On Sunday we picked up our rental car in Cairns and started our road trip south. 

The first stop was Townsville, which is the biggest town in northern Queensland. Here we visited Reef HQ, an aquarium that brags about having the biggest living coral reef in the world. It was beautiful to see a little piece if the Great Barrier Reef up close and see all of the different corals and fish that lives there.

Afterwards we walked along the Strand, Townsville’s waterfront promenade.

We also spent a day driving inland to an old gold-mining village, Charters Towers. Back in the gold-mining days the town was known as “the World” and was the second-largest and wealthiest town in Queensland. 

On the way back to Townsville we drove by Castle Hill for a stunning view over the city and Cleveland bay.

Driving further south, we had a stop in Rockhampton, which is known as Australia’s Beef capital.  Naturally, we had to have a steak for dinner, but after a long day of driving, we just went back to our motel room and slept and did not see much of the city.

Next stop was Hervey Bay, where we stayed for three nights. The first 1,5 day we spent relaxing, in our apartment or by the pool and doing a bit of shopping in the local mall. Oh, and I had a nice run on the beach one morning. 

Hervey Bay is the main gateway to Fraser Island which we spent a full day exploring. But more about that in another post.