Growing up in Queensland, I spent most of my holidays on the Gold Coast, and today’s favourite tourist beaches were my playground. Coolangatta, located about half an hour from Surfers Paradise, has an esplanade perfect for small children to paddle, and is also a popular meeting place for surfers. Further up is beautiful Burleigh beach, known for its pine trees lining the sand. Although a lot more populated than all those years ago, this is still one of the premier beach locations on the coast.

Nobbys and Main beaches are long and inviting. There is plenty of space for families, surfers and sunbathers. Sunrise is one of the favourite times to enjoy the salt air and meet the early morning walkers, populating the shoreline up and down the coastline. Surfers Paradise is the most famous and known as the tourist strip for obvious reasons. The beaches are fantastic and excellent for surfing, but I would stick to the local beaches just to get some towel space.

The Sunshine Coast beaches have a more relaxed pace, Maroochydore being my favourite. With excellent surfing beaches, ideal caravan parks (Cotton Tree is one of the best) and large shopping centres you could spend weeks here and always have something to do. Alexandra Headland is one of the most popular locations for surfers, with breaks to be found along most of the coastline.

Noosa Heads is one of the most well known destinations on the north coast, with an abundance of holiday choices. There are four beaches, the most popular at Hastings Point for swimming and surfing. Tea Tree and Granite Bay are more suitable for experienced surfers. From Hastings there are some easy beach walks taking you around the headland to a lovely beach alcove. The beach is the heart of Noosa and every walk seems to wind back to its sandy stretches.

Once you start the trek up to Cairns and beyond, you need to plan your itinerary and then take the plunge as there are a lot of miles in between.However, the rewards are priceless, with exquisite pure white beaches waiting for you. Close to three hours from Brisbane, Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island, with the equally beautiful Rainbow Beach a complete destination in itself. The advantage is that crowds are smaller and the beaches are endless, the perfect place to escape.

Halfway between Cairns and Townsville is an undiscovered paradise, Mission Beach. There are not many places where the sun shines every day of the year (well almost) and the rainforest meets the sand and coconut palms. Combined with the pristine, flat beach and rippling waves you have the ideal tropical holiday.

The beaches just north from Cairns are unique and unparalleled. The most famous is Palm Cove, offering something for every type of beach holiday maker. There is a long jetty for fishermen, plenty of water sports, tall palm trees lining the entire stretch of beach and a number of restaurants and shops when you need a break from the sun. Surfers may have to venture elsewhere, such as Yorkey’s Knob where half metre waves are delivered which still a bonus for this region.

Trinity Beach is another favourite with locals and tourists and easily accessible from Cairns via the Captain Cook highway. The Cairns esplanade now features a large lagoon ideal for families, and a great retreat for those who would prefer to base themselves close to the city.

Heading further north to Port Douglas, Four Mile Beach is one of the last of Queensland’s jewels. This is remote and beautiful, with the palms common to this area combine to create the perfect holiday destination. Although this area
is common to stingers there are nets in place so you can still enjoy a swim.

Whichever location you choose, you will have to keep coming back to make the most of the sun, surf and sand in Queensland greatest treasures, its beaches.

Jenny Brewer is a travel agent whose passion is writing. After spending her leisure time writing time writing childrens stories, she now enjoys writing about travel destinations. For more of her articles visit Campervan Hire Australia

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The humpback whales migrate along both the east coast and west coast of Australia to find warmer waters during the Antarctic winter for breeding and giving birth to their calves. Humpbacks travel up both coasts, stay for a while and then return to their Antarctic feeding grounds for the summer.

The Australian whale watch season is approximately from May to November each year. The whales arrive earlier in the southern part of the east coast and as late as July in far north Queensland waters.

East coast whale watching is probably more popular, not because it is any better than the west coast, just that there is a greater population and a greater density of tourist or commercial whale watching operations based at various points on this coast.

Most of whale watch cruises operate from NSW or Queensland. Here are some of the pros and cons for each location.

NSW

• Often first to spot whales and the last to wave goodbye at the end of the season.
• No breeding grounds, the whales are mostly on the move either north or south.
• In NSW whale watching boats are allowed to watch whales at any distance from the shoreline.
• Water and daytime temperatures are cooler further south therefore less comfortable for whale watch cruise passengers.
• Popular whale watch spots include Sydney, Jervis Bay, Coffs Harbour, Port Stevens, Byron Bay and Tweed Heads.

Queensland

• Whales stop to breed or birth their calves in several locations from Hervey Bay through to Port Douglas.
• Many choices for whale watch cruises to cater for visitors to Queensland during the winter months.
• In Queensland whale watch cruises must go out to 3 miles offshore before they are allowed to commence watching the whales.
• Queensland has a more temperate weather during the whale watching season as it is closer to the equator. Water temperatures are warmer and visitors can enjoy warmer days on the water making it more comfortable to watch the whales.
• Queensland’s south east coast whale watching enjoys one of the longest whale watching seasons with whales going in both directions during the mid season.
• Popular whale watch spots include Coolangatta/Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Brisbane’s Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay, Whitsundays, Cairns and Port Douglas.

In south east coast of Queensland there are many whale watch cruise operators . The two most popular areas are Hervey Bay and Gold Coast. There are certainly far more opportunities to go whale watching in Queensland. The weather is usually warmer and kinder to the whale watchers too!

My advice? Wherever you are, if there is an opportunity to go see these magnificent creatures get out there and enjoy it. It is an experience of a lifetime.

Learn more about the Gold Coast whale watching season on Gold Coast Australia Travel Tips.

Annie runs, researches and writes for the website Gold Coast Australia Travel Tips, which was established in 2006 to help tourists and locals discover some of the secrets of Queensland’s famous Gold Coast.

Guide to Gold Coast Whale Watching Season at http://www.Gold-Coast-Australia-Travel-Tips.com/whale-watching-season.html

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There are some clear benefits to studying in the cities. Convenience is one of the most important things. You can easily access shopping centers, malls, entertainment areas, tourist attractions etc. via public transport. There are lots of things to do, so you’ll never be bored. The cities are also very multicultural – Brisbane in particular (Gold Coast and Cairns have a lot of Japanese tourists, but many different nationalities live in Brisbane), so you will find a lot more acceptance of your own culture / beliefs etc, and will most likely meet a lot of people from your own country, who will be able to help you get settled in / give you support when you need it.

But this can also be the downside to studying or homestaying in the big cities. Because there are so many other students / migrants who are the same nationality as you, you’ll find it will be very easy to make friends with them, and start speaking together in your own native language, because it makes you feel comfortable. But this way, you won’t speak or learn much English, and you won’t be able to make Australian friends. Living in Brisbane or the Gold Coast may be comfortable and fun, but it doesn’t motivate you to challenge yourself, and make effort to adapt to Queensland culture and life.

Doing a homestay in rural Queensland, on the other hand, will be a totally new experience. The typical country Queenslander is relaxed, friendly, and very talkative. While city people are often busy, hard-working, and not very talkative, country Queenslanders often spend more of their day chatting rather than working. The pace of life in Queensland is the slowest in Australia – maybe it’s because there’s so much sun and great weather – people are rarely stressed there. The nature in rural Queensland is also incredibly beautiful – national parks, wildlife, tropical rainforest, coral reefs… most of the world-famous natural attractions are in Queensland!

The difficulty with staying in rural Queensland is that there are not many foreigners there. So, you’ll find the locals don’t know much about foreign culture, and aren’t used to speaking to people whose first language isn’t English. For this reason, international students have trouble trying to understand local people, because they don’t realize they have to slow down when speaking, to be understood. At first, everyone will seem to be talking too quickly, and there will not be many other international students like yourself, so you’ll find you have to deal with issues like culture shock, settling in, and getting used to Queensland culture, with less help from others.

Coming to rural Queensland will be a much bigger challenge than studying and doing a homestay in Brisbane. But if you make effort, and challenge yourself to study English hard and make local friends, you’ll find the benefits after a few months will be much greater. Your English will improve very quickly (because there’s no-one to speak your native language with), you’ll experience “true” Australian country life and culture (relax, no worries, take it easy, slow down, enjoy!), and you’ll meet some of the most genuine, friendly, and warm people in Australia!

If you want to study and homestay Queensland Australia, take the challenge, avoid the big cities, and come and experience rural Queensland – friendly people, world-class nature, perfect weather, and the best opportunity to improve your English!
http://www.homestayqueensland.net.au/

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