The A-Z of My Favourite Travel Destinations — Queensland

Quimper, Quilpie or Qatar? Nope, never been there!

And so I’m stuck with Queensland. The only problem is I don’t have to travel to get here — I live here. I was born here in Brisbane, and have lived in different parts of Queensland most of my life.

Queensland is the second-largest state in area ( Western Australia is bigger) and third-largest in population after New South Wales and Victoria.

Due to its size, Queensland’s geographical features and climates are diverse, ranging from tropical rainforests like the Daintree in Far North Queensland, rivers, coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef, and mountain ranges like the Great Dividing Range, and sandy beaches all along its coast with calm seas inside the Reef and sand islands and surf beaches along the rest of the coast. There are many deserts and savanna lands in its interior’s semi-arid and dry regions. We’ve got the lot!

I can really only tell you about the eastern coast. I’ve been as far north as Cooktown — you can’t go much further without a 4WD vehicle and tours to Cape York became popular during Covid lockdowns — we weren’t allowed out of the state. Many of my travel group shared their stories from their trip to “the Cape” and I have no desire to do it.

And as far south as the border to NSW — Coolangatta which is in Qld and Tweed Heads which is in NSW are called the Twin Towns. They’re all part of the Gold Coast — the “Goldie”.

I’ve never lived more than a few kilometres from the beach. In Gladstone, I lived on the beach! Us kids would go searching for oysters on the rocks — there’s nothing like a freshly shucked oyster — and I’ve never lost my taste for them. They’re so expensive nowadays: they’re reserved for Christmas and birthdays.

Chronologically not geographically, I’ve lived in Brisbane, Gladstone, Ipswich, Surfers Paradise (Gold Coast), Townsville, Mackay, Caloundra (Sunshine Coast), and back to Brisbane in 1981. Apart from 3 years in Port Macquarie NSW, I’ve lived here ever since. I’ve lived Southside and Northside (one of the few Brisbanites who’ve accomplished this — people either are Northsiders or Southsiders) in twelve different houses and nine different suburbs. I have no idea why I’m telling you this. I must be hallucinating I’m on “This is Your Life” or something. 😆

I just realised I’ve written a few things about Queensland already. The first one is about Brisbane.

Where I live in Brisbane it’s hot and humid in summer (which is why I always try to escape to Europe in November) but winters are usually quite warm. The temperature rarely drops below 10C and rarely goes above 30C, but don’t let that fool you. It’s the humidity that’s the killer. I swear I never felt the heat in Townsville like I do now. I suppose I am much older.

If you want a break from my writing, read “Diary of a Brisbane Summer”. I think it’s hilarious. I’d love to know what other people think of it.

I recently drove to Townsville with my eldest son who still lives there. This tells the story of that trip and what we saw on the way.

Queensland’s population is growing faster than the rest of Australia even more so since Covid as people realise they can move to Queensland and still keep their jobs by working from home. They have migrated in droves from the southern states. The problem is we now have a housing crisis. There are no homes to rent, and rents have skyrocketed as well as house prices.

But wait…there’s more…

What would I want to see if I came to Queensland from overseas? Well, the Great Barrier Reef while it’s still great — man and nature have both done some irreparable damage to parts of the reef — and some of the islands. My favourites are Magnetic Island (off Townsville), Daydream Island and Hamilton Islands (part of the Whitsundays), Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, and the Moreton Bay islands just off Brisbane.

This is North Stradbroke Island, one of the easiest and cheapest of the Moreton Bay Islands to access.

I would want to check out some National Parks and the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Cairns (the Atherton Tableland) hinterlands and see some of the majestic waterfalls — Wallaman Falls: the highest, permanent, single-drop waterfall in Australia, and the Barron Falls west of Cairns. Montville, Maleny, Binna Burra, Tambourine and Kondalilla Falls are lovely places in the mountains close to Brisbane for a day out. Petrol has become so expensive I rarely go anywhere just for a Sunday drive these days.

A little further afield, you can visit the wine-growing area of Stanthorpe and the Granite Belt — much cooler than the city.

Carnarvon Gorge is the furthest inland I’ve been, but it’s not typical of the Outback. It’s an oasis in the desert so to speak.

We like to go camping to get away from the stresses of city life. This is one of our favourite spots.

With this glowing report on Queensland, it’s no wonder I haven’t been employed by the local Tourism Board!

Here’s Sam Millichap’s Q — Queenstown, New Zealand!

Here’s a recent story written by Ace Creates. Some great photos! Surfers Paradise is on the Gold Coast.

The photos in this story by Janin Lyndovsky will give you an idea of what the country looks like near Killarney, about 2 hours south-west of Brisbane. Also, it’s a great story!

Melissa Morris writes about the 700 kilometres she used to drive west from Brisbane to get to work…not every day, obviously! Check out Melissa’s photos too.