Lawson resident Jino Van Bruinessen lives far from the beach, but he can proudly claim to be the reigning world champion of sand sculpting.
The former interior designer and prop maker for the Mad Max movie series in the 80s turned to sand sculpting in 1990 and has never looked back.
With back-to-back Windsor International Sand Sculpting titles under his belt and gold at last year's Australian Championships in Frankston - where he impressed the judges with his take of a mythical battle horse known in the Far East as Kirin - Mr Van Bruinessen hopes to defend his number one ranking in the Gold Coast this weekend.
He will be taking on up to 14 of the world's best at the 2015 Australian Sand Sculpting Championships.
Unlike previous events where artists could choose their own subjects, all entrants will be assigned Disney characters to carve.
His task will be to carve Winnie the Pooh and his close friends Christopher Robin and Piglet.
"That changes the focus quite a bit because everybody knows what they are going to be doing, so the characters made have to be very exact," Mr Van Bruinessen said.
"That's what we will be judged on, but there will still be some room for the artists to play a little bit with the backgrounds and the texture.
"The other thing is I have to defend my title, so there is a little more pressure on me this time."
It took most of last week for organisers to set up the competitors' working spaces along the spectacular Surfers Paradise foreshore with 10 to 15 tonnes of compacted builders' sand each and all the required carving tools.
The first of billions of grains of sand will be shifted at 8am this Friday morning as the artists start creating their giant sandy masterpieces for three days straight in front of spectators.
"In competitions you always work within a set timeframe, that's the nature of the beast.
"We must all be finished by 6pm on Sunday, so you need to be able to get to work fast and trust in your own abilities."
More than 80,000 people are anticipated to attend the championships and the Sand Safari exhibition, which runs until March 1.
"People see all of the artists while they are working and I like that interaction. There are always good crowds at this event and it is in such a beautiful setting."
Mr Van Bruinessen is contracted to work for Sandstorm Events and competes in sand sculpting competitions in Australia from November to March and at festivals in Europe, Asia, New Zealand and South America throughout the year.
"Sand sculpting takes up most of my time now and it gets bigger every year. Hopefully I will still have time to renovate my house."
To keep up with the latest sand sculpting updates, visit www.sandstormevents.com.