Gold Coast: Submerged one day, shipshape the next

The Gold Coast’s beachfront Rick Shores restaurant was battered by giant waves on Monday, but is back in business, with a sunny Christmas ahead.

Katherine Riley, Michael Leopold and Charmaine Cassidy at Rick Shores at Burleigh Heads. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

What a difference a couple of days makes. On Monday, the Gold Coast’s beachfront restaurant Rick Shores was being smashed by 5.3m swells, as staff battled to protect the Burleigh institution from floating logs and debris thrown up by the vicious storm.

But by Thursday, diners had flooded back, tucking into Moreton Bay bug rolls and glasses of Rose, with the only lasting damage a battered fire escape door.

The Burleigh strip — and southeast Queensland beaches from Fraser Island to Coolangatta — survived this week’s stormfront and monster tides without the major erosion that has wiped out Byron Bay’s iconic Main Beach and neighbouring Clarkes Beach in northern NSW.

For Rick Shores manager ­Michael Leopold — and fellow tourism and business operators dotting the Queensland coast — the wild weather and king tides were not the Christmas-killer some had feared.

Rick Shores at Burleigh Heads during the storm on Monday. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“We’ve really dodged a bullet,” Mr Leopold said. “Waves were smashing halfway up the windows. It felt like we were in a submarine on Monday.”

He and a colleague were jumping out the side windows during lulls in the waves, lifting and rolling logs higher up the beach to prevent them from crashing into the restaurant.

Remarkably, after a quick clean-up of sand and saltwater in the restaurant’s ground floor and the reinstallation of wine fridges and furniture, it was able to reopen for lunch on Tuesday, and has been booked out since.

The Gold Coast’s beaches remained closed on Wednesday, but further north on the Sunshine Coast all but five of the 29 beaches between Rainbow Beach and Redcliffe reopened.

A Sunshine Coast council spokeswoman said the beaches were gradually reopening and being patrolled for more damage as the king tides receded, but the region appeared “hopefully” untouched by serious erosion.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a bumper Christmas holiday season,” she said.”

Fraser Coast deputy mayor Darren Everard said the north-facing beaches around Hervey Bay were largely unscathed by the 4m tides and thrashing wind.

“The sand will come back and she’ll be good as gold,” he said.

He said accommodation houses were booked out until mid-March, continuing a post-lockdown rush that started about a month ago.

Surf Life Saving Queensland regional operations manager for Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay Aaron Purchase said lifesavers were already doing longer patrols on more beaches in the region, with extra jet ski and rescue helicopter services, in preparation for the holiday rush.

But it’s a different story in the NSW tourism mecca of Byron Bay. Phil Holloway, Byron Shire Council’s director of infrastructure services, said while the waves and tides were getting smaller, the damage had already been done, with large trees and rocks dislodged, debris strewn across the beaches, and dangerous drop-offs from dunes.

“We have closed some access ways and installed barriers to avoid falls and accidents occurring,” Mr Holloway said.