Road trip in Queensland

The roads and the reef; the Outback and the ocean; posh nosh and bushtucker fare scoffed under the stars… There’s so much to enjoy in Queensland, says Ellie Fazan, we dare you not to get hooked

My best-ever month was spent exploring Queensland with a childhood friend. Swimming in the dazzling blue water off the coast; barbecuing seafood so fresh it jumped onto our plates; camping under starlight. Then losing ourselves in a wet, green world far removed from the Australia you might imagine, and having one or two adventures along the way…

Queensland’s sparkling seas are impossible to resist and its pristine beaches dot the coast in abundance, so you never have to go very far to find yourself in idyllic isolation. We camped on the sandy fringes of Noosa, where crystal-clear waters lap at the subtropical rainforest, a world apart from the fashionable resorts of the Sunshine Coast just a short drive away. And we spent several days exploring the giant dunes, freshwater lakes and shimmering creeks of sand- and sea-sculpted Fraser Island. Called K’gari – meaning paradise – by the Indigenous Butchulla people, it’s around 76 miles long by 14 miles wide, and the world’s largest sand island.