Queensland's new year cheers

FROM new tropical boardwalks with spectacular views and thundering waterfalls, to luxury beachfront villas – here's what's hot and happening in Queensland in 2008.

FROM new tropical boardwalks with spectacular views and thundering waterfalls, to luxury beachfront villas – here's what's hot and happening in Queensland in 2008.

Hot spots

Resorts, attractions and tourism developments never cease to spring up along the Queensland coast. Among the most recent are the $7 million facelift for Noosa's Hastings Street, with added access points to the beach, and the multi-million-dollar redevelopment of the Stradbroke Island Beach Hotel.

For active visitors, the Sunshine Coast's new 26km Caloundra Boardwalk links Golden Beach in the south and Point Cartwright in the north.

For those who prefer the bush, spectacular views and thundering waterfalls are part of the new 54km Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk through Lamington National Park, the Numinbah Valley and Springbrook National Park.

Hot beds

Flanking the ferry terminal at Magnetic Island, 25 minutes from Townsville, are two new apartment developments: Peppers Blue on Blue Resort, with 157 apartments, and Mantra One Bright Point which has 125 one, two and three-bedroom beach-house style apartments on the edge of the Coral Sea.

The five-star, adults-only Qualia on Hamilton Island is the last word in exclusivity for visitors to the Whitsundays while the $10 million-plus Hunt Resort, expected to open in mid-March on Fitzroy Island, off Cairns, will offer eight luxury beachfront villas and 48 one-bedroom apartments.

Back on the mainland, the open-plan sanctuaries at the new Peppers Bale Port Douglas are set in 15ha of lush vegetation and designed to catch tropical breezes. Guests can choose from one to four-bedroom villas with private plunge pools and custom-made Asian furniture.

For more information, visit Queensland Holidays.