MURWILLUMBAH Murwillumbah is a surprise, insofar as this is a quite sizable and very progressive town and community. Murwillumbah is encounted by making the effort to visit. For most travellers, in the past Murwillumbah has been a by-pass town where the Gold Coast or Ballina have held sway as stop over preferences. The name Murwillumbah derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "camping place" – from Murrie, meaning "aboriginal people", Wolli, "a camp"; and Bab, "the place of". Nearby Mount Warning and its attendant national park are known as Wollumbin, meaning "Cloud Catcher", in the Bundjalung language. Timber-getters were drawn to the region in the 1840s. The river port at Tumbulgum was initially the main settlement. In 1902, a local government municipality was declared with Murwillumbah as its centre. Most of the town's business district was destroyed by fire in 1907. Murwillumbah is the location for Australia’s largest-ever bank robbery which occurred in 1978 and has not been solved. Heritage is clearly important within the community. The Museum is central within the town. The Astral Café is a really nice discovery and the fact that the café still exists is amazing. The major industry of the area, apart from tourism, is sugarcane growing. There are a number of alternative lifestyle retreats nearby as well, notably one belonging to the Hare Krishna religion.The Murwillumbah Hotels are over 100 years old The Catholic Church is cathedral dimensions. The United and Presbyterian quite old, and the Anglican is modern. The Murwillumbah War Memorial is a multi facet type memorial and will be of interest to most. For those with a sense of history Murwillumbah is a recommended visit and stop over location. Heritage diary