The Gold Coast, with its famous high rise skyline and its wide, white sandy beaches, is an area of land eighty kilometres south of Brisbane, in Queensland. It stretches along the coast from Coolangatta, in the south, to Beenleigh, in the north, a distance of approximately sixty kilometres. The area then runs from the coastline, to the west as far as the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. There are several river systems within this area, however the major river is the Nerang, which runs through the Gold Coast city. It has been the reclamation of the wetlands in the lower reaches of the Nerang, that has created the man made waterways, which has given the Gold Coast such a spectacular look and feel. The city itself is built on a sandbar between the ocean and these waterways. The hinterland is picturesque, with dense sub tropical vegetation, contained within National Parks at Springbrook and Lamington, both included in the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage Area. Mount Tamborine, Queensland’s first National Park, is another tourist destination for its rainforest walks, creeks and waterfalls. From these mountain areas, the land runs down to the coastline, where 57 kilometres of white beaches have some of the best surfing waves in Australia pounding on the shores.
The Gold Coast is Queensland’s leading tourist destination, and has been called the ‘Theme Park’ capital of the southern hemisphere. There are four major theme parks, being Dream World, Movie World, Sea World and Wet’n’Wild. The beautiful beaches and the surf, also attract major national and international surfing events to the area. For a different sort of fun, every year the streets of Surfers Paradise reverberate with the sound of F1 racing cars, with the Gold Coast Indy. The course uses the public streets and forms a tortuous circuit of 4.47 kilometres.
For the shopper, the Gold Coast is famous for its shopping, with a great and diverse selection of retail outlets, from Cavell Mall and Paradise Centre at Surfers Paradise, Pacific Fair at Broadbeach and Marina Mirage at Main Beach, to name just a few. Just in case everything isn’t covered, how about trying your luck at Jupiter’s Casino!!
There is so much to do and see on the Gold Coast, it defies imagination.
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