Eight days from Mackay up to Mission Beach, built around sunrise kangaroos, the Whitsundays, koalas on Magnetic Island, and a choose-your-own island escape to finish.
Day 1
Description: Start on Mark's home turf. Stay the night before right on the sand at Cape Hillsborough so you can step out before dawn for the famous sunrise, when kangaroos and wallabies feed on the beach with the sun rising out of the sea behind them. Once the crowd clears, walk the Andrews Point and Diwaia lookout tracks in the park, and at low tide cross to Wedge Island. A relaxed afternoon and an early night.
Cape Hillsborough Beach
Cape Hillsborough National Park
Cape Hillsborough Nature Tourist Park — hotel
Day 2
Description: Into the Mackay hinterland. Drive the switchbacks up the Clarke Range to Eungella, then walk the short boardwalk to the Platypus Deck at Broken River and wait quietly for one of Australia's most reliable wild platypus sightings. In the afternoon, cool off in the rainforest swimming holes at Finch Hatton Gorge. Back down to Mackay for riverside tapas and live music at Maria's Donkey.
Eungella National Park
Platypus Deck
Finch Hatton Gorge
Maria's Donkey — dinner
Cape Hillsborough Nature Tourist Park — hotel
Day 3
Description: North to Airlie Beach and out to the Whitsundays, the big one. Board at Coral Sea Marina for a Whitehaven day (boat, or splurge on a seaplane). Walk up to the Hill Inlet lookout from Tongue Bay around midday on a falling tide for the strongest swirl in the sand, then spend time on the silica at Whitehaven itself. Back to Airlie for dinner at Fish D'vine.
Coral Sea Marina — transit
Tongue Bay
Hill Inlet Lookout
Whitehaven Beach
Fish D'vine & The Rum Bar — dinner
Coral Sea Resort — hotel
Day 4
Description: A slower Airlie day to recover from the boat. Catch sunrise at the quiet, netted Boathaven Beach, then a relaxed morning before a swim at the free stinger-safe Airlie Lagoon in the heart of town. Keep the afternoon open for a reef trip or a seaplane over Heart Reef if you didn't get your fill, or just read by the pool. Sunset over the islands from the lagoon lawns.
Boathaven Beach
Airlie Beach Lagoon
Coral Sea Resort — hotel
Day 5
Description: Down the road to Bowen. Grab pies from the legendary Jochheims for a beach picnic, then snorkel the granite-framed cove at Horseshoe Bay and shoot the boulders from the headland track. Walk Mark's long Queens Beach in the afternoon. Finish at Flagstaff Hill for sunset over the islands.
Jochheims Pies — breakfast
Horseshoe Bay
Queens Beach
Flagstaff Hill Lookout
Horseshoe Bay Resort — hotel
Day 6
Description: On to Townsville. Walk the beachfront Strand in the morning, then take it easy through the heat of the day. Late afternoon, head up Castle Hill for the sunset over the city and across to Magnetic Island. Dinner in town at Jam Corner.
Strand Park
Castle Hill Lookout
Jam Corner — dinner
The Ville Resort-Casino — hotel
Day 7
Description: Magnetic Island. Take the early ferry to beat the crowds and improve your koala odds, then walk the Forts track, scanning the gums for wild koalas at the top. Swim the gorgeous tree-backed cove at Alma Bay, Mark's opening A–Z beach. Late afternoon, head to Geoffrey Bay at low tide for the rock wallabies among the boulders and a snorkel over the reef trail. Ferry back, or stay on the island.
SeaLink North Queensland — transit
The Forts
Alma Bay
Geoffrey Bay
The Ville Resort-Casino — hotel
Day 8 — Choose your island escape
Description: Finish on one of Mark's remote island beaches, all of which take real effort and reward it. Pick one. Orpheus for an all-inclusive luxury lodge and the giant clams and reef off Yanks Jetty. Hinchinbrook, reached via Cardwell, for the wild Zoe Bay and the infinity pool at the top of Zoe Falls (guided boat trip or the multi-day Thorsborne Trail). Or drive to Mission Beach, breakfast at Bingil Bay, and water-taxi across to Bedarra for Dorilla Beach. Whichever you choose, it's the quiet, no-crowds payoff the whole trip builds toward.
Cardwell Jetty
Zoe Bay
Zoe Falls
Orpheus Island Lodge — hotel
Yanks Jetty
Mission Beach
Bingil Bay Cafe — breakfast
Doorila Beach House — hotel
Bedarra Island Resort — hotel
