Tweed Heads, New South Wales



Tweed Heads is a town located on the Tweed River in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Tweed Shire. Tweed Heads is located next to the border with Queensland, adjacent to the "Twin Town" of Coolangatta, 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.

Tweed Heads was once connected to the Queensland Railways system, with the South Coast line providing a direct connection to Brisbane. The railway opened in 1903 and closed in 1961. The site of the station has been converted to parklands and commercial development.

History
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.

Tourism
Given its closeness to the Gold Coast, Tweed Heads has a shared economy with Coolangatta based heavily on tourism.

Tweed Heads' most popular tourist destinations include Mount Warning, one of the largest shield volcanoes in the Southern Hemisphere, and the nearby Nightcap, Border Ranges, Springbrook and Lamington National Parks, which abound with sub-tropical fauna and flora.

Notable residents or persons born in Tweed Heads

 * Wayne Bartholomew, world champion surfer
 * Cheyse Blair, rugby league player
 * Trevor Butler, Big Brother Australia Winner 2004
 * Larry Corowa, former Australian rugby league international
 * Brad Davis, former rugby league player
 * Mick Fanning, world champion surfer
 * Sam Gilbert, Australian rules footballer
 * Stephanie Gilmore, world champion surfer
 * Michael Gordon, rugby league player
 * David Hale, Australian rules footballer
 * Ryan James, rugby league player
 * Kayne Lawton, rugby league player
 * Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Australian rugby league international
 * Marc Lock, Australian rules footballer
 * Lionel Morgan, former Australian rugby league international
 * Luke O'Dwyer, rugby league player
 * Mark Occhilupo, world champion surfer
 * Joel Parkinson, pro surfer
 * Tony Rampling, former rugby league player
 * Kieran Ricketts, journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker
 * James Roberts, Australian Olympic swimmer
 * Matt Seers, former rugby league player