On the brink
It is an Australian rite of passage and involves sex, drugs, rock'n'roll and more sex. Tonight marks the climax of 'schoolies week', when tens of thousands of school-leavers celebrate the end of exams and the start of adult life.
This entails more than just a couple of drinks down at the local pub. Like migrating birds, legions of 'schoolies', as they are nicknamed, have flocked to beach resorts around the country.
In Western Australia, they head to the bays and beaches of Rottnest Island, not far from Perth. In South Australia, they descend on the coastal town of Victor Harbor, while some Queenslanders head for the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane. But by far the most popular destination for school-leavers is the Gold Coast, the overdeveloped strip of hotels, malls, bars and nightclubs tucked into Queensland's southeast corner.
'Schoolies week' is a peculiarly Australian phenomenon. While the US has the spring break for college students, and British teenagers are attracted by the drugs and dance parties of Ibiza and the Spanish costas each summer, it is only in Australia that so many adolescents party at the same time, in the same place.
The routine goes something like this: get up late, head to the beach, soak up the sun, then hit the bars and clubs until the wee hours. Repeat the process the next day, only this time with a thumping hangover. Continue for a week, when it is time to go home and either enter the world of work or prepare for university.
The excitement is palpable as thousands of adolescents come together to flirt, fight and try to 'pash' as many members of the opposite sex as possible. An entire industry has developed around 'schoolies week', with travel agents offering specifically tailored travel and accommodation packages for the Gold Coast and other hotspots around the country. There are even schoolies cruises, which take the more privileged teenagers on drink-sodden boat trips around the South Pacific.
On the Gold Coast, the event is organised by the Queensland government. More than 1,000 volunteers are on hand to advocate moderation and 300 extra police are drafted in to deal with the inevitable scuffles, noise complaints and drunken behaviour.
Police are on particular lookout for 'toolies', men in their 20s and 30s who descend on resort areas like the Gold Coast hoping to pick up teenage girls. So far this year the schoolies have been fairly well behaved. It's not over yet, though - an estimated 30,000 schoolchildren will take to the streets of the Gold Coast tonight for the biggest night of the annual festival. There will be a lot of sore heads tomorrow.
