Surrounded by national parks and the Pacific Ocean, the twin coastal towns of Agnes Water and Town of 1770 are among Queensland’s loveliest and least hectic seaside destinations. The tiny settlement of Agnes Water has the east coast’s most northerly surf beach, while the even tinier Town of 1770 (little more than a marina!) marks Captain Cook’s first landing in the state, and is great for kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding. The ‘Discovery Coast’ (as it's known) is also popular for boating, and fishing away from the crowds. To get here, turn east off the Bruce Hwy at Miriam Vale, 70km south of Gladstone. It’s another 57km to Agnes Water and a further 6km to the Town of 1770.

Lady Elliot Island

On the southern frontier of the Great Barrier Reef, Lady Elliot is a 40-hectare vegetated coral cay populated with nesting sea turtles and an impressive number of seabirds. It's considered to have the best snorkelling in the southern Great Barrier Reef and the diving is good too: explore an ocean-bed of shipwrecks, coral gardens, bommies (coral pinnacles or outcroppings) and blowholes, and abundant marine life including barracuda, giant manta rays and harmless leopard sharks.

Lady Elliot Island is not a national park, and camping is not allowed; your only option is the low-key Lady Elliot Island Resort (%1800 072 200; www.ladyelliot.com.au; per person $147-350). Accommodation is in tent cabins, simple motel-style units or more expensive two-bedroom, self-contained suites. Rates include breakfast and dinner, snorkelling gear and some tours.

The only way to reach the island is in a light aircraft. Resort guests are flown in from Bundaberg, the Gold Coast and Hervey Bay. The resort also manages fantastic, great-value day trips for around $300, including a scenic flight, a snorkelling tour and lunch; see its website for more info. Flights and day trips can be booked through local travel booking agencies.

Lady Musgrave Island

Wannabe castaways look no further. This tiny, 15-hectare cay, 100km northeast of Bundaberg, sits on the western rim of a stunning, turquoise-blue reef lagoon renowned for its safe swimming, snorkelling and diving. A squeaky, white-sand beach fringes a dense canopy of pisonia forest brimming with roosting bird life, including terns, shearwaters and white-capped noddies. Birds nest from October to April while green turtles nest from November to February.

The uninhabited island is part of the Capricornia Cays National Park and there is a NPRSR camping ground on the island’s west side; you must be totally self-sufficient and bring your own water. Numbers are limited to 40 at any one time, so apply well ahead for a permit with the NPRSR (%13 74 68; www.nprsr.qld.gov.au; per person/family $5.45/21.80). Bring a gas stove; fires are not permitted on the island.

Day trips ($190) to Lady Musgrave depart from the Town of 1770 marina.

Heron & Wilson Islands

With the underwater reef world accessible directly from the beach, Heron Island is famed for the best easily accessed scuba diving in the Southern Reef Islands, and also for great snorkelling, although you’ll need a fair amount of cash to visit. A true coral cay, it is densely vegetated with pisonia trees and surrounded by 24 sq km of reef. There’s a resort and research station on the northeastern third of the island; the remainder is national park.

Welcome to Rockhampton (‘Rocky’ to its mates), where the hats, boots and utes are big…but the bulls are even bigger. With over 2.5 million cattle within a 250km radius of Rockhampton, it’s called Australia’s Beef Capital for a reason. This sprawling country town is the administrative and commercial centre of central Queensland, its wide streets and fine Victorian-era buildings (take a stroll down Quay St) reflecting the region’s prosperous 19th-century heyday of gold and copper mining and beef-cattle industry.

Straddling the Tropic of Capricorn, Rocky can be aptly scorching. It's 40km inland and lacks coastal sea breezes; summers are often unbearably humid. The town has a smattering of attractions but is best seen as a gateway to the coastal gems of Yeppoon and Great Keppel Island.

Pretty little Yeppoon is a small seaside town with a long beach, a calm ocean and an attractive hinterland of volcanic outcrops, pineapple patches and grazing lands. The handful of quiet streets, sleepy motels and beachside cafes attracts Rockhamptonites beating the heat, and tourists heading for Great Keppel Island, only 13km offshore.

Blackdown Tableland National Park

Surprising, spectacular Blackdown Tableland is a 600m sandstone plateau that rises suddenly out of the flat plains of central Queensland. It’s a bushwalker’s heaven here, with unique wildlife and plant species, and a strong Indigenous artistic and spiritual presence. The turn-off to Blackdown Tableland is 11km west of Dingo. The 23km gravel road, which begins at the base of the tableland, isn’t suitable for caravans and can be unsafe in wet weather – the first 8km stretch is steep, winding and often slippery. At the top you’ll come to the breathtaking Horseshoe Lookout, with picnic tables, barbecues and toilets. There’s a walking trail to Two Mile Creek (1.8km) starting here.

Munall Camping Ground (%13 74 68; www.qld.gov.au/camping; per person/family $5.45/21.80) is about 8km on from Horseshoe Lookout. It has pit toilets and fireplaces – you’ll need water, firewood and/or a fuel stove. Reserve online. The not-to-be-missed Goon Goon Dina circuit is an easy 2.5km loop that takes you from the camping area to the a Ghungalu cave painting site. Those looking for more exercise can drive a few kilometres past the camping grounds to the Gudda Gumoo trailhead; from here 240 stairs and 2km of steep slopes lead to the base of waterfall in a deep gorge of green ferns.

Gem Fields

West of Emerald (named after Emerald Downs, emeralds are not actually found here) sit 640 sq km of gem fields. The fields draw heart-strong prospectors who eke out a living until a jackpot (or sunstroke) arrives. Fossickers descend in winter – in the hot summers the towns are nearly deserted. Sapphires are the main haul, but zircons are also found and, very rarely, rubies. Sixteen kilometres on from Emerald are Sapphire and then Rubyvale, the two main towns on the fields.

Carnarvon National Park

Carnarvon Gorge is a dramatic rendition of Australian natural beauty. Escaped convicts often took refuge here among ancient rock paintings. The area was made a national park in 1932 after defeated farmers forfeited their pastoral lease.

The 30km-long, 200m-high gorge was carved out over millions of years by Carnarvon Creek and its tributaries twisting through soft sedimentary rock. What was left behind is a lush, other-worldly oasis, where life flourishes, shielded from the stark terrain. You’ll find giant cycads, king ferns, river oaks, flooded gums, cabbage palms, deep pools, and platypuses in the creek.

For most people, Carnarvon Gorge is the Carnarvon National Park, because the other sections – including Mt Moffatt (where Indigenous groups lived some 19,000 years ago), Ka Ka Mundi and Salvator Rosa – have long been difficult to access.

Coming from Rolleston the road is bitumen for 75km and unsealed for 20km. From Roma via Injune and Wyseby homestead, the road is good bitumen for about 215km, then unsealed and fairly rough for the last 30km. After heavy rain, both these roads can become impassable.

The entrance road leads to an information centre (%07-4984 4505; h8-10am & 3-5pm) and scenic picnic ground. Limited camping is available by the entrance during school holidays. The main walking track also starts here, following Carnarvon Creek through the gorge, with detours to various points of interest. These include the Moss Garden (3.6km from the picnic area), Ward’s Canyon (4.8km), the Art Gallery (5.6km) and Cathedral Cave (9.3km). Allow at least a whole day for a visit. Basic groceries and ice are available at Takarakka Bush Resort. Petrol is not available anywhere in the gorge – fill up at Rolleston or Injune.

You cannot drive from Carnarvon Gorge to other sections of the park, although you can reach beautiful Mt Moffatt via an unsealed road from Injune (4WD necessary).

Sunrover Expeditions (%1800 353 717; www.sunrover.com.au; per person incl all meals $940) runs a five-day camping safari into Carnarvon Gorge between August and October.