Named after UK's Queen Victoria, Queensland has a history that spans thousands of years—having witnessed a lot of changes brought in by indigenous tribes and then by English colonizers spearheaded by Capt. James Cook. True to its name, Queensland is Australia's queen of destinations making it another crown jewel like the world heritage sites of the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree National Park. Family getaways like Coochie Mudlo Island and Southbank play parks also add to the Queensland shimmer. The four-day train, Savannahlander from Cairns to Queensland, is a great way to experience the monsoon breeze and the Australian outback with magnificent World Heritage sites like the rainforests of Kuranda, the Chillagoe Caves, and Undara Lava Tubes, and with stops at Baron Falls and Stoney Creek.
Brisbane, the capital, is hailed as “Australia's Most Livable City” for its backpacker-friendliness, kicking nightlife and day life, as well as forward-thinking business landscape. Apart from being a popular stop for organic food and fish and chips shops, the city is a gateway to Queensland's most popular destinations like the nocturnal wildlife and Kangaroo Point cliffs of the Botanical Gardens, the campsites of Moreton Bay, Planet Earth Adventures, and the surfing Nirvanas of Stradbroke Island and Gold Coast. Whale watching in Fraser Coast and tandem skydiving in Sunshine Coast also provide very good alternatives.
Towards Brisbane's north is the town of 1770, the closest access to the world's largest coral formation, the Great Barrier Reef, which offers vast opportunities for diving, snorkeling and surfing, without fear of saltwater crocodiles that cause havoc in most Queensland water wonders.
For those happy with dry land, the jail town of St. Helena Island offers a famous historical site as a former penal colony. Lastly, during the last night of the annual Brisbane River Festival, people flock to the scenic Story Bridge to watch fireworks and jet plane exhibitions amid Brisbane's building-painted sky.
