Change Rising at Glitter Strip ‘Oasis’ as Shovels Hit Dirt

The view across the Nerang River from Kate Madison’s Bumbles Cafe at Budds Beach says it all.

“I’m looking at 13 cranes right now on Chevron Island,” she says. “That’s a lot—even for this part of the Gold Coast.”

By that, she means Surfers Paradise—the famed skyline of which is made up of about half of the city’s 800 or so mid and highrise buildings.