The secret hinterland in Australia everyone should visit

CREATIVE CULTURE

Not many first timers to Queensland come this way, however most, like me, start their journeys in the cool and comfortable city of Brisbane. Tucked beneath the steel girders of the city’s Story Bridge, I wake to my first full day in Australia in the trendy Crystalbrook Vincent Hotel. The city manages to strike a good balance between laid-back and buzzy, with a cosmopolitan compact centre and wide, spacious riverfronts making it a great rest spot for a few days before heading off into the Gold Coast hinterland. 

Lifting the lid on the city’s cultural life and history, we tour the river’s arty South Bank and James Street district, with locals showing off contrasting sides of the city’s creativity. From Queensland’s excellent Gallery of Modern Art we walk along the riverside with Aborigine Black Card guide Cassy pointing out notable indigenous art installations, while on a Style Trail through James Street with fashionista guides Spree with Me, I meet Fashion Week favourite Gail Sorronda in her boutique where she explains the inspiration behind her hip gothic designs.

Among the city’s newest restaurants, Rothwell’s Bar and Grill is well worth a visit for its high-quality seafood, old school glamour and charm, while the area around my hotel – Howard Smith Wharves – was transformed into a trendy waterside hangout just a few years ago with a pretty mix of fairy-lit restaurant terraces and stylish industrial bars. 

PACIFIC RIM

Our self-drive itinerary takes us from here deep into the green fold of the Scenic Rim, where flood waters have left great gouges in the red earth and tall trees tilted into swollen rivers. It is strange, soggy weather, but the region is no less beautiful. There’s plenty for nature lovers to explore in this little-known area of southern Queensland, including six national parks containing ancient World Heritage-protected rainforests. 

One of several newly opened countryside retreats, Hazelwood Estate on the edge of Lamington National Park, is an idyllic base. Both rustic and luxurious, its excellent Paddock Restaurant offers farm-to-table dining and, in keeping with its natural surroundings, the entire resort is powered by green energy.

Less than an hour’s drive south-east from the Scenic Rim, the tall metal jungle of Australia’s Gold Coast playground glints into view. I check into one of a flurry of smart new hotels – the Dorsett – that opened post-pandemic thanks to a huge AUD $1 billion (£566m) investment in Gold Coast infrastructure, which includes more than 3,000 additional hotel rooms.

Here, glamorous hotels and theme parks offer all the joys of an Orlando-style holiday, but beyond the city’s brash attractions an artier, more layered town exists alongside. Opened last year, huge modern art gallery HOTA easily rivals the best in the world, with its gourmet restaurant Palette showcasing the fine Asian fusion food Gold Coast is becoming known for.

SURF AND TURF

To fully immerse ourselves in Gold Coast life and get to know this area’s most famous pastime, we head straight to see the experts at S-Lab, to shape our own surfboards with champion long-board rider Beau Young and legendary surfer Rabbit. Inclement weather disrupts our surf lesson at nearby Miami Beach, but fortunately Alex from local tour company Kiff and Culture is on hand to show us the top eating and drinking spots. The former industrial area of Miami has been transformed in recent years with cool micro-breweries and distilleries such as Granddad Jack’s and Precinct serving up artisan gin and craft beer inside atmospheric old workshops and warehouses.

Nearby, at the mellow beachside community of Burleigh, I tuck in to a famous “bug roll” at bustling eaterie Rick Shores and watch choppy waves roll onto empty rain-lashed sands. The food and service easily live up to the Gold Coast institution’s stellar reputation, though the delicious bug roll (containing a battered crustacean) tastes very similar to a KFC mini fillet to me.

It sums up my trip along Australia’s southern Pacific coast perfectly – strange but familiar. From sophisticated urban life, a restful and refined outback ranch and a big and brash coastal city, my self-drive through southern Queensland painted a full, three-dimensional picture of a thriving corner of Australia that’s rich with fresh ideas and pleasing contrasts. 

Book it: Hayes and Jarvis offers an 18-day Pacific Coast Highway Tour from Sydney including stops in Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Brisbane from £3,399pp. hayesandjarvis.co.uk