New Year’s Day 2019: Gold Coasters welcome the new year in Surfers Paradise
Hundreds of Gold Coasters have watched the first sunrise of 2019 from Surfers Paradise beach as council workers clean up Cavill Mall after a wild night of celebrations. SEE THE GALLERY
Gold Coast
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HUNDREDS of Gold Coasters have watched the first sunrise of 2019 from Surfers Paradise beach as council workers clean up Cavill Mall after a wild night of celebrations.
The party kept going all night for some while others woke early to catch the first rays of sunlight for the new year.
Council workers began cleaning up a mountain of rubbish on the streets.
As the sun rose, just before 5am, people cheered and clapped.
Some people started the first day of the beach year by having a nude swim in the ocean, while others continued to dance to music blaring from their phones on the streets.
One man was seen laying face down in the sand near the shore who was FaceTiming his girlfriend.
Lifeguards drove through the crowded beach to set up for the day about 5am.
The centre of Surfers Paradise was covered in litter and stood by to watch Gold Coast City Council employees remove it with the sweeper trucks.
Queensland ambulance acting senior operations supervisor Gavin Fuller said it was a very busy night for paramedics.
State wide paramedics attended to 3880 incidents, which was up 547 from New Year’s Eve 2017-18.
From midnight to 6.30am there were 784 cases, up 576 from last year.
“There has been a lot more crowds and more people celebrating this year,” Mr Fuller said.
“Most of it was drug or alcohol related or public nuisances.”
A staff member from Gold Coast University Hospital said they were ‘absolutely smashed’ last night.
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