He rolls his tube over the warm sand-dirt.

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The average temperature is above 40C, the sea is like a warm bath, the golden sand burns your feet and the ubiquitous tarmac is starting to sizzle.

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Next time you are outside, cowering under a parka, your toes going numb, imagine strutting in a bathing suit with those toes in the sand, along warm, bright blue waters beckoning you to take a relaxing float.

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But the Gold Coast can also surprise even the most dedicated beach snob with its sea hazed dunes, warm waves and soft, clean sand.

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We have a ton of fun in the spring when the weather is warm and sunny watching our dogs run in the sand and waves chasing birds.

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Further afield, Kenji World, (81-19) 695-3333, in northern Japan's Iwate prefecture, boasts a colossal onsen "beach" where warm water washes up on the shore (made of brownish soft board instead of sand).

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Here mountains give way to an expanse of deserted white sand that runs hundreds of metres from shore at low tide, with the warm water waist-deep for hundred of metres more.

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