Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, is midway up the east coast of Australia - 27.5oS, 153oE. With the Gold Coast to the south and the Sunshine Coast to the north, domestic and international airports, Brisbane is an ideal headquarters for an Australian holiday. Brisbane, indeed all Queensland, operates on Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT. Summertime or Daylight Saving is not observed. Residents and visitors to Brisbane enjoy a wide range of landscapes and lifestyles. The inner-city, metropolitan Brisbane is surrounded by leafy, sometimes very hilly, suburbs. Further out in the suburbs, the traditional Australian house on a large block or even acreage dominates. Moreton Bay and its islands provide water sports, sailing and sea-side suburbs. The Pacific Highway leads south to the Gold Coast and its well-known surf beaches. North is the seaside town of Redcliffe, the rainforest and picturesque countryside of Pine Rivers, Caboolture and the Glasshouse Mountains. Bribie Island offers the first surf beach to the north. The Sunshine Coast towns and hinterland are popular holiday spots. Travelling west of Brisbane, past Ipswich, you soon climb the Great Dividing Range to Toowoomba and the rich plains of the Darling Downs.