The surf of Western Australia's Margaret River is often described as "epic" while the other 12, 500km of the Indian Ocean coast has surreally un-peopled reef, point and beach breaks giving way to shimmering 10m tides up north.
If you are collecting capitals stop off at Brisbane, but most continue to tropical Cairns, a jumping-off point for cruising the Great Barrier Reef, the coral-jewelled necklace that makes the most stunning adornment to this coast.
The project consists of three mines holding 7.92 billion tons of coal resources, a planned 300 mile railway capable of carrying 60 million tons annually, and a port built to the same capacity at Abbot Point on Australia's Great Barrier Reef coast.