily with all the classics like lemon meringue tarts and buttery croissants but wait, it gets even better – they double as a pasta bar. Grazie!

Pumping out sensational Asian-inspired pastries, desserts and drinks, Delothor Patisserie is our kinda kryptonite!

For a coffee
Coffee addicts, Southport’s got you covered with experiences like SupermarCat Cat Café, which – you guessed it – comes with a side of kitty cuddles with your caffeine fix, it’s so good we won’t judge if you start purring along with your furry friends.

For the more traditional café vibe Humble Café might be humble by name but they’re big on variety from classic cold drips to matcha espresso.

Built on the tried-and-true premise that simple is best, everything about Herringbone Cafe is understated (in the best way) letting the true hero of the space – the food and coffee – take centre stage.

Eight Fifty Espresso boosts productivity and happiness, doling out weekday caffeine fixes from its sidewalk dwelling, sapphire green digs.

For a drink
You already know we’re partial to a cold beverage to round out the day but if you’re after a side of live music with that then Vinnies Dive is the only place to get your fix and an ice cold brew all in one. If you’re after pub vibes you can’t go past SOPO (previously known as RSL CLUB Southport).

Just across the tram line nothing says Southport more than a cocktail (or 5) on Mr PP’s rooftop, perched above Nerang Street so you can people watch til your hearts content. Keeping the rooftop vibes going strong, Aviary Rooftop at Southport Sharks have an epic cocktail menu that talks a big game and luckily for us, it doesn’t just live up to expectations – it’s even better.

Carafe Wine is an eco-conscious space offering top-notch wine from all the most renowned vino regions and zero-waste practices plus a unique menu of sharing boards.

For good eats
Hello foodies, thoughts we forgot about you? We could never! Getting the good times rolling is none other than Good Times Deli who have quickly become known as the home of sandwiches like no other – think Philly Cheesesteak and banger Bahn Mi.

Japanese eatery, KatsuCo, churns out iterations of its namesake dish – traditionally coated in crunchy panko crumb and slathered in curry sauce.

For those on-the-go looking for the ultimate grab-and-go, Shiro Gelato & Snack knows what’s up with a selection of Japanese market eats like housemade Onigiri to get your fueled up and ready to tackle the day and gelato to finish because there’s always room for a sweetie treatie.

If you’ve been having Euro summer FOMO you can find a taste of the Mediterranean at Como Kitchen & Bar or if there’s a little Italian in your stomach screaming for some arancini balls (or is it just us?) you can get a mozza at Mozza Mozza as well pasta served tableside from a cheese wheel.

Since we’re on a food journey around the world you’ll be happy to know that Southport is pretty much THE place to get your Korean BBQ fix – yep, we found and 6 smokin’ hot Korean BBQ spots on the GC and would you believe 5 of them call our humble CBD home. Yep, Southport officially has a license to grill.

Local attractions
So you’ve got your coffee and you’re looking to get at one with nature? Obviously, your next stop has to be Broadwater Parklands. It doesn’t matter if you’re just there for a hot girl walk or trying to find a way to keep your tribe occupied, the shared pathway makes it the ultimate for everyone whether you’re in your running era or just keen to take in the Broadwater views while you bike and play.

Fancy a bit more adventure we hear you say? We got you. Tee off for a full day of fun at Southport Golf Club so you can let your inner Tiger Woods run wild on the green. If land has got you feeling like a fish out of water then pop on over to the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre for a mermaid moment with things like group fitness classes – hello aqua aerobics – as well as Olympic length swimming pools for the pros and splash pads for the little tackers.

If a hands on approach to fun is more your vibe then entering a new dimension at Zero Latency is a must-do, the international juggernaut has given VR new life with games on games so you can immerse yourself in the madness. Sing your little lungs out without fear of judgment and enjoy yourself a lyric fuelled good time at Black8 Pool Hall. Test your relationships and put that brain to work with a prison break escape room at Escape Hunt or pick up a pistol at Southport’s very own – and the Coast’s safest – shooting range, The Shooting Centre.

Words by Jacqueline Bojanowski

Now the dust has settled on the grand opening of HOTA’s brand new and utterly impressive Gallery; we assume that everyone has had a chance to scoot along and check out this fantastic space for themselves? If not, where have you been?!  The new $60.5 million HOTA Gallery opened to the public Saturday, 8th May 2021. Spanning six levels and including over 2000m2 of AAA-rated, international standard exhibition space, a dedicated Children’s Gallery, and the $32 million City collection, HOTA Gallery is the most extensive public gallery outside a capital city in Australia.

If that’s not impressive, then we don’t know what is!

After an already well-received first exhibition, the gallery plans to spend no time hanging around with eager plans for their second major exhibition celebrating the beguiling and well known Australian artist William Robinson AO. Titled Lyrical Landscapes: The Art of William Robinson, the exhibition will run from Saturday 31st July — Sunday 3rd October 2021.

In his 85th year, the Brisbane born artist has been awarded both the Archibald and Wynne Prizes and is much celebrated for his multi-perspectival canvases that transformed the way we view Australian landscape painting.

It’s no secret that in 1984 Robinson lived on a 208-acre farm on the western slopes of Beechmont in the Gold Coast hinterland — a pivotal period of the artist’s life, drawing much inspiration from the neighbouring environment. After all, our hinterland is a pretty special place!

Lyrical Landscapes will herald the bringing together — for the first time — of his entire Creation Series, which was produced over 16 years. Exclusively guest curated by former Governor-General and close friend of the artist, Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO the works are widely considered his masterworks and highlight the artist’s spiritual connection to the natural world. This includes HOTA’s own The Rainforest, a painting by Robinson that already hangs proudly in the gallery: depicting Botan Creek in the Beechmont rainforest as it flows into a waterfall and descends into the Coomera River — a must-see if you get the chance.

Put the dates in your diary, and make sure you set some plans to check out this second exciting exhibition to grace the HOTA Gallery. And if you feel like pushing the boat out even further, and spoiling all your senses, remember that Palette and Exhibitionist Bar are on hand to tantalise your tastebuds as well.  A well-rounded affair if we say so ourselves!

When: Saturday 31st July — Sunday 3rd October 2021
Where: HOTA Gallery, Surfers Paradise

Words by Alex Mitcheson.

We love the Gold Coast. Isn’t that obvious?! And we love how it’s made up of local businesses and attractions that draw many a tourist to our very own backyard each and every year. What we love more is how our city constantly evolves. Of which, one element is how it’s shaped by developments and structures that seem to always be happening in our bustling city. So it excites us that we had the opportunity to get to know Philip Follent, who was Gold Coast City Council’s first City Architect and also appointed Queensland Government Architect in his career. Read on to hear more about what he loves the most about the GC and where his career has taken him. (Including being part of the Tom Atkin Hall building redesign.)

How long have you been a Gold Coast local?
Arrived on the GC, April 27th, 1979.

Tell us a bit about you.
Born in Rockhampton, son of an Air Traffic Controller and moved to Brisbane for most schooling and uni. The Gold Coast beckoned after working in brilliant architectural practices of James Birrell and then Geoffrey Pie. The Gold Coast practice of Davis Heather Group capped great practical training prior to branching out on my own with only a kindergarten playground to design. Lucky breaks with good clients led to about 20 years of practice before a few forks in the road to local and then state government as City then onto State Architect. From here, academia as inaugural Head of School at the Abedian School of Architecture at Bond. Back to practice and (school tuckshop) in 2013 and the rest is a plethora of fulfilling honorary roles with community and cultural organisations like: Swell Sculpture Festival, Gold Coast Open House, Tugun Lights Up, along with environmental and community organisations and advocacy for a better city.

What do you love the most about the Gold Coast?
Currumbin Estuary with its emerging rainforest on the Palm Beach Parklands Spit is a remarkable place of beauty and emerging viable habitat…so rare now in urbanised settings! It is the link from hinterland to ocean. That area would have been lost to development in 1979 were it not for community action.

You have won over 20 architectural awards in your career, but what do you consider your favourite project to date?
My first and last projects exhibit a Japanese aesthetic as does a mid-career favourite project (1999) of the Elephant Rock Café, Currumbin. Every project is special in some way and smaller-scale projects do elicit great relationships with clients…almost like a short-term marriage but ending as good friends. Current favourites are the arrivals and welcome building at an indigenous eco-cultural project in Cairns and now underway the site statement for the Chinese Temple archaeological remnants in Croydon near the Gulf of Carpentaria.

What does a typical day in the life of you look like?
Like being in a pinball machine but in slow motion. I can’t complain, every bounce is interesting and there’s no time to be distracted by trivial issues. Mind you, it is nice to be reminded to breathe.

What does your ‘creative process’ look like?
Do the homework and research VERY thoroughly. Understand the place, people, and the needs. Be quiet with it. Sleep on it. Have a shower when you wake up. The answers come. Our subconscious is our most under-used asset. 

Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Design inspiration has to be tempered by the knowledge that no matter how original we might think we are or want to be …it has always been done before. Like all designers, I am constantly taking in clues and cues from everything I encounter. This adds to my biases and therefore my approach to design. I find it easiest NOT to set out to design something that will turn heads. Focusing on the project and not on a predetermined, stylistic outcome while remaining faithful to the key tenets one has set up at the outset seems to elicit a result that turns heads anyway.

How did your involvement in the Tom Atkin Hall come about?
Joined the Tugun Progress Association in 2013 with the Tugun Lights Up initiative and saw that the hall needed love and heaps of maintenance if it were to last. Kirsten Baker initiated Saltwater Cinema to broaden the hall’s appeal. I then sketched the façade reno in 2014 which has since evolved into the 40’s/50’s picture theatre design currently being built, and which hopefully will attract a myriad of culturally enriching events.

Why do you think the rejuvenation of the Tom Atkin Hall is so imperative for the community?
The Hall has provided the stage for community advocacy, entertainment, special birthdays, and protests for 55 years. It is a tangible link from the 91-years-old Tugun Progress Association to the community. The hall needs to appear more welcoming but also strengthen its old bones if it and the TPA are to be relevant to the community for the next half century. This is the time to show that if 4 men and an army of volunteers could build the hall in the early 1960’s then surely the community today can at least breathe life into it now. The hall, still only half-finished has already re-established the hall as the people’s place….. a genuine civic and meeting place for (and owned) by the community. Real heritage action is not always about being precious about the building but about preserving its role in the community.

Tell us the best piece of advice someone has ever given you and why you consider it the best?
1. Life is too short to be dealing with turkeys. When you see feathers…head off bush.
2. Everybody just wants to feel they’ve been heard…genuinely heard.
3. Philip, you don’t hate yourself enough to go into politics.
4. Remember to breathe.
The desire for people to feel really listened to is key. It’s a shame that modern-day government interaction with the public and individuals is no longer consultation but “telling” and “informing” …not really listening. This leads unnecessarily to enormous community frustration.

What are your Gold Coast favourites…?
Café: Hidden Gem, Tugun
Coffee spot: MADE Barber & Barista, Tugun
Restaurant: Yamagen Japanese Restaurant, Surfers Paradise

How do you choose to spend your days off?
Every day is a day off…. but apart from Currumbin Estuary, Kyogle and the bushland of northern NSW is the place of rejuvenation. Nimbin too, partly because my oldest, almost 106-year-old aunt, just passed away there, and maybe ‘cause Nimbin holds 1970’s Aquarius Festival memories…. that’s the region that refreshes.