UNIQUE EXPERIENCES GLADSTONE

Gladstone Cinemas is an Independent Cinema Exhibition Centre locally owned and operated in the Gladstone Region. Boasting seven state-of-the-art theatres including a luxurious licensed Gold Room and 3D viewing entertainment. The latest in movie entertainment in quality comfort at affordable prices! Opportunities are available to advertise your business on the BigScreens at Gladstone Cinemas, with different tailored packages available for your business needs. Proud to offer you Gift Vouchers, group bookings/birthdays and Function Room hire for the visual and audio pleasure of your guests. Its reputation as a family entertainment centre has been achieved through the combination of many factors, but most essentially through providing a high level of customer service to patrons. Gladstone Cinemas takes you away!

Award winning Spinnaker Park was officially opened in 2001. Created by the Gladstone Ports Corporation, the park has become the premier recreation area of their city. Two and a half kilometres of educational walking tracks along the ocean wall, through native wetlands and ponds makes the park excellent for walking, riding or rollerblading. The beached cove is wonderful for a dip on a warm day while the barbecue and picnic areas make it a great place to entertain. Barbecues, picnic areas, sheltered seating areas and public amenities are provided for visitors convenience.

With an emphasis on marine activity and boasting one of the highest boat ownerships per capita in Australia, it should come as no surprise that the Gladstone Marina is a modern complex for yachting, boating and fishing activities. The Gladstone Marina Parklands, immaculately maintained by the Gladstone Ports Corporation, has barbecue facilities and playgrounds, public toilets, wheelchair access, a fully-equipped outdoor stage and extensive grassed areas for picnics, playing and even a game of cricket! The Marina area is also home to the Gladstone campus of the Central Queensland University and the Gladstone Visitor Information Centre. Throughout the year, the Marina Parklands come alive with activities and celebrations, including the annual Harbour Festival and Multicultural Festival. The Gladstone Marina is the departure point for charter boats, the Heron Island Ferry and also provides mooring for privately owned yachts. The Gladstone Harbour is the final destination for one of Australia's premier blue water events, the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race.

Gladstone Maritime Museum's displays focus on but are not limited to the maritime history of the Curtis Coast and the Capricorn-Bunker Coral Islands. Displays cover discovery and exploration of the focus area, settlement, early and current industry, Naval involvement and recreational use of the region. Notable displays include the "Wreck Wall" showing shipwreck location up until recent times, and the "Jenny Lind" figurehead with the story of the self-rescue saga following the shipwreck on Kenn Reef. A number of very detailed models illustrate early sailing vessels, naval vessels, and even the paddlesteamer "PS Premier" which provided the passenger link from the end of the Railway at Gladstone through the narrows to Rockhampton over a century ago. Group tours are available, please contact their friendly volunteers for bookings.

The Tondoon Botanic Gardens are home to an impressive species of plants from the Port Curtis Region and Tropical North Queensland. The gardens are set upon an 83 hectare site with a wide variety of flora and fauna. Officially opened in 1988, the gardens provide local residents and visitors with a place of inspiration, recreation and relaxation and is a popular place for picnics, cultural and ceremonial events. Take a stroll around the Japanese Tea Gardens, and the numerous walking tracks throughout the gardens and discover superbly cultivated gardens nestled into Mount Biondello. Lake Tondoon situated in the centre of the gardens once provided the source of Gladstone's water supply until 1945. Today the lake provides a habitat for a variety of freshwater birds. Free guided tours of the gardens are available each week. Picnic areas with electric barbecues, tables and chairs, toilets and kids playground are all available, free of charge. Each year Tondoon Gardens play host to 'Ecofest'. Established in 1998, Ecofest is one of the Nation's biggest environmental awareness events held in June.

The Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum was established in 1985 and is a community cultural initiative funded by the Gladstone Regional Council. It is dedicated to promoting art and heritage for and by the communities of the Gladstone Region and Central Queensland, acting as a focal point for the preservation and display of the region's history and cultural heritage. Housed in the heritage listed old Gladstone Town Hall, the current Gallery/Museum buildings are linked by a glass bridge walkway, purpose-built to accommodate the 19th century marble statue of the Region's namesake, William Ewart Gladstone.