Capalaba, Queensland

Capalaba is a suburb in Redland City, Queensland, Australia.The suburb has large shopping and commercial centres with two malls and a major bus station, as well as light industrial zones surrounded by bushland and residential streets, making it the second most populous suburb in the Redlands. Surrounding suburbs include Alexandra Hills, Birkdale, and Sheldon, also in Redland City, along with Burbank and Chandler (and formerly Capalaba West), which lie within Brisbane.Tingalpa Creek marks the border between Capalaba in the east and the City of Brisbane in the west, making the suburb a gateway to the coastal Redlands region for urban Brisbanites.HistoryThe name of Capalaba is believed to be derived from the Indigenous Yugarabul word for the ringtail possum, a marsupial native to the area.European settlement began in the 1850s, led by farmers, lumberjacks, and sawmill operators. The region soon became important in the overland trade link between the settlements of Brisbane and Cleveland. Crossings and bridges over Tingalpa Creek were established to facilitate such transport.