Alongside Broban and Pearson, the defending Commonwealth champion and 2011 world champion, there were a raft of other top level athletes.

These included the first ever Olympic heptathlon champion and Brisbane 1982 Commonwealth Games champion Glynis Nunn-Cearns, as well as the marathon runner Michael Shelley, a silver medallist at Delhi 2010.

Two triple Commonwealth Games swimming champions were also present, Andrew Baildon and Brenton Rickard, along with the Athens 2004 Olympic road race cycling champion Sara Carrigan.

Also in attendance was the Premier of Queensland Campbell Newman, who joined the Minister for the Commonwealth Games, Jann Stuckey.

"The Baton arrived in true Gold Coast style by surf boat and was welcomed by a range of athletes and community representatives," said Newman.

"The arrival of the Baton is another milestone in the countdown towards the Gold Coast hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

"The Queensland Government is spending more than AUD$900 million (£533 million/$853 million/€630 million) on infrastructure to provide a lasting legacy for the Gold Coast.

"It will be world-class infrastructure to deliver a world-class sporting event," he said.

This praise was echoed by Stuckey, who claimed the public will have plenty of opportunities to get involved with the Baton over the weekend.

"The community event at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is the public's opportunity to have their photo taken with the Queen's Baton," she said.

"The Baton will also travel to Townsville and Cairns where it will again be an 'honoured guest' at a variety of community functions."

Stuckey said Queenslanders have a great affinity for the Commonwealth Games and fond memories of the last time the event was held in the region, at Brisbane in 1982.

"We love the Commonwealth Games and I have no doubt our communities will embrace the opportunity to demonstrate our warmth and friendliness and welcome the Queen's Baton to Queensland," she said.

Young Australians, and maybe some 2018 hopefuls, greet the baton on the Gold Coast



The Glasgow 2014 organisers will be relieved with the success of this stage, and the previous two weeks, after the early stages of the Relay was dogged by problems. 

Plans for Indian athletes to run round the streets with the Baton had to be scrapped because the event clashed with the Dussehra festival, a major event in the Hindu calendar.

In Pakistan a ceremony was then snubbed by the Government because of a row about who has authority for Olympic sports in the country.

Then the two day visit to the Maldives had to be shortened to two hours after fears about political instability following the postponement of the Presidential election. 

Latest stages of the Relay has been more successful, with stops in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalem before the arrival in Perth yesterday.

The only controversy in Australia was the omission of the the most recent Commonwealth Games host city, Melbourne, from the six-day itinerary.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle was left "smacking his forehead in disbelief" at the omission of the city and anywhere else in Victoria from the programme. 

After the conclusion of the Australian leg the Baton will head to Papua New Guinea for the next step of its journey.