Queensland (QLD) & Brisbane
Queensland is dominated by the coast. It's no surprise that most of the settlements and tourist attractions are concentrated in this narrow coastal strip, which has some amazing natural features such as the Great Barrier Reef and lush rainforests. Inland is the Great Dividing Range and the tablelands, fertile areas of flat agricultural land that run to the west. Then there's the barren outback, which fades into the Northern Territory. In the far northern Gulf Country and Cape York Peninsula there are huge empty regions cut by countless dry riverbeds, which can become overflowing rivers in the wet season.
Northern Queensland seasons are more a case of hot and wet or cool and dry than of summer and winter. November/December to April/May is the wetter, hotter half of the year, while the real Wet, particularly affecting northern coastal areas, is January to March. This is also the season for cyclones. Queensland doesn't really experience 'cold weather', except inland or upland at night from about May to September. Temperatures in Brisbane, in the south of the state, rarely drop below 20°C and, while it doesn't suffer the stifling humidity you'll find further north, the climate is still most pleasant in winter (June to August).
For more information about Brisbane and surrounding area, view the QLD - Fact sheet (pdf 43.8kb or rtf 264.11kb) and/or visit the Queensland government website.