marker at Rockhampton . North of Hervey Bay the landscape begins to brown as the temperature rises, and though there's still an ever-narrowing farming strip hugging the coast, the Great Dividing Range edges coastwards as it progresses north, dry at first but gradually acquiring a green sward which culminates in the steamy, rainforest-draped scenery around Cairns . Along the way are scores of beaches, archipelagos of islands and regularly spaced cities, including Townsville , north Queensland's largest. There is also a wealth of national parks , some - such as Hinchinbrook Island - with superb walking trails, and others where you might encounter rare or unusual wildlife. Several places along the way are well set up for those with work visas to recharge their bank balances by fruit and vegetable picking ; the most organized spots for this are the towns of Bundaberg, Bowen, Ayr and Innisfail. Moving north of Cairns, rainforested ranges ultimately cede to the savannah of the huge, triangular Cape York Peninsula , a sparsely populated setting for what is widely regarded as the most rugged 4WD adventure in the country.

 

Offshore, the onset of the tropics is marked by the appearance of the Great Barrier Reef , among the most beautiful and extensive coral complexes in the world. The reef, which begins to make its presence felt round the level of Bundaberg, drastically changes the nature of the coastline by blocking incoming surf and producing currents that deflect ocean-borne sand far out to sea.

As a result, most islands north of Fraser are continental , formed when the peaks of ranges were drowned by rising waters at the end of the last Ice Age, creating abrupt coastlines and coral rubble beaches entirely different in character from the southeast's sandy formations. On the reef's outer edge, however, small isolated sand islands ( cays ) form, which tend to become encircled by fringing coral reef - these are particularly a feature of the southern reef. Further north, the cays thin out, while the main body of the reef thickens into thousands of individual shoals as it ventures nearer the coast. Whether cay or continental, many of these islands are close enough to ports for a day-trip, but for a real change of pace, try camping on one for a week or splashing out on a comfortable resort. Divers are well catered for, but novices needn't miss out on the best of the coral, which is within snorkelling range of the surface.

Access is along the Bruce Highway to Cairns, which is then briefly replaced by the Cook Highway , until notions of "main roads" begin to fall apart north of Mossman. Beyond here lie the jungles of the Daintree , the outpost of Cooktown and the beginnings of seasonal roads, humble tracks and the savannah wilderness of the Cape York Peninsula. Frequent bus and train services stop at all centres between Bundaberg and Cairns, but ideally you'll either be driving or willing to hitch to those places that the travel brochures have overlooked. Among the region's peculiar hazards are the slow, endless sugar cane trains that cross roads during the crushing season (roughly June-Dec); crossings are often (but not always) marked by flashing red lights.

Winters are dry and pleasant, but the summer climate (Dec-April) can be oppressively humid, with unpredictable cyclones bringing torrential rain and devastating storms, making roads on Cape York impassable and frequently even severing the coastal highway. To avoid the worst of the crowds at key places such as the Cairns region or the Whitsunday Islands, come as soon as the wet season is over (late April).