Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Unless you're travelling from within Australia, getting to Queensland usually involves a long-haul flight. Flights, tours
and rail tickets can be booked online at
lonelyplanet.com/bookings
.
Entering Australia
Arrival in Australia is usually straightforward and efficient, with the usual customs declarations. There are no restrictions
for citizens of any particular foreign countries entering Australia - if you have a current passport and visa, you should be
fine.
Air
High season (with the highest prices) for flights into Australia is roughly over the country's summer (December to Febru-
ary); low season generally tallies with the winter months (June to August), though this is actually peak season in tropical
Far North Queensland.
Many international flights head to Sydney or Melbourne before flying to Queensland, but Brisbane receives a growing
number of direct international flights. Cairns and the Gold Coast also receive some international flights.
Australia's international carrier is
Qantas
(
www.qantas.com.au
)
, which has an outstanding safety record (...as Dustin
Hoffman said in
Rainman,
'Qantas never crashed').
International Airports
Brisbane Airport
(
www.bne.com.au
)
Cairns Airport
(
www.cairnsairport.com
)
QANTAS AIRPASS
Qantas offers a discount-fare
Walkabout Air Pass
for passengers flying into Australia from overseas with Qantas
or American Airlines. The pass allows you to link up around 80 domestic Australian destinations for less than
you'd pay booking flights individually. See
www.qantas.com.au
for more information.
Land
Travelling overland to Queensland from elsewhere in Australia is an education in how big this country is. The journey
from Brisbane to the nearest state capital, Sydney, is a torturous 1030km; while the journey from Brisbane to Cairns in
Queensland's north covers 1700km!
