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Boutique hotels in Queensland & Great Barrier Reef

Self-catering properties in Queensland & Great Barrier Reef

Queensland & Great Barrier Reef Overview

Australia

Countryside
Bulldust and billabongs, coral islands and castaway shores
Country life
Scuba dives and cattle drives

Australia’s most famous state is a land of extremes: one side, vast plains of ruddy bulldust stretch off into the Outback, while off the Pacific coast, the tropical islands of the Reef bask in year-round sunshine.

Capturing Queensland in a few sentences is impossible: not only because, to put it in the local idiom, it’s a bloody big place, but also because of the sheer variety of the landscape. Laid-back townships and buzzy cities pepper the coastline from Brisbane north to the party city of Cairns and tropical Cape York Peninsula beyond, but if you head a few miles east, you find yourself alone in swagman country – the rugged, ruddy, rocky sunburnt plains of the Queensland bush. In the other direction, a few miles off the coast, the innumerable islands of the Great Barrier Reef stretch the length of the state like so many pockets of paradise. With the most spectacular diving and snorkelling in the world, perennially calm azure waters, and powder-white sandy bays, the islands offer the ultimate in beach-based escapism.

Quintessentially Queensland & Great Barrier Reef

Every February, the Chinchilla Melon Festival (www.melonfest.com.au) brings a carnival of fruit destruction to the eponymous Outback town, with indescribably messy events such as melon skiiing, melon bungee, melon ball games, and, intriguingly, 'melon iron man'.

Local knowledge

Taxis
Outside the larger towns (Cairns, Townsville, Mission Beach), you’ve more chance of hitching a ride on a kangaroo than finding a cab. In Cairns, book ahead with Black & White Taxis (+61 (0)7 131 008).

Tipping culture
Tips aren’t expected in Australia; 10 per cent is generally appreciated, however, when service merits.

Siesta and Fiesta
Shops and businesses generally open between 9am and 5pm throughout the week. Most people dine before 9pm, but bars and clubs often remain busy until after midnight, sometimes right through till morning (especially in nightlife hotspots such as Cairns).

Packing tips
Wide-brimmed hats (corks are for backpackers), big sunglasses, and shoes sturdy enough to survive a walkabout. If you are trekking in the Outback, then stock up on water – the sun can be parching – and avoid wearing white as the crimson bulldust will turn you terracotta in minutes.

Recommended reads
Forget the Tom Hanks film, the book that inspired it, Castaway by British adventurer Lucy Irvine tells of her self-imposed exile on the island of Tuin. For Outback tales, turn to I Once Met a Man, a collection of short stories about bushfolk by Australian clothing magnate RM Williams. Pick up a book of poems by AB (Banjo) Paterson, the famous Australian bush poet and author of ‘Waltzing Matilda’.

Cuisine
The waters of northern Australia abound in unique seafood snacking opportunities. Colourful coral trout are a staple, menu item, as are barramundi (both freshwater and seawater). Shellfish are also highlights, including the tricky-to-tackle (but worth-the-effort) mud crabs caught in mangrove-planted crab pots, and barbecued Moreton Bay Bugs – an odd and ancient flat-headed lobster-esque creature found only in Queensland. Inland, ‘bush tucker’ comprises anything faintly edible found wild in the Outback, including kangaroo, emu, crocodile and river fish, as well as evocatively named fruits such as quandong, Davidson’s plum, and finger lime, and native spices such as Lemon Myrtle and Wattle Seed are commonly used to flavour dishes.

Currency
Australian Dollar (AUS$).

Time zone
GMT +10 (there’s no daylight saving in Queensland).

Dialling codes
Country code for Australia: +61; area code for Queensland: 07.

Do go/don't go
Compared to the northern hemisphere, seasons run back to front in Oz, so June to August is the period to aim for to avoid the summertime swelter. November to March is the wet season in the tropics and the bush; out on the islands of the reef, it can be stormy between January and April.

Don't go home without

Stand-up paddle surfing. A recent import from Hawaii, this is the latest trend in Aussie watersports, whereby you stand upright on a modified surfboard and row yourself along the water. Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast is the best place to try it – book lessons at http://standuppaddlesurf.com.au.