A lively, sun-drenched and welcoming city on Australia’s south-east coast, the Gold Coast is a tourist hotspot that offers bucketloads of sun, sea and sand while also standing in close proximity to many of the Queensland’s major sites of natural beauty.
The Gold Coast City's climate is sub-tropical with 287 days of sunshine annually and enjoys near perfect year round sunshine, housed along over 70 kilometres of pristine beaches and a thriving resort scene. With over 260km of navigable waterways (nine times more than Venice); a Regional Botanic Gardens and numerous parks; scores of major shopping centres and small boutiques as well as plenty of sightseeing opportunities, the Gold Coast offers a host options for every kind of holidaymaker.
There is also a fine collection of restaurants and cafes scattered around the Gold Coast, offering cuisine from around the world at a range of establishments to suit every taste and budget. Evening entertainment can be found at the city’s array of bars, clubs and theatres, as well as Conrad Jupiters Casino and several nearby theme parks. A large selection of wildlife, tropical rainforest's and awe-inspiring hinterland surround the Gold Coast City, with abundant wildlife and numerous bushwalks. Boasting a thriving and diverse city centre surrounded by miles of picturesque hinterland and glorious coastline, the Gold Coast provides a host of activities for every interest and all types of holidaymaker.
Main Facts
Geographical Location of the Gold Coast
Gold Coast City is situated in the southeast corner of Queensland, to the south of Brisbane, the state capital. It is separated from Logan City, a suburban area of Brisbane by the Albert River. There the Gold Coast City stretches from Yatala and Russell Island to the border with New South Wales approximately 56km south, and extends west to the foothills of the Great Dividing Range in World Heritage listed Lamington National Park. To the west, the city is bordered by a part of the Great Dividing Range commonly referred to as the Gold Coast hinterland. A 206 km² section of the mountain range is protected by Lamington National Park and has been listed as a World Heritage area in recognition of its outstanding geological features and the high number of rare and threatened rainforest species.
Land/Sea Boundaries of the Gold Coast
Gold Coast is situated in the southern part of Queensland, along a coastline framing the Pacific Ocean. It stretches form the southern end of Logan City to the southern part of Coolangatta, in New South Wales for about 60 km. The most important river in this region is the Nerang River, which is a very important source of trade as well as relaxation for the people of Gold Coast. The diversity of the geography of Gold Coast is exhibited by the Great Dividing Range, which is also known as the Gold Coast hinterland. The Lamington National Park, one of the World Heritage sites, envelopes roughly 206 square km² of the mountain.
Languages of the Gold Coast
The spoken language is predominantly English and around 90% of Australians speak English. However, the Gold Coast is a multicultural area, so many other languages are also present to some degree; primarily Chinese, Greek, Italian and Vietnamese.
Currency of the Gold Coast
The currency in Gold Coast is the Australian Dollar. It is the only accepted currency in the city.
History of Gold Coast, Australia
Captain James Cook became the first European to note the region when he sailed along the coast on May 16, 1770 in the HM Bark Endeavour. Many escaped convicts from the nearby Moreton Bay penal settlement hid in the surrounding area, the region remaining largely uninhabited by Europeans until 1823 when explorer John Oxley landed at Mermaid Beach, which was named after his boat, a cutter named Mermaid. The populace of the area was boosted as the hinterland's red cedar supply attracted large numbers of people to the area in the mid 1800s.
The western suburb of Nerang was surveyed and established as a base for the industry. Later in 1875, Southport was surveyed and established and quickly grew a reputation as a secluded holiday destination for the upper class Brisbane residents. In 1925, tourism to the area grew rapidly when Jim Cavill established the Surfers Paradise Hotel, which transformed to Circle on Cavill neighbouring with Towers of Chevron Renaissance shopping mall and resort apartment complex. The population grew steadily to support the tourism industry and by the 1940s, real estate speculators and journalists were referring to the area as the "Gold Coast." The true origin of the name is still debatable. The name "Gold Coast" was officially proclaimed in 1958 when the South Coast Town Council was renamed "Gold Coast Town Council".
During the 1970s, real-estate developers gained a dominant role in local politics, and high-rises began to dominate the area now known as Surfers Paradise and later in 1981 the airport was established. In 1994 the Gold Coast City Council and the Shire of Albert amalgamated to create new city boundaries under the administration of the City of Gold Coast Council. In recent years, the Gold Coast has continued to develop as one of the nation’s best tourist destinations and build upon its reputations as a holiday hotspot surrounded by a host of first-rate attractions, cultural landmarks and area of stunning natural beauty.
Costs in Gold Coast, Australia
The Gold Coast has the same public holidays as the UK, with several local additions. Most public holidays become long weekends, and should a fixed-date holiday such as New Year’s Day fall on a weekend, the following Monday will usually be a holiday. Annual special events include:
Until just a few years ago, hiking was a necessity in the impoverished mountains of southern Italy. The rural roads joining hilltop villages to the coast-bound highways were often washed away by seasonal torrents and broken by neglect. Private automobiles were rare, at least by comparison to the more prosperous north.
In recent years, prospects in southern Italy have changed; little mom-and-pop olive groves have given way to large corporate farms, and everyone, it seems, has a recent-vintage car in which to tool around on the region's still-terrifying but better-maintained mountain roads. Now that the area is more easily accessible, outsiders have begun to discover southern Italy as a vacation spot, and they're been bringing their pastimes, like hiking, with them.
Though still far from crowded, the ancient footpaths of southern Italy's Maratea Coast, in constant use since the Neolithic era, now boast more Vibram-booted walkers than flock-shooing shepherds. Local hiking enthusiasts have made modest improvements on those paths, marking them with unobtrusive signs that point the way to the area's many natural attractions—limestone caves, stony beaches, gushing cliffside springs, and tall mountains among them.
The most difficult of the hikes near the Maratea coast is marked on signs and trail maps as the Percorso Monte Crivo. It leads from the canyon-hugging town of Maratea up into the granite and limestone formations of the Serra Cappallera. It begins at the trailhead near the town's famed seventy-foot-tall statue of Christ the Redeemer, with its arms fully extended to form the shape of a cross. My friend Renato Formisani, who bases his ocean-going sailboat Flora in Maratea's larger harbor, is fond of grumbling about the statue, which, even a die-hard believer might admit, doesn't quite fit into an otherwise stunning view of tall mountains tumbling into a crystalline sea. Renato is more bothered, though, by the fact that the statue faces inland. "Jesus ought to be looking out for us sailors," he says. "We need the protection more than the landlubbers."
That may be true today, but the Maratea coast's tall mountains are famed for their wildness, and the the people who once lived among them, who needed watching. In the Aeneid, Virgil tells us that it was here that Aeneas's helmsman Palinurus washed ashore after falling asleep on watch—and here that the local inhabitants promptly butchered the unfortunate stranger. In more recent years, the cave-riddled hills served as hiding places for bandits, Mafiosi, and antifascist guerrillas. The odds of being robbed or injured here were solid enough that for many years few outsiders came to the region—which was just fine by the locals, who kept to their vineyards and gardens and worked the fertile sea pretty much unnoticed.
The Percorso Monte Crivo winds along a cart road until it reaches a broad limestone shelf called the Piedi la Scala, where you'll find a small rest area sporting a fountain of delicious spring water. The path climbs from there to the top of 3,858-foot (1,176 m) Monte Crivo, following streams cut into forested canyons. The trail is steep, but the views it affords are well worth the effort. At its higher elevations, too, the path is overgrown with fennel, thyme, and sage, stalks of which brush up against your pant legs to give you the scent of a good marinara sauce, an improvement over the odor of the usual sweating mountaineer. The Monte Crivo trail is only 2.5 miles (4.1 km) long from start to finish, but it's difficult. Plan on two hours to make the top, and another two or three to descend.
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An easier trail of about the same distance as the Percorso Monte Crivo begins south of the Marina di Maratea near Castrocucco Beach. Here, the ruins of a Norman castle overlook a small rocky island into which the sea has carved a series of deep grottos. The trail climbs to just above 1,300 feet (400 m) above sea level along the Vallone Arenara ("sandy vale"), ending near the hills dotted with olive groves above the hamlet of Massa. From there, you can descend along a narrow auto road to Maratea, or cross to the Percorso Monte Crivo due north. Again, from Maratea, plan on about three hours each way.
A third trail, known locally as the Malvello, runs roughly midway between Maratea and the mountaintop village of Trecchina. The trail is a little more than 5.5 miles (9 km) long and takes 4-5 hours. The Malvello trail follows a broad coastal plane below Monte Coccovello, a steep, 4,941-foot (1,505 m) rise that affords a view of Lagonegro, the village where, legend has it, the smiling woman who sat for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa lived out her last years. Paths to the mountaintop are unsigned but easy to follow. A marked trail leads to the tiny cliffside village of Cersuta, then continues along a rocky beach that commands a sweeping view of the Gulf of Policastro. A few private campsites have been set up along this beach, and, if you're inclined to rough it, just pitch a tent there and wait for someone to come along to collect the fee, which runs to about 5,000 lire, or under $2.50, a night.
Keep your eyes open, too, for wolves. Maratea's paths connect to other ancient roads that lead north and south to two of Italy's least-visited national parks: the Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo Diano and the Parco Nazionale del Pollino. Both embrace some of the tallest peaks in the southern Apennines and large populations of wildlife—including Canis lupus, which has disappeared from most other parts of western Europe.
The Amalfi Coast is one of the most splendidly beautiful--and historically significant--areas in Italy. The area is comprised of the southern coast of the Sorrentine Peninsula, south of Naples and part of the province of Salerno. In the northern coast we find the town of Sorrento, from which the Peninsula derives its name, and along the southern coast we find the region's main towns of Positano, Ravello, Atrani, and Amalfi. The island of Capri, located nearby in the Bay of Naples, is also considered part of the Amalfi Coast.
The rugged coastline, sunny brilliance, and high mountain towns of the Amalfi Coast--as well as its proximity to Naples and the major archaeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum--have made the area a favorite with tourists, artists, and writers. Sorrento, Capri, and Positano have flourished as a home base for wealthy expatriates, particularly since the end of World War II. The town of Amalfi itself was at one time an important port in the region during the Middle Ages, and much more populated than it is today.
While the area can be difficult to navigate, particularly if one is driving (the winding, twisting roads among these cliff towns are notorious), each town has its own individual charm and history. Positano, where the houses are stacked along the steep cliffs, is not unlike Capri in that it has an international reputation for drawing the wealthy. Its surplus of expensive, three-star hotels and restaurants and shops are indicators of that. A big draw in Positano is the beach area.
Amalfi, which was, as previously mentioned, a one-time maritime power, now runs at a much slower (and smaller) pace. It also boasts some beautiful and arresting architecture, including the colorful Duomo located in the town's main piazza. Atrani, a kilometer east of Amalfi, also has impressive architecture worth exploring.
Ravello, located higher than Amalfi, can be difficult to get to, but worth it for the astonishing views of the sea, and the sense of peace and quiet that pervades the town. Once an important trade town in the Renaissance, Ravello fell upon hard times afterward, but has retained its considerable historical charm. There are many fine examples of architecture here, as seen in the churches and villas, that are flavored by Eastern (i.e., Arabic and Greek) influences.
The region also includes the town of Vietri sul Mare, known as the capital of southern Italy's handcrafted ceramics industry.
Finally, the town of Sorrento is the western entry point for the region, and has been well established as a tourist haven since the nineteenth century. The town still retains that feel today, as it is dominated yearly by an influx of largely British tourists--their presence is seen in the number of pubs visible in the area. Still, Sorrento is a good base from which to explore the Amalfi Coast because of its location and the fact that it serves as a transportation hub in and out of the region.
United States of America 1. Alaska
2. Washington
3. Oregon
4. California
5. Texas
6. Louisiana
7. Mississippi
8. Alabama
9. Florida
10. Georgia and South Carolina
11. North Carolina
12. Atlantic Coast Central :- (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey)
13. New York and New England
14. Great Lakes
15. Hawaii
Central America
1. Mexico
2. Pacific Coasts of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama
3. Caribbean Coasts of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize
4. Colombia
South America
1. Ecuador
2. Peru
3. Chile
4. Argentina
5. Uruguay
6. Brazil
7. French Guiana
8. Surinam
9. Guyana
10. Venezuela
The western suburb of Nerang was surveyed and established as a base for the industry. Later in 1875, Southport was surveyed and established and quickly grew a reputation as a secluded holiday destination for the upper class Brisbane residents. In 1925, tourism to the area grew rapidly when Jim Cavill established the Surfers Paradise Hotel, which transformed to Circle on Cavill neighbouring with Towers of Chevron Renaissance shopping mall and resort apartment complex. The population grew steadily to support the tourism industry and by the 1940s, real estate speculators and journalists were referring to the area as the "Gold Coast." The true origin of the name is still debatable. The name "Gold Coast" was officially proclaimed in 1958 when the South Coast Town Council was renamed "Gold Coast Town Council".
