The Bulletin’s most Gold Coast stories of 2022
Kids catching bull sharks, pro surfers losing their cool, colourful characters, influencers behaving badly, streakers and council controversy – the GC has it all. See the year’s wackiest stories
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AS dawn breaks over a sleepy-eyed Surfers Paradise street sweepers go about their business – cleaning up after another night of revelry.
Young stragglers wander the streets after a long night out clubbing.
Seagulls pick at leftover McDonald’s fries at the tail end of Cavill Ave, where beyond, the surf pounds against a postcard-perfect beach.
And smack-bang in the middle of Queensland’s most famed party precinct sits David Buncombe, aka Princess. Their crowd-stopping pink bikini catches the glow of the morning light.
People gawk at the homeless identity. Another day on the Glitter Strip. The GC. The Goldy.
Princess is just one character who makes the city uniquely ours.
For everything the Gold Coast has achieved this year, there are the equal parts strange, uncanny and outright bizarre.
2022. What a year. From Javon Johanson’s infamous streak before a monster tackle by a security guard at a Titans game to influencer Troy ‘Candy’ Williams’ court drama, the Bulletin has had no shortage of stories which scream ‘that could only happen on the Gold Coast’.
World surfing champ loses it at mudsliding kids – it happened.
11-year-old catches bull shark in suburban canal – you better believe it.
Rogue cow shot dead after running amok through city – sad but true.
Yowie spotted in the Gold Coast hinterland – and it’s not the first time.
Mild-mannered dog lover fronts court over ridiculous fine – just another day at Southport Magistrates.
Council staff accused of secretly filming nude photo shoot at local beach – could only happen here.
Influencers slammed for taking selfies at iconic, yet dangerous natural attraction – and locals call it ‘cock rock’.
See the full list below for the most undeniably Gold Coast stories the Bulletin has covered this year.
Princess returns to the Glitter Strip
The bikini-clad and beloved Gold Coast cult figure made a welcome return to the heart of Surfers Paradise’s party precinct after a health battle.
David Buncombe – better known as Princess – sparked community concern earlier this year when they vanished from their usual spot at Cavill Mall for a number of months.
In May, it was revealed Princess was camping out of a caravan park while recovering from a nasty foot infection.
Since then, Princess returned to living on the streets in Surfers Paradise.
“I much prefer to be in Surfers than anywhere else,” Princess told the Bulletin in October.
“It’s where I’m meant to be.”
Gold Coast Titans streaker Javon Johanson opens up on that tackle
The Gold Coast Titans NRL match pitch invader, so heavily tackled by security that it was under review, told the Bulletin “I got what I deserved”.
Javon Johanson opened up on her 30 seconds of infamy prior to her court appearance, where she escaped with a good behaviour bond, avoiding a fine which could have potentially cost $5000.
The Gold Coaster who sprinted on to the field from the stands at Cbus Stadium in April before being crash-tackled was a pioneer for females in male-dominated sports 16 years ago.
Troy ‘Candy’ Williams’ drug charges dropped after police raid broke his door
When Instagram influencer Troy ‘Candy’ Williams was charged with drug possession the case started with a bang.
Repeated bangs of police trying to knock down his front door.
Months later, it was a whimper when the charges were dropped.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Danielle Meyers simply told the Southport Magistrates Court on November 17: “We offer no evidence in relation to possessing dangerous drugs.”
Williams, who has also been styled as Candyman 2.0, was accused of possessing the opioid Tramadol and some CBD oil when police raided his home on May 19.
Police dropped both charges.
After the raid, Williams, known as Troy Candy to his more than 219,000 social media followers, released footage of police using a battering ram to break down his door.
He repeated denied the charges on social media and was vocal about his case online.
Ute in the drink at popular Gold Coast beach
It was a four-day saga in which a bizarre sight at a popular Gold Coast beach caught locals taking their morning walk by complete surprise.
Council finally retrieved an abandoned work ute that was stranded off the popular Miami headland – despite police saying the owner had to foot the bill and organise removal himself.
The car, driven and bogged in the shallows before dawn in early September, had been overturned by waves and faced a battering on the rocks.
Some locals joked the bobbing wreckage was Miami’s “new artificial dive-site”.
However, others raised concerned about environmental impacts.
Parko’s pet peeve with mudsliders
Surfing icon and floods rescue hero Joel Parkinson had a run-in with “disrespectful” thrillseekers using a Gold Coast mud hill as a slide, telling them “Get the f--- off. People have lost their houses”
His intervention descended into a very heated slanging match, captured on video, with what appears to be a brief scuffle breaking out at one point.
The video has since gone viral.
Warning as shock video shows 11yo Jack Green catching bull shark in Gold Coast canal
Swimmers and fishing enthusiasts were urged to keep an eye out for bull sharks as wild footage emerged online of an 11-year-old reeling one in from a Gold Coast canal in September.
Young angler Jack Green gained plenty of attention after videos were posted online of him catching sharks with dad Andrew from the jetty off their Mermaid Waters home.
The 1.2 metre bull shark he caught in September was his first of the season.
Rogue floodwater cow shot dead by cops
A cow that survived being washed down the flooded Tweed River and ended up on a Gold Coast beach was shot dead by cops.
The brown cow was seen running around Duranbah Beach on the Queensland-NSW border during the significant Queensland and NSW flooding in March.
Police were called after a dispute between an animal activist who wanted to take the bovine to a refuge in Brisbane and an akubra-wearing farmer who claimed to know the cow’s rightful owner.
According to multiple social media reports, police were unable to catch the cow and shot it near Boyds Bay Bridge at Tweed Heads on March 1.
Police later confirmed they had euthanised the animal.
Police can use lethal force on an animal if it is causing a traffic hazard or danger.
Cavoodle owner’s ruff treatment
It was ‘ruff’ treatment for one dog owner who had to front a magistrate for a “totally unreasonable fine”.
Bilinga resident Alberto Guidotti was slapped with a $140 fine in September after allegedly having his Cavoodle Archie off-leash.
But Mr Guidotti said the eight-year-old pooch has escaped from a fenced area after someone opened the gate – and only ran 20 metres before the costly sting.
The magistrate waived Mr Guidotti’s fine due to a technicality after a hearing in Southport Magistrates Court, leaving the pet-lover pawsitively thrilled.
Controversial nude photo shoot at iconic Gold Coast location ends in chaos
A nude photo shoot in Surfers Paradise ended in chaos after the organiser accused city council staff of filming the event and threatening to issue fines.
But a council spokeswoman said officers only wore body-worn cameras during their patrols for safety reasons.
A group of women stripped off for a nude photo shoot at the beach in October after similar stunts were held at Victoria’s State Library in Melbourne and Perth’s St Georges Terrace in the CBD.
Fresh yowie sighting prompts expert to warn ‘more Gold Coast encounters are expected’
Giant footprints, a strange guttural growl and a peculiar odour.
Yowies returned to cast their menacing shadow over the city again.
Australia’s answer to Bigfoot, the yowie, apparently returned to the Gold Coast after a new sighting in June, with professional yowie hunter Dean Harrison saying more encounters were “expected”.
The sighting occurred in the early hours of June 22 in Witheren, just near Canungra at the gateway to The Scenic Rim.
The mountainous region has long been heralded as ground zero for paranormal sightings on the Gold Coast, with UFO’s, yowies and ghost encounters galore.
Crackdown on Burleigh Headland boulder climbers as department warns of hefty fines
Park authorities claimed influencers were to blame for showcasing reckless behaviour on boulders atop a reopened popular Burleigh Headland.
And while it might be prime selfie material, those ignoring barriers for photos in areas deemed dangerous face hefty fines.
While previously saying they were taking “an educational approach” to any risky behaviour, the Department of Environment and Science now say park rangers will issue “on the spot fines of $413”.
Woman’s booze-fuelled assaults at Yot Club, Cali Beach
A young woman blamed alcohol and a soured high school friendship for violent attacks on other women at two of the Gold Coast’s most popular bars and clubs.
Alison Correa armed herself with three cups and approached the bar at Cali Beach in Surfers Paradise, where she was drinking with friends on May 7.
Police prosecutor Andrew Smith told Southport Magistrates Court that the 21-year-old launched the cups into a bartender’s face, leaving her with bleeding wounds on the bridge of her nose and her eyebrow.
He said Correa had one of her friends film the assault and later uploaded it to her Snapchat story.
Correa pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.
She was placed on probation for 12 months and no conviction was recorded.
Byron Baes star charged with public nuisance
A star of Netflix’s smash hit reality series Byron Baes yelled “I have 1.2 million Instagram followers, you’re going to lose your jobs” as he was tackled to the ground by a Gold Coast pub’s security guards.
Jade Kevin Foster, 30, was charged with public nuisance after the court heard he was thrown out of The Clock Hotel in Surfers Paradise on September 16.
The court heard Foster – resplendent in a purple tracksuit – tussled with security guards at the venue before he was tackled to the ground and restrained at a distance from the venue on the corner of View Ave and Surfers Paradise Blvd.
“I’m a gay man, I’m going to f**k your lives,” Foster told the security guards.
“I have 1.2 million followers on Instagram, you’re going to lose your jobs – see my outfit, it’s worth more than your houses c**t … this will look good on Instagram!”
Appearing before a magistrate on October 6, Foster pleaded guilty to the charge.
The magistrate imposed a fine of $1400 but spared him a conviction.
Locals slam man’s bizarre watercraft after wipeout at crowded point break
A man on a bizarre vessel who wiped out and ploughed through Surfers at a crowded Gold Coast break was slammed by locals, but the city’s top lifeguard says he wasn’t doing anything illegal.
In August, the man was filmed at Burleigh Point paddling into a sizeable wave on a Water Bike, a pedal-driven catamaran, when he wiped out and sent the craft flying toward a number of surfers and swimmers.
The surfers attempted to duck-dive under the hurtling craft before it “smashed into pieces on the rocks”, according to Burleigh resident Cameron Burke, who filmed the video.
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