INQUIRER Global Nation

Editor?s note: The author toured parts of Queensland on the invitation of PAL and Tourism Queensland.

QUEENSLAND, Australia?For a beach freak like me, the lure of Gold Coast would be its 35 kilometers of beach?sand, sea, surf, and when we visited in late June, no sun, but it didn?t matter.

I had my first glimpse of the famous Gold Coast from atop Q1, the 78-story residential tower that is the tallest in Australia. Never mind my fear of heights, I wanted to dive.

The following day, very early in the morning, before our hectic schedule took over our life, we went down the beach in our un-beachy wear of heavy jackets and rubber shoes to brace ourselves against the 16-degree weather. What the heck. The waves pounding the beach was drum music to me.

At 6 a.m. and at that temperature, there were hardly any swimmers, much less surfers. But there were strollers and runners, enjoying the crisp smell of (Brisbane) winter by the Pacific Ocean.

We also chanced upon Danny Barcroft, who was putting up the two flags to indicate where it?s safe for swimmers to swim or surf.

According to him, about 100 people (only 5 women) apply to become life guards, usually during the summer, and about 70 pass the tough test of 1-kilometer swim, 2-km run on soft sand, and 1.5 km on surf board?all under 24 minutes.

It?s harder for women especially if one has to rescue someone who?s big and overweight, he said.

In any case, for half an hour, and without dipping into the ice-cold sea, I had miles and miles of heaven.

Gold Coast is a couple of hours away from Brisbane International Airport, where Philippine Airlines has resumed its flights.

Since 17 March, PAL has flown twice weekly between Manila and Brisbane, routed Manila-Melbourne-Brisbane-Manila. PR 213 departs Manila every Wednesday and Friday at 8:00 p.m., arriving in Melbourne at 7:00 a.m. the following day. It continues on to Brisbane at 8:30 a.m., touching down there at 9:50 a.m. The return, non-stop service to Manila, PR 214, departs Brisbane the same morning (Thursdays and Saturdays) at 11:20 a.m., arriving in the Philippine capital at 4:50 p.m.