Tweed River (New South Wales)
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The Tweed River is a short river on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia. Its drainage basin consists mostly of the erosion caldera of the Tweed Volcano, a huge extinct volcano of which Mount Warning is the volcanic plug. The branches of the river join at Murwillumbah and flow about 20 kilometres northeast to Tweed Heads where they enter the sea.
The Tweed River area has a fine subtropical climate, high rainfall and fertile volcanic soils. It was originally covered by rainforest, much of which has been cleared. Some remains in several national parks and reserves. The lowlands along the river are used for farming sugar cane and other crops.
The Tweed was named after the River Tweed in Britain. Even though the river lies a few kilometres on the New South Wales side of the border, the expression "North of the Tweed" is used to refer to the people and places of Queensland; likewise, "South of the Tweed" is a term used by Queenslanders regarding the southern states of Australia. The term probably originates from southern Australians' summer vacation trips driving along the Pacific Highway through the scenic NSW North Coast. The highway crosses many rivers along its route, with the Tweed being the last one before reaching the holiday destinations of the Gold Coast, just on the other side of the Queensland border.
The surrounding Tweed Shire is also a Local Government Area of New South Wales.
There is a sand bypassing system operating at the mouth of the Tweed River. There is a jetty on the northern end of Letitia Spit that collects sand and then pumps it under the Tweed River to beaches in the neighbouring state of Queensland. Outlets for the Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing System include Duranbah Beach, Snapper Rocks East, Snapper Rocks West, Greenmount and Kirra. Dredging of the navigation entrance is also undertaken regularly as part of the overall sand bypassing program.
