Overview | Sights | Tweed Shire | Population | Education | Climate

Tweed Heads and Coolangatta share a main street that straddles the state border. They also share some truly beautiful beaches. The Twin Towns are located at the mouth of the Tweed River, just a 30 minute drive from Murwillumbah and Lamington National Parks.

Ocean and estuary activities of all sorts are easily accessible from here. You can rent a tinny to fish in the Tweed estuary and Cobaki Lakes, or take a river cruise with gourmet meals aboard. Some of the best surfing in Australia is found on local beaches, without the crowds sometimes experienced on the Gold Coast at Surfers Paradise.

Overview
Twin Towns is a major regional centre for all the amenities of civilisation as we know it. Coolangatta Airport is a regional hub for domestic airlines and a growing number of international carriers as well. A wide range of Government and Health Services are available with one public and several private hospitals. Tweed Coolangatta is also justly famous for its sporting and service clubs.

Here you will find a wide variety of accommodation, ranging from four star hotels to pension accommodation; from luxury serviced apartments to backpackers hostels and caravan parks. Tour operators can take you on day trips to the rainforests or 'outside' for big game fishing or whale watching.

It can truly be said that Tweed Heads stands between civilisation and the wilderness. Staying here, you can enjoy the beaches and the nightclubs; the rainforests and the retail therapy all in the same day, if you've got the energy!

Sights

Captain Cook Memorial Park and Point Danger Lookout
This ever popular seascape vantage point at Point Danger, straddles the border and overlooks the Duranbah Beach. The imposing memorial lighthouse is a famous coastal landmark. Pleasant grassy areas and picnic tables are available.

Cunningham Park - Jack Evans Boat Harbour
Adjoining the Jack Evans Boat Harbour, in the heart of Tweed Heads, Cunningham Park offers sandy beaches and clear waters, excellent for safe swimming and a variety of water sports. It is also a well equipped picnic spot. You may hire water craft from canoes and leisurely pedal boats, to jet skis and sail boats.

Razorback - Tom Beaston Lookout
From the entrance to the lookout reserve, off Razorback Road, take either the direct path, or the bush trail which winds around the side of the hill. A grassy plateau and lookout, high above the border towns of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads, gives a spectacular 360 degree panorama of the coastline and hinterland. It is a splendid spot for a picnic lunch, and with night lighting, a magical place to view the glittering lights of the coastal resorts.

Tweed Shire
Tweed Shire covers 1303 square kilometres and adjoins the NSW shires of Byron, Lismore and Kyogle, with the NSW/Queensland border to its north where it divides the twin towns of Tweed Heads and Coolangatta.

With 37 kms of natural coastline, wetlands and estuarine forests, lush pastoral and farm land, the entire basin of the Tweed River, and mountainous regions containing three world-heritage listed national parks, Tweed boasts a unique and diverse environment.

Centrepiece of the Shire is Mount Warning, where the sun first hits the Australian continent. The surrounding McPherson, Tweed, Burringbar and Nightcap ranges form the caldera of the fertile Tweed Valley.

Prior to European settlement, the area was blanketed in sub-tropical forest and was home to the Bundjalung people. Many of the Shire’s towns and villages derive their names from the language of those Aborigines.

Population
The area was settled by timber-getters around 1844; the first school opened in 1871; and by the 1890’s, the river port of Tumbulgum was the centre of population. The focus moved to Murwillumbah when the first Local Government municipality was declared in 1902. The Tweed Shire, which amalgamated the Municipality of Murwillumbah and Shire of Tweed, was declared in 1947.

Today some 74,000 people live in Tweed, scattered through 17 villages, two towns, and the major urban areas of Tweed Heads and South Tweed. The last twenty years have seen enormous growth, with the population increasing, on average, approx. 1.9% per year between the 1996 census and the 2001 census, largely due to southern retirees drawn by the temperate climate and relaxed lifestyle.

The retail, hospitality, agricultural and tourism industries are major employers, while construction, fishing, and light industry are other significant contributors to the local economy.

Education Facilities

• 5 community run and numerous private facilities for pre-school age children.
• 25 state primary schools
• 10 private primary schools
• 4 state high schools
• 4 private high schools
• 3 TAFE centres located at Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah and Kingscliff.
• Universities located at Tweed Heads, Lismore and the Gold Coast.

Climate
Tweed Shire experiences some of the most pleasant climate in New South Wales. The coastal villages running from Tweed Heads to Pottsville all experience beautiful sunny summer days with refreshing off shore breezes and mild winters. Inland the valley remains mild due to the warm coastal air. The tropical rainforests mountain walks are beautiful in summer with temperatures 3°C less than the summer average.

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