Yeppoon, Australia

Heading north up the coast from Emu Park, it's 18km via Rosslyn Bay to YEPPOON's quiet handful of streets, which face the Keppel Islands over a blustery expanse of sand and sea. All services are on Normanby Street, at right angles to the seafront Anzac Parade. Buses pull into the depot on Hill Street, which also runs off Anzac Parade parallel with Normanby. For accommodation, Driftwood Motel, about 2km north of town at 7 Todd Ave (Tel:07/4939 2446, Web: www.driftwoodunits.com.au ; Price: $101-130), has straightforward but smartly equipped self-contained rooms overlooking the beach, while the Strand Hotel (Tel:07/4939 1301; Price: $61-75), on the corner of Anzac Parade and James Street, offers basic, four-bed units. Just south of town off the Emu Park road, the Poinciana Tourist Park (Tel:07/4939 1601, Web: www.poincianatouristpark.com ; Price: campsite $25.50, Price: selfcat $51-60) is the cheapest place to stay, with inexpensive, self-contained cabins and shady tent sites.

Yeppoon prides itself on its fresh fish, and there are plenty of restaurants where you can sample it. The pick of the lot is Seagulls Seafood on Anzac Parade, which specializes in local Spanish mackerel dishes, and its bucket of seafood is excellent value at $16.50. Spinnaker Restaurant at the nearby Keppel Bay Sailing Club has an all-you-can-eat menu of breakfasts ($15), lunches ($13) and dinners ($16), or you can sip a beer admiring the long views of the islands from the clubhouse. For weekend entertainment, try Bonkers Nightclub, one road back from Anzac Parade on Hill Street.