Queensland’ calendar of new tourism experiences for 2022

Experiences

Divers will flip at the chance to plunge into the Gold Coast’s new Wonder Reef when it opens in early 2022. The $5 million floating attraction is being installed 2.5kms offshore from Main Beach and will be a short 20-minute boat ride from the mainland. The world-first purpose-built buoyant reef has been described as a fusion of art, science and engineering. The aim is to attract marine life to the carefully crafted habitat appealing to divers who may not have traditionally considered the Gold Coast for dive expeditions.

Go behind the scenes and learn the art of board making at Australia’s home of surfing, the Gold Coast. The team at S*Lab, a creative hub for Surfboard Warehouse’s designers, has created a hands-on surfboard design and shaping tour, run out of the company’s Miami headquarters. Using cutting edge 3D software, visitors can create their dream board under the tutelage of expert board shapers. World surfing legends Rabbit Bartholomew, Beau Young, Rachel Tilley and Andrew McKinnon were involved in developing the experience. Take home your own personally crafted board or head straight for the surf. The tour is set to drop in April.

The team behind the popular Dreamtime Dive and Snorkel is set to operate the new Reef Magic Pontoon on Moore Reef, 45 km off the coast of Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef. Owned by Australian adventure and leisure tourism company, Experience Co, the pontoon, will open in early 2022 and immerse passengers in the wonders of the reef across two daily departures. The platform will be totally self-sufficient, utilising wind and solar power and will feature a floor-to-ceiling underwater observatory. Conservation will also play a key role with liveaboard accommodation and an onboard purpose-built laboratory to facilitate scientific research. Sea country guides will treat guests to indigenous storytelling, culture and performance.

Adventure enthusiasts will relish the opportunity to dip, jump and whiz through 28km of mountain bike trails currently under construction at Russell Park in the Bunya Mountains. The trails are designed to have minimal impact on the natural environment and will comprise five specially designed mountain bike ‘loops’ and two trails to be shared among walkers and riders. Weaving through the world’s largest bunya forest, the Bunya Mountains Mountain Bike Track is due to open in June 2022.

Cooberrie Park Wildlife Sanctuary north of Yeppoon is dialing up the family fun this year. In December 2021 the sanctuary opened stage one of a new tourism attraction – Capricorn Dinosaur Mini Golf. Stage two of the development will see a dinosaur walk, 35 life-sized dinosaur replicas, an educational fossil dig and an interactive indoor experience launch later in 2022 as part of the Capricorn Dinosaur Park development.

Still in the Capricorn region, 25 February marks the beginning of a new chapter in Rockhampton’s cultural story with the opening of the Rockhampton Museum of Art. Located in the heart of the Rockhampton Riverside Precinct, Rockhampton Museum of Art is the largest gallery in regional Queensland and home to one of the finest collections of modern Australian paintings from artists such as Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Russell Drysdale, John Coburn and Charles Blackman. Contemporary artists including the likes of Michael Zavros, Del Kathryn Barton, Richard Bell, Sally Gabori (Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda) and Ben Quilty also feature. The opening exhibition, ‘The Welcome Home Exhibition’, will celebrate the rich and vibrant collection that has defined Rockhampton’s cultural scene for the past 45 years.