Destination guides > Australia > Queensland > Whitsunday Coast > Ayr
Ayr
Ayr is a bustling farming town between Bowen and Townsville at the mouth of the Burdekin river. It doesn’t offer many attractions other than fruit picking work, and with a couple of hostels in town set up to provide cheap workers accommodation, it is a comfortable place to call home for a month or three. The town centre is colourful and compact, with lots of shops and restaurants, and a few pubs where workers hang out on weekends. It is quite far away from anything of real interest to the casual traveller or backpacker, although it is popular with divers who come to dive the wreck of the SS Yongala.
Practical information
Burdekin Information Centre
Plantation Park, Bruce Highway, Ayr
Tel (07) 4783 5988
Website www.burdekintourism.com.au
Open 10am-4pm daily
Coming & going
Greyhound (tel 1300 473 946) and Premier Motor Service buses stop at Rotary Park on Graham Street. Trains on the Brisbane-Cairns line stop at the new train station on Railway Street.
Hostel accommodation
Ayr Backpackers
54 Wilmington Street, Ayr
Tel (07) 4783 5837
Delta Backpackers
139 Queen Street, Ayr
Tel (07) 4783 3991
Diving
SS Yongala Wreck
This 109m passenger ship sank sank off Cape Bowling Green, 35km northeast of Ayr, in 1911 and it is now one of Australia’s top dive sites. Several dive companies including Prodive Townsville (tel (07) 4721 1760) and Yongala Dive (tel (07) 4783 1519) operate dive trips out to the SS Yongala.
