Almost three times the size of France, Queensland straddles the Tropic of Capricorn and enjoys a widely varied climate and topography. Naturally, this is reflected in its produce. In the far north, tea and coffee plantations mirror – although on a very minor scale, the Indian subcontinent – and tropical fruits, once only found in South-East Asia are being cultivated.

Queensland's thousands of farms produce around 200 varieties of fruit and vegetables. Sugarcane is grown throughout the state and the pale green head-high crop flanks many northern rural roads which are crisscrossed by tiny sugar train tracks. Here you'll also find ginger and macadamias, tea, coffee, fine beef and dairy products, the country's best bread-making flour, and even wines.

But this is the party-time state too. Resorts abound. The Great Barrier Reef wraps the coastline for over 2000 kilometres offering limitless water-based activities, and in the far south, the high-rise hotels and apartment blocks cause the Gold Coast to sparkle like a mythic kingdom.

The richness of the state is reflected in the proportionate lack of food producers that encourage the public to drop in and buy from them. There are fewer roadside outlets, and even less tours and pick-your-own farms than in other states. Agriculture here is solid and appropriate. Few coastal farmers have had to diversify, as have their counterparts in other states.

Inland, the story differs. Farmers often 'do it hard' as drought, floods and fires take their inevitable toll. There are some farm-stays, some tours, some chances to experience the lifestyle, but these are limited.

Brisbane, the capital, sits happily south of the lush and lovely Sunshine Coast, with its own subculture, north of the Gold Coast and hinterland. No doubt the hotter climate has created Brisbane's relaxed and carefree jackets-off ambience. Old pubs abound, for this is a thirsty climate, and the long coastline's selection of fabulous seafood is in rich and abundant supply at many relaxed venues throughout the city.

Tucked in among the mountains south of Brisbane and extending to the NSW border, the Granite Belt offers cool-climate wines and produce and an Italian edge courtesy of immigration and settlement early last century. Beyond this the famed Darling Downs are Queensland’s magnificent market garden with large scale cultivations of vegetables.

Queensland's slogan 'beautiful one day, perfect the next' could just as easily read in food-speak 'bountiful one day, a surfeit the next'.

Regions of Queensland

QUARANTINE INFORMATION FOR QUEENSLAND

The Traveller's Guide to Australian Interstate Quarantine is an invaluable booklet to tuck into the glovebox when on a driving holiday. It lists each state with what you can take into it from any other state - its's complex as what you can take into Queensland for example may not be allowed into Tasmania.

www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au or Freecall 1800 084 881 for more details.