Queensland

Sea World, at Surfers Paradise on Queensland's Gold Coast, opened on 30 October 1971. It actually began as Surfers Paradise Ski Gardens at Carrara, in 1958.It was later renamed and relocated to Sea World Drive in 1971.

Steve Irwin went to school at Caloundra State high school.

He graduated in 1979, and he did not go on to university.

Not normally.

Brisbane tends to be too far south to be hit by cyclones. The warm water currents necessary for a cyclone's development usually do not extend as far south as Brisbane, although a cyclone could, conceivably, be caught in such a current.

Cyclones on Australia's eastern side readily form in the Coral Sea any time between November and April. If they do track south, they are unlikely to retain their wind strength, but they can still cause major damage with flooding rains. This was what happened in the 1974 floods in Brisbane, when Cyclone Wanda crossed the coast several hundred kilometres north of Brisbane, but then continued inalnd, dumping hundreds of millimetres of rain, despite its wind strength being depleted.

1824.

Queensland was established when explorer John Oxley and Settlement Commandant Lieutenant Miller, together with a crew and 29 convicts, arrived at Redcliffe on 13 September 1824 to start a new penal colony.

The Governor General is the representative of the Crown and serves as Head of State when the Monarch is not in Canada. The position is largely formal and ceremonial.

The Prime Minister is the Head of Government. The position is a political one.

Fraser Island is located in the South Pacific Ocean, off the southeast Queensland coast of Australia. It is near Hervey Bay and Maryborough, and about 200 km north of the Queensland capital city of Brisbane.

The main reason why the 2010-2011 floods happened in Queensland was, quite simply, because of the unusual amount of rain.

Australia spends many years in drought, often caused by the El Niño effect. When an El Niño occurs, changes in sea surface temperatures cause a shift in air pressure which, in turn, can result in climatic anomalies, such as severe droughts in Australia. These years are punctuated by years of normal rainfall, but occasionally, Australia gets the opposite to an El Niño, which is La Niña. This means that weather conditions, etc, are in reverse to those seen during El Niño, and Australia experiences far more rain than usual.

Australia had been coming out of an El Niño for some time, which means that many parts of Australia had seen gradually increasing rainfall. The rainfall recorded in September 2010 made it Australia's wettest month overall in 110 years. Queensland already experienced flooding in early 2009 (at the same time that southern Australia had the terrible Black Saturday bushfires), and higher than normal rainfall in 2010, increasing towards the end of the year. By then, the ground was simply too saturated to hold any more water. Add to that the effects of the cyclone which crossed the north Queensland coast at Christmas time, bringing excessive rainfall to north and central Queensland, and the ground was waterlogged. (A similar pattern led to the Brisbane floods of 1974.)

Radar images show how large the cyclone system was, even though it was only a category one cyclone, the lowest grade. Low wind speeds do not necessarily mean low rainfall, and in this case the cyclone brought large amounts of rainfall right along the coast. Some of the water runoff from the north flowed down through the inland river system; some of the rainfall fell into the catchment areas of coastal rivers further south. The rivers broke their banks more easily, and there was nowhere for the excess water to go.

Rain continued to fall heavily throughout early January. On 10 January 2011, Toowoomba, a city which sits at an elevation of 700m at the top of the Great Dividing Range, received 150 mm of rain within a 40 minute period. The ground could not hold any more water, and the waters from the escarpment at the top of the range rushed in a torrent towards the city. Stormwater drains and creeks coming through the two natural valleys in the city were already overflowing, unable to cope with the sudden torrent of rain. The water from the escarpment at the top of the range then rushed down the mountainside, creating a wall of water, a 7m high inland "tsunami", that went through the city and down the range. This wall of water rushed through Lockyer Valley to the catchment areas of the main dam that protects the city of Brisbane from flooding, sending its capacity to 190%. The gates had to be opened, sending the equivalent of two Sydney Harbour's worth of water into the Brisbane River each day. This is why Brisbane and Ipswich flooded. Subsequent inquiries have pointed the finger at senior engineers acting too late to release water from Wivenhoe.

This would depend on which part of Brisbane you were leaving from. From Brisbane's CBD to Maroochydore is a distance of 100 km. Given road conditions and traffic, it would take about an hour and a half to travel.

The people of Brisbane wanted it.

This separation was done in opposition to the wishes of the New South Wales Governor, but the British government decided in favour of a petition from the people of Brisbane and that it would be better done now, than later. In 1859, Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent, which declared that Queensland was now a separate colony from New South Wales. On 6 June 1859, the former Moreton Bay District was granted separation from New South Wales, and given the name of Queensland, with Brisbane as its capital city. The first Governor was Sir George Ferguson Bowen.

The flora of Queensland varies tremendously. In the far north are dense rainforests, with ancient cycads, thick, curling vines and lianas, orchids and ferns, as well as other rainforest plants.

Along the coast the flora changes from coastal heath, casuarinas and coastal bushland, including melaleucas and leptospermum. Moving inland a little, the flora varies between wet sclerophyll and dry sclerophyll, mulga bushland and eucalyptus bushland.

In the southeast is temperate rainforest and eucalyptus bushland, while a little further inland are found native pines such as the gigantic Bunya pines, and hoop pines. It moves into drier brigalow scrub further west.

The road distance from the Gold Coast to Hervey Bay is 371 km. Travel time is just over five hours.

The most logical and easiest route is to travel straight along the Cunningham Highway until it meets the Ipswich Motorway, then continue until the exit on to the Logan Motorway. Take the Logan Motorway (bearing right and avoiding the Gateway Motorway and Brisbane Airport exit) until it continues on to join the Pacific highway.

There are back routes, but this is the easiest way if you are unfamiliar with the roads.

Another alternative, shorter route is to travel along the Cunningham Highway but then take the Boonah-Fassifern Road turnoff, which will take you through Beaudesert, Canungra and Nerang. Although it is about the same amount of travel time (just over two and a half hours), the distance is shorter, at only 186km, compared to 217km.

As you depart the Gold Coast airport, look out for signs pointing to Brisbane. Once you are on the main Pacific Highway, proceed north for about 85 kilometres. There is no need to exit until several kilometres after crossing the Gateway Bridge over the Brisbane River. The necessary exit for the Brisbane Airport is clearly marked.

Figures vary, but according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Great Barrier Reef is approximately 2,300km long. It is located in the Coral Sea and lies parallel to the coast of Queensland. It is actually a series of reefs and atolls, with its northern end just south of Papua New Guinea, and its southern end near Lady Elliott Island, northeast of the city of Bundaberg. This is the equivalent of about 1,430 miles.

In summer, the temperature in Brisbane ranges from 27 - 33 degrees celsius, which occasional hotter days which are exacerbated by the high humidity. Night time temperatures are generally around 20 - 22 degrees.

In winter, minimum and maximum temperatures range from 5 to 21 degrees.

There are many postcodes for the Sunshine Coast. The actual suburb would need to be specified. Postcodes range from 4519 in the southern hinterland areas (e.g. Beerwah) to 4566 in the north, e.g. Noosa.

The Sunshine Coast is about 100 km north of Brisbane, stretching from the Glass House Mountains, the tip of Bribie Island and Caloundra, north to Cooloola. It extends west to Kenilworth and the Blackall Ranges. It is not to be confused with the Gold Coast, which lies 80km south of Brisbane city and ends at the Qld/NSW state border. The Sunshine Coast is known for its stretches of beaches and lovely weather, as well as being a holiday destination for all ranges of people, including the wealthy and not-so-wealthy.

I think there are smiggle shops in Brisbane... I don't see why not!

The highest mountain in Brisbane, capital of Queensland, is Mt Coot-tha, although at 287m in height, it is really just a hill. Other mountains/hills within the Brisbane City boundary include Mt Gravatt (187m), Mt Petrie (170m) and Whites Hill (120m).

• Over- fishing
• Water pollution
• Global warming
• Excess CO2 in the atmosphere
• Shipping navigating through the reef, and resultant shipping accidents
• Excessive tourism activity on the Reef
• Chemical run-off from farms - pesticides and fertilisers
• Farming activities increase acidic sediment as well
• Changing water quality on the reef, due to human interference - quality such as salinity, nutrients and increased sediment concentration
• Rising sea temperatures (different to the debatable global warming, which is not necessarily due to human activities, but entirely possibly part of a natural cycle - coral cannot handle even mild increases in temperature)