Bowen Area

Bowen calls itself the mango capital of Queensland, and the Big Mango, a giant roadside sculpture, proved just how much the town means it when it vanished overnight in 2014 and made national news before turning up again. Horseshoe Bay backs up the town's quieter reputation, calm reef-fringed water good for snorkelling straight off the sand. Historic murals around town trace Bowen's pearling and pioneering past, painted onto walls rather than locked away in a museum. The town's dramatic coastline once stood in for the outback in a major Australian film, proof this stretch of coast photographs as well on screen as it does in person.