7 Interesting Facts About Toowoomba That You Should All Know – The more you know!

Toowoomba is the largest non-capital inland city with a population exceeding 134,000. Canberra currently holds the record for the country's largest inland city but it is estimated that it might not be long before Toowoomba wins the crown, with data predicting that the city will become home to more than 200,000 people by 2041!

The city of Toowoomba is renowned for the annual Carnival of Flowers which is held annually, in September. The majority of the city's parks and gardens get prepared for the carnival, including an important home garden competition and the parade of flower floats. A popular way to arrive at the cardinal from Brisbane is on chartered antique steam and diesel trains and buses that bring in several people from all around the nation. If you're staying at one of the serviced apartments in Toowoomba, offered by the likes of Oaks Toowoomba Hotel, it is a must to witness this glorious carnival. Toowoomba was home to Easterfest up until 2015 but has not continued since.

In terms of sports, the Rugby league is extremely popular in the city! In fact, a team representing the city used to compete in the Bulimba Cup tournament. Apart from rugby, Toowoomba also features a semi-professional football club known as the South West Queensland Thunder which has quite a large following within the community!

You will find a pub called The Farmers Arms, as you drive just beyond the Highfields which is Australia's oldest surviving licensed hotel. It was first licensed in 1863 and was part of gaol but you're sure to find a decent meal and a few beers these days!

A little known fact is that Toowoomba played a role in World War II where it was chosen as the site for the RAAF No.7 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot, back in 1942. The depot shut its doors before the war ended, but was an essential fuel depot for both the Australian and US air forces.

Folklore has it that in 1886, Lord Lamington who was the state governor at the time travelled to Toowoomba and requested that a cook bake him his favourite sweet, a round cake with whipped cream called 'snowballs'. Sadly the cook did not have any round cake tins nor any cream, so he whipped up a mutant version of the cake in a rectangular tin and drenched the sponge in chocolate icing and coconut which he then dubbed 'Lord Lamington Cakes'. Lamington is a famous delicacy enjoyed in Australia to this day!

You're likely to receive several responses if you ask the locals where the name originated from. Some assumed it is derived from the Aboriginal word for 'swamp' which is tawampa and some believe it is a variation of woomba woomba which means 'reeds in the swamp'.