Experience Indigenous culture on a road trip up Queensland's coast

When it comes to scenic road trips, Queensland will make you want to fight for the passenger seat it’s got that many.

None are more popular though than the Pacific Coast Way, which hugs the coastline from Coolangatta all the way to the Cape.

Beyond beaches, islands and reefs there is another side to this road trip experience that speaks to Queensland’s cultural side, one that’s been perfected over the past 40,000 years.

If you’re looking to experience Indigenous culture with your next Queensland road trip, mark a map from the Sunshine Coast to the Whitsundays and discover it with this six-day road trip up Queensland’s east coast.

Day 1: See another side to the Sunshine Coast’s sun, salt and sand

Start your itinerary in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast, with a morning plunge into the cleansing salt water, morning jolt from one of the Sunshine Coast’s best cafes or better yet, do both.

Your cultural connection with Sunshine Coast’s land and sea begins with Saltwater Eco Tours, onboard their meticulously restored 100-year-old sail boat (a Ketch) which journeys through Mooloolaba’s canals.

From onboard its decks, your host will share in the stories from the Kabi Kabi (Saltwater) people, which focus on the landscapes and ecosystems of the Sunshine Coast and the Saltwater People’s relationship with them.

On this two-hour sailing adventure, you’ll connect with cultural traditions through storytelling and song in a fast-paced tour that will make you think twice about landforms and how they were made.

Your host will show you places for hunting and gathering, wildlife spotting like you’ve not seen before and which plants and animals have supported the Saltwater People sustainably for generations.

With ample time left in your day after taking Saltwater Eco Tours morning, lunch or afternoon cruise, you won’t feel rushed settling into one of these hotels on the Sunshine Coast before doing some beachcombing of your own.

Tip: Not in a rush to move on from the Sunshine Coast just yet? Kick on following one of these Sunshine Coast itineraries.

Day 2: Dive into an underwater playground in Hervey Bay

After a morning dip in the Sunshine Coast’s famous saltwater, put 200km of driving on the odometer, making your way from Mooloolaba to Hervey Bay.

Hervey Bay and its neighbouring Fraser Island might be best known for high-octane adventure, but this trip is about cultural connection so we’d encourage a slower pace, at least for one day.

Join Hervey Bay Eco Marine Tours for a tour of a selection of the islands that make up the Great Sandy Strait, while listening to ancient Dreamtime stories from a local Butchulla guide.

From onboard Hervey Bay Eco Marine Tour’s glass-bottomed vessel (the only one in the Hervey Bay region), you’ll learn about the sustainability of the coral gardens and marine life found in these parts and take home a message of conservation rather than a souvenir from this day out.

Just because this tour is a slower pace, doesn’t mean this tour is static.

As part of the tour, you’ll snorkel the healthy reef systems that make up the Great Sandy Strait for a closer look at the marine environment the Butchulla people want you to join them in protecting.

Choose between three tour formats both on water and dry land, to see this different side of Hervey Bay.

Tip: For those wanting to soak up what more there is to explore in Hervey Bay, we prepared this long weekend itinerary just for you.

Day 3: Discover K’gari (Fraser Island)

You didn’t come all this way to not step foot onto the world’s largest sand island, K’gari, did you?

Its name is fitting, translating to ‘paradise’ in the Butchulla language, in a nod to the island’s Dreamtime creation story, involving a princess named K’gari.

From Hervey Bay if you don’t have your own 4WD wheels, you can either hire them for a self-guided exploration of the island or join one of these day tours to the island.

Either way you go, you’ll want to make sure you’re ticking off the trifecta of must-see attractions – Lake McKenzie, Maheno Ship Wreck and Central Station.

Tip: If time is on your side, extend your stay with this 48 hour guide to K'gari (Fraser Island), or return to Hervey Bay for the night where your Pacific Coast road trip continues tomorrow.

Day 4: Road trip onwards and upwards to Rocky 

You’ll want to fuel up before hitting the road with a hearty breakfast at one of Hervey Bay’s popular locals, Eat at Dan & Steph’s.

If you haven’t had a chance to try one of Hervey Bay’s most famous outputs yet, Hervey Bay scallops, don’t despair – you’ll find a scallop omelette on the menu for your fix.

Spend four hours travelling north today to your next stop, Rockhampton, a town which might be best known for barra and beef, but also harbours a cultural side.

Make your first stop the Dreamtime Cultural Centre Rockhampton, which you’ll find six kilometres from the city centre.

Join one of the guided tours for a taste of the rich culture and heritage of the Central Queensland area, choosing between a Didgeridoo performance in an enclosed cave or tour of a replica Torres Strait Islander Village.

If your visit doesn’t align with the scheduled tour times of the day, the centre also encourages self-guided tours, including a walk through the 12-hectare manicured garden which has been planted out with species synonymous with bush tucker and bush medicine.

With the rest of your day free for exploring Rockhampton, get started by working through these 10 things to see and do.

Tip: Keen to explore more than the CBD? It’s worth keeping a couple of extra days up your itinerary sleave for this corner of the Queensland map which is surrounded by national parks.

Day 5: Move towards the mountains

For an itinerary that’s spent a lot of time hugging the coast, it’s time to deviate inland setting your GPS for Eungella National Park, which translates perfectly from the local Indigenous language to land in the clouds.

High in Mackay’s hills is probably the last place you’d come to expect to find one of Queensland’s most ecologically diverse parks, but you’ll find over 860 plant species overlooking the sugar capital in this national park.

Take in the views, cocoon yourself in forest and ground yourself in what truly is a land in the clouds.

Tip: If you’re tempted to stay and play a while in these parts, be sure to check out this Mackay Highlands Great Walk (which can be completed in sections suitable even for tiny feet).

Day 6: Walk in the Whitsundays wonderland

Rise early for the best chance of seeing Eungella’s famous face, platypus. You’re almost guaranteed a sighting at Broken River, but you can stack your odds by taking the recently renovated boardwalk at dawn.

After a sighting of one of Australia’s most hard to spot natives, it’s time to head north to your final destination on this trip, Airlie Beach.

You might have discovered Airlie’s beaches and bars in previous trips, but this road trip is all about the cultural connection with land and sea.

Join Whitsundays Paradise Explorer on board their 6.5-metre rigid inflatable craft to explore a different side of the Whitsundays islands.

This trip you’ll see the wonders of the Whitsundays through a different lens, one coloured by the traditional owners of the land (and sea) on which you stand.

Along with your host and a handful of other guests on this private tour, you’ll explore two islands, visit a cave featuring Aboriginal rock paintings that date back 2350 years and learn about the customs of the Sea People, including how they turned their landscape into their source of life, hunting and gathering food and medicines.

You’ll land on Dugong Beach where you’ll learn about the native flora and fauna of the region and have the chance to throw a traditional fishing spear.

If you’re not in a rush, extend your road trip and explore the full Ngaro Sea Trail which takes anywhere from five days across a combination of sea kayaking, camping and hiking.

Tip: You can do the Ngaro Sea Trail in a self-guided format, but you may prefer to let someone else do the navigating. In which case, Salty Dog Sea Kayaking offer six-day fully-guided kayaking expeditions that cover parts of the Ngaro Sea Trail.

Where to from here?

• Hit the highway with one of these great Queensland road trips
• Explore these Whitsunday islands
• Leave the car on the mainland and cast off for your own sailing adventure