Townsville is a big city of 180,000 people in a fertile part of North Queensland. Sugar cane, mango and banana growing country, with rich dark, fertile soils. It’s a good place to stop when travelling in the region if you have “life admin” type errands to get done. Most of Townsville is not particularly pretty but the waterfront area along the Strand is the jewel of the city. It’s very pretty but the highlights are the giant fig trees that have been preserved (even in the median strip of the road!) Castle Hill looms over the city and the view from the top of it is breathtaking.

The Whitsundays is famous because it is stunning but the only way to access it is by boat. We went on an enjoyable 2 night sailing tour by Isails Whitsundays. We got to see some of the famous sites like Whitehaven Beach and also stopped at Langford Island for some snorkeling. Beware, some of the less reputable tour operators as they load up their boat to full capacity with people and it makes for a crowded boat ride and experience. This touristy part of Australia is pretty crowded these days with domestic tourists. The duration of their stay as well as their interests are often different from foreign tourists. It presents some challenges but also plenty of opportunities for the local tourism operators to evolve their product to entice the domestic dollar.

The launching point for the Whitsundays is Airlie Beach. It’s a tourist town with a chilled out, vacation vibe. There are some fun things to do and see in and around town if you are not out on a boat in the Whitsundays. The free public swimming lagoon at Airlie Beach is always available for a dip. These free public swimming facilities are “de rigueur” for all the coastal, tropical towns and cities in North Queensland. It gives the population an ability to cool off in the hot temperatures while keeping them safe from stingers (jelly fish), sharks and crocodiles. Of particular concern in the jellyfish family is the Irukandji jellyfish. These are so tiny they are impossible to spot, cause extreme physical pain and other physical issues but also cause psychologically a feeling of impending doom! Stinger suits are provided by all tourism operators that take clients out to swim in the region.

Yeppoon is a pleasant town which is mostly used as the departure point for Great Keppel Island. The ferry to Great Keppel Island takes one hour and can be choppy depending on the weather. Unfortunately, we found an island with a worn out feel and in desperate need of an injection of capital to bring it’s facilities up to the standard to match the impressive natural beauty of the island. The island’s walking trails have been washed out with heavy rains and are full of pot holes, the accommodation facilities and associated amenities are rustic and the ferry service is a bit provincial. The ferry pulls up on the beach and unloads it’s passengers directly onto the white sands. No jetty required! There is a rustic, local charm in this and based on the fully loaded ferry, there is a demand for holidays on this island. It is a local affair with family groups casually bringing cartons of beer and eskies, cooler bags of food and other small bags and boxes to be loaded onto the ferry.

It seems that every city in North Queensland must have free public swimming facilities as the central feature of their town. This is not a rectangular lap pool but usually, a beautiful resort style pool complex or a natural rockpool or ocean baths type feature. Yeppoon is no exception. It has a stunning infinity pool overlooking the beach! This part of Australia gets very hot and humid but there are stingers (jellyfish), sharks and occasionally crocodiles in the open ocean thereby discouraging swimming. These free pools are therefore a great attraction to cool off!

The city of Rockhampton is 40mins from Yeppoon. It was raining when we made a quick visit. There is a very pretty human created waterfall at Kershaw Gardens. Kershaw Gardens is a lovely spot with extensive and exciting playground installations as well as good amenities. It was the school holidays when we visited and there were at least 4 groups of children’s parties in progress. They were persevering valiantly despite the persistent drizzle!

The countryside around here is covered with sugar cane fields with a sugar mill and distillery at Sarina, just south of Mackay.

Ask many Australians, and their advice about visiting Gladstone is to “drive on!”. As a city, it is not considered pretty or worth taking the time to visit. It’s lovely however, to see a city that openly showcases it’s industries as these form the lifeblood of the country’s prosperity. Twice a week, there is a narrated harbour boat tour that takes people past the massive coal loading facilities and the three Curtis Island Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plants. There is a dedicated lookout overlooking the Queensland Aluminium operations that can be reached by car and you can also drive past the NRG Power Station for a good view. If you drive past the Boyne Smelter, you can see lots of aluminum ingots stacked up ready for transport!

Gladstone has also got pretty marina and the waterfront areas near Spinnaker Park are quite nice. At the time, Spinnaker Park was struggling with an infestation of flying foxes i.e. bats. These animals could be seen hanging from the trees and the health of the trees were visibly impacted.

You can’t go to Bundaberg without visiting the Bundaberg Rum Distillery! To be honest, this rum is only famous in Australia and Queenslanders are responsible for drinking a large portion of the rum produced. The tour was interesting as it took us through the molasses storage area and the building with the distillation columns. The tour guides really play up the Ocker Aussie accent and humour, (potentially too much) but they are pitching to the demographic that buy and drink Bundy. The tour entirely failed to mention that Bundaberg Rum is owned by British conglomerate, Diageo as it would have detracted from the Aussie ingenuity story. Complimentary drinks conclude the otherwise well-run tour.

Just 90 minutes north of Bundaberg are the charming, beachy, holiday towns of Agnes Waters and Seventeen Seventy. The town is called Seventeen Seventy after the year Captain Cook landed there. The sunset from the 1770 headlands is beautiful and the Paperbark Trail walk near Agnes Waters is really special!

Fraser Island is a sandy island just a 40 minute barge ride from Hervey Bay. Despite being entirely composed of sand, it boasts a diversity of flora and fauna, as well as a lot of fresh water! It’s an opportunity to see wide, pristine beaches, lush rainforests as well as dingoes in the wild. It is baffling how an island of sand isn’t a sand dune but has dense rainforests!?

You can take your 4WD onto the island but the inland tracks can be deeply rutted and the beach drive will cover your expensive 4WD in salt (and therefore make it much more prone to corrosion). We made a day trip to Fraser Island on a group tour in a 4WD bus so we could enjoy the day without worrying about damage to an owned or rental vehicle.

The Sunshine Coast, or Sunny Coast to the locals, is a booming strip of suburbs from Caloundra to Noosa. It boasts beautiful beaches and coastline as well as lush, charming elevated areas just inland. The climate is also good for most of the year. With the number of shops, amenities and excellent restaurants, it is no wonder why so many people are choosing this area to settle. Locals of the area love it and sing the praises of the Sunny Coast constantly.

Noosa, in particular, is lovely and charming, albeit touristy but it should be noted that the Noosa council is a little too crazy about roundabouts!! There are over 100 roundabouts in the Noosa area!!

Here are some pictures of the stunning natural beauty around the Sunshine Coast.

Australia is blessed with lots of beautiful blue sky days and it shows off any location to it’s best advantage. Central Brisbane, which is centered around the wriggly Brisbane River is no exception. The river feels like the heart of the city, with lots of people making the most of it at all times. The waterfront bars and restaurants are buzzing with diners enjoying the location, day or night. Runners, walkers, cyclists, dogs, prams, wheelchairs, gophers and scooters all use the walkways which hug the river’s edge on both sides. Ferries zip up and down and side to side all day.

Brisbane is a cycle friendly city with demarcated, separated cycle paths plentiful, the traffic isn’t too crazy and the hills are not as severe as Sydney.

Brisbane is quite a contrast to Sydney. In comparison, Brisbane has a small country town feel. Despite that, there are a multitude of great restaurants, vibrant markets and upmarket gin bars to enjoy.