21
Sep
2009
Living on the Gold Coast
The Gold Coast
The Gold Coast is an area in the southeast of Queensland, Australia, made up of 57km of coastline, stretching from Yatala to the border with New South Wales, bordered on the West by the Great Dividing Range at Lamington National Park. Not only does it feature spectacular beaches and World Heritage listed rainforests, but also a variety of shopping opportunities, recreation, cafes and restaurants. If you are looking to live and study on the Gold Coast, there are approximately 51 suburbs, in areas such as:
- Paradise Waters
- Surfers Paradise
- Broadbeach
- Sanctuary Cove
- Coombabah
- Southport
- Hope Island
- Biggera Waters
- Ashmore
- Coomera
- Yatala
- and Chevron Island, among many others.
Activities & Attractions
There is plenty to do on the sunny Gold Coast, from world-reknown beaches to theme parks, water sports and nature tours. Not only are there plenty of beaches, but beaches for swimming, surfing or just still water. Some of the beaches safest for swimming, away from rips and currents, include Burleigh Heads, Bilinga, Kirra, Currumbin, and Hastings Point. If you’re a surfer, the Snapper Rocks can’t be beaten. This is the beach where Roxy Pro and Quicksilver Pro surfing competitions take place. Other surfing destinations include the Spit, Surfers Paradise and Duranbah. Still water beaches suitable for swimming, fishing and other watersports such as kayaking, include the Gold Coast Broadwater and the Harley Park swimming lagoon.
Beyond the coast, along the Gold Coast Hinterland, there are farms, vineyards, villages, National Parks and rainforest reserves. Lamington National Park and Springbrook National Park offer bushwalk tracks where you can experience the rainforest, waterfalls and creeks. At O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat you can tour the tree tops walk, which involves nine suspension bridges up to 15m off the ground in the rainforest canopy. Then there is the Tamborine Mountain Rainforest Skywalk, a 300 metre long walkway that allows visitors to explore the upper levels of the rainforest and offers spectacular views.