Category: Queensland

Emu Park is situated along the Capricorn Coast, 45 kilometres east of Rockhampton. Emu Park is host to the Singing Ship, a monument overlooking the coast line. You can take a scenic drive of Yeppoon before arriving in Emu park or drive straight from Rockhampton which passes the Koorana Crocodile Farm. From Emu Park you can also visit Great Keppel Island for a day trip, or enjoy the quiet, peaceful surrounds that Emu Park has to offer.

Theodore is located on the Dawson River 105 kilometres south west of Biloela. Theodore is named to honour the former Queensland Premier, Mr E H Theodore. It’s palm-lined roads are quite spectacular and the town is an impressive look-alike to the street plan of Canberra. It is the local tale that the town was architecturally designed by Walter Burley Griffin in the early 1920s before he went on to design Australia’s capital city, Canberra. Today Theodore is the service centre for important irrigation and agricultural industries. Popular spots to visit at Theodore include the community managed Hotel-Motel, the Dawson River weir, Rose’s Garden, Junction Park, Glenmoral Gorge and the nearby historic hand built ‘flagged’ road, used by bullock wagons in the nineteenth century.

The Albert Hotel, built as the Customs House in the 1860s, is all that remains of what was once a prosperous mining and cattle fattening district.

Greenmount is a country township surrounded by dairy farms, horse studs and various crops Take a break for a barbecue in Greenmount’s Bicentennial Park next to the Memorial Hall. The Memorial Hall features a rare pressed metal ceiling and stage. The Greenmount Cemetery is the final resting place of Jack Slattery. He was the character ‘Cranky Jack’ in the novel On Our Selection by Arthur Hoey Davis, one of Australia’s most famous writers. Take the time to explore the Shire’s other Steele Rudd attractions including his hut and Rudd’s Pub in Nobby.

The district around the town of Dirranbandi has been described as some of the finest wool growing country in Australia. In 1885, the town site was surveyed and named Dirranbandi which means ‘swamp abounding in frogs and waterfowl’ or “frogs around the waterhole.” Dirranbandi is the gateway to the Culgoa Flood Plains National Park. The park is situated on the Queensland/New South Wales border and is ideal for birdwatching. Visitors wanting to camp at the National Park should contact the Ranger in Charge. Dirranbandi is also home to ‘Cubbie Station” which is believed to be the largest privately owned cotton property in the Southern Hemisphere.

Set in the heart of an arts and craft hub which typifies Queensland’s Sunshine Coast hinterland, the small rural town of Palmwoods is at the crossroads of the region’s tourist network. Set in a mosaic of avocado, custard apples and pawpaw orchards, orange groves, banana plantations and sugar cane farms, Palmwoods is only a few kilometres south of Nambour and is within comfortable driving distance of such tourist traps as the ginger town of Buderim and the charming Blackall, Range villages of Maleny, Montville and Mapleton. Complete with village green, art gallery, stained-glass studio and museum, Montville is just 10 kilometres from Palmwoods and is the south-eastern gateway to the Kondalilla National Park. The mountain park is graced with a cliff-top picnic area, swimming pool and matchless views over the Koondalilla Falls which tumble into rugged terrain dressed in ancient forests of cedar, mahogany, bunya and hoop pine. Five kilometres to the south of Palmwoods, the village of Eudlo is distinguished by a Buddhist monastic retreat. Distance from Brisbane (State Capital): 95 Kilometres.

Mornington Island is an Aboriginal community and permission to land on the Island must be sought from the Mornington Shire Council by mail, six weeks prior to the intended visit. There is no guarantee of permission being granted. The Gulf Savannah is an interesting area to visit all year however during the monsoon season, transportation methods must be carefully considered, as some parts of the Gulf Savannah region suffer from a lack of road infrastructure.

Innes Park is situated 15 kilometres from Bundaberg city, along the Coral Coast, south of the township of Bargara. Innes Park is home to a golf course and the rocky coastal waters are home to some of the best shore diving and coral formations. Dive locations include Barolin Rocks and Butchers Rocks, with local scuba companies using these areas to teach their students.