For many Australian and overseas visitors, Queensland is an enormous slab of Australia put aside for their pleasure-seeking pursuits. If you happen to be part of this lucky group of holidaymakers, continue reading this article for fun and interesting Queensland facts, best time to visit, and how to get around Queensland.
Fun & Interesting Queensland Facts
- Queensland is known as the “Sunshine State” due to the 300+ days of sunshine it receives
- Queensland covers an area (1.853m-sq-km) that’s two and a half times the size of Texas
- The state’s flower is the Cooktown Orchid
- The capital of Queensland is Brisbane
- Majority of Australia’s tourism belongs to Queensland with the state having a plethora of amazing attractions and places to visit
- White sandy beaches grace almost the entire coastline, and a string of islands and coral reefs dangles just offshore. At the southern end are the Gold Coast beaches and theme parks; in the north, the rainforest teems with flora and fauna
- Queensland is home to one of the most famous natural wonders in the world – the Great Barrier Reef
- Queensland is a great place to holiday for adventure seekers who can enjoy white-water rafting, scuba diving, snorkelling, bushwalking, surfing, bungee diving, skydiving, paragliding or rock climbing and more
- Queensland has some of the best bushwalking tracks in Australia with the creation of six Great Walks throughout the state which allows walkers to experience rainforests and bushlands
- Queensland is one of the best places in the country to access indigenous culture
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Best Time to Visit Queensland
The best time to visit Queensland is during the winter months – June to October. The extreme heat and stifling humidity of summer have been replaced by warm, sunny days and refreshingly cool nights.
Queensland’s climate isn’t really broken up into summer and winter; it’s a tropical state so it has wet and dry seasons. Loosely, the dry season runs from April to December. In the far north (anything north of Cairns) and outback Queensland, however, January to March (December to April in Cape York) is the wet season and the heat and humidity can make life pretty uncomfortable. Once the monsoonal rains of the Wet arrive, which usually occurs in January and February, most parts of the Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria, and much of the outback, are often inaccessible except by light aircraft. The Daintree region virtually shuts down and the Bloomfield Track is often unpassable. Cooktown too only has limited services between November and May. Deadly ‘stingers’ (box jellyfish) also frequent the waters at this time. The further south you head the less are the effects of the wet season.
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Getting around Queensland
By Air – This is the fastest way to see a lot in such a big state. Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar have regular services from most coastal towns including Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Proserpine and Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays, Rockhampton, Hervey Bay, the Gold Coast, and Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast.
By Train – Queensland Rail’s Traveltrain operates two long-distance trains along the Brisbane-Cairns route, a 32-hour trip aboard the Sunlander or about 8 hours less on the high-speed Tilt Train. Traveltrain also operates trains to Outback towns.
By Bus – Travelling by road, the more-or-less coastal Highway 1 connects Brisbane to Cairns, with frequent long-distance buses serving all towns along the route.
By Car – A few out-of-the-way spots are covered on local transport, but it’s worth renting a car from time to time to reach some of the less accessible parks or beaches. Watch of for cane trains that cross roads during the cane-crushing season (roughly Jun-Dec).
Click on the map below for places to visit in Queensland or choose one of the links on the top right-hand side of the page.
Tell us what you think. Are you planning a trip to Queensland? If you’ve been to Queensland before, please share with us any tips and ideas you have.
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