Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
that highlight tourist attractions, national parks, and the like, although they are
of limited use as road maps. You can get them at newsdealers and gas stations
throughout the state.
By Train
Queensland Rail's
Traveltrain
(
&
13 22 32
in Australia; www.travel
train.qr.com.au) operates two long-distance trains along the Brisbane-Cairns
route, a 32-hour trip aboard
The Sunlander
or about 8 hours less on the new
high-speed
Tilt Train.
Traveltrain also operates trains to Outback towns. See the
“Getting Around Australia” section in chapter 2 for more details.
By Plane
This is the fastest way to see a lot in such a big state. Beware the “milk
run” flights that stop at every tiny town en route; these can chew up time.
Qan-
tas
(
&
13 13 13
in Australia; www.qantas.com.au) and regional airline
Sunstate
Airlines
(book through Qantas) serve most coastal towns from Brisbane, and a
few from Cairns.
Virgin Blue
(
&
13 67 89
in Australia; www.virginblue.com.
au) services Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gold Coast,
and Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast.
1 Exploring the Great Barrier Reef
It's the only living structure on Earth visible from the moon; at 348,700 sq. km
(135,993 sq. miles), it's bigger than the United Kingdom; it's over 2,000km
(1,240 miles) long, stretching from Lady Elliot Island off Bundaberg to just
south of Papua New Guinea; it's home to 1,500 kinds of fish, 400 species of
corals, 4,000 kinds of clams and snails, and who knows how many sponges,
starfish, and sea urchins. The Great Barrier Reef is listed as a World Heritage site
and is the biggest marine park in the world.
There are three kinds of reef on the Great Barrier Reef—fringing, ribbon, and
platform.
Fringe reef
is the stuff you will see just off the shore of islands and
along the mainland.
Ribbon reefs
create “streamers” of long, thin reef along the
outer edge of the Reef, and are only found north of Cairns.
Platform
or
patch
reefs
are splotches of coral emerging up off the continental shelf all the way
along the Queensland coast. Platform reefs, the most common kind, are what
most people are thinking of when they refer to the Great Barrier Reef. Island
resorts in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park are either “continental,” meaning
part of the Australian landmass, or “cays,” crushed dead coral and sand amassed
over time by water action. Cays are surrounded with dazzling coral and marine
life. On continental islands, the coral can be of varying quality.
Apart from the dazzling fish life around the corals, the Reef is home to large
numbers of green and loggerhead turtles, one of the biggest dugong (manatee)
populations in the world, sharks, giant manta rays, and sea snakes. In winter
(June-Aug), humpback whales gather in the warm waters around the Hervey
Bay and the Whitsunday Islands to give birth to calves.
The Reef Tax
Every passenger over 4 years old must pay a A$5.50 (US$3.60) daily Envi-
ronmental Management Charge (EMC), commonly called “reef tax,” every
time they visit the Great Barrier Reef. This money goes toward the man-
agement and conservation of the Reef. Your tour operator will collect it
from you when you pay for your trip.
Tips
