Sunday, January 17, 2010

Touring Through Gold Coast Austrialia Can Be Pleasing

By Bailey Jamieson

For those interested in touring Australia generally and the western and northwestern areas in particular, what to know about Gold Coast Australia will revolve around understanding what a truly dynamic and beautiful city it is. Those visiting the Australian state of Queensland -- the state in which Gold Coast resides -- will find this city in the southeast corner of Queensland to be endlessly fascinating.

Within Queensland, Gold Coast is the second-largest city in terms of population and the sixth largest in the country. Additionally, of the non-capital cities located in any of Australia's states or territories, it is the largest of all. The city itself is widely renowned for the quality of the sunny climate and the subtropical weather it is a constant year-round presence.

The city is a big draw for surfers of all abilities and can brag about a number of outstanding beaches for surfing. In fact, a few of them are regular stops on a couple of professional surfing tours. Along the shoreline, there is a huge number of skyscraper-type apartment buildings in which many of the city's more important people reside. To the west, the city can boast of a beautiful rain forest.

In the evening, they are is no lack of nightlife to tempt the tourist or sightseer or resident of the city. In addition to the nightlife, Gold Coast can boast of numerous popular tourist attractions that helped to make this popular vacation destination second only to Sydney in terms of tourism on the country's west coast. This city also boasts of a population exceeding 400,000 residents.

The first European visitor to note the area that eventually became Gold Coast was the famous English explorer James Cook. He noted its relative position down in his ship's log on May 16, 1770. It wasn't until'02 that another European made his way past the area, when Matthew Flinders -- who was engaged in charting the region north of the colony of New South Wales -- noted it in the charts he was making.

Australia is a land that brags on occasion of being partly colonized by prisoners. Indeed, more than a few escapees from the prison colony at Moreton Bay hid out in the area after escaping. Additionally, other prisoners who had been transported there found ways to stay after serving out their sentences. Colonization began in'23 by John Oxley, who set landed at Mermaid Beach.

Tourism began to really pick up steam around'25 when the historic Surfers Paradise Hotel was opened by Jim Cavill, a famous developer and hotelier who worked hard to develop the area, which was at that time known as Elston. In'58, the fruit of Cavill's labors came to be officially named "Gold Coast, " which was a nickname that had been given to it earlier by local newspapermen.

Nowadays, Gold Coast hosts over 10 million tourists a year and it is by far the largest industry in the area. Gold Coast Australia is extremely popular for a number of reasons and in particular because it is so attractive and it sits along a beautiful stretch of coastline that is highly popular with surfers and other tourists. There are many things to see and do in this popular Australian city.

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