Nimmel Range
The Nimmel Range is a small 'range' or rather a section, inside the Gold Coast Hinterland on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Its most prominent feature is the 489 metre peak of Mount Nimmel. It lies at co-ordinates latitude: 28° 10' 60" S, longitude: 153° 18' 0" E and is 20 km away from Carrara, an inland suburb of the Gold Coast near Nerang. It was the western border of the Austinville banana plantation before the settlement was all but abandoned in the 1930s.
Historic Significance
The Nimmel Ranges range was the western border of the Austinville banana plantation started in 1934 and abandoned in 1939. Earlier, in the very early 1900s, before Springbrook Road was built, early settlers sought to provide access to Springbrook Mountain from the coast. Jim Hardy and George Trapp, two pioneers of the day, tried following the ridge that separates the east and west branches of Little Nerang Creek, reached the join, turned east and found that the Nimmel Range blocked their path. For the record, the road was completed by skirting around the foot of Mount Nimmel and continuing to Springbrook. To this day, Springbrook Road remains the sole link from the mountain to the rest of the Gold Coast.