Six terrific road trips to take from Brisbane

Hire a cosy compact car and zip off on a romantic getaway. With Maryborough only three hours’ drive from Brisbane, there’s plenty of time for detours. Hop off the Bruce Highway to corkscrew up onto the Blackall Range, home to a charming trio of villages: Maleny, Montville and Mapleton (the view from Mapleton Tavern stretches all the way to the sea). Maryborough, birthplace of author PL Travers, makes much of its Mary Poppins connection (including fun pedestrian crossing signals). Stroll hand in hand (in lead), ticking off some of the town’s 37 large-scale murals and ogling the classic Queenslanders, before heading to Hervey Bay to swim or whale-watch.

Are we there yet? Yes, kids, we are. This compact route maximises fun for littlies while minimising kilometres. Hit up Uber Carshare for a storage-savvy SUV then head for Bribie Island to swim in Pumicestone Passage’s sheltered waters. The Glass House Mountains Visitor and Interpretive Centre’s playground includes miniatures of the volcanic plugs that collectively form the Glass House Mountains. Get up close to one with a 3.3km stroll around the base of Mount Tibrogargan, which resembles an ogre. See another otherworldly beast at Kilcoy’s Yowie Park – a statue there commemorates a 1979 sighting by two students.

Queensland’s Granite Belt has battled drought, bushfires and state border closures in recent years. Show the cool-climate wine region some love by hiring a car for a gourmet getaway to Stanthorpe – 220km from Brisbane and neighbouring the NSW border. Sip your way around more than 40 cellar doors such as Tobin Wines, Golden Grove Estate and Symphony Hill Wines. Dine at the Queensland College of Wine Tourism’s Varias Restaurant, order sashimi or Japanese curry at Hanasaku or settle in for an Italian-inspired feast – think goat ragout or porchetta with truffled mash - at Ballandean Estate Wines’ the Barrelroom.  

Find a vehicle to accomodate the whole gang with Uber Carshare's range of mini vans or get a little fleet going with a few SUVs. Yeppoon is almost eight hours’ drive from Brisbane so plan a few breaks along the way. Tick off two Big Things: the Big Pineapple near Nambour and Matilda the Kangaroo (1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games mascot) at the Traveston Service Centre near Gympie. In Yeppoon, splash into the infinity-edge swimming lagoon on the foreshore with views of the Keppel Islands. Take a day-trip to Great Keppel to snorkel or float in the turquoise waters of Upper Stony Creek in the Byfield State Forest 30 minutes’ drive north of Yeppoon.

Pack a surfboard in the boot and head for the Goldie. It’s hard to miss Australia’s tallest building, Q1, in Surfers Paradise. Pull up at the imposing beacon to conquer SkyPoint Climb, Australia’s highest external climb. See that plateau to the west? That’s Springbrook National Park, part of Australia’s World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests. Roads leading into the park are scenic but winding so take it easy while driving to the Natural Bridge section. Here, after exploring the park’s many walks through rugged rainforests, enter a cave after sunset to stand beneath a constellation of blue-green glow-worm bioluminescence.

Hire a compact car from Uber Carshare and take it for a jaunt across Moreton Bay with a ferry ride from suburban Cleveland to Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island, nicknamed Straddie). Unearth the island’s cultural riches by joining an Aboriginal guide from Quandamooka Coast for sea- or land-based whale-watching from one of Australia’s most easterly headlands during the season, or join a cultural walk to explore the world’s second-largest sand island. Learn how a carpet snake spirit slithers between Blue Lake and Brown Lake. At Dunwich near the ferry terminal, visit Saltwater Murris Quandamooka Art Gallery – a contemporary visual arts and craft centre.