Rainbow Beach is a coastal rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Gympie Region The Gympie Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is between the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay and centred on the town of Gympie. It was create ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. In the , Rainbow Beach had a population of 1,249 people. It is a popular tourist destination, both in its own right and as a gateway to

Fraser Island Fraser Island ( Butchulla: ) is a World Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The island is approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fras ...

, with a vehicle ferry frequently running to the Southern point of

Geography

Rainbow Beach is bounded to the east by Wide Bay in the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

. The town's name derives from the rainbow-coloured sand dunes surrounding the settlement. According to the legends of the Kabi people, the dunes were coloured when Yiningie, a spirit represented by a rainbow, plunged into the cliffs after doing battle with an evil tribesman. Much of the sand colours stem from the rich content of minerals in the sand, such as

rutile Rutile is an oxide mineral composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most common natural form of TiO2. Rarer polymorphs of TiO2 are known, including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite. Rutile has one of the highest refractive indices at visib ...

ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing ...

zircon Zircon () is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates and is a source of the metal zirconium. Its chemical name is zirconium(IV) silicate, and its corresponding chemical formula is Zr SiO4. An empirical formula showing some of t ...

, and

monazite Monazite is a primarily reddish-brown phosphate mineral that contains rare-earth elements. Due to variability in composition, monazite is considered a group of minerals. The most common species of the group is monazite-(Ce), that is, the ceriu ...

. A black dune of

sands, overgrown by dune vegetation, can be found north west of the main town. This is currently being removed for sale in China with complete removal expected to take two years. The Cooloola Section of the

Great Sandy National Park Great Sandy National Park is a coastal national park in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. Geography The park features untouched beaches, large sand dunes, heathlands, rainforests, swamps, creeks, freshwater lakes and mangrove fore ...

borders the town to the south. A number of walking tracks through the national park depart from the southern outskirts of Rainbow Beach. This includes the northern end point of the

Cooloola Great Walk The Cooloola Great Walk is a coastal bushwalking route in the Great Sandy National Park of South East Queensland, Australia. Opened in 2010, it runs from Noosa North Shore through Cooloola to Rainbow Beach, and is planned as a five-day trek. T ...

. By road, Rainbow Beach is located from the

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Nat ...

town of

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River, which floods Gympie occasionally. The ...

, and from the Queensland state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

History

The town's war memorial commemorating those who died in the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and subsequent conflicts was refurbished in 1993 and is also located in Laurie Hanson Park. Rainbow Beach State School opened on 28 January 1986. The Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd opened on 15 September 1993. The church and hall were relocated from

Yeronga Yeronga is a southern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Yeronga had a population of 6,535 people. Geography The suburb is bounded to the west and north by the Brisbane River and to the south-east by Ip ...

in a 15-hour journey and re-erected in Rainbow Beach. The church had operated in Yeronga under the same name from 1958 to 1992. At the , Rainbow Beach had a population of 1,103. Rainbow Beach Library was opened in 2012. In the , Rainbow Beach had a population of 1,249 people.

Economy

The town's economy is now dominated by tourism, featuring quiet and idyllic holidays, fishing and retirement getaway. The town caters to beach-orientated holiday-makers with hotels, motels, and caravan parks. The town promotes itself as the "Gateway to Fraser Island" as vehicular ferries for Fraser Island depart from

Inskip Point Inskip Point is a peninsula in the north of the locality of Inskip to the north of the town of Rainbow Beach in south-east Queensland, Australia. It is the vehicular gateway to Fraser Island (also known as K'Gari and Gari), a popular recreatio ...

, north of town.

Double Island Point Double Island Point is a coastal headland in Queensland, Australia. It is the next headland north of Noosa and is within the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park, at the southern end of Wide Bay. It is approximately 12km south ...

, a popular destination amongst 4WD enthusiasts, is located east of town. It is also promoted as an

eco-tourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fun ...

destination. Although it has a permanent population of about 1,000, about 70,000 visitors come to the town each year.

Community Facilities

Gympie Regional Council The Gympie Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is between the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay and centred on the town of Gympie. It was create ...

operates Rainbow Beach Library at Rainbow Beach Community Hall, 32 Rainbow Beach Road (). The Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd is at 17-19 Carlo Street (). St Peter the Fisherman Catholic Church is at the south-east end of Manooka Drive ().

Education

Rainbow Beach State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Warooga Road (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 93 students with 8 teachers (6 full-time equivalent) and 5 non-teaching staff (4 full-time equivalent).

References

External links

*
Town map of Rainbow Beach, 1983
{{authority control Towns in Queensland Coastal towns in Queensland Beaches of Queensland Gympie Region 1969 establishments in Australia Populated places established in 1969 Localities in Queensland