Queensland Quest Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brisbane River

Brisbane is a thriving city that was first settled in 1824 as a penal colony (which initially settled at Moreton Bay, but moved in very short order to what is now the central business district of Brisbane). The colony was opened to free settlers in 1842 and in 1859 Brisbane was declared the capital of Queensland when it separated from the colony of New South Wales. Known to the locals as BrisVegas, it's a city of over 1.5 million people with a subtropical climate.

In the 80s Brisbane played host to two major international events: the Commonwealth Games in 1982 and the World Expo in 1988.

Answer: Gold Coast

The Gold Coast, including the Surfer's Paradise area, is theme park central! A number of theme parks are located there, including Dreamworld, Sea World and Warner Brothers Movie World. Sea World is an award-winning marine park with exhibits ranging from polar bears through to dolphins.

A shark exhibit called Shark Bay was opened in 2004, which allows visitors to scuba dive with sharks or (for those of us happy to stay on dry land!) walk through a tunnel and watch the sharks cruising through the water above.

Answer: It's the largest sand island in the world.

Fraser Island is a World Heritage-listed site and was named after Eliza Fraser, who was the victim of a shipwreck. The island is 125 kilometres long and has a wide range of natural attractions including rainforest (growing in pure sand!), crystal clear lakes, surfing beaches and cliffs that are multicoloured due to the build-up of different layers of sand. Fraser Island was formed in the ice age when winds moved large amounts of sand from the New South Wales coast up to Queensland to form an island.

The Sunshine Coast region is also home to the Big Pineapple - over 10 metres' worth (now that's a big pineapple!)!

Answer: Whitsunday Islands

The Whitsundays include islands such as Whitsunday Island itself, Hamilton Island, Hayman Island and Lindeman Island, all very popular holiday destinations for both overseas visitors and Australians. There are a number of resorts built on the islands in this group giving visitors the chance to explore the coral reefs nearby. National Park status has been given to most of the islands in the Whitsunday group; they are also surrounded by a marine park.

The islands are the remains of what used to be a coastal mountain range that was submerged at the end of the last ice age when the seas rose.

Answer: Cairns

Cairns was first settled in 1876 and was proclaimed a municipality in 1885. It possesses a tropical climate and is one of Australia's most populous tropical cities with over 100000 residents. The Great Barrier Reef is just off the coast and can be explored in numerous ways from snorkelling to a helicopter flight. Trips can also be taken inland to explore outback Queensland, including the nearby tablelands, which are less than an hour's drive from Cairns.

Answer: Daintree

The Daintree Rainforest is a Queensland must-see. The forest itself is ancient and has been evolving for the last 120 million years. The region is home to a vast array of flora and fauna with over 3000 plant species (including the world's largest and smallest tree ferns) and a wide variety of wildlife including insects, birds and mammals. New species of plants and animals are still being discovered even now.

At certain places, the rainforest meets the sea and visitors can look out from the forest onto a tropical beach.

Answer: The Great Dividing Range

The Great Dividing Range runs like a backbone through Queensland from north to south and extends down into New South Wales and Victoria. It includes the Glasshouse Mountains and Carnarvon Range in Queensland, the Blue Mountains in New South Wales and the Grampians in Victoria.

In Queensland, the mountains average 600-900 metres in height, while further south the average height increases to 900 m.

Answer: Gulf of Carpentaria

The Gulf of Carpentaria is framed by Cape York Peninsula to the east and Kakadu National Park (in the Northern Territory) to the west. The Gulf region features vast plains as well as intricate river systems; these were noted by Dutch explorer Jan Carstensz in 1623 - he also noted hostile inhabitants, so the area was left largely unexplored until an expedition in 1841.

While the plains of the region are lacking in the nutrients required to support crops, the coastal regions are known for their fishing, especially barramundi.

Answer: Mt Isa

For those of you wanting to know, Patrick Rafter was born in Mt Isa on December 28th, 1972. As well as copper and lead mines, Mt Isa also has mines for silver and zinc and is one of the largest producers of lead and silver in the western world. A composite silver-lead-zinc ore was found by prospector John Campbell Miles in 1923; Miles named his claim "Mount Isa", corrupting the name "Mount Ida", which is the name of a gold field in Western Australia.

The town straddles the Leichhardt River, with the town centre on the eastern side of the river and the mining areas to the west.

Answer: Longreach

The town of Longreach was one of the earliest bases for the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service, later to become Qantas. A number of aircraft were built in the airline's hangar at Longreach in the 1920s. The original hangar at Longreach airport is now home to the Qantas Founders Outback Museum, where visitors can walk through a real Boeing 747 aircraft. Longreach is also home to the Stockman's Hall of Fame, which was built as a tribute to the people from all walks of life who have made their mark on the history of Australia. Well, we've come to the end of our Queensland quest - I hope to see you on my next trip around the land Down Under!