Queensland

The state

Get to know Queensland

Queensland occupies the northeast of Australia, from Brisbane's subtropics to the humid heat of Cape York. Along the coast, for more than 2,000 kilometers, stretches the Great Barrier Reef, the largest reef system in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The state does not change clocks for daylight saving.

Brisbane, the capital, sits on the river, with South Bank park and the Lone Pine koala sanctuary; Moreton Island is reached by boat. To the south, the Gold Coast has surfing beaches and the high-rises of Surfers Paradise and the theme parks: Dreamworld, WhiteWater World, Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World and Wet'n'Wild. Inland, Tamborine Mountain and Lamington and Springbrook parks are part of the Gondwana Rainforests, a UNESCO site.

North of Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast includes Noosa Heads, with its seaside national park, Maroochydore and the beaches of Mooloolaba, and Beerwah, home to Australia Zoo and the Glass House Mountains. Further up, K'gari, formerly Fraser Island, is the largest sand island in the world, a UNESCO site, with freshwater lakes; it is reached from Hervey Bay and Rainbow Beach, and Hervey Bay is known for humpback whales.

In the mid-coast, the Whitsundays are an archipelago of 74 islands, with Whitehaven Beach and the Hill Inlet lookout; Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island are the bases. In the tropical north, Cairns is the town for boat trips and diving on the Great Barrier Reef; Port Douglas lies to the north, Kuranda is the mountain village with its train and cableway, and Cape Tribulation is where the Daintree rainforest, in the UNESCO Wet Tropics, meets the sea.

On the table, seafood like the Moreton Bay bug and tropical fruits like mango define the state's cuisine.