Childers: an historic National Trust town in the sugar growing belt of Central Queensland. 52 km south of Bundaberg, Childers is a great place to stop for a bite to eat and stretch your legs if you are driving north. The town is central to numerous natural attractions, including Burrum Coast National Park and Woodgate National Parks.
Tin Can Bay: a tranquil and picturesque town of some 2000 people, situated on the mainland, opposite the southern end of Fraser Island, that has become a popular holiday getaway. This quiet resort and fishing village is situated 245 km north of Brisbane in a sheltered position within a deep but narrow inlet protected by a peninsula that juts out from the mainland near Rainbow Beach. Wild bottlenosed dolphins enter the bay and are fed by the locals on most mornings.
Mystery Craters: Halfway between Bundaberg and Gin Gin is Australia's most baffling phenomenon. Since their discovery in 1971, the origins of the 35 oddly shaped craters have remained the subject of controversy. The mottled mixture of sandstone and ochre stain have been the subject of many investigations and various theories have been offered. Mystery Craters have been featured on many documentaries including Unsolved Mysteries of the World, Getaway and Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
Great Bunya Drive: West of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, the drive incorporates the magnificent Bunya Mountains, freshwater dams, pastoral homesteads and rural towns dotted throughout the Darling Downs and South Burnett. There are wineries, gourmet cafes, heritage museums and country markets waiting to be explored.
The Bunya Mountains is a mix of moist rainforest, dry rainforest, grasslands, open forests and woodlands and is also home to distinct plant and animal communities, with over 30 rare and threatened species. This natural wonderland was formed about 30 million years ago and shelters the largest stand of ancient bunya pines in the world today.
Rainbow Beach: a pleasant, quiet holiday spot on the Cooloola Coast, with a wonderful wide strip of beach. The small town serves as a gateway to Fraser Island to the north, and Cooloola National Park. Originally known as Back Beach, Rainbow Beach was renamed after the coloured sands located near the town. The town is popular with fishermen, four wheel drive enthusiasts, hang-gliders and backpackers.
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Maryborough: the major city in the region's south, Maryborough is one of Queensland's oldest and largest provincial cities. Rich in history and culture, it was once a major immigration port into Australia; the city retains many reminders of this period. Inland from Maryborough is the South Burnett region, known for its rich history, agriculture, wineries and pleasant country towns. Kingaroy, the peanut capital of Australia, is arguably the most well-known of the South Burnett towns.
Burnett Inland Highway: Too many people visit the Burnett/Fraser coast region and fail to explore the hinterland. If you plan to drive to the Burnett/Fraser region from Brisbane, why not drive up the coast and return via the Burnett Country Highway. You'll see the Big Orange at Kingaroy; take part in the Great Australian Pumpkin Roll at the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival (every May), Goomeri; check out the Big Mandarin at Mundubbera, the Citrus Capital of Queensland; have fun at the Peanut Festival (every September) at Kingaroy and visit the largest natural Bunya pine forest in the world in the Bunya Mountains.
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Bundaberg: The regional centre for the north. A progressive inland city, Bundaberg has many attractions of its own as well as being an ideal stepping off point to explore the inland and coastal attractions that surround it, which include Lady Elliot and Lady Musgrave Islands, the Burrum Coast and the twin towns of 1770 and Agnes Waters.
Lady Musgrave Island: the most intensively used of the camping islands within the Capricorn Bunker group, due to its protected anchorage within a semi-enclosed lagoon and a regular ferry service. Tour operators also offer fully guided tours of the reef and give you the opportunity to slip into the warm tropical waters – perfect any time of the year for diving, swimming and snorkelling. Lady Musgrave Island cruises are one of the best ways to pack in as much action as possible into a day trip to the island.
Lady Elliot Island: if diving on the Great Barrier Reef is on your holiday agenda but you don't have the time or motivation to travel all the way to the Whitsundays or Cairns, Lady Elliot is the prefect destination for you. It's only 46 nautical miles north-east of Bundaberg and even closer to the idyllic holiday town of 1770, so flight times from either location are short.
With an area of just 40 hectares (99 acres), Lady Elliot Island is the southern-most coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef. It is also one of only six island resorts on the Great Barrier Reef (the Whitsundays are not on the reef, but coastal islands) and one of only three with flight access.
South Burnett Wine Trail: South Burnett offers a wide variety of things to see and do. Visit a cellar door on the South Burnett Wine Trail and taste some award-winning wines; sample a range of delicious gourmet foods, or throw in a line at some of the best freshwater fishing dams in Queensland and catch your own. Visit historic towns, and learn more about the pioneers who farmed the land at a variety of museums, or enjoy a range of special shopping experiences, from craft shops to lavender farms to antique stores.
Dundurrah Lava Tube and Coalstoun Lakes: The Dundurrah Lava Tube is on private land a few kilometres to the south of Coalstoun Lakes village near Biggenden. Lava tubes form during movement of a basalt flow when the outer portions cool and solidify to form a crust, and the inner, still-molten material flows on to leave a void behind. Coalstoun Lakes are the only volcanic crater lakes in south east Queensland.
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