Travel: Surfers Paradise, Australia

AUSTRALIA boasts some of the most spectacular beaches in the world. But while most of them are beautiful, immaculately clean places, with rolling surf and spectacular sunsets, that does not necessarily mean they are safe.

Cue the legendary guardians of the beach – otherwise known as surf lifesavers: a unique breed of scantily clad men and women who boast bronzed "ripped" bodies and have a close affinity with the surf lifestyle. They patrol the beaches throughout the year sporting tiny Speedos and cloth caps.

Across the continent there are 305 local clubs patrolling 400-plus beaches – all under an umbrella body called Surf Life Saving Australia.

The vast majority of the 34,000 lifesavers involved are volunteers, people who love the outdoors, the surf and want to give something back to the community.

Not to be confused with lifeguards, who are employed by local councils, volunteer surf lifesavers patrol beaches on weekends and holidays between mid-September and May. Up to 20 can be on duty on one beach alone.

It is five in the morning, a time when most sensible people are in bed. As I walk along Surfers' Paradise seafront on my way to BMD Northcliffe Surf Lifesavers Club, I pass party-goers staggering home after a long night.

Surfers' Paradise is 74km south of Brisbane on Australia's Gold Coast, and it might be built up, slightly tacky and full of souvenir shops, hotels, backpackers' hostels and bars, but the climate is perfect and, despite the thousands who flock here, you can always find a place to sit on one of the beautiful beaches.

Northcliffe club, located at the corner of Garfield Terrace and Thornton Street, was founded in 1947, as surf culture became increasingly popular. Today, some elite club members have become super-fit athletes, iron men and women, who compete in surf lifesaving races for a living as well as volunteering on the beach. The Northcliffe club is considered one of the best in the world and its impressive athletes – including iron man legend Darren Mercer – have won the Australian Surf Lifesaving championships for the last six years.

Members also compete in competitions such as the Coolangatta Gold, the toughest iron man and woman race on the surf event calendar (www.coolangattagold.com.au). Held along the Gold Coast, competitors have to surf ski, board paddle, swim and beach run, with the men's course held over 46.65km while women and juniors battle it out over 30.5km.

Back at Northcliffe club, swimming training is underway. I'm struggling with such an early start, but I'm soon wide-eyed when a parade of iron men passes in front of me. It takes more than physical fitness to become an iron man or woman; it requires unrelenting endurance and a willingness to battle unforgiving conditions to keep their muscular bodies in shape. Daily, hard-core training starts in the pool at 5.30am, followed by cardio and gym training, rounded off with a marathon board-paddle or surf ski session on the ocean.

Pat O'Keeffe, one of two full-time coaches employed by the club, says: "Training is painful. They suffer from various injuries, calf problems, shin-splits from running, but they suffer mainly from shoulder problems caused by excess swimming and board-paddling. All the work is mainly in the shoulders."

Mark Williams oversees all aspects of surf sports at Northcliffe and was a top iron man himself. "We provide training and resources for the iron men and women, arrange competitions, provide fantastic facilities and take them overseas to compete. In return they have to patrol the beach. It is a nice association, particularly on the Gold Coast where there are a lot of tourists," he says.

The club's general manager, Dermot McEnroe, describes how lifesavers' knowledge of the waves prevents major safety problems. "The beaches here are dangerous in the sense that you get flash rips, which the lifesavers can spot instantly and warn swimmers."

Rips are currents that appear as a darker area of water moving away from the shore. The water comes in and needs to go out and a rip can only go 50m-200m and then stops. But people worry it will carry them out to sea so they fight it, get tired and may drown. Sometimes rips can take 20 people out and a dozen lifesavers are needed for a mass rescue.

Lifesavers, though, know how to use the rips to get out through the water quickly to save people and in competitions, the iron men actually pick a rip to carry them through the water faster.

On the way back to my hotel I notice a group of people looking out to sea. A school of whales has come unusually close to shore and there are at least eight of them playing and jumping in the water. It's an amazing sight and a treat to witness such a spectacle. Australia's beaches are full of surprises, in and out of the water.

Facts

Emirates flies from six UK airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow) via Dubai to Brisbane and economy class returns start from around 669, based on flights from Gatwick. For reservations, visit www.emirates.com/uk.

Holiday Inn, Surfers Paradise, has rooms starting from A169 (118) per night.

For more information on surf lifesaving: www.bmdnorthcliffe.com.au

www.coolangattagold.com.au

www.ripcurrents.com.au

www.ironmanseries.com.au

For information on Queensland, visit www.experiencequeensland.com

• This article was first published in The Scotland On Sunday, May 30, 2010