In the 1840’s, the activities of cedar getters in the region had opened up the dense subtropical rainforest. By the late 1860s a small community sprang up on the northern side of the junction of the Tweed and Rous rivers, to service the timber trade and its hard toiling workers. Originally called the “Tweed Junction”, or “The Junction” the name was changed to the aboriginal derivation of “Tumbulgum” in 1880 at the request of residents whose petition said the name meant “meeting place of the waters”. Today Tumbulgum is a picturesque village with views over the cane fields and to the foothills of the caldera, conveniently located just off the Tweed Valley Way. It is a popular area where locals come for the riverside picnic facilities, boat hire, public wharf and boat ramp, they can also stretch their legs with a stroll along the heritage shop fronts or to partake of the enormously popular lunches and evening meals at the Tumbulgum Tavern. Browse for gifts and souvenirs at the local arts and crafts gallery or antique shop and visit the historic Tumbulgum Cemetry, the first in the Tweed Valley, and resting place of many of the area’s European colonists from 1887 to 1947.