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The Gold Coast is a city in the southeast corner
of Queensland, Australia. It is the second most populous
city in the state and the sixth most populous city in
the country. It is also the most populous non-capital
city in the country. Gold Coast City is renowned for
its sunny subtropical climate, popular surfing beaches,
expansive waterway and canal systems, a skyline dominated
by high-rise apartment buildings, a peaceful rainforest
hinterland in the west of the city, active nightlife
and its wide variety of tourist attractions.
Geography
The Gold Coast can be reached from Brisbane by Pacific
Motorway M1 and Pacific Highway (Highway 1) from Sydney
and Newcastle.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 56
km (35 miles) south, and extends west to the foothills
of the Great Dividing Range in World Heritage listed
Lamington National Park.
Aerial view of Gold Coast suburbs: Mermaid Waters (left)
and Broadbeach Waters (right).The southernmost town
of Gold Coast City is Coolangatta which includes Point
Danger and its lighthouse. Coolangatta is a twin city
with Tweed Heads located directly across the border.
At 28°10′00″S 153°33′00″E / 28.1667°S 153.55°E /
-28.1667; 153.55, this is the most easterly point on
the Queensland mainland (Point Lookout on the offshore
island of North Stradbroke is slightly further east).
From Coolangatta, approximately forty kilometres of
holiday resorts and surfing beaches stretch north to
the suburb of Main Beach, and then further on Stradbroke
Island. The suburbs of Southport and Surfers Paradise
form the Gold Coast's commercial centre.
The major river in the area is the Nerang River. Much
of the land between the coastal strip and the hinterland
was once wetlands drained by this river, but the swamps
have been converted into man-made waterways (over 260
km , or over 9 times that of Venice, Italy) and artificial
islands covered in upmarket homes. The heavily developed
coastal strip sits on a narrow barrier sandbar between
these waterways and the sea.
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 km˛ 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 displayed around shield
volcanic craters and the high number of rare and threatened
rainforest species." The area is popular among bushwalkers
and day-trippers.
Waterways
Waterfront canal living is a feature of the Gold Coast,
and most canal frontage homes have pontoons. The Gold
Coast Seaway, between The Spit and South Stradbroke
Island, allows vessels direct access to the Pacific
Ocean from The Broadwater and many of the city's canal
estates. Breakwaters on either side of the Seaway prevent
longshore drift and the bar from silting up. A sand
pumping operation on the Spit pipes sand under the Seaway
to continue this natural process. Residential canals
were first built on the Gold Coast in 1950s and construction
continues to the present day. Most canals are extensions
to the Nerang River, but there are more to the south
along Tallebudgera Creek and Currumbin Creek and to
the north along the Gold Coast Broadwater, South Stradbroke
Island, Coomera River and southern Moreton Bay. Early
canals included Florida Gardens, Isle of Capri which
were under construction at the time of the 1954 flood.
Recently constructed canals include Harbour Quays and
Riverlinks completed in 2007. There is over 890 km of
constructed residential waterfront land within the city
that is home to over 80,000 residents.
Beaches
Surfers Paradise skylineThe city consists of 57 kilometres
of coastline with some of the most popular surf breaks
in Australia and the world including, South Stradbroke
Island, The Spit, Main Beach, Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach,
Mermaid Beach, Nobby Beach, Miami, Burleigh Beach, Burleigh
Heads, Tallebudgera Beach, Palm Beach, Currumbin Beach,
Tugun, Bilinga, Kirra, Coolangatta, Greenmount, Rainbow
Bay, Snapper Rocks and Froggies Beach. Duranbah beach
is one of the world's best known surfing beaches and
is often thought of as being part of Gold Coast City,
but is actually just across the New South Wales state
border in Tweed Shire. The official name for the beach
is actually Flagstaff Beach. Duranbah is a small town
located about 12 kilometres southwest of the beach,
but the name Duranbah Beach has become its accepted
(if not official) identity.
There are also beaches along many of the Gold Coast's
860 km of navigable tidal waterways. Popular inland
beaches include Southport, Budds Beach, Marine Stadium,
Currumbin Alley, Tallebudgera Estuary, Jacobs Well,
Jabiru Island, Paradise Point, Harley Park Labrador,
Santa Barbara, Boykambil and Evandale Lake.
Tourism
Around 10 million tourists visit the Gold Coast every
year; comprising of 849,114 international visitors,
3,468,000 domestic overnight visitors and 5,366,000
daytrip visitors. Tourism is the region’s biggest industry,
directly contributing more than $4.4 billion into the
city economy every year and directly accounting for
one in four jobs in the city. There are approximately
65,000 bed spaces, 60 kilometres of beach, 600 kilometres
of canal, 100,000 hectares of nature reserve, 500 restaurants,
40 golf courses and 6 major theme parks in the city.
Gold Coast Airport provides connection across Australia
with airlines including Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Tiger
Airways. International services from Japan, New Zealand,
Malaysia and Fiji also land at Gold Coast Airport with
airlines including Jetstar, Air New Zealand, Pacific
Blue, Airasia X and Air Pacific. Less than one hour
from the centre of the Gold Coast is Brisbane Airport
which provides wider domestic and international access
to the Gold Coast.
Film production
Gold Coast City is the major film production centre
in Queensland and has accounted for 75%[19] of all film
production in Queensland since the 1990s, with an expenditure
of around $150 million per year. Gold Coast is the third
largest film production centre in Australia behind Sydney
and Melbourne. Warner Brothers have large studios located
just outside of the city, at Oxenford which have been
the filming locations for films such as theScooby Doo
films and House of Wax (2005). Many Bollywood films
also use GC as a filming location, such as Singh Is
Kinng.
Warner Roadshow Studios are situated adjacent to the
Warner Bros Movie World Theme Park at Oxenford. The
Studios consists of eight sound stages, production offices,
editing rooms, wardrobe, construction workshops, water
tanks and commissary. These sounds stages vary in size
and have an overall floor area of 10,844 sq metres,
making Warner Roadshow Studio one of the largest studio
lots in the Southern Hemisphere. Currently shooting
there is the latest film in the award-winning Narnia
series, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the
Dawn Treader, the largest production ever to be made
on the Gold Coast.[citation needed] The Queensland Government
actively supports the film and television production
industry in Queensland and provides both non-financial
and financial assistance through the Pacific Film and
Television Commission.[20]
Film Gold Coast is committed to driving film investment
to the city. Film Gold Coast is a one-stop shop for
national and international film productions and provides
local knowledge and information on locations, maps,
facilities and services.
The Gold Coast is also the filming site for the popular
TV series, H2O: Just Add Water. Australia crime series
The Strip is set on the Gold Coast. Big Brother Australia
was filmed at the Dreamworld studios.
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