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Travellers' Reports on Australia
Area: 1,727,000 sq km
Population: 3,100,000
Capital City: Brisbane (pop: 1,400,000)
Queensland is a vast tropical state in the north-east of Australia. It borders NSW (to the south), the Northern Territory and South Australia (to the west), the Torres Strait (to the north) and the Pacific Ocean and Coral Sea (to the east).
There are four distinct geographical regions: the lush coastal strip and the islands of the Great Barrier Reef (the basis for Queensland's booming tourist trade); the mountainous Great Dividing Range, which runs parallel to the coast; the flat agricultural tableland to the west (one of Australia's most productive grain-growing regions); and the vast, sparsely populated outback, which stretches all the way into the Northern Territory. There are more than 300 national parks in the state. Most of the population is concentrated on the coast.
 Getting ready for a hard day's snorkelling, Great Keppel Island (14K)
There are basically two seasons in the northern half of Queensland: hot and wet between November and May; cooler and drier the rest of the year. January to March is the peak wet season. Tully, in north-eastern Queensland, is the wettest place in Australia, receiving on average a drenching 4400 mm per year. Despite the rain in the wet season, temperatures are generally in the mid to high 30s. In the south, the seasons are the same but the extremes are less violent. Temperatures in Brisbane rarely drop below 20 degrees centigrade, and it is hardly ever cold, except at night in inland regions or in the mountains. The further inland you go, the drier it gets.
The peak tourist seasons are from mid-December to late January, 10 days either side of Easter, and mid-June to mid-October. The low season is February and March.
Brisbane
For years, Brisbane was considered to be a bit backward by the residents of the larger Australian cities to the south. But over the last 15 years, it has been revamped and has developed into a modern and cosmopolitan city - hosting the Commonwealth Games in 1982 and the World Expo in 1988. It's a scenic place, built on the shores of the Brisbane River, and surrounded by hills and fine lookouts. Architecturally, it's dominated by the sprawling, verandahed, timber houses on stilts, known as `Queenslanders'.
Sights include Parliament House, the superb Queensland Cultural Centre and the Botanic Gardens. Paddington and Fortitude Valley are the most interesting hangouts.
The Gold Coast is a 35km strip of beaches and commercialised resorts running north from the NSW border. It culminates in the tacky high-rise splendour of Surfers Paradise. There are plenty of attractions in the area, most of the theme park variety, such as Sea World, Movieworld and Dreamworld. Surfers has a raucous nightlife, and all the water sports you could ask for. If you're looking for peace, quiet and natural beauty, give the coast a wide berth and head for the hinterland, where the Macpherson and Border Ranges are a paradise for walkers. The subtropical rainforests of the Lamington National Park are particularly spectacular.
Queensland birdlife is attracted by streetlights and beacons (14K)
This 50km stretch of coast from Bribie Island to Noosa Heads is a popular holiday area renowned for its fine beaches, good surfing and fishing. Although it hasn't suffered from the high-rise commercialism of the Gold Coast, it is still experiencing intense development, much of it less than aesthetically pleasing. The exception is the beautifully located town of Noosa, currently one of the most fashionable and exclusive resorts in Australia. Other attractions include the Glass House Mountains, a bizarre series of volcanic crags which rise abruptly out of the plain about 20km inland from Caloundra. The Cooloola National Park, just north of Noosa, is a wilderness area of sandy beaches, mangrove-lined waterways, forests, lakes and heath.
Fraser Island
This 120km by 15km island is the world's largest sand island. After a bitter struggle between conservationists and sand-mining interests, it was added to the World Heritage List in 1993. Apart from three or four rocky outcrops, the island is composed of nothing but sand, most of it covered with vegetation. The island is sparsely populated and has no paved roads, so it's a delight for those who love fishing, walking, and exploring by 4WD or trail bikes. There are superb beaches, towering dunes, thick forests and some 200 lakes. There are numerous ferry crossings from River Heads, Inskip Point and Urangan Boat Harbour on the Queensland mainland. The boat trip takes about 30 minutes.
Cairns is the tourist `capital' of the Far North and one of Australia's top travellers' destinations. Not long ago, it was just a sleepy tropical backwater. Unfortunately, much of its allure and tropical languor has vanished amid the rapid growth of tourist infrastructure, but it is still one of the best bases for exploring the riches of Queensland. From Cairns, you can arrange trips to the Great Barrier Reef, Green Island and Fitzroy Island, the beautiful Atherton Tableland, the market town of Kuranda, the string of enchanting beaches stretching 50km north to Port Douglas, and the spectacular rainforest and coastal scenery of Cape Tribulation and the Daintree River.
Legends Lodge in breezy Chillagoe, Far North (18K)
The Cape York Peninsula is one of the wildest and least populated parts of Australia. The Tip, as it's called, is the most northerly point on the Australian mainland and only 150km away from Papua New Guinea. Getting up to the north along the rough and rugged Peninsula Development Road is still one of Australia's great road adventures. You need a 4WD (preferably travelling in pairs), a winch, plenty of steel wire, and a bucketful of grit and determination. The best time to do the trip is between June and September. During the wet season, nothing moves by road at all. Make sure you are adequately prepared. A number of operators offer six to 16-day tours from Cairns.
Outback
Heading west from the coast across the Great Dividing Range, the land soon starts to become drier and more sparsely populated. There are several sealed highways through the area, although once you leave these major arteries, services are virtually nonexistent. Apart from the immensity of the landscape, the major attractions are the tours of the mines at Mt Isa, the Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach, and the pastoral town of Cloncurry, once the largest producer of copper in the British Empire and the birthplace of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Birdsville (population 80) is Queensland's most isolated town. It's located on a barren stony rise overlooking the Diamantina River on the edge of the Great Simpson Desert. The town is renowned for its tremendous heatwaves, its associations with the Birdsville Track (a 500km outback track) and the legendary Birdsville Races. The races take place over two days in the first week in September. They attract up to five thousand beer-swilling punters and near-extinct entertainments such as travelling boxing troupes. You can stay at the famous Birdsville Hotel, the camping ground or caravan park. During the races, just sleep wherever you fall over.
The dramatic gorge scenery, abundant fauna and Aboriginal rock paintings of the Carnarvon National Park in central Queensland make it well worth the effort of getting off the beaten track. The park has several sections, but the most stunning is the Carnarvon Gorge, which has weathered sandstone cliffs, moss gardens, deep pools and rare palms and ferns.
The Walkabout Creek Hotel, which featured in Crocodile Dundee, is in the tiny settlement of McKinlay. Banjo Patterson is said to have written Waltzing Matilda in 1895 at Combo Waterhole on Dagworth Station, between Winton and Kyuna. At Lark Quarry Environmental Park, 120km south-west of Winton, 100 million-year-old dinosaur footprints have been perfectly preserved in limestone.
The Great Barrier Reef stretches 2000km along the eastern coast of Queensland from Gladstone to the edge of Papua New Guinea. It offers some of the world's best diving and snorkelling. The three best places to learn or organise dives are Cairns, Townsville and Airlie Beach. Surfing is concentrated on the Gold and Sunshine coasts; north of Fraser Island, the reef protects the coast from waves. Airlie Beach is the centre for sailing in the Whitsunday Islands. White-water rafting and canoeing are popular on the Tully and North Johnstone rivers between Townsville and Cairns.
National parks favoured by bushwalkers include Lamington, in the southern Border Ranges, and Cooloola, north of the Sunshine Coast. Cairns offers a host of organised activities, including bungee jumping, tandem skydiving, balloon rides, mountain bike tours, scenic flights over the reef and deep sea fishing. There is great barramundi fishing in the Gulf of Carpentaria; charters can be arranged in Normanton.
 Warning
From November to April avoid swimming on unprotected northern beaches where deadly box-jellyfish may lurk. Great Keppel Island, near Rockhampton, is usually the safest northerly place to swim during this season.
Most people go to Queensland looking for fun, so it's no surprise that the state is home to a bevvy of festivals, including the week-long Toowoomba Romance & Arts Festival, appropriately held around St Valentine's Day; the Indy Carnival car races at Surfers Paradise in March; the Gold Coast Boat Show in early April; the Charters Towers Country Music Festival in late April; the Noosa Arts Festival in June; the Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo & Mardi Gras in August; the Great Barrier Reef Dive Festival from late August to early September; and, of course, the Birdsville Races, also in September.
Brisbane and Cairns have international airports. The large domestic airlines service Queensland's major centres, and a multitude of smaller companies operate up and down the coast, across Cape York and into the outback. During the wet season, such flights may be the only means of getting around the Gulf of Carpentaria or the Cape York Peninsula.
Waiting for the goods train... (19K)
...to deliver those razors (18K)
There are four major rail routes: Brisbane-Cairns, Brisbane-Quilpie, Rockhampton-Winton and Townsville-Mt Isa. There are numerous bus services linking coastal towns and operating inland from Townsville to Mt Isa and the Northern Territory. Cars can be hired in most sizeable towns. Highway 1 runs along the coast from the NSW border to Daintree. The major inland arteries run between Townsville and Mt Isa and Rockhampton and Mt Isa.
 Travellers' Reports
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Facts at a Glance
Environment
Attractions
Off the Beaten Track
Activities
Events
Getting Around
Lonely Planet Guides
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