Fitzroy Island is a cliche of a tropical paradise - pretty as a postcard. First impressions are of lofty palm trees, golden-tan sand and a blue, blue sea.

Deep in the Australian Outback, many people drive to Winton.

There are swathes of blackened trunks and spindly ghosts of trees, killed when the sap boiled from the heat of bushfires.

Fraser Island this month started welcoming mid-sized cruise ships as part of what local authorities say is a major tourism coup.

Tackling the Great Beach Drive proves easier than expected, finds Andrew Louis.

Detour off the main highway and safety of the tarmac and make your way down to the beach. I am on the Sunshine Coast, about to tackle Queensland’s Great Beach Drive.

There is a spot at the highest point of Hamilton Island where time stands still.

Corazon Miller visits Fraser Island, a World Heritage Site that's been crowned the world's largest sand island.

I may have been slightly judgmental when I turned up for a standup paddleboarding lesson and discovered my instructor was a teenager.

Brisbane is the perfect place to test out the togs-undies theory.

Sharing a tiny slice of the Great Barrier Reef with just a few others overnight is a special experience, writes Shandelle Battersby.

A wildlife sanctuary on a plateau above Cairns teems with a colourful array of warblers, waders and raptors.

The hit TV show Thunderbirds could have been set in Cairns. Any one of the surrounding mountains could double as International Rescue's hideout.

Queensland's Outback works to a very specific weather pattern and it's nothing so ho-hum as four seasons a year.

Beaches on the Gold Coast were off limits and many on the Sunshine Coast could remain closed as cyclone Winston whips up huge waves and strong currents.

It's not all up, up and away in a hot air balloon, discovers Shandelle Battersby.

An unexpected visitor sends Ewan McDonald scurrying for his life.

If smashing plates or eating seafood is your bag, Megan Singleton finds fun for you.

It's easy to find yourself smiling at a baby saltwater crocodile, discovers Caris Bizzaca, from well behind the fence.

A giant sinkhole at a Queensland camping spot is now relatively stable and may have actually been a landslide, a geotechnical engineer says.

A camper at a popular beach on Queensland's Sunshine Coast has described the terrifying speed with which a sinkhole swallowed a car, caravan and camping trailer.

Earthquake tremors have been reported in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

A friendly Aussie convinces Eveline Harvey to try out his local, and she likes the vibe.

Lauren Quaintance enjoys a luxurious minibreak on Queensland's Hayman Island.

The New Zealand Defence Force is participating in an exercise that will see almost 30,000 troops training in multiple locations in Australia and the US.

Sarah Motherwell sees the emblematic ulysses butterfly in Queensland's rainforest.

Convict history and rollicking modern times focus Pamela Wade's interest on a stinking hot summer in Townsville.

Each week, expat Kiwis tell us what they most love about living by Queensland's beaches. Today we hear from Cairns teacher Blair Cutler.