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 within—in 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 con¬stant 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 mis¬take—it'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 Aborigi¬nal 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.