Queensland

The Great Barrier Reef lives up to its reputation. Stretching more than 2000km along the Queensland coastline, it’s a complex ecosystem populated with dazzling coral, languid sea turtles, gliding rays, timid reef sharks and 1500 species of colourful tropical fish. Whether you dive on it, snorkel over it, explore it via scenic flight or glass-bottom boat, linger in an island resort or camp on a remote coral-fringed atoll, this vivid undersea kingdom and its 900 coral-fringed islands are unforgettable.

Lush green rainforest tumbles down towards brilliant white-sand coastline in the ancient, World Heritage–listed Daintree Rainforest. Upon crossing the Daintree River and entering this extraordinary wonderland – home to 3000 or so plant species including fan palms, ferns and mangroves – you’ll be enveloped by birdsong, the buzz of insects and the constant commentary of frogs. Continue exploring via wildlife-spotting tours, mountain treks, interpretive boardwalks, tropical-fruit orchard tours, canopy walks, 4WD trips, horse riding, kayaking and cruises.

You can hop around an entire archipelago of tropical islands in this seafaring life and never find anywhere with the sheer tropical beauty of the Whitsundays. Travellers of all monetary persuasions launch yachts from party town Airlie Beach and drift between these lush green isles in a slow search for paradise (you’ll probably find it in more than one place). Wish you were here?

Brash, trashy, hedonistic, overhyped… Queensland’s Gold Coast is all of these things, but if you’re looking for a party, bring it on! Beyond the bling is a rapidly growing food, bar and craft brew scene, and the beach – an improbably gorgeous coastline of clean sand, warm water and peeling surf breaks. Australia’s bronzed surf life-savers patrol the sands and pit their skills against one another in gruelling surf carnivals, putting the rest of us limp squids to shame. Also here are Australia’s biggest theme parks – roller-coaster nirvana.

Cloaking the headland beside the stylish resort town of Noosa itself, Noosa National Park features a string of perfect bays fringed with sand and pandanus trees. Surfers come here for the long, rolling waves; walkers make the trip for the unspoiled natural vibes. Lovely hiking trails criss-cross the park: our pick is the scenic coastal trail to Hell’s Gates on which you might spy sleepy koalas in the trees around Tea Tree Bay, and dolphins swimming off the rocky headland.

Once considered little more than a provincial sidekick to Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane has reinvented itself as one of Asia Pacific’s hippest hubs. No longer happy to settle for 261 days of sunshine a year, Queensland’s new, improved capital is smashing it on the cultural front, with an ever-expanding booty of ambitious street art and galleries, boutique bookshops, secret cocktail bars and award-winning microbreweries. The result: big-city Australian cool with a laid-back, subtropical twist.

You won’t find a wilder ride in all of Australia than down the Tully River, smack bang in the wettest part of the country (check out the towering gumboot at the entrance to Tully town: its 7.9m represent the amount of rain that fell in 1950). Rafting trips are timed to coincide with the release of the river’s hydroelectric floodgates, so even if it’s not raining, adrenaline hounds are guaranteed thrills – and possibly spills – on Grade IV rapids all year round.

The human history of Far North Queensland is as dramatic as its natural surrounds. Indigenous people have called the region’s rainforests and beaches home for more than 40,000 years, and a boom in Aboriginal-led tours and experiences makes it easier than ever for visitors to see it all through native eyes. Throw a spear, make a boomerang, sample bush tucker, try to interpret rock art, go on a rainforest walk, dig the didgeridoo: a world of new – yet incredibly old – adventures awaits.

It's early morning in Cairns and you’re boarding a boat out to the reef. By midmorning you’re snorkelling or diving around the colourful coral; by late afternoon you’re heading back to shore after an action-packed day. But it’s not over yet: you order a cold sundowner and decide on one of Cairns’ myriad restaurants for an alfresco dinner. Then you’re ready to hit this hedonistic city’s bars, pubs and clubs, and you end up dancing till 4am. Suddenly, the sun is coming up. Do it all again?

Fraser Island is an ecological wonderland created by drifting sand, where wild dogs roam free and lush rainforest grows in the sand. It’s a primal island utopia, home to a profusion of wildlife including the purest strain of dingo in Australia. The best way to explore the island is in a 4WD – cruising up the seemingly endless Seventy-Five Mile Beach and bouncing along sandy inland tracks. Tropical greenery, pristine freshwater pools and beach camping under the stars will bring you back to nature.

Queensland has plenty of resort islands where you can sprawl on a sunlounger and do very little. But if you’re up for something more active, consider hiking the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island. Tracking north–south along the island, the Thorsborne isn't for the faint-hearted – prepare to cross creeks, draw water and protect your food from ravenous rats. End-to-end, allow three nights at bush camp sites along the ungraded 32km-long track. Hiker numbers are limited, so book ahead.

Built on the site of Captain Cook’s first Queensland landing (no prizes for guessing in which year), this idyllic village and the wildlife-rich peninsula surrounding it remain largely unspoiled. Outdoor adventures proliferate, from sea kayaking to Queensland's most southerly surf breaks off nearby Agnes Water. Four national parks in the area offer superb bushwalking, and 1770 also makes a fine base for boat trips out to dive or snorkel the southern Barrier Reef. The sleepy township is dotted with prime lookouts, perfect for watching an east coast sunrise.

You can drive or catch a bus from Cairns to the hinterland rainforest village of Kuranda in around half an hour. But that would be missing the point! Kuranda is as much about the journey as it is the destination. Hop into a gondola on the 7.5km-long Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, browse Kuranda’s markets for arts, crafts and gourmet goodies, then wind your way back down to Cairns through picturesque mountains, via 15 tunnels and across 37 bridges on the Kuranda Scenic Railway.

This ecofriendly resort island is one of the loveliest and most peaceful places to experience the Great Barrier Reef. Snorkel straight off Lady Elliot’s white sands – the living reef that surrounds the tiny coral cay is teeming with tropical fish, turtles and the island’s resident manta rays. At hatching time (January to April) you can see baby turtles scamper across the sand, and humpback whales pass by from June to October. Getting to the island is equally memorable – with a scenic flight over the turquoise reef-filled waters.

The endless summers and surfer-chic culture of the Sunshine Coast bewitch all who step on to its sandy shores. There’s a wholesomeness here that’s as natural and unaffected as the idyllic local surf beaches and balmy sea breezes. Early mornings see a steady flow of surfers, joggers, cyclists and walkers making the most of the beach scene and surfside cafes. Noosa, the coast’s boutique resort town, where barefoot surfers mingle effortlessly with the designer-clad beach elite, is the elegant yet unpretentious star of this sandy crown.

It’s the wild and rugged frontier of Australia, a landscape of climatic extremes, croc-infested rivers and stark but beautiful scenery. The overland journey through the untamed wilderness of Cape York and along the legendary Old Telegraph Track is an epic northern safari bound to turn you as wild and feral as the land. It’s an exhilarating experience to fly the flag at the Tip of Australia, a fitting end to the challenge of rough corrugated dirt roads, difficult creek crossings and miles and miles of raw Australian beauty.

The further north you head in Queensland, the more deadly, dangerous or just damn big the creatures become. Cassowaries as tall as humans strut through the rainforest, whopping crocs inhabit the waterways, and the country’s largest snakes slither across the land. Even the insects are huge, like hand-sized Ulysses butterflies. And north Queensland is home to myriad bird species and over 50 different kinds of tree frog, including the world’s largest of its species, the giant tree frog. Croak.

Carnarvon National Park, with its magnificent gorge, is a magnet for bushwalkers, birdwatchers and nature lovers. The 30km-long gorge is a diverse ecosystem offering a huge range of walks, hidden canyons, and clifftop views soaring over the countryside. Pretty-faced wallabies scamper about the gorge floor, while at night, spotlights reveal gliders soaring from tree to tree. Indigenous Australians have been visiting this sacred place for at least 20,000 years, and have left remarkable galleries of stencil art that can be admired in several of the area’s caves.

They’re the suntanned gods of the surf, the beefcakes of the sea, the uberfit icons of Australia’s beach-crazed culture. Since their beginnings in 1907, Australia’s surf life-savers have evolved into superfit, superbuff athletes, duking it out against one another in seasonal surf carnivals along the Gold Coast beaches – arduous events involving ocean swimming, beach running and surfboat racing. It’s hard work but makes for an extraordinary – and sensorily diverting – spectator sport.

What started in 1882 as a run for stock horses has today morphed into a massive event, attracting up to 7000 spectators who pile into the one-pub town for four days of dusty track racing and boozing. The race weekend is in early September, and even when equine flu stopped the horses turning up in 2007 and floods hit in 2010, crowds still thronged to Birdsville to pitch tents, drink beer and see old mates.

The legendary Bloomfield Track is mostly sealed these days (there's just 32km of 4WD-only road between the Bloomfield River and Cape Tribulation) – but it's still one of Australia’s great journeys. The 80km track, from Cape Tribulation to Cooktown, features creek crossings, precipitous mountain climbs and sheer drops, with diversions including waterfalls, Aboriginal-guided cultural tours, national-park walking trails and the welcome Lion’s Den pub near the northern end. If you want to max out the adventure, a handful of camping grounds, cabins and lodges are scattered along the route.

For most of the year, Hervey Bay is a soporific seaside village with a remarkably long beach and a flat, shallow sea. That all changes in mid-July, when migrating humpback whales cruise into the bay, and thousands of tourists cruise out to see them. It’s one of the top whale-watching regions in the world, and witnessing these aqua-acrobats waving, blowing, breaching and cavorting is a guaranteed breath-taker. Do some research and choose an eco-accredited operator: humanity owes these great creatures a little peace and privacy.