Article by Patricia Lilly

Taking a vacation in sunny Queensland, which has much to offer the holiday maker, is like a breath of fresh air. Choose from the Great Barrier Reef Islands to Far North Queensland or Outback Central Qld. Read the following tips and information to make your vacation stress free.

TIP NO 1 WEATHER The weather cycle in Queensland is the same throughout Australia with our summer months being December, January and February. Autumn months are March, April and May and winter months are June, July and August. Spring months are September, October and November and are very pleasant.

TIP NO 2 DAYLIGHT SAVINGS Queensland does not operate daylight saving and local time is always 10 hours in front of GMT. Other states of Australia do operate daylight saving times from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April, so be aware of this if you fly into Queensland from other Australian states.

TIP NO 3 METRIC SYSTEM In Queensland the metric system is used so all distances are in kilometres (km’s), speed is in kilometres per hour and petrol/fuel is sold in litres.

TIP NO 4 DRIVING IN QUEENSLAND Driving in Queensland, Australia and hiring a vehicle – Most hire companies will ask to see a valid un-restricted driving license and if this is in English this will usually be accepted. However if you have a licence which is not in English, you should first obtain a valid International Driving Permit before you leave your home country. Australia requires a “1949 Convention IDP”. And don’t forget, drive on the left side of the road. And always ask the hire company if you are allowed to drive the hire vehicle on a dirt road or you may have your insurance cancelled.

TIP NO 5 VOLTAGE The nominal mains electrical voltage is 230 Volts in Australia. As plug sockets require the Australian Standard plug pin arrangement, travel adaptors can be purchased within Australia, usually at airports.

TIP NO 6 EMERGENCIES 000 is the National emergency number in Australia and this is used for all emergency services including Fire Service, Ambulance Service and the Police.

TIP NO 7 MOBILE PHONE USE Australia has a modern telecommunications and mobile telephone network which includes 3G services to most parts of Qld. Check with your mobile company to see if “International Roaming” is available and this service can be activated for you whilst in Australia. Phone companies operating in Qld include Telstra, Vodafone, and Optus.

INFORMATION ON QUEENSLAND Queensland is home to about 4 million people and is the second largest state in Australia. Areas of Queensland in the interior are vast and sparsely populated, while coastal areas have a denser population. Tourists love the average summer temperatures of 25 degrees celsius (77F) and the average winter temperatures of 15 degrees celsius(59F). Brisbane is the capital of Queensland with about 2 million people in residence.

Queensland stretches from the northern tip of Cape York to the south east at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast. The most popular holiday spots range from the Gold Coast to Cairns in North Qld, which is a driving distance of about 1760klms. However, you can fly into the Brisbane airport in South East Qld, Maroochydore airport on the Sunshine Coast, Hamilton Island airport in the Whitsundays, Townsville airport for North Qld, or Cairns international airport for a tropical vacation. There are about 40 airports throughout Queensland, large bus companies and fast trains available, so getting to your destination is easy.

Most holiday resorts offer a free courtesy coach to take you directly to their door after collecting you from the airport, railway station or bus depot. There are many online places to choose your accommodation from and in all areas of Queensland. Accommodation is divided into several classifications including hotels, apartments, resorts, motels and Boutique accommodation, resort caravan parks and Bed and Breakfasts. If you are wanting a self catered vacation, apartments and cabins usually offer this with ‘in room cooking facilities’ available.

If you want to explore a part of Outback Queensland, hop on a flight to Longreach from Brisbane using Qantas (2hrs 25mins), jump on a bus tour to Winton and visit Lark Quarry where 93million year-old fossils capture a dinosaur stampede. A museum has been built to shelter and protect these dinosaur tracks.

If you love your comfort, travel in a luxury air-conditioned tour coach or if wanting to be adventurous and drive yourself, hire an air-conditioned four wheel drive vehicle from Longreach. The 179 klm road from Longreach to Winton is sealed but from Winton to Lark Quarry it is a badly maintained dirt road. I learnt the hard way. The red dust seeped into our 1985 Mazda T3500 bus, which has no air-conditioning, when my husband and I traveled to Lark Quarry. The dust was quite unpleasant which is why I suggest you travel in an air-conditioned vehicle. Still, we enjoyed the end result and would not have missed the experience of the Outback.

Winton is known for its water supply which pushes its way to the earth’s crust from three artesian bores, all around 1,200 metres deep gushing at a temperature of 83 degrees Celsius.(195F) The water comes from the Great Artesian Basin which provides water for almost all areas of Australia’s Outback.

Accommodation is available in Longreach and Winton and most of these places will book your tours. Discover attractions like the Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Qantas Founders Outback Museum, the Waltzing Matilda Centre and the School of the Air.

A visit to The Sunshine Coast will give you a never forgotten vacation and you can get to this area on an air-conditioned coach, by rail or a hired vehicle. It is only about a 1.5 hour trip from Brisbane. Or you can fly from Brisbane directly into Maroochydore airport where you will have a large choice of accommodation. Again, most resorts offer a courtesy coach pick up.

When you visit this vast state of Queensland, I hope these tips and information enable you to enjoy your vacation, in Australia, ‘down under’.