Gold Coast Info
Introduction
The Pacific waters lapping Australia's eastern shoreline are among the most enjoyable and pleasant in the world, and the beaches that sprawl out along this vast coast are among the most visited and most celebrated in the entire world.
Of all of the many spectacular beaches in eastern Australia, and the country as a whole, surely some of the best have to be in Gold Coast, the most heavily visited tourist destination within Australia.
Gold Coast, which is located just a short drive south of the state capital of Brisbane, is a gorgeous area that is quite modern and urban, actually comprising the seventh largest city in the nation. Offering some of the best surf conditions in the country (and definitely the closest to Brisbane), people flock to the region every year, all year round, to get a little down time and enjoy this charming city, which is really a series of previously isolated and separate towns that now (thanks to the development boom of the last several decades, starting roughly in the '70s) intermesh with each other in one long and pretty urban landscape.
Visiting Gold Coast
If you make it down to Australia, then you definitely need to make it down to Gold Coast—as mentioned earlier, it is only the most frequented part of this enormous island nation, and considering how many great attractions there are in Australia, it must be for a good reason, right?! Beyond the great waves and long sandy beaches, the area simply offers an endless barrage of extremely enjoyable and entertaining tourist options that no visitor will want to miss out on.
There are tons of extreme sport options, both in the water and on the land, as well as opportunities for seeing wildlife (both marine and land-based), as there are a great variety of animal parks and other theme parks. Among them, definitely consider checking out Dreamworld, Australia Outback Spectacular, and the David Fleay Wildlife Park: all extremely fun, and all extremely interesting, with great scenery to be just about anywhere you set foot in this area.
If not, there are tons of fishing excursions to be done, both on river, in the surf, and also out at sea on excursion. The fisheries are very abundant in this part of the world, and just about anybody with a fishing rod in hand will be sure to have some degree of success! Or maybe, instead of trying to catch things in the water, try just simply looking at them and enjoying the spectacle, by going on a whale watching tour. These gentle giants of the seas are ubiquitous in the waters off of Gold Coast, and have adapted to the presence of humans quite well, regularly offering themselves up to the great contentment and joy of the onlookers.
Or else, for a little bit more tranquility, those looking for some leisure and soothing sensations can visit some of the regional wineries, which have a great reputation in the country and throughout the world, with eastern Australia providing some of the nation's most touted varieties. Or be a little more adventuresome (without having to really take any of the risks) and go on one of the many helicopter tours being offered throughout the city and its surroundings.
History of Gold Coast
With a long and proud history, this area was traditionally home to a fairly large amount of aborigines in comparison to other parts of Australia before European settlers arrived. The pleasant subtropical climate and the abundant waters were surely a major factor in that, as well as the abundance of the particular kind of tree they used to create their boomerangs. Given the importance of aboriginal cultural influences in the area, and out of respect for the native culture, in recent years many of the landmarks have been renamed according to aboriginal custom, no longer referred to by the names of the British military officials after whom certain spots were commemorated. Over the last hundred years, many of the separate towns that formed stops along the coastal route south of Brisbane conglomerated into one larger urban area, and in 1959 the were officially formed into one body, that today we know as the beautiful and unforgettable Gold Coast.