31-648: Tamborine National Park is a protected area split between the City of Gold Coast and the Scenic Rim Region in South East Queensland , Australia, 67.5 km (41.9 mi) by road south of Brisbane . It covers 11.60 square kilometres (4.48 sq mi) on the plateau of Tamborine Mountain and around its foothills. The plateau is 8 km (5.0 mi) long, 5 km (3.1 mi) wide and rises to an altitude of 525 m (1,722 ft). The elevation of
62-541: A number of changes to local government boundaries and the amalgamation of some local governments. Although their recommendations only included boundary adjustments between the Gold Coast City and Albert Shire , the outcome following much public debate was a decision by the Queensland Government to absorb Albert Shire into Gold Coast City. The Local Government (Albert, Beaudesert and Gold Coast) Regulation 1994
93-465: A turnoff into Cedar Creek Falls Road. One of the most delightful walks in the whole Tamborine area is the Cedar Creek Circuit (3.2 km) which explores the creek's various cascades, rock pools and plant communities, such as open and dry rainforest and hoop pines . The falls tumble (gently rather than spectacularly) down into a gully. The 1.5 km (0.93 mi) Rock Scree Walk intersects with
124-658: Is a member of the Queensland Public Libraries Association . Notable people who work for or who have worked for the City of Gold Coast include: The City of Gold Coast has relationships with the following cities: Sister City Agreements Other Partnerships 28°00′04″S 153°25′42″E / 28.00111°S 153.42833°E / -28.00111; 153.42833 Allocasuarina torulosa Allocasuarina torulosa , commonly known as forest oak , rose sheoak , river oak or Baker's oak ,
155-624: Is a special needs library within Nerang Library and a Local Studies Library (on the first floor of Southport Library). The council also operate a mobile library service. In 2018, the mobile library provides a fortnight service to Alberton , Ashmore , Benowa , Bonogin , Cedar Creek , Coomera , Currumbin Valley , Gilston , Jacobs Well , Mudgeeraba , Ormeau (4 visits), Paradise Point , Pimpama (3 visits), Tugun , Steiglitz , Tallebudgera Valley , and Woongoolba . The Gold Coast City Library
186-422: Is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a slender, usually dioecious tree that has drooping branchlets up to 140 mm (5.5 in) long, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of four or five, and the fruiting cones 15–33 mm (0.6–1 in) long containing winged seeds ( samaras ) 7–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long. Allocasuarina torulosa
217-432: Is available. The main areas to visit in the park are Joalah, Cedar Creek, The Knoll, MacDonald Park, Niche's Corner, Palm Grove and Witches Falls. All have picnic facilities and walking tracks. All but Cedar Creek have information centres; most have toilets and some have barbecues. The Witches Falls section, on the eastern side of Mount Tamborine village, became Queensland's first national park in 1908. The main walk here
248-466: Is divided into 14 wards (known as divisions), each electing one councillor at elections held every four years. The present mayor is Tom Tate who was first elected on 28 April 2012 and re-elected in 2016, 2020 and 2024. The current council, elected in 2024 , is: Populations are provided below for the Gold Coast (Southport/Coolangatta, South Coast, Gold Coast) and Albert entities. As Albert included
279-523: Is named after the piccabeen palms flourishing in the area. In between, and to the north of Witches Falls and Palm Grove, is the Joalah section of the park which features the 1.5 km (0.93 mi) Curtis Falls Walk (return). It descends to a rock pool at the base of the falls, offering fine views of the basalt rock face. Brush-turkeys can be seen along the Joalah Circuit (4 km), which links up with
310-617: Is slender, usually dioecious tree that typically grows to a height of 5–20 m (16–66 ft). Its branchlets are drooping, up to 140 mm (5.5 in) long, the leaves reduced to erect, scale-like teeth 0.3–0.8 mm (0.01–0.03 in) long, arranged in whorls of four or five around the branchlets. The sections of branchlet between the leaf whorls are 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long, 0.4–0.5 mm (0.016–0.020 in) wide and more or less square in cross-section when young. Male flowers are arranged in spikes 5–30 mm (0.2–1 in) long, with 7 to 12 whorls per cm (per 0.4 in),
341-525: Is the local government area spanning the Gold Coast , Queensland , Australia and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774, it is the second most populous local government area in the State of Queensland ( City of Brisbane being the largest). Its council maintains a staff of over 2,500. It was established in 1948, but has existed in its present form since 2008. It is on the border with New South Wales with
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#1732868618250372-721: Is the Witches Falls Circuit (3 km (1.9 mi)) which snakes down a steep slope through closed in forest into rainforest with cycad groves, seasonal lagoons, enormous strangler figs and palm groves, en route to the falls. An alternative way of seeing the falls is via the Beacon Road Track (four km one way). Access is off Main Western Road (also known as Tamborine Mountain Road and Geissmann Drive). Subtropical rainforest containing large red cedar trees and strangler figs
403-644: Is the predominant vegetation here. On the western side of Tamborine Mountain village is the Palm Grove section of the park. The Curtis Road Track (1.2 km (0.75 mi) one way) links Curtis Road and Palm Grove Avenue. The Palm Grove Circuit (1.4 km (0.87 mi)) passes through rainforest, fig and palm groves. Curtis Road runs off Tambourine Mountain Road (in Tamborine Mountain) and Palm Grove Avenue runs off Central Avenue in Eagle Heights . The section
434-435: Is widespread in north-eastern and central-eastern Queensland and on the coast and ranges of New South Wales, as far south as Macquarie Pass and Jenolan Caves . There is also an isolated population on Cape York Peninsula . The timber is reddish pink to brown. It is prized by woodworkers and woodturners as a rare and exotic timber, often used in wood turnings, knife handles and other specialist items. The rose she-oak has
465-676: The Local Authorities Act 1902 , the divisions became shires. On 12 June 1914, the Town of Coolangatta was created from part of the Shire of Nerang , and on 12 April 1918, Southport became a town. On 9 December 1948, as part of a major reorganisation of local government in South East Queensland , an Order in Council created the Town of South Coast by amalgamating Town of Southport , Town of Coolangatta and coastal sections (around Burleigh Heads ) of
496-545: The Shire of Nerang , creating a narrow coastal strip. The same Order abolished all of the earlier Shires and amalgamated most of their area into the new Shire of Albert , with the rest becoming part of the Shire of Beaudesert . The Order came into effect on 10 June 1949, when the first elections were held for the new councils. On 23 October 1958, the Town of the South Coast adopted the name of Town of Gold Coast , and on 16 May 1959,
527-676: The Tweed Shire to the south in New South Wales . By the late 1870s, the Government of Queensland had become preoccupied with the idea of getting local residents to pay through rates for local services, which had become a massive cost to the colony and were undermaintained in many areas. The McIlwraith government initiated the Divisional Boards Act 1879 which created a system of elected divisional boards covering most of Queensland. It
558-436: The anthers 0.5–0.6 mm (0.020–0.024 in) long. Female cones are on a peduncle 8–30 mm (0.3–1 in) long, and mature cones are warty, shortly cylindrical to barrel-shaped, 15–33 mm (0.6–1 in) long and 12–25 mm (0.5–1 in) in diameter, containing brown, winged seeds (samaras) 7–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long. Forest oak was first formally described in 1789 by William Aiton , who gave it
589-806: The Curtis Falls Walk. Access is off Eagle Heights Road. Also in Eagle Heights, adjacent to the Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens , is the MacDonald Park section. It has a rainforest circuit (2.6 km (1.6 mi)) wherein the plants are named. Access is off Wangawallan Road. The Knoll section of the park is located in the north-west of North Tamborine . It contains the Cameron Falls Circuit (3 km (1.9 mi)) which offers fine views, rainforest environs, open forest and
620-659: The Town was proclaimed as the City of Gold Coast by the Governor of Queensland , having met the requirements for city status. Most of what is now regarded as the Gold Coast urban area was at that time located within the Shire of Albert , which had its administrative offices in Nerang-Southport Road, Nerang . On 19 March 1992, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission , created two years earlier, produced its report External Boundaries of Local Authorities , and recommended
651-589: The basis that a common community of interest existed and that planning of the South East Queensland urban footprint would be made more efficient by the change. The area to be excised was estimated by the Commission to have an area of 49 km (18.9 sq mi) and a population of 40,148. The change took effect at the local government elections on 15 March 2008 . The Gold Coast has many heritage-listed sites, including those at: Gold Coast City Council
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#1732868618250682-780: The circuit walk, for a potential detour. Located approximately 20 km (12 mi) north of the Knoll and main section of Tamborine Mountain, Niches corner sits looking towards the Gold Coast and delivers expansive views. One of the best walks in the whole Tamborine area is the Niches Lookout Circuit (3.2 km (2.0 mi)) which explores the Niches Corners various cascades, rock pools and plant communities, such as open and dry rainforest and hoop pines . [REDACTED] Media related to Tamborine National Park at Wikimedia Commons City of Gold Coast The City of Gold Coast
713-667: The entire Logan City area prior to 1978, figures are only provided from the 1976 census. The first municipal library on the Gold Coast opened in the Southport Town Hall on 30 April 1958. Prior to this, a series of School of arts and private circulating libraries had supported the communities' and visitors' recreational and educational reading needs. The City of Gold Coast has 12 libraries at Broadbeach , Burleigh Heads , Burleigh Waters , Coolangatta , Elanora , Helensvale , Mermaid Waters , Nerang , Palm Beach , Robina , Runaway Bay , Southport and Upper Coomera . There
744-433: The largest contraction along the grain (12%) of any Australian wood and needs to be dried carefully to get full value as a useful timber. The seeds of A. torulosa have been found to be a food source for the yellow-tailed black cockatoo . It grows from seed , and cut or broken trees will often regenerate from the trunk. This is a low-maintenance tree that will grow in a variety of soils and tolerate light frosts. In
775-732: The name Casuarina torulosa in Hortus Kewensis from specimens collected by Joseph Banks . In 1982, Lawrie Johnson transferred the species to Allocasuarina as A. torulosa in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens . Since it was the first species of the genus Allocasuarina to be named by Johnson, it is the type species of that genus. Allocasuarina torulosa grows in open forest and on rainforest fringes in moister, more nutrient rich soils than A. littoralis at altitudes from 40 to 1,200 m (130 to 3,940 ft). It
806-449: The occasional black skink sunbathing on the rocks. Knoll Road runs off Main Street. The Tamborine Mountains Natural History Association Information Centre is also located in the village of North Tamborine. Stands of forest she-oak are found at the Knoll as well as the lacebark , an Australian native flowering tree. Heading north from North Tamborine, via Tamborine Mountain Road, there is
837-523: The park includes Lyrebirds , the elusive platypus , brush-turkeys , lorikeets , eastern whipbirds and satin bowerbirds . The significance of the park is underscored by the fact that it provides habitat for 85% of all fauna species and 65% of all flora species in the Scenic Rim Regional Council area. Camping is not permitted in any part of the park. A range of small-scale cottages, bed-and-breakfast style accommodation , hotels and motels
868-545: The plateau keeps the temperature down a little in summer although December to April is also the wettest time to visit. Winter is drier but also cooler. The protected area is scattered across 14 separate reserves which make up the National Park, interspersed with villages. There are a number of picnic areas as well as scenic drives and many bushwalks to lookouts, gorges , cliffs , waterfalls , rainforest areas, wet eucalypt forest , open forest and woodlands. Wildlife in
899-467: The rural landholders so Southport ratepayers lobbied the colonial government to create a separate Divisional Board so that rates monies raised by Southport landholders could be spent on town improvements. This resulted in the establishment of the Southport Division on 14 July 1883 by an amalgamation of part of Nerang Division and part of Coomera Division. On 31 March 1903, following the enactment of
930-479: Was assented by the Governor on 2 October 1879, and on 11 November 1879, the Governor gazetted a list of 74 divisions which would come into existence. Four of these — Nerang , Coomera , Beenleigh and Waterford — were in the Gold Coast region. Southport was developed as both an administrative centre as well as a holiday destination with hotels and guesthouses to cater for visitors. Town dwellers had different needs to
961-591: Was gazetted on 16 December 1994, resulting in the amalgamation of the Shire of Albert into Gold Coast City at the 1995 local government elections. In 2007, as part of a report recommending massive amalgamation of local government in Queensland, the Local Government Reform Commission recommended that the Beenleigh - Eagleby region on the Gold Coast's northern border be transferred to Logan City , on