TWIN TOWNS (Coollangatta and Tweed Heads) Once the traveler reaches this part of Australia, you are moving into the number one holiday region of Australia for Australians and overseas visitors. Usually warm, sunny and vibrant. All services at hand, including an International Airport, plus much more from both lifestyle and entertainment reality. Most growth in the region has been in the last 50 years; i.e. everything is ‘new’, but that said this area has heritage and character. Tweed Heads is located next to the border with Queensland, adjacent to the "Twin Town" of Coollangatta, a suburb of the Gold Coast. It is often referred to as a town where you can change time zones - even celebrate New Year twice within an hour - simply by crossing the street, due to its close proximity to the Queensland border, and the fact that New South Wales observes daylight saving whereas Queensland does not. Coollangatta and its Tweed Heads have a shared economy. The Tweed River supports a thriving fishing fleet, and the seafood is a local specialty offered in the restaurants and clubs of the holiday and retirement region on both sides of the state border. Timber cutters originally moved to the Tweed Valley in 1844. After the timber had been cleared, farmers moved in and bananas, cane and dairy farming became prominent as well as a fishing industry developing also. Coollangatta was one of the earliest settlements on the Gold Coast. Once again focused on a steep headland at Point Danger the area was occupied by Europeans from at least 1828 by a convict station and foresters soon followed. Selectors followed in the 1860s and a small settlement at Coollangatta was established. In 1883 a township was surveyed. The Twin Towns War Memorial is a great and human tribute. The Coollangatta churches are a mix of ‘old’ and classic and modern. There are no surviving hotels in the Twin Towns; just Taverns There is a recommended Aboriginal and Marine Museums. Not visited at this visit. This is a great area, and any stay at the Twin Town area is in conjunction with the total holiday in the Gold coast area. (refer the Gold Coast synopsis).