Nerang, Queensland

Gateway town to the mountainous Gold Coast hinterland. Once a quiet country town, it now accommodates the residential overspill from Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Location: 72 km south of Brisbane.
Origin of name: of Aboriginal origin, the name was first given to the Nerang River. Reportedly from the Bundjalung language, Ngaraangbal variant, the word indicates either small river, or shovel nosed shark, the latter being from neerung or neerang.
Brief history: The Nerang River was first surveyed in 1842, after the land around Moreton Bay had been opened up for settlement. Settlement occurred quickly and between 1862-64, experiments were made in growing cotton. It was replaced by sugar cane in 1865, the year in which the town was surveyed. It grew rapidly, particularly after 1889 when it was linked by rail to Brisbane.
Natural features: Nerang River; Springbrook National Park (35 km south, Natural Bridge); Cave Creek; Lamington National Park (aboriginal cooking caves, White Caves, O'Reilly's Rainforest Guesthouse; Python Rocks; Moran Falls; Darraboola Falls, Echo Falls, Elabana Falls; Chalahn Falls); Beechmont Range; Green Mountains.
Built features: localities of Mudgeeraba (9 km south) and Springbrook (Brook Falls; Best Of All Lookout; Pyramid Rock; egg Rock); Paradise Country and Aussie Country; Binna Burra Mountain Lodge; Hinze Dam and Advancetown Lake (8 km south west of Nerang).
Heritage features: Nerang River Mill; Gold Coast War Museum