brisbane budget travel australia

QUICK STATISTICS

Latitude:	27°25S
Longitude:	153°02S
Date settled:	1825
Population:	1.5 Million
Dist to Cairns:	1,700k
Dist to Brisbane:	0k
Air:	Yes
Train:	Yes
Bus:	Yes
Hostel:	Yes
Hotel:	Yes

Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland, is the third largest city in Australia one of two international gateways into the state. The city enjoys a warm climate averaging from 20'C in winter to 30'C in summer.

The population of 1.5 million is spread from the shores of Moreton Bay in the east along the Brisbane River Valley to Ipswich in the west - and from Pine Rivers in the north to Beenleigh in the south.

The locals pronounce the name of their capital city as BRIS'bin - they are fiercely parochial and refer to anyone from south of the border as "Mexicans".

Queensland is also known as the "Sunshine State" and together with the Great Barrier Reef this makes it one the most popular budget travel destinations in Australia.

In the South-East Corner there is the Gold Coast with beautiful beaches and party atmosphere - in the near north is the Sunshine Coast, relatively undiscovered by tourism - in the far north is the Barrier Reef - and to the west is the Darling Downs.

Well, that is - depending on how far you want to go - travelling west it is about 12,000 kilometers to the sea...