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.