A tourist board cliche it might be, but Queensland really does have it all. There are as many reasons to take cheap flights to Queensland - the Sunshine State - as there are days in the year, perhaps more. There are the gorgeous beaches, the lush rainforests, the lively cities and small beachside towns and then there is the heart of Australia - the Outback.
Brisbane is capital, sometimes known as Brisvegas, a city of glitz and style, energy and culture. Just an hour's drive from Brisbane is the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, stretches of soft, sandy beaches and brilliant blue seas. North again is the Fraser Coast, where you can go whale watching in Hervey Bay or feed the Dolphins at Tin Can Bay. Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, is just one of the five World Heritage-listed preservation areas in Queensland.
The others are the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites at Riversleigh where the fossils are among the world's richest and most extensive; Gondwana Rainforests, the world's most extensive area of subtropical rainforest; the Wet Tropics of Queensland; and the Great Barrier Reef.
The Reef extends 2,300km along the coast. The list of activities associated with the Reef are endless - scuba, snorkel, take a boat, sight-seeing flight, or laze on one of the hundreds of islands' beaches for some R&R.
A journey into the Outback offers the chance to learn about another side of Australia - the deserts and the sand dunes, the water holes, the small towns and the larger-than-life characters who inhabit them.
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Beautiful one day, perfect the next is how Queenslanders will describe their climate. Given the size of the state, there's considerable variation in climate. Along the coast, summers are warm and winters are mild. Inland, the summers are hot and rainfall is sparse. Queenslanders in the north experience monsoon season. For example, Brisbane's range of temperatures is 9 degrees to 29 degrees; Cairns' 17-31 degrees. Temperatures below freezing are very, very rare.
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Peak Season:
April to October is high season in Queensland. July to November is humpback whale-watching season in Hervey Bay.
Off Season:
November to March (the Wet Season) is low season.
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- Charleville in Southwest Queensland is an amazing place for star gazers. The Charleville Cosmos Centre and Observatory runs night-time observatory sessions during which you can explore the stars, planets, moons and galaxies with an expert guide.
- Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway in Wooroonooran National Park, near Innisfail, features a 2.2km forest walking track that links a 40m-high, 340m-long elevated walkway through the canopy. The observation tower is at 37m.
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Brisbane Airport (BNE) (website: www.brisbaneairport.com.au) The airport is situated 13km from Brisbane CBD, about a 15-20 minute drive. It's approximately a 75-minute drive to the Gold Coast and a two-hour drive to the Sunshine Coast.
Cairns International Airport (CNS) (website: www.cairnsairport.com) Australia's seventh-busiest airport is located 8km north of Cairns.
Gold Coast Airport (OOL) (website: www.goldcoastairport.com.au) is located at Coolangatta, about 20km south of Surfers Paradise.
Townsville Airport (TSV) (website: www.townsvilleairport.com.au) The airport is located 5km west of the city centre.
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