Gympie is a gold-rush town in the hinterland of Queensland's Sunshine Coast, about 170 km north of Brisbane. The town owes its existence to gold discovered here in 1867 by James Nash — the find arguably saved the then-struggling colony of Queensland from bankruptcy. Gold mining continued until the mid-20th century, and Gympie still celebrates its heritage at the Gold Mining and Historical Museum.
The centre is unusually grand for a town of 22,000 — Mary Street bends along the contour of the old goldfield, lined with two- and three-storey 1880s shopfronts, and the upper end is anchored by the cream-coloured Town Hall and the red-brick Court House. The old railway station is the southern terminus of the Mary Valley Rattler, a heritage steam train that runs up the valley to Amamoor.
Today Gympie is a service town for the surrounding agricultural region, known for its dairy farming and subtropical fruit growing. The annual Gympie Muster music festival, held in August, draws large crowds and is one of Queensland's major country music events. The town is a convenient stop on the Bruce Highway for travellers heading north to Noosa, the Sunshine Coast hinterland, or the Fraser Coast.