There are 39 Seaside Gems, as the title says, plus a whole lot more. To give you a flavour of how we describe each of these coastal towns, see the text from the special town of Port Douglas in Queensland.

Port Douglas, Queensland

https://maps.app.goo.gl/kdj6CG5bDzYKCWUt5?g_st=ic

A personal favourite. With upscale resorts, top-notch restaurants and a glitzy marina, Port Douglas has transformed from a quaint fishing village into one of Queensland’s most chi-chi beach towns. Its setting between the reef and rainforest is utterly breathtaking. Stroll along palm fringed Four Mile Beach, breakfast with the birds at the Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary and head out onto the Coral Sea to see the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef. Take a catamaran to the Low Isles coral cays and you can snorkel straight from the shore. Daintree Rainforest is just to the north and the town's charming Sunday markets are well worth a wander. Take a walk-up Macrossan Street and find quirky jewellers, clothes, and gift shops.

While you are driving from Cairns to Port Douglas you will pass the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway and Scenic Railway. This is a world class trip up and down the mountain to Kuranda. Yet both methods are so different. We travelled by train and returned by cableway, but you can equally do it the other way round. Riding in the heritage cars of the train feels like a century ago on a railway line carved into the mountain or crossing gorges on intricately built elevated bridges. Kuranda itself is worth the time spent there. Our journey down the mountain is spectacular, skimming the trees, the last section giving fantastic views of Double Island and the Coral Sea. Superb and memorable.

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Of all the many Big Things in Australia this is one of the most impressive.

The Big Pineapple, Woombye, Queensland

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This mega-fruit is seriously impressive, and I saw it a few years ago when it was in mid-refurbishment. A painter in a ‘cherry picker’ was laboriously finishing off the repainting, air-brushing contrasting colour on the pineapple’s outer parts.

A throwback to Australia’s golden age of road-trip tourism, the Big Pineapple has been a Sunshine Coast icon since 1971. Located near Noosa Heads and the nice hinterland town of Montville, this 16-metre-tall tropical fruit celebrates the region’s pineapple-growing heritage. 

Once a simple roadside stop, it is now home to a small wildlife park, a treetop zip-line adventure, and an old sugar cane train that takes visitors through the property’s lush plantation. Grab a fresh pineapple smoothie or a scoop of pineapple sorbet before heading back to the coast for a dip in Noosa’s famous turquoise waters. 

From here, you are not too far from the incredibly famous Irwin family-owned Australia Zoo.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/3MsKXT9xr4xAAJm7A?g_st=ic

So, my book has at least thirty more of the 150 of these giant things,  all around Australia.

Here are a few as a taster: