FF - ABOUT US - Information, details, photographs, contacts for Friendship Force, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, a world-wide home hosting association.

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Click image above to go to page with details
of 20th Birthday Celebrations planned for March 2012

INBOUND EXCHANGE
from
La Serena, Chile
September 2011 DOMESTIC EXCHANGE
from
Queanbeyan Canberra
July 2011 2010
Club
Christmas
Lunch GLOBAL EXCHANGE
from
Ohio, Alabama
& Nebraska USA
INBOUND EXCHANGE
from
Whangarei, NZ
DOMESTIC EXCHANGE
to
Adelaide, SA

** Site updated 1 January 2012 **

* Social Picnic 15 January - click here for details
* New page with details of 20th Birthday Celebrations *
* Board members for 2011-12 *

to the HOME PAGE of

Looking North from Burleigh Heads
‘Q1 Building’ (world's tallest residential building!) visible on right of scene
Height - 323 m (1,058 ft) No. of floors - 78
This information - © Emporis 11/2007

Photograph taken from Observation Deck ‘Q1 Building’ - 77th floor
(Mount Warning, NSW visible top right hand of photo)

Aerial view looking South

PATRON: Mayor of the City of Gold Coast, Ron Clarke M.B.E.

PRESIDENT 2011-12
John Parsons
Telephone: (61) (7) 5502 6350
E-mail: bparsons47@bigpond.com

SECRETARY 2011-12
Brian Hallam
Telephone: (61) (7) 5520 6332
E-mail: bbhallam@bigpond.net.au

VICE PRESIDENT
John McIntyre
TREASURER
Des Crowley
ACTIVITIES
Margaret Jamieson
MEMBERSHIP
Miri Marsden

MERCHANDISE
Viv Caulfield
COMMUNICATIONS
Geoff Molloy
WEBSITE
Barb O'Neil

THE CLUB
Our Club has approximately 65 members, and we are happy to host 25 Ambassadors on each Exchange.

We were founded in 1992 as the Friendship Force of Currumbin-Gold Coast and in 1999 our name was changed to The Friendship Force of The Gold Coast.

We endeavour to host three Inbound Exchanges each year, with one Outbound, normally of two or three phases.

We hold a Monthly Meeting and get together, and when not busy with Exchanges we run other activities for the enjoyment of our members.

GETTING HERE....
Ambassadors travelling by air within Australia can arrive at the Gold Coast Domestic Terminal, where they would be met by Club members.

If arriving in Australia direct from overseas, planes fly in to the Queensland International airport at Brisbane, the state's Capital City.

International flights also fly direct to the Gold Coast Airport from Asia and New Zealand.

Brisbane is approx. 100 kms from the Gold Coast and ambassadors (depending on size of group) are either met by a delegation of Club members and driven to the Coast in private vehicles or escorted to the AIRTRAIN which runs direct from the airport to the Gold Coast.

If you would like any further information about our club, or our city, or if we can help you in any way, please contact our President or Secretary.

Visit the following Government websites for up-to-date information on: Immigration & Visas, Customs and New Visa and Passport Requirements to Visit USA

GOLD COAST CITY

Australia, set in the sparkling Pacific Ocean, is affectionately known as “The Land Down Under”.

Inset map shows location of the City of the Gold Coast.

For a more detailed look at our lovely area, click on map. (Larger image may take longer to load)

The Shoreline of our city stretches for 60 kilometres along the Pacific Ocean, featuring some of the best surfing beaches in Australia.

With names like Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, Palm Beach and Mermaid Beach, visions of glistening white sands, rolling surf and gently swaying palms spring to mind and that's exactly how it is.

The Gold Coast is recognised as the Holiday Capital of Australia. Last year approximately four million visitors came to spend some time with us.

And why wouldn't they? When you consider our sub tropical climate, with an average of 7.5 hours of sunshine every day of the year, and a temperature ranging from 9º to 25ºC, March to August, and 15º to 29ºC, September to February.

World Renowned Car Race

Surf Life Saving

The Australian Surf Life Saving Association National Championships have been held on our beaches for many years, and in a totally different sport crowds in their thousands flock to enjoy the Armor All Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

For those who love excitement, the Gold Coast abounds in Theme Parks - ‘Movie World’, ‘Dream World’, ‘Sea World’ while Australian Outback Spectacular is a unique attraction that captures the grandeur of the Australian outback, bringing it to life with spectacular audio and visual effects never before seen in a live show.

While visits to the above theme parks are not included as part of the weeks' activites they can be arranged if ambassadors so desire.

An attraction often included during an exchange is a visit to one of the Coast's wildlife sanctuaries - Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary or David Fleay Wildlife Park where ambassadors are not only able to view Australia's native animals, but enjoy ‘hands on’ participation - you can pat a Kangaroo, cuddle a Koala, feed an Emu..... A highlight for visitors is to stand in a park and have hundreds of brilliantly coloured native Lorikeets fly down from the trees and feed from their hand.

Ambassadors From San Antonio, Texas (1997) & Lincoln, Nebraska (2007)
at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Beautifully maintained Parks and Gardens abound in our city and in 2003 the first Australian native tree was planted in our very own “Friendship Grove” in the new Botanical Gardens in Rosser Park.

For information on the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens, and our clubs' practice of planting a commemorative tree each time we host an exchange from another country, click the image below:

Frédéric From Sister City of Nouméa
& Kevin From Gold Coast Club
Planting a “Queensland Kauri Pine”
First Tree to be Planted in the “Friendship Force Avenue”
- July 2003 -
There is so much for visitors to our city to see and do that visitor numbers increase every year. On 13 January, 2010 Minister for Tourism and Fair Trading, the Honourable Peter Lawlor, said “in the year to September 2009, 794,000 international and 3.2 million overnight domestic visitors spent time on the Gold Coast”. See Business Gold Coast, 14 January, 2010.

As a member of a Friendship Force Club on an Exchange to us, you would have the unique opportunity to see a part of our cities' lifestyle that the average tourist rarely sees.

There are well over 500,000 people living in our city, and many of them have homes adjacent to the tidal rivers and hundreds of canals that exist here.

Our waterways stretch for 446 kilometres, which is nine times longer than the canals of Venice!

Nature has been kind to us here on the Gold Coast. Not only do we have the beautiful Pacific Ocean on our doorstep, we also have, only a short drive away, what we call the ‘Green Behind the Gold’.

This area (known as the Hinterland) is situated within a small mountain range. There are numerous bush walks through sub-tropical rain forest, (with giant Antarctic Beech trees dating back some 4,000 years), abundant wildlife, stunning waterfalls and magnificent views back over our coastline.

Rain Forest Mountain Stream

The Gold Coast has much to offer Ambassadors from other countries who come to Australia, and we assure you of a friendly welcome.

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info@friendshipforcegoldcoast.org.au

DISCLAIMER
Every care has been taken to ensure that the content of this site is accurate - all information was believed to be correct at the time of inclusion.
Views and opinions expressed on this web page are those of the authors, have been provided by individuals on a personal basis, and do not represent the views of the Friendship Force of the Gold Coast Inc or the Webmaster.

For more information on Queensland
and the Gold Coast, log on to -
www.goldcoast.worldtourism.com.au
www.destinationqueensland.com

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	PRESIDENT 2011-12 John Parsons Telephone: (61) (7) 5502 6350 E-mail: bparsons47@bigpond.com

SECRETARY 2011-12 Brian Hallam Telephone: (61) (7) 5520 6332 E-mail: bbhallam@bigpond.net.au