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Queensland
If the variety of the continent’s attractions could be condensed into one state, the result would look something like Queensland, Australia’s all-you-can-eat traveler’s smorgasbord. Part rocky, part schlocky, part green, part marine, Queensland is the holiday of choice of Aussies themselves. It’s the Pacific Coast that sucks most visitors in like an undertow: the endless surf beaches in the south, the Barrier Reef in the north, and the islands all along propel wave, dive, and sun enthusiasts toward the sea. For many, though, the coast is just surface skin, and the real pudding lies withinin the rainforest-drenched far north and hinterland regions and in the jewel-bedecked outback, where history, like tourism, proceeds at koala-pace. At the base of this fantasyland sits the capital city of Brisbane, big, bustling, and yet temperate in every sense of the word, an urban haven that can actually provide a relaxing break from the constant party that envelops backpackers on the well-trod path up the coast.
Queensland is beloved by travelers because, far from representing the average of Australia’s natural and cultural climes, it displays the full spectrum, from the imposing reds of outback earth to the bright-hued crags of the Great Barrier Reef. Best of all, it juxtaposes these in reasonably accessible distances from one another. Make no mistakeit’s a long, long trek from Brisbane up to Cairns and die northern wilderness beyond, and an equally long and far more desolate one into the central desert. Still, along the way you’ll encounter charming country towns, pockets of th iving Aboriginal cultural life, and plenty of history, interspersed, of course, with miles and miles of beach. Once you make it up to the northern coast, you’ll find plenty of places with urban amenities, gorgeous sea, and untrammeled wilderness within easy reach. Here, appreciating Oz at the extremes can be as simple as driving toward Cape Tribulation and watching the rainforest practically tumble into the pounding ocean.
Related Travel Information
North Coast of Queensland
The northern Queensland coast sits at the junction of the tropical far north, the rugged frontier of the outback, and the civilized cities of the southern coastline. Waving fields and smoking mills represent the region's greatest industry, sugar cane. Towns-ville, Queensland's second largest city, is the economic and residential center of the area. Off its shores, Magnetic Island offers solitude and koalas in the wild. Between here and Mission Beach, white beaches glow next to crystalline water, across which the Great Barrier Reef beckons. The miles inland hide swaths of rainforest populated by birds, bugs, and bouncing
Far North Queensland
The northeast corner of the continent, from Cairns north into Australia's last great! frontier, is nothing short of heaven for backpackers and outdoor adventurers. The Great Barrier Reef snakes close to shore here, luring divers with shorter boat trips and longer visits to the spectacular corals of the reef. The reefs biological diversity is complemented by that of the vast swaths of tropical rainforest, pressed up close to the Coral Sea by the craggy mountains of the Great Dividing Range.
As with most places in Australia, it wasn't nature but the promise of gold that first brought European settlement
Central and Western Queensland
Queensland's interior has little of the charm of South Australia's and Northern Territory's outback, but it is in many ways more authentic. The land is unforgiving, water is scarce, and constant threats such as rabbit overpopulation and locusts have hardened farmers. There are no "cowboys" here: the correct title for a greenhorn is "jack-eroo" (or "jilleroo," as the case may be). From the third year, workers are called stationhands, and the name "jackeroo" becomes a hard strike against pride. While outback towns can be unkind to outsiders, the people living here maintain an ethic of trust. Folks
Brisbane
If it weren't for Brisbane's tall office buildings and sleek commuter ferries, you might expect to see cows grazing on the city's carefully manicured lawns. Although Bris¬bane (pop. 1-1.5 million, according to varied estimates) is the capital of Queensland and Australia's third largest city, its recent growth has not obliterated its deliciously relaxed country-town feel, and the city seems like a ruddy-cheeked farmboy who's suddenly outgrown his britches. Originally a penal colony for recidivists, Brisbane today is neither glamorous nor industrial, but it's practical, clean, and full of energy.
Brisbane Highlights
- Relaxing anywhere in the tranquil South Bank Parklands
- An eating
New England
A lovely, scenic alternative to the coast, with rustic beauty and a cooler year-round cli¬mate, the New England Highway begins in Sydney, continues along Hwy 15 to Bris¬bane, and is serviced by most major bus lines. Most of this 380km stretch of road is dotted with inviting country towns. The highway traverses the Hunter Valley, with scenery transforming from Newcastle's industrial machines and coal ships, along Maitland's vineyards, past Singleton's army base and mines, and through Muswell-brook's coal mines and Scone's horse stud farms. It then begins the dramatic climb up the Dividing Range from Tamworth to Armidale, in
