It is not to wonder that Queensland is the most travelled state in Australia. The weather is always warm, people are friendly and happy, and there is no end of interesting and beautiful places to explore. Most campervans bear the numberplate "Victoria - the place to be"! Sorry, but I just wonder - so what the heck are you doing here?? Let's see what brings the snowgropers and other globetrotters to Queensland...
Custom Search
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Brisbane Travel Information - Queensland Facts First, there is Brisbane with its beautiful Story Bridge, busy Queen Street Mall and Treasury Casino in the CBD, museums and beach on the South Bank, and the trendy but friendly suburbs Fortitude Valley, New Farm and West End around Brisbane River. I first came to Brisbane from Sydney, and I said, jeez - I have never seen a place that friendly! When in Sydney trains people stare the walls and tramp on your toes without saying sorry, in Brisbane they actually look at you, and can sometimes even smile to you. (I was at that stage happily unaware of the fact that it can get better because I had never been to north Queensland ;-)
Brisbane. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Gold Coast Travel Information - Queensland Facts South of Brisbane there is the Gold Coast - one of the most touristed coasts in Queensland. Some people love it, other people hate it, but there has to be a reason why millions of tourists flock the place every year, to - drink, gamble and go to expensive theme parks. Or, maybe I am being unfair - Surfers Paradise has a lovely long white-sand beach and as the name says, good surf waves. But anyway - I am glad there is the hinterland. Lamington National Park is one of Brisbane's great getaways with gorges and waterfalls in subtropical rainforests, more than 20km of bushwalking trails, and plenty of wildlife. Worth a mention are also Tamborine and Springbrook National Parks, the latter with its famous Natural Arch rock formation. So when you get sick of surfing and walking between skyscrapers, there are other things you can do.
Gold Coast. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Sunshine Coast Destinations - Queensland Facts North of Brisbane, there is the Sunshine Coast. It's a beautiful coastline with golden beaches and emerald blue waters, and it's less commercialised than the Gold Coast but that, I am afraid, won't last forever. The first theme park, Underwater World, is already here, and so are the skyscrapers. But most of it is pretty relaxed and there are beaches you can still have for yourself. My absolute favourite is Noosa National Park, but Bribie Island and Glasshouse Mountains National Park are also great. In the little town of Eumundi there are lovely Saturday Markets; near Yandina there is an interesting Ginger Factory; Nambour has the Big Pineapple, and then of course there is the famous Ettamogah Pub. And crikey, don't miss the Australia Zoo near Beerwah, whether you are interested in Australian animals or our famous wildlife warrior Steve Irwin himself.
Noosa. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Fraser Coast Holidays - Queensland Facts North of Sunshine Coast is the Fraser Coast, home to Fraser Island - the world's largest sand island, where in the Great Sandy National Park you can easily spend a week camping, bushwalking in rainforests and driving on (dingo-inhabited) beaches. There is a southern entrance through the colourful Rainbow Beach, but the most usual gateway to the island is Hervey Bay - a town known for some great whale-watching between July and October. Also in the area is Childers where in June 2000, 15 backpackers tragically died in a hotel fire; Bundaberg where Australia's own sugar cane rum is made, and Mon Repos turtle rookery - the best place in Queensland to watch large loggerhead turtles laying eggs on the beach between January and March.
Fraser Island. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Capricorn Coast Australia - Queensland Facts Further north along the coast of Queensland is the Capricorn Coast, named for its position on the tropic of Capricorn. The biggest town here is Rockhampton, which you will like if you are a fan of historical buildings. The good news is that a ferry ride from here is the Great Keppel Island - a lovely laid-back island criss-crossed by bushwalking trails - up the mountains, down to the beaches and bays. Further south is Gladstone, the town where you can catch a ferry to Heron Island - one of the Great Barrier Reef's most beautiful coral islands with empty white beaches and some superb bright blue waters to snorkel and dive. Inland from Capricorn Coast there is the huge Carnarvon National Park (probably the best national park in Queensland); some gemfields around Emerald, and Clermont - the town that was moved after a devastating flood following a tropical cyclone in 1916. You can still see a piano in a tree, and there is a memorial showing the water level - almost 5 metres.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Mackay Region and Whitsunday Beaches - Queensland Facts North from Capricorn Coast is the Mackay Coast, and north of it are the famous Whitsundays - one of the most popular destinations in Queensland. Mackay is a lovely town surrounded by tropical rainforests and sugar cane fields. North of it is Cape Hillsborough National Park - famous for kangaroos that like to hop around on the beach, and west is Eungella National Park - known as the best place in Australia to see platypus. Whitsundays are north of Mackay, off the coast of Airlie Beach - a nice small town to stay, and the Whitsunday Islands are magnificent. All as beautiful as each other, they cater for different budgets. There is the expensive Daydream and luxurious Hayman, the resort-packed Hamilton and the Club-Med style Lindeman. But there is also the low-budget Long Island and Hook Island, and the eco-friendly South Molle. And then of course, there is the Whitsunday Island itself, with its gorgeous Whitehaven Beach; many camp sites and bush walks. The whole area is very popular with sailing and boat charters.
Whitsundays. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Travel North Queensland - Queensland Facts Drive north from Whitsundays and you come, through some sugar cane and mango country around Bowen and Ayr, to Townsville - the biggest city in north Queensland. Just outside is the beautiful Magnetic Island, so close to the coast that it's an official suburb of Townsville and many people who live here shuttle daily between the two. Further out is the Great Barrier Reef. Inland from Townsville are the historical mining towns Ravenswood and Charters Towers. North of Townsville are the Townsville northern beaches, Paluma Range National Park, the Italian-influenced Ingham, Hinchinbrook island off the shore of Cardwell, Australia's wettest place Tully, backpacker paradise Mission Beach with the tropical Dunk Island, and Innisfail - the town that is still recovering from the devastation of Cyclone Larry in March 2006. North of Innisfail are more sugar cane and banana fields, and Queensland's highest peak covered in dense rainforests in Wooroonooran National Park. West from here is the lovely Atherton Tablelands with some huge fig trees, waterfalls, Chinese temples and coffee farms. That's the thing about Australia - the further north you go, the more exciting will get the things.
Townsville. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Far North Tropical Queensland - Queensland Facts Cairns is one of the best cities in Australia. It's cosmopolitan and colourful, it's always hot and it's surrounded by lush green rainforested mountains - wherever you watch, you know that you are in the tropics. Great Barrier Reef is not far from the coast, and the Far North Qld Coast north of Cairns is one of the most beautiful coasts in Australia. Cairns' northern beaches are lined by coconut palms and further north there is a beautiful drive to Port Douglas with its Four Mile Beach. North from here is Cape Tribulation in the world-famous Daintree Rainforests with rivers full of crocodiles - you can go for a tour to see them jumping out of water. Inland from Cairns is Kuranda - a former hippie village that has turned to a tourist magnet with its famous markets; and the way they take you there from Cairns: one way by a historical train through rainforests, and the other by skyrail over a mountain range with views over the blue ocean. Here is also the Tjapukai Aboriginal Village, one of the best places in Australia to learn about Aboriginal culture.
Cairns. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Cape York Peninsula - Queensland Facts Cape York Peninsula in the northernmost end of Queensland is one of the most exciting places on this continent, with a great lot of wilderness and history, and the roads are unsealed so you need a 4WD. The coastal road north of Cairns goes through Cape Tribulation, Cooktown and Hope Vale Aboriginal community to the huge Lakefield National Park known of its large populations of crocodiles. The more trafficed inland road to Cape York Peninsula goes through Lakeland, Laura, Musgrave and Coen to the northern parts of the peninsula where you can turn into Weipa, Iron Range National Park with its flora from Gondwana-times, and north from here you can drive the Old Telegraph Road, which is only 150km long but takes you half a day to drive because you have to cross rivers and sanddunes. If this is too adventurous you can choose to take the longer but safer bypass roads. In the northern end of the Old Telegraph Road is Jardine River National Park, and the small towns Bamaga and Seisia, where you can catch a ferry to Torres Strait Islands. North form Seisia is the the place called Cape York, the northernmost point of the Australian continent.
Cape York. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Gulf Savannah Region - Queensland Facts Instead of driving back from the Cape York Peninsula (there is only one road and you have already seen it) you can catch a ferry from Weipa that takes you to Karumba in the Gulf Savannah - one of the great secrets of Queensland. You will leave Karumba soon unless you are a very keen fisherman. Normanton just south of Karumba is a colourful town with many Aboriginal people, and Burketown west is a little one-pub town where you’ll find nothing else to do than go to the pub and get drunk, then set up a camp in the middle of an open saltplane next to the river. Well, that’s what happened to us anyway and I tell you, I was delighted to wake up in the morning and realise no crocs had bothered to wander out of the river to discover the saltplane.
Outback. Courtesy of Tourism Australia
Outback Queensland Travel Information - Queensland Facts South from here is the pretty Lawn Hill National Park with a gorge which is lovely to kayak, and a major mining town Mount Isa. Further south is the amazing Outback Queensland with a lot of red dust on an adventurous ground and the one-pub towns Kynuna and McKinlay. South of them are the historical Winton, Longreach and Barcaldine, and if you choose to venture towards the Simpson desert, you’ll risk to be chased by Min Min lights and get to a pretty remote stump around Birdsville and Boulia. Outback Queensland is one of the most exciting places to visit in Australia.
Map of Queensland - Queensland Facts Here's a map of Queensland with places mentioned on this web page tagged. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
