Drenched in colour, tropical Queensland daunted the early settlers whose plants and cattle preferred the gentler climate further south. Queensland stretches from the temperate south to the tropics and is unimaginably blessed with vast
stretches of beaches, sheltered by the Great Barrier Reef in the north and rolling with surf in the south. On either side of this glorious coast are two great wonders: the kaleidoscopic underwater world of the Great Barrier Reef and the ancient rainforests that have carpeted this land since time immemorial. Around the major cities of Brisbane and Cairns, this is a region where you still appreciate Australia’s great scale and beauty, but also the challenges faced by the early settlers of carving a new life on a timeless land, as small towns are dotted in a vast landscape where everything - the plants, the animals, brightly-coloured birds, even the people - are just that little bit quirky and unexpected. Add in the remote
pleasures of the sparsely inhabited Whitsunday Islands and the immense pastures of inland Outback cattle stations and it’s clear that Queensland can reward months of exploration.