The Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise - And From Whence It Began!

With an ever-growing popularity with people from all walks of life, the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise are among the fastest growing holiday destinations in the world.

With close proximity to Asia, and not far from South Sea countries, and islands, Queensland affords holiday makers affordable holidays with their families at a very reasonable cost. And, with everything at your fingertips, the Gold Coast is the most ideal location for your holidays.

With its origins as the place for "endless supplies of timber", the Gold coast today has become the place for "endless fun in the sun". Tropical weather, balmy nights and endless beaches of pure sand make it the best holiday destination that families can enjoy within reasonable expenses.

Whilst it was once the meeting place of the indigenous Aboriginals to enjoy fishing and camping in and about the estuaries of the Tweed and Nerang Rivers, the area continues to enjoy fishing and camping with a twist - now it is with all the modern conveniences that one can afford. It has remained time-lessly the same with the only exception being that it is still a place to be enjoyed along with all the modern facilities that prosperity and the mod-cons which have been invented over time.

In the Hinterlands, you find rain forests from where timber was supplied in the 1800's and, in 1865, a town was started known as Nerang which was a derivation of the Aboriginal word "shover nosed shark."

In 1885, Governor Musgrave built a holiday home on the Gold Coast and there began the first form of tourism to the region. Following Governor Musgrave's advent, the area started to become known for its touristic qualities and by 1925 the population of the Gold Coast started to increase. Everyone wanted to enjoy the sun, surf, balmy climate and warm winters found in this place.

In 1933, the town of Elston was renamed and called Surfers Paradise and a tourism boom commenced. Following the post war era of the late 1940's another form of a boom commenced. It was speculation.

Real Estate speculators and journalists started calling the area the Gold Coast and the local tourism industry started to grow as a place for family fun filled holidays.

People from all around the world visited "Paradise on Earth" as the Gold Coast came of age. From a few hundred people in the early part of the 1900's, the city grew to an estimated population of about 500,000 people making it the sixth largest city of Australia. Today, the Gold Coast boasts of the world's tallest residential building called the Q1.

And, as the city grew, so did the infrastructure. Tourists started to flock the region and soon the younger generation followed. Now the Gold Coast boasts an international airport at Coolangatta and known as the Gold Coast airport which caters for over 4 million passengers each year. Opened in 1981 Coolangatta Airport is the sixth busiest airport in Australia!

Cheap car hire companies became part of this growth and to see the sights a rental car is vital. While most Car Rental companies hire to drivers over the age of 25 years, some all age car rental companies specialise in car hire to young drivers Under 21 years.