Tamborine Mountain (also known as Mt Tamborine and Mount
Tamborine and often misspelt as Tambourine Mountain) is a 28 km
2 plateau (8 km long by 4 km wide) in the Gold Coast Hinterland,
Queensland Australia. The name is of Aboriginal origin and has
nothing to do with the musical instrument. Tamborine Mountain is
located 30 minutes from the Gold Coast and one hour from
Brisbane. Geological Origin The geological origin of the plateau
is the result of eruptions from a huge shield volcano in the
Mount Warning area of northern New South Wales about 20-23
million years ago, which smothered the surrounding landscape
with layers of basalt lava flows. History and Culture Tamborine
Mountain was inhabited by Aborigines for tens of thousands of
years and was the territory of the Wangerriburra family group.
Until it was opened for selection in 1875 it was covered with
subtropical rainforest. In that year, the first white settler,
John O’Callaghan, selected a parcel of land on the Mountain.
Much clearing for agriculture to