Outback Queensland, the vast area west of the more populated and tourist-oriented coast, is a dramatic change from the state’s lush, wet tropics. Tenacious farming communities are also concentrated in the relatively fertile highlands along the Great Dividing Range, and while generally too green and not remote enough to be strictly considered the real “Outback”, it’s also far from the main tourist routes. On the far side of the Range, expansive, empty plains slide over a hot horizon into the fringes of South Australia and the Northern Territory. But opportunities for exploration are immense, with gemstones, fossils, waterholes and First Nations art in abundance. The region has also produced two of Australia’s best-known icons: Qantas and the song Waltzing Matilda, first performed by the poet and writer “Banjo” Paterson in Winton in 1895.
Great Dividing Range
Copyright (c) 2018 Katie Stevens Photography/Shutterstock. No use without permission.
Winton
Dreamstime
Summers can hamper or prohibit travel in Outback Queensland due to searing temperatures and violent flash floods that isolate some areas (especially in the Channel Country on the far side of the Great Dividing Range), sometimes for days or weeks on end. Even settlements on higher ground see little mercy from the rage of tropical storms; heavy rain in January 2011 lashed southeast Queensland, the floodwaters sweeping destructively through the city of Toowoomba and down into the Lockyer Valley on its way to Brisbane, resulting in devastation of property and a significant loss of life. The region was hit by severe flooding again in 2022.
As a result of these tropical deluges, many tour companies, visitor centres and motels close between November and March, or at least during January and February. But it’s not all bad news – this water (scarce at other times of the year) revives dormant seeds and fast-growing desert flowers. During winter, expect hot days and cool, star-filled nights.
Getting around Outback Queensland
By public transport
Trains and buses, as well as planes, serve Outback Queensland’s major towns (if infrequently). Choosing where to go is usually determined by the most convenient starting point. Main roads and trains head west from the coast at Brisbane, Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns; buses from Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville cross Outback Queensland as they head interstate, but otherwise public transport is poor. During the wet season, services may be cancelled.
By plane QantasLink (http://qantas.com.au), Virgin Australia (http://virginaustralia.com) and Regional Express aka Rex (http://rex.com.au) operate domestic flights several times a day to regional airports, including Longreach, Mount Isa, Charleville, Cunnamulla, Cloncurry, Emerald and Birdsville.
By train The main rail operator in the region is Queensland Rail (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au), which runs three long-distance trains to outback regions: the Inlander (Townsville–Mount Isa), the Spirit of the Outback (Brisbane–Rockhampton–Longreach) and the Westlander (Brisbane–Charleville). It also runs the Gulflander (http://gulflander.com.au), a 152km heritage route from Normanton to Croydon. The region’s other tourist train is the Savannahlander (http://savannahlander.com.au) from Cairns to Forsayth.
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) offers the most extensive service to Queensland’s more remote towns. Trans North (http://transnorthbus.com.au) operates in the far north, from Cairns to Karumba, Murrays (http://murrays.com.au) runs from Brisbane to Toowoomba and Crisps Coaches (http://crisps.com.au) covers Toowoomba, Warwick and Stanthorpe in the southwest.
By car
Your vehicle must be well maintained, and you should carry essential spares, as even main centres often lack replacement parts. A number of sealed roads are single-vehicle width – pull over to let traffic pass or overtake, and pull off completely to give way to the gigantic road trains. Take special care during the Wet Season, when dangerous floods may occur. Never attempt to cross flooded roads.
Brisbane to Cooper Creek and Birdsville
The thousand-plus-kilometre haul from the coast to Queensland’s remote southwestern corner dumps you tired and dusty on the South Australian border, with some exciting routes down the Birdsville and Strzelecki tracks or through the hostile red barrier of the Simpson Desert beyond. After crossing the fertile disc of the Darling Downs, the country withers and dries, marooning communities in isolation and hardship. However, detour north through Queensland’s Central Highlands and you’ll find forested gorges and the First Nations sites at Carnarvon National Park – worth the journey alone. Continuing west, there are two ultimate targets: the outpost of Birdsville, with its annual horseraces, and the Dig Tree at Nappa Merrie on Cooper Creek, monument to the Burke and Wills tragedy (see page 332).
Getting around Brisbane to Cooper Creek and Birdsville
By plane Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au) flies from Brisbane to Toowoomba, Charleville, Cunnamulla, Quilpie and Birdsville. QantasLink (http://qantas.com.au) connects Brisbane, Roma and Charleville.
By train The twice-weekly Brisbane–Charleville Westlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) connects Toowoomba, Roma, Mitchell and Charleville (departing westbound from Brisbane Tues & Thurs 7.15pm, eastbound from Charleville Wed & Fri 6.15pm; 17hr Brisbane–Charleville; no sleeper carriages).
By bus The busy route from Brisbane to Toowoomba and Miles in the Western Downs is covered several times daily by Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) and Murrays (http://murrays.com.au). Crisps Coaches (http://crisps.com.au) runs between Toowoomba, Warwick and Stanthorpe.
By car From Brisbane, the most practical route is the Warrego Highway (A2) through Toowoomba, Roma (for the Central Highlands) and Charleville, where you can either continue west to Quilpie, Dig Tree and Birdsville, or loop south to Cunnamulla. West of Quilpie, the roads are mostly unsurfaced. For Warwick and Stanthorpe, take the Cunningham Highway (A15) from Ipswich, west of Brisbane.
The Darling Downs, a broad spread of prime agricultural land first explored by Ludwig Leichhardt in the 1840s, sprawls westwards from the back of the Great Dividing Range behind Brisbane. Settlements along the main roads are mostly farming centres, though solid stone architecture lends some sense of history to the gateway towns of Toowoomba and Warwick. A bigger draw is the scenery along the Downs’ fringes, particularly the Bunya Mountains between Toowoomba and Kingaroy in the north, and around the southeasterly Granite Belt where there are some superb wineries and possibilities for farm work. The Downs are fertile black soil plains, with stud farms, dairy, cotton, wool and cereal farming all flourishing at one time or another.
From Brisbane, the Warrego Highway climbs a steep escarpment to Toowoomba and the central downs (as do long-distance buses), while the Cunningham Highway cuts through Cunningham’s Gap to Warwick and the south.
Queensland’s National Parks
Full details of Queensland’s national parks are given in chapter three.
Toowoomba
TOOWOOMBA, 160km west of Brisbane, is a stately university city perched on the edge of a 600m escarpment, with stylish houses and a blaze of late nineteenth-century sandstone architecture along its central Main and Ruthven streets. In spite of its elevation, the city was one of the worst affected settlements in Queensland’s 2011 floods when a wall of water swept through town, effectively splitting it in two. The raging torrent – caused by 36 hours of torrential rain – killed nine people here and devastated homes, businesses and infrastructure. Toowoomba’s ensuing revival kick-started a trend for vibrant street art, which can be seen all over town – check out Neil Street, Duggan Street, Club Lane and Margaret Street (between Ruthven and Victoria sts). Known as “the Garden City”, Toowoomba is home to several public gardens which are at their finest during September’s Carnival of Flowers. Downtown Toowoomba is a compact area based around the intersection of Ruthven Street, which runs north to south, and Margaret Street, also known as “Eat Street” for its plethora of cafés and restaurants.
Cobb & Co. Museum
27 Lindsay St • Daily 9.30am–4pm • Charge • Guided tours (included in entry fee) daily 10.30am and 2.30pm • http://cobbandco.qm.qld.gov.au
Toowoomba’s prime attraction is the Cobb & Co. Museum, 500m northeast of the centre across spacious Queens Park. The museum’s spectacular National Carriage Gallery recalls the period from the 1860s to 1924, when intrepid coachmen bounced across Outback Queensland delivering mail and passengers. Aside from an impressive interactive assembly of these vehicles, the museum also houses a remarkable collection of Aboriginal artefacts, an art gallery, a working smithy, and a factory where you can watch working tradesmen or have a go yourself.
Ju Raku En
Next to the University of Southern Queensland’s northern car park, Ring Road West (off Baker St) • Daily 7am–dusk • Free
Covering twelve tranquil acres, Ju Raku En (the name roughly means “to enjoy peace and longevity in a public place”) is one of Australia’s largest Japanese gardens, featuring more than 230 species of trees and plants, plus streams, waterfalls, lakes, lawns, pavilions and pergolas.
Picnic Point
164 Tourist Rd, 2.5km east of central Toowoomba
Splendid views of the escarpment unfold from the parkland of Picnic Point, a few kilometres outside Toowoomba, as do several bushwalking tracks ranging from 850m to 5.3km in length. There’s also a café.
Arrival and information Toowoomba
By plane Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Airport (http://wellcamp.com.au) is around 15km out of town on the Toowoomba–Cecil Plains Rd. QantasLink (http://qantas.com.au), Air North (http://airnorth.com.au) and Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au) operate flights from here. Darling Downs Transport Services (http://ddts.com.au) runs an airport shuttle service (from $35 one-way).
Destinations Bedourie (2 weekly; 6hr 25min); Birdsville (2 weekly; 5hr 30min); Boulia (2 weekly; 7hr 15min); Brisbane (4 weekly; 40min); Cairns (3 weekly; 2hr 15min); Charleville (2 weekly; 1hr 40min); Cunnamulla (2 weekly; 2hr 15min); Melbourne (1–2 daily; 2hr 10min); Quilpie (2 weekly; 2hr 45min); St George (2 weekly; 1hr); Sydney (1–3 daily; 1hr 40min); Townsville (3 weekly; 1hr 55min).
By train The twice-weekly Brisbane–Charleville Westlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) calls in at Toowoomba station on Railway St in the city centre, departing Tues & Thurs 11.25pm (westbound) and Thurs & Sat 7am (eastbound).
Destinations Brisbane (3hr 50min); Charleville (12hr 20min); Mitchell (8hr 30min); Roma (6hr 40min).
By bus The bus station, on Neil St, is served by Crisps Coaches (http://crisps.com.au), Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) and Murrays (http://murrays.com.au).
Destinations Barcaldine (daily; 15hr 20min); Blackall (daily; 13hr 30min); Brisbane (13–19 daily; 2hr); Charleville (2 daily; 9hr 30min); Cloncurry (daily; 23hr 45min); Ilfracombe (daily; 16hr 40min); Longreach (daily; 17hr); Mitchell (daily; 7hr 20min); Mount Isa (daily; 23hr 40min); Roma (2 daily; 5hr 45min); Stanthorpe (1–3 daily; 3hr 15min); Warwick (1–4 daily; 1hr 15min); Winton (daily; 19hr 10min).
Tourist information The visitor centre (Mon–Fri 9am–4pm, Sat & Sun 10am–2pm; http://tr.qld.gov.au) is at 82 James St, in a Queenslander-style house.
Accommodation, eating and drinking
Fitzy’s 153 Margaret St; http://fitzys.com. Atmospheric grand old pub, with a swish modern bar at the front and a large restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining at the back. Brick walls, ornately tiled floors and good service add up to a good night out. Main courses in the restaurant include pub staples such as chicken parmigiana and eye fillet steak. Live music on Sat nights. $$$
GPO Bar & Café 140 Margaret St; 07 4659 9240. A popular spot for breakfast, this cheerful Asian café has all the usual menu items – including eggs Benedict and avocado toast – and a lunch menu of simple salads and pastas. $
Quest Toowoomba 133 Margaret St; http://questapartments.com.au. This is one of the best places to stay in town – a stylish and comfortable modern apartment hotel, configured inside the shell of a beautiful old brick church. There are 74 smart studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Facilities include a laundry service and gym. $$$
Vacy Hall 135 Russell St; http://vacyhall.com.au. This grand homestead, Toowoomba’s only heritage-listed accommodation, lies in the heart of the city. Built in 1899, it has seven rooms (although a couple are tiny), which all open to a wraparound veranda. Filled with antiques and collectables, it’s a romantic getaway. Some rooms have fireplaces. $$$
KINGAROY is a thriving town in the heart of peanut country on the fringes of the downs, 120km north of Toowoomba. A cluster of peanut silos in the middle of town aptly symbolizes the fame Kingaroy owes to the late Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen – better known simply as “Joh” – who farmed nuts here before becoming Queensland Premier in 1968, an office he held for nineteen years. His wife Flo also attained fame with her iconic pumpkin scone recipe. Joh died in 2005, but remains in no danger of obscurity, with a dam, bridge, road and sports ground named after him, and his catchphrase “Don’t you worry about that” still in use.
Ninety Percent Nutty
Native to South America, peanuts were introduced to Australia during the gold rush of the 1800s. A legume, rather than a nut, they grow underground, taking about five months to cultivate. Around ninety percent of Australia’s annual crop of about 60,000 tonnes is grown in and around Kingaroy, which has the country’s largest peanut processing plant and is known as the “Peanut Capital of Australia”.
Bethany
218 Petersen Drive • Guided tours (1hr 30min) • Charge, booking essential • http://bethany.net.au
The Bjelke-Petersen family farm, Bethany, just south of town, is now run by Joh and Flo’s son John and his wife Karyn and can be visited on a prearranged guided tour. The tour includes Sir Joh’s gravesite and an afternoon tea of pumpkin scones. It’s also possible to stay in one of the cottages (see 326) on the property.
Arrival and Information Kingaroy
By car Kingaroy is 155km north of Toowoomba.
Tourist information The visitor centre, gallery and heritage museum (Mon–Fri 9am–4pm, Sat 9am–1pm; http://discoversouthburnett.com.au) at 128 Haly St, opposite the peanut silos, showcases Kingaroy’s peanut industry and food scene.
Accommodation and eating
Bethany Cottages Petersen Drive; http://bethany.net.au. These four attractive, self-contained cottages on the Bjelke-Petersen property are a good option for families, groups or anyone after a bit of peace and quiet. Each one sleeps up to four and has its own fireplace. Rates include a light breakfast. $$
Deshons Retreat 164 Haydens Rd; http://deshonsretreat.com.au. Accommodation here is made up of two bright and comfortable luxury retreats (cabin is too plain a word), colour themed throughout – one yellow, one purple. Each contains a king-size bed, kitchenette, large bathtub and all the trimmings. There’s a fireplace for cool mountain nights, and plenty of rugs and cushions. Limited mobile phone or TV reception (but free wi-fi). Rates include a generous Continental breakfast. $$$
The Peanut Van 77 Kingaroy St; http://peanutvan.com.au. Get in touch with what Kingaroy is all about by stopping at The Peanut Van, which sells over twenty flavours of boiled and roasted nuts – from chilli-and-lime to wasabi or plain beer nuts. $
Spice Garden 171 Kingaroy St; 07 4162 7905. Reasonably priced and fantastic for both vegetarians and omnivores, this South Asian restaurant offers classics such as chickpea curry and Punjabi-style spinach and paneer. $$
Utopia Cafe 199 Kingaroy St; http://utopia-cafe.com.au. The locals’ favourite for a cooked breakfast and coffee, this central spot also has a lunch menu of burgers, toasties and salads. $
Bunya Mountains
The ranger’s office (daily 2–4pm; 13 74 68) is in the hamlet of Dandabah, which sits next to the national park
Southwest of Kingaroy, a 60km section of road twists through the Bunya Mountains before reaching Dalby, back on the Warrego Highway. Among the mountains’ greenery and clusters of unlikely flowers are enormous bunya pines, once a valuable seasonal food source for local First Nations peoples, who would meet and feast on the bunya nuts every few years. Despite prolific logging in the years before they were awarded national park status in 1908, the Bunya Mountains still retain the world’s largest stand of ancient bunya pines, along with orange-flowering silky oaks and age-old grass trees, with their 3m-high, spear-like flower heads.
The mountains are cooler than the plains below and seriously cold in winter. Up to 30km of walking tracks between the three campsites lead through the forest to orchid-covered lookouts and waterfalls – satin bowerbirds and paradise riflebirds, with their deep blue-black plumage and long curved beaks, are both fairly common here.
Accommodation The Bunya Mountains
Campsites http://parks.des.qld.gov.au.com. Two areas along the road at Burton’s Well and Westcott make for good bush camping, with another site at the hamlet of Dandabah, where you are likely to share the space with wallabies. Advance booking is essential, as permits cannot be issued on arrival. Per person $
Bunya Mountains Accommodation Centre http://bunyamountains.com.au. You can rent a chalet – from a selection of around thirty – through this company. Minimum stays of three or four nights required during busy periods. $$
The Bunyas Bunya Ave; http://thebunyas.com.au. A peaceful spot, 200m from the park entrance, with simple motel units with kitchenette, each sleeping two to four. There’s an on-site general store, café and restaurant. Discounts available if you stay two or more nights. $$
Godshill 29 Lilypilly Place; http://godshill.com.au. This large, modern house has three wings that can be individually booked. It’s surrounded by rainforest and Bunya pines, while wallabies roam the lawn and king parrots nestle in the trees. The Studio cottage and West Wing are both designed for couples, while the Lodge sleeps up to ten. $$$
Around 85km south of Toowoomba, WARWICK makes a fine base for exploring the surrounding region. Services centre on Grafton and Palmerin streets, where sandstone buildings date back to the time when Warwick graziers competed fiercely with Toowoomba’s merchants to establish the Darling Downs’ premier settlement. Warwick, with a population of around 13,000, sits beside the Condamine River, which later joins the Murray/Darling river system, Australia’s longest.
Queen Mary Falls
At Queen Mary Falls, 43km east of Warwick beyond Killarney, a tributary exits the forest and plunges off the top of a plateau. A 2km-long track climbs to the escarpment at the head of the falls from the road, with a kiosk, accommodation and lunches available at Queen Mary Falls Caravan Park (see page 327); you’ll need your own transport to get here.
Arrival and information Warwick and Around
By bus Crisps Coaches (http://crisps.com.au) calls at Grafton St in the centre.
Destinations Stanthorpe (Mon–Fri 1–2 daily; 45min); Toowoomba (Mon–Fri & Sun 1–3 daily; 1hr 20min).
Tourist information The visitor centre is at the Town Hall on Palmerin St (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am-4pm, Sun 10am–2pm; 07 4661 3122, http://southerndownsandgranitebelt.com.au).
Festivals Catch bucking broncos and steer wrestling at the October rodeo (http://warwickshowandrodeo.com.au). In July, yarnbombing knitters kit out the town’s trees for the quirky Jumpers and Jazz Festival (http://jumpersandjazz.com.au).
Accommodation
Country Rose Motel 2 Palmer Ave; 07 4661 7700. Small, friendly motel in a quiet location. Comfortable en-suite rooms each have a kitchenette, and there’s an outdoor saltwater pool and BBQ area. $$
Freedom Lifestyle Park 98 Wallace St; http://freedomlifestyleparks.com.au. Choose from caravan sites or cabins (either shared or en-suite bathrooms) at this appealing park, 1km south of the town centre, with a pool. $$
Queen Mary Falls Caravan Park Spring Creek Rd; http://queenmaryfallscaravanpark.com.au. In a peaceful location close to the falls, this award-winning park is a decent option, with reliable accommodation and an on-site café serving snacks, lunches and home-made cakes. You can hand-feed the colourful king parrots and crimson rosellas, and there are a number of walking routes. $$
The southeastern edge of the Darling Downs along the New South Wales border is known as Queensland’s Granite Belt, a major wine- and fruit-producing area, which regularly records the state’s coldest temperatures, dropping well below freezing on winter nights.
Sixty kilometres south of Warwick along the New England Highway, STANTHORPE was founded in the 1880s around a tin-mining operation on Quart Pot Creek, but really took off in the 1940s after Italian migrants started up the fruit farms, and wineries now throng the region. In season, there are plenty of opportunities for fruit-picking work.
Arrival and Information Stanthorpe
By bus Crisps Coaches (http://crispscoaches.com.au) calls at the bus shelter on Folkstone St, near the Maryland St junction.
Destinations Toowoomba (2–3 daily except Sat; 2hr 35min); Warwick (2–3 daily except Sat; 50min).
Tourist information The visitor centre (daily 9am–4pm; 07 4681 2057, http://granitebeltwinecountry.com.au) is at 28 Leslie Parade, overlooking the river just south of the centre. You can pick up a map of traditional and “alternative” wineries here, and staff can organize licences (from $9.02 for one month; also available at http://qld.gov.au) to fossick for semiprecious topaz, 13km northwest at Swiper’s Gully.
Farm work Grape-picking season is Jan–April, and fruit harvesting Oct–May. Check out the Harvest Trail website (http://dewr.gov.au) for more information on farm work.
Tours Several companies, among them Granite Highlands Maxi Tours (http://maxitours.com.au) and Filippo’s (http://filippostours.com.au), run half- or full-day vineyard and brewery tours (from $100).
Accommodation and eating
Anna’s Restaurant Cnr Wallangarra Rd and O’Mara Terrace; http://annas.com.au. Long-established Italian restaurant set in a romantic Queenslander timber house with log fires and alfresco tables. The menu runs from “mama’s own recipe” lasagne and saltimbocca to cannoli and panna cotta. $$$
Stannum Lodge Motor Inn Wallangarra Rd; http://stannumlodge.com.au. This small well-run motel, surrounded by pretty landscaped gardens, has a good range of facilities – a saltwater swimming pool, restaurant, tour desk and free wi-fi access – and 12 comfortable en-suite rooms. $$
Top of the Town Tourist Park 10 High St; http://topoftown.com.au. Located 2km north of Stanthorpe’s town centre and surrounded by bushland, Top of the Town has an extensive range of accommodation options, including caravan sites, bungalows and smarter motel-style rooms, and also boasts a pool, games room and restaurant. $$
Shopping
Market in the Mountains The Showgrounds, High St; http://marketinthemountains.org. At this monthly market, local producers sell delectable preserves, jams, crafts and more. Every second Sun 8am–noon.
Girraween National Park
The granite hills around Stanthorpe are exposed as fantastic monoliths at Girraween National Park, where you have the chance of seeing small, shy, active sugar gliders just after dark.
With more energy than skill, you can climb several of the giant hills with little risk, as long as rain hasn’t made them dangerously slippery; trails are well marked, and free maps are available from the visitor centre. The Castle Rock track (2hr return) initially follows a gentle incline past lichen-covered boulders to a thin ledge above the campsite. Follow this around to the north side and clamber to the top for superb views of the Pyramids, the Sphinx and Mount Norman, the park’s 1267m apex, poking rudely out of the woods.
It’s a further forty minutes’ walk from the Castle Rock campsite to the Sphinx and Turtle Rock. Sphinx is a broad pillar topped by a boulder, while Turtle Rock’s more conventional shape means a scramble. Then, on the final stretch, there are no handholds to the top of the completely bald South Pyramid (2hr return from Castle Rock). At the top is Balancing Rock, a precariously teetering oval boulder. From here, you can gaze across to the unscaleable North Pyramid.
Arrival and Information Girraween National Park
By car The park is accessed by a turn-off 26km south of Stanthorpe down the New England Highway. From here, it’s another 9km to the visitor information centre.
Tourist information The visitor centre (daily 9am–5pm; http://park.des.qld.gov.au) has free printed versions of the walking trail maps available on the website.
ACCOMMODATION
Castle Rock and Bald Rock Creek campsites http://park.des.qld.gov.au. Both of these DES sites are easily accessible from the visitor information centre and have toilets, hot showers and BBQs. Castle Rock is better suited to those with caravans. Bush camping is also possible at seven sites in the park, but is suitable only for experienced campers, who need to be fully self-sufficient (see website for more details). Booking well in advance is essential (up to 12 months ahead) for all camping. Per person $
The Central Downs and around
The journey northwest across the Central Downs from Toowoomba to Roma is unexciting, so it’s worth popping into the Woolshed at Jondaryan for a break. Stops over the next 200km include Dalby, Chinchilla and Miles – rural centres largely devoid of attractions but with services and places to stay. One worthwhile stop, however, is Possum Park (see page 328), some 20km north of Miles.
Accommodation The Central Downs and around
Possum Park 20km north of Miles; http://possumpark.com.au. Based on what was once a top-secret World War II ammunition dump, Possum Park provides atmospheric accommodation in renovated bunkers and troop train carriages; there are also caravan and tent sites. A family “igloo” sleeps up to eight. You’ll need your own vehicle to get here, and your own food to stay. $$
ROMA, 140km west of Miles, thrives on farming, supplemented by oil and gas fields. Not long after it was settled in 1862, Roma was the venue for the 1871 trial of the audacious Captain Starlight (aka Harry Redford), who stole a thousand head of cattle from a nearby property and drove them down through the South Australian deserts to Adelaide to sell. An unusual white bull in the herd was recognized and Redford arrested, but his pioneering of a new stock route won such popular approval that the judge refused to convict him. It’s still cattle country, and every Tuesday and Thursday from 8am, the auction action is at Australia’s largest cattle saleyards, on the Warrego Highway. Free tours of the Roma saleyards are run on certain days: contact the visitor centre (07 4624 0404) for more information.
Roma’s wide main streets are lined with bottle trees (not only bottle-shaped but also full of moisture), planted in 1920 as a World War I commemoration, and lent a slightly dated air by the iron decorations and wraparound balconies of its hotels. Most of the shops, banks and businesses are one block north of Bowen Street, on parallel McDowall Street.
Bowen St • Big Rig Daily 9am–5pm • Charge • Big Rig Sunset Show April–August weekdays 5.30pm, Oct–March Tues, Thurs & Sun 7.15pm • Charge • http://bigrigroma.aom.au
On the eastern edge of town is the Big Rig, originally a drilling tower, left as a monument to the oil boom of the 1920s and now the focal point of a multimillion-dollar museum and entertainment complex exploring the history of Australia’s oil and gas industry. The site is also home to Roma’s visitor centre.
Arrival and departure Roma
By plane Roma airport, 3km north of town, is served by Qantas (http://qantas.com.au) and its subsidiaries.
Destinations Brisbane (2–3 daily; 1hr); Charleville (3 weekly; 45min).
By train The twice-weekly Brisbane–Charleville Westlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) calls in at Roma station on Station St, one block south of the Warrego Hwy (Bowen St) in the town centre, departing Tues & Thurs 11.25pm (westbound) and Thurs & Sat 7am (eastbound).
Destinations Brisbane (12hr); Charleville (5hr 20min); Mitchell (1hr 50min); Toowoomba (7hr 20min).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) operates a direct Brisbane–Roma service (daily, 5hr 25m) that stops at the main bus depot 86 Arthur St, Roma.
Destinations Barcaldine (daily; 9hr 15min); Blackall (daily; 7hr 35min); Charleville (2 daily; 3hr 50min); Cloncurry (daily; 17hr); Ilfracombe (daily; 10hr 10min); Longreach (daily; 10hr 35min); Mitchell (daily; 1hr 10min); Mount Isa (daily; 19hr); Toowoomba (daily; 5hr 45m); Winton (daily; 13hr 15min).
By car The Northern Rd (take Quintin St from the town centre) heads towards Carnarvon National Park. If you’re heading west along the Warrego Hwy, the next stops are Mitchell and Charleville.
Information
Tourist information The visitor centre (Mon–Fri 8.30am–5pm, Sat & Sun 9am–4pm; 07 4624 0204, http://romarevealed.com.au) is located at the Big Rig on Riggers Rd at the eastern edge of town (see page 328).
Festivals The town’s biggest annual shindig is Easter in the Country (http://easterinthecountryroma.com.au): five days of entertainment including billy-cart races, a bush poets’ breakfast, wife-carrying contest and a rodeo and bull-ride.
Accommodation and Eating
Big Rig Top Tourist Park 4 McDowall St; http://bigrig.net.au. Close to the Big Rig, 500m from the town centre, this caravan park has bright, modern cabins (shared bathrooms), more comfy “house” rooms and caravan sites. $$
Starlight Motor Inn 20B Bowen St; http://starlightroma.com. This brick motel is a comfortable if unexciting place to stay, with standard rooms – each with a/c, TVs, private bathrooms, and tea- and coffee-making facilities. $$
Mitchell
MITCHELL is a delightful, single-street highway town 88km west of Roma beside the Maranoa River. Like Roma, Mitchell has its local outlaw legend; the protagonists this time were the two Kenniff Brothers, who raided the district for cattle and horses in the early 1900s. After killing a policeman during one arrest attempt, they were finally ambushed south of town.
Great Artesian Spa
Cambridge St • Daily 8am–6pm • Charge • http://greatartesianspa.com
There are two reasons to pass through Mitchell – either to follow the 200km track north to Mount Moffat in Carnarvon National Park, or to take a dip in the town’s hot springs at the Great Artesian Spa. The springs have been channelled into two open-air swimming pools and a spa in the grounds of the old courthouse – they’re good, steamy fun on a cold winter’s morning.
Arrival and Departure Mitchell
By train The twice-weekly Brisbane–Charleville Westlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) calls in at Mitchell station on Oxford St, just west of the town centre departing Wed & Fri 8.05am (westbound) and Wed & Fri 9.45pm (eastbound).
Destinations Brisbane (12hr 50min); Charleville (3hr 40min); Roma (1hr 40min); Toowoomba (10hr).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) coaches depart from outside the newsagents on 72 Cambridge St, once daily in each direction.
Destinations Barcaldine (8hr 5min); Blackall (6hr 10min); Brisbane (9hr 10min); Charleville (2hr); Cloncurry (15hr 40m); Ilfracombe (9hr); Longreach (9hr 25min); Mount Isa (17hr 50min); Roma (1hr 10min); Toowoomba (6hr 55min); Winton (12hr 5min).
Accommodation
Major Mitchell Caravan Park Beside the Maranoa River; http://majormitchellcaravanpark.com.au. In a serene riverside setting at the eastern end of town, 100m from the artesian spa, this friendly place has regular pancake breakfasts, poetry performances and karaoke nights. $$
Carnarvon National Park
North of Roma and Mitchell, Queensland’s Central Highlands consist of a broad band of weathered sandstone plateaus, thickly wooded and spectacularly sculpted into sheer cliffs and pinnacles. It’s an extraordinarily primeval landscape, and one still visibly central to First Nations culture. Covering a huge slice of the region, the fragmented sections of Carnarvon National Park include Carnarvon Gorge and Mount Moffatt: Carnarvon Gorge has the highest concentration of Aboriginal art and arguably the best scenery, while Mount Moffatt is harder to reach but wilder – you can’t drive directly between the two sections, though it’s possible to hike with the rangers’ consent.
Boomerangs
Curved throwing sticks were once found throughout the world. A boomerang or karli was originally used as children’s toys but were then modified into decoys for hunting wildfowl. The non-returning types depicted in Carnarvon Gorge show how sophisticated they became as hunting weapons.
Usually made from tough acacia wood, some are hooked like a pick, while others are designed to cartwheel along the ground to break the legs of game, which can then be easily tracked and killed. At Carnarvon Gorge, the long, gently curved boomerangs stencilled on the walls in pairs are not repetitions but portraits of two weapons with identical flight paths; if the first missed through a gust of wind, for instance, the user could immediately throw the second, correcting his aim for the conditions. Besides hunting, the boomerang was also used for digging, levering or cutting, as well as for musical or ceremonial accompaniment, when pairs would be banged together.
The creek’s journey between the vertical faces of the Carnarvon Gorge has created some magical scenery, where low cloud often blends with the cliffs, making them appear infinitely tall. Before setting off between them, scale Boolimba Bluff from the Takarakka resort site (see page 330) for a rare chance to see the gorge system from above; the views from the “Roof of Queensland” make the tiring 3.2km track to the top worth the effort.
The superb day-walk (19km return from the ranger station) into the gorge features several intriguing side gorges. The best of these contains the Moss Garden (3.5km), a vibrant green carpet of liverworts and ferns lapping up a spring as it seeps through the rock face, and Alijon Falls (5km), which conceal the enchanting Wards Canyon, where a remnant group of angiopteris ferns hangs close to extinction in front of a second waterfall and gorge, complete with bats and red river stones.
Carnarvon’s two major Aboriginal art sites are the Art Gallery (5.4km) and Cathedral Cave (at the end of the trail, 9.3km from the Takarakka campsite), both on the gorge track, though if you keep your eyes open you’ll spot plenty more. The Art Gallery is one of Queensland’s most documented First Nations art sites, though the paintings themselves remain enigmatic. Symbols include kangaroo, emu and human tracks; a long, wavy line here might represent the rainbow serpent, shaper of many Aboriginal landscapes. Overlaying the engravings are hundreds of coloured stencils, made by placing an object against the wall and spraying it with a mixture of ochre and water held in the mouth.
In addition to adults’ and children’s hands there are also artefacts, boomerangs and complex crosses formed by four arms, while goannas and mysterious net patterns at the near end of the wall have been painted with a stick. Cathedral Cave is larger, with an even greater range of designs, including seashell pendant stencils – proof that trade networks reached from here to the sea – and engravings of animal tracks and emu eggs.
Mount Moffatt is part of an open landscape of ridges and lightly wooded grassland, at the top of a plateau to the west of Carnarvon Gorge. It was here that the Kenniff Brothers (see page 328) murdered a policeman and station manager in 1902, events that were to lead to their being run to ground by a group of vigilantes. In 1960, archeological excavations at their hideout, Kenniff Cave (closed due to instability), were the first to establish that First Nations occupation of Australia predated the last Ice Age.
Mount Moffatt’s attractions spread out over an extensive area. At the park’s southern entrance, the Chimneys area has some interesting sandstone pinnacles and alcoves that once housed bark burial cylinders. Around 6km on, the road forks and the right track continues 10km to the ranger station. The left track runs 6km past Dargonelly campsite to Marlong Arch, a sandstone formation decorated with handprints and engravings. Five kilometres northeast from here, a trail leads to Kookaburra Cave, named after a weathered, bird-shaped hand stencil. A further 5km beyond the cave is Marlong Plain, a pretty expanse of blue grass surrounded by peaks, and another sandstone tower known as Lot’s Wife. Ten kilometres north of Marlong Plain, a lesser track leads to several sites associated with the Kenniff legend, including the murder scene, and the rock where they are believed to have burned the evidence. Finally, for pure scenery, head 15km due east of Marlong Plain to the Mahogany Forest, a stand of giant stringy-bark trees.
Arrival and Departure Carnarvon National Park
By car
As there’s no public transport to any section of the park (and no overnight tours), you’ll need your own vehicle: access to the gorge is from Roma to the south, or Emerald to the north, and to Mount Moffatt from Roma or Mitchell. All these roads involve long stretches of dirt, making them impassable even in a 4WD after heavy rain (most likely Nov–May). Always carry extra rations in case you get stranded and – unless you’re desperately short of supplies – stay put in wet weather so you don’t churn the road up and make it harder to use. Although the park perimeter can be reached in 2WD vehicles in dry conditions, you’ll need a high-clearance 4WD to get around once inside. As there is no fuel or supplies of any kind available in the park, make sure you fill up in Injune, Rolleston or Mitchell.
To Carnarvon Gorge The Carnarvon Gorge Development (access) Rd (sealed except for the final 15km) is reached off the Carnarvon Hwy at Wyseby between Roma (201km) and Emerald (196km), from where it runs 45km west, past views of the Consuelo Tableland standing out magnificently above dark forests, to the park’s edge at the mouth of the gorge.
To Mount Moffatt Access to this area of the park is direct from Mitchell (220km), or from Roma (245km) via the small town of Injune (160km).
Information
Summer temperatures often reach 40°C, while winter nights can be below freezing. Gathering firewood is prohibited inside the park, so stop on the way in or bring a gas stove. For detailed practical information, visit http://parks.des.qld.gov.au.
Tourist information The DES visitor centre at Carnarvon Gorge (daily 8am–5pm) has an orientation model of the gorge, maps and a library. The Mount Moffatt ranger station (daily 9am–5pm) on the Mount Moffat circuit drive, 28km from the southern entrance to the park, has maps and can help you plan bushwalking. Injune has a helpful visitor centre (daily 9am–5pm; 07 4626 0503, http://maranoa.qld.gov.au) at 32 Hutton St on the Carnarvon Hwy.
Tours Guided tours of the park, including night-time wildlife-spotting tours, can be booked with Australian Nature Guides (from $75; http://carnarvongorge.info) at the Discovery Centre at Carnarvon Gorge Wilderness Lodge.
Accommodation
Camping Year-round camping is available at Big Bend (http://parks.des.qld.gov.au.), reached by a 9.7km walk from the visitor centre. During Queensland’s Easter, winter and spring holidays (April, July & Sept–Oct), it’s also possible to camp near the visitor centre, but competition for sites is tough; book as far ahead as possible to get one of these prime spots. Per person $
BIG4 Breeze Holiday Parks Carnarvon Gorge http://breezeholidayparks.com.au. This creekside camp, set in ninety acres of bush, has caravan sites, fixed safari-style “taka” tents, and en-suite cabins, for those who want something a little more solid. There’s a general store and regular spit-roast BBQs during the high season. $$$
Carnarvon Gorge Wilderness Lodge 4043 O’Briens Rd; http://wildernesslodge.com.au. These “safari-style” cabins, each with their own veranda, tea- and coffee-making facilities and fridge, are fine choices for anyone seeking peace. There’s also a restaurant (no cooking facilities are available), a saltwater swimming pool and laundry. $$$$
The last place of any size on the journey west from Roma is CHARLEVILLE, a busy country town whose broad streets and shaded pavements are flanked by some solid buildings constructed when the town was a droving centre and staging post for Cobb & Co. It’s well known for its contradictory weather – in November 1947 a hot summer afternoon was interrupted for twenty minutes as a blast of massive hailstones stripped trees, smashed windows and roofs and killed poultry. In 1990 the town centre was struck by 5m-deep floodwaters from the Warrego River, requiring mass evacuation – a dramatic end to years of drought. The town’s small hub centres on the intersection of Wills and Galatea streets.
Historic Charleville Railway Station, King St • Bilby Experience tour Daily 9am & 3pm (1hr) • Charge • http://savethebilbyfund.com
The Charleville Bilby Experience is dedicated to studying and breeding populations of the vulnerable (nationally) and endangered (in Queensland) bilby, which, with its long ears and nose, looks like a cross between a rabbit and a bandicoot. Learn more about these absurdly cute nocturnal marsupials, and the work of the volunteers who ensure their survival through the Bilby Experience tour.
Cosmos Centre
1 Milky Way (off Qantas Drive) • April–Oct daily 12pm–7pm, night shows daily 6pm & 7.45pm; Nov–March Mon, Wed & Fri 8.30pm • Charge • Booking essential on 07 4654 7771, http://cosmoscentre.com
The lack of industrial light and pollution, combined with a low horizon, makes Charleville’s location ideal for stargazing. The excellent Cosmos Centre and Observatory, 3km south of town, enables you to observe the spectacular night sky through powerful Meade telescopes. During daylight hours, you can enjoy the centre’s brand-new planetarium, along with interactive displays and films explaining the history of astronomy and the formation of the universe.
Arrival and information Charleville
By plane The airport, 3km south of town, is served by Qantas (http://qantas.com.au) and Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com).
Destinations Bedourie (2 weekly; 4hr 20min); Birdsville (2 weekly; 3hr 30min); Boulia (2 weekly; 6hr 15min); Brisbane (daily; 1hr 45min on Qantas, 2hr 35min on Rex); Mount Isa (2 weekly; 7hr 15min); Quilpie (2 weekly; 45min); Roma (3 weekly; 50min); Toowoomba (2 weekly; 1hr 35min); Windorah (2 weekly; 1hr 50min).
By train Charleville station on the Warrego Hwy (King St) is the western terminus of the twice-weekly Brisbane–Charleville Westlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au), which arrives Wed & Fri 11.45am and departs eastbound at 6.15pm.
Destinations Brisbane (17hr); Mitchell (3hr 30min); Roma (5hr 20min); Toowoomba (12hr 45min).
By bus Bus Queensland Brisbane–Mount Isa and Brisbane–Charleville coaches (http://busqldoutback.com.au) depart from Charleville railway station on the Warrego Hwy (King St).
Destinations Barcaldine (daily; 5hr 30min); Blackall (daily; 3hr 35min); Brisbane (2 daily; 12hr); Cloncurry (daily; 13hr 5min); Ilfracombe (daily; 6hr 25min); Longreach (daily; 6hr 50min); Mitchell (daily; 2hr 5min); Mount Isa (daily; 15hr 15min); Roma (2 daily; 3hr 15min); Toowoomba (2 daily; 9hr 15min); Winton (daily; 9hr 30min).
By car From Charleville, sealed roads head north to Blackall and Longreach, south via Cunnamulla to Bourke, and further west to Quilpie.
Tourist information The excellent visitor centre (daily 9am–5pm, Sat & Sun 10am–5pm; 07 4656 8359, http://experiencecharleville.com.au) is at the railway station on King St.
Services Banks and shops are on Wills St, and the post office (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm) is at 63 Alfred St.
Accommodation and Eating
Bailey Bar Caravan Park 196 King St; http://charlevillebaileybar.com.au. The welcoming owners of this pleasant caravan park – which has powered sites and comfy cabins – stage regular BBQs and bush activities such as “yabby races”. $$
The Rocks Motel 74 Wills St; http://rocksmotel.com.au. This modern Outback-style place, in a convenient location across the street from the railway station, has a smart restaurant that is open Mon–Sat for dinner (6–8.30pm), and a swimming pool. All rooms have a veranda out the front. $$$
A trucking stop 200km south of Charleville on the long run down the Mitchell Highway to Bourke in New South Wales, the isolated town of CUNNAMULLA comprises a handful of service stations and motels. This is a good base for visiting the Yowah Opal Field and Currawinya National Park.
Cunnamulla Fella Visitor Centre
Jane St • Mon–Fri 9am–4.30pm, Sat & Sun 10am–2pm • http://cunnamulatourism.com.au
The Cunnamulla Fella Visitor Centre houses the information centre, a local history museum, performing arts centre, and the superb Outback Dreaming Art Gallery. Among the centre’s attractions is the Artesian Time Tunnel, which traces the evolution of the artesian basin on which the town sits back to the age of the dinosaurs, a hundred million years ago.
Yowah Opal Fields
Cunnamulla’s council offices can arrange a fossicking licence (from $8.30 for one month; also available at http://qld.gov.au; see page 335) if you’re planning to head 160km northwest to the Yowah Opal Fields, where shallow deposits yield much-sought-after Yowah Nuts. At the fields, beware of vertical shafts – always look where you’re going and never step backwards. Yowah has fuel and a caravan park.
Currawinya National Park
If you have a 4WD, venturing 170km southwest of Cunnamulla brings you to Currawinya National Park, home to the highly endangered bilby (see page 330).Feral cats, rabbits and grazing cattle have brought the bilby close to extinction, but a fence at Currawinya keeps these pests out, allowing the bilby population – reintroduced from Charleville’s National Parks Centre – to prosper. You can camp at Currawinya, but check on road conditions with the Currawinya ranger station first. Past Currawinya is the tiny border town of Hungerford, where you can stock up on fuel and groceries. From here it’s a 210km run southeast on a gravel road to Bourke.
Arrival and Information Cunnamulla and into the west
By plane Cunnamulla airport, 8km northwest of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Brisbane (2 weekly; 3hr 15min); St George (2 weekly; 55min); Thargomindah (2 weekly; 40min); Toowoomba (2 weekly; 2hr 15min).
Tourist information The helpful visitor centre (Mon–Fri 9am–4.30pm, Sat & Sun 10am–2pm; 07 4655 8470, http://cunnamulatourism.com.au) is part of the Cunnamulla Fella Visitor Centre on Jane St.
Festival The Cunnamulla Fella Roundup (http://cunnamullatourism.com.au), famed for rodeo, bush poetry and live music, takes place each June and July.
Fossicking The Paroo Shire Council offices (cnr Stockyard & Louise sts; Mon–Fri 9am–5pm; 07 4655 8400) can arrange a fossicking licence (from $9.02 for one month; also available at http://qld.gov.au; see page 335).
Accommodation
Cunnamulla Tourist Park 65 Watson St; http://cunnamullapark.com. Accommodation is tight year-round in Cunnamulla, and what is available is pretty basic. This caravan park, located in the east of town, is fine for a night. It offers free BBQs, a small kiosk, coin-operated washing machines and a simple kitchen area. $$
Quilpie and the Road to the Dig Tree
A sealed road leads 200km west of Charleville to QUILPIE, a compact, dusty farming community with a handful of amenities including a supermarket, petrol station and bakery.
A map is essential if you plan to follow the 490km, partly unsealed road from Quilpie to the Dig Tree at Nappa Merrie, just 30km from the South Australian border. Fuel up at EROMANGA, famed for being the furthest town from the ocean in Australia – no small claim on this vast continent. From here you head across stony plains above the huge gas and oil reserves of the Cooper Basin, past the Durham Downs cattle station, to the Dig Tree on Cooper Creek. The creek itself also achieved fame through references in the works of poet A.B. “Banjo” Paterson.
The site of Burke and Wills’ stockade (see page 332), Depot Camp 65, is on a beautiful shaded riverbank alive with pelicans and parrots – it’s hard to believe that anyone could have starved to death nearby. The Dig Tree is still standing and protected by a walkway, but the three original blaze marks reading “BLXV, DIG 3FT NW, DEC 6 60-APR 21 61” have been cemented over to keep the tree alive. Burke’s face was carved into the tree on the right by John Dickins in 1898 and is still clearly visible.
Pressing on, you’ll be relieved to know that it’s only 50km to Innamincka’s pub (see page 510), at the top of the Strzelecki Track in South Australia.
Arrival and Information Quilpie and the Road to the Dig Tree
By plane Quilpie airport, just west of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Charleville (2 weekly; 45min); Windorah (2 weekly; 45min); plus indirect flights to Bedourie, Birdsville, Brisbane, Boulia, Mount Isa and Toowoomba (2 weekly).
Tourist information The visitor centre (Mon–Fri 8.30am–4.30pm, Sat & Sun 9am–1pm; 07 4656 0540, http://visitquilpieshire.com) is at 51 Diamantina Developmental Rd (Brolga St).
Accommodation
Channel Country Tourist Park & Spas 21 Chipu St, Quilpie; http://channelcountrytouristpark.com. A natural spa thanks to the area’s hot artesian water is the highlight of this caravan park, which provides reliable accommodation and info on the local area. Breakfast supplies are available on site year-round, and other meals in the high season. $$
Depth markers en route from Quilpie to Birdsville give an idea of how saturated this Channel Country becomes after rainfall – always check forecasts before setting out. First stop is WINDORAH – famed for its rippling red sand hills 10km west of town – with a clutch of buildings offering fuel, a post office and a general store. Windorah is the last place with fuel before Birdsville, 385km west along a mostly unsealed road. Heading northeast via Jundah, the road is sealed all the way to Longreach.
In 1860, the Government of Victoria, then Australia’s richest state, decided to sponsor an expedition to make the first south-to-north crossing of the continent to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Eighteen men, twenty camels (shipped, along with their handlers, from India) and more than twenty tonnes of provisions left Melbourne in August, led by Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills. It didn’t take long for the leaders’ personalities to cause problems, and by December, Burke had impatiently left the bulk of the expedition and supplies lagging behind and raced ahead with a handful of men to establish a base camp on Cooper Creek. When Wills and the rest arrived, they built a stockade before the two leaders started north again, along with two other members of their team (Gray and King), six camels, a couple of horses and food for three months. Four men remained at camp, led by William Brahe, waiting for the rest of the expedition to catch up. In fact, most of the supplies and camels were dithering halfway between Melbourne and Cooper Creek, unsure of what to do next.
As neither Burke nor Wills kept a regular diary, few details of the “rush to the Gulf” are known. First Nations peoples saw them following the Corella River into the Gulf, where they found that vast salt marshes lay between them and the sea. Disappointed, they left the banks of the Bynoe (near present-day Normanton) on February 11, 1861, and headed back south. Their progress slowed by the wet season, they killed and ate the camels and horses as their food ran out. Gray died after being beaten by Burke for stealing flour; remorse was heightened when they staggered into the Cooper Creek stockade on April 21 to find that, having already waited an extra month for them to return, Brahe had decamped that morning. They found supplies buried under a tree marked “Dig” but failed to change the sign when they moved on, which meant that when the first rescue teams arrived on the scene, they assumed the explorers had never returned from the Gulf. Trying to walk south, the three reached the Innamincka area, where First Nations peoples fed them fish and seeds, but by the time rescuers tracked them down in September, only King was still alive. The full, sad tale of their trek is expertly told by Alan Moorehead in his classic account Cooper’s Creek, which is well worth tracking down (see page 687).
Betoota
The ruins of the John Costello hotel – also known as “The J.C.” – lie 80km west of Windora, while another 140km brings you to more remains at Betoota, whose only building, the 1880s-built Betoota Hotel, was in business until 1997, when this was Australia’s smallest town (population 1). Despite its isolation, Betoota comes alive on the last weekend in August when crowds gather for its annual horseracing event, the Betoota Races (http://betootaraces.com), held a week before the famous Birdsville Races (see page 333). Beyond here, the country turns into a rocky, silent plain, with circling crows and wedge-tailed eagles the only signs of life. Driving can be hazardous here, but with care (and good luck) the Diamantina River and Birdsville are just three hours away.
Information Quilpie to Birdsville
Tourist information Windorah’s visitor centre (Mon–Fri 8.30am–5pm; 07 4656 3063, http://barcoo.qld.gov.au) is at 7 Maryborough St.
Accommodation And Eating
Western Star Hotel 15 Albert St, Windorah; http://westernstarhotel.com.au. This appealing hotel is hard to resist for a cold drink, meal (restaurant open daily 7am–8pm) and a look at its collection of old photos. It also provides economical accommodation in basic “hotel” rooms with shared bathrooms, and smarter “motel” en suites. There’s also camping on the pub’s back lawn, for the price of a gold coin (a dollar or two) donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. $$
Legendary for its horseracing during the first weekend of September (see page 333), when up to eight thousand beer-swilling spectators pack out the dusty little settlement, BIRDSVILLE is at other times merely a far-flung handful of buildings where only the hotel and roadhouses seem to be doing business. But unless you’ve flown in, you’ll probably be glad simply to have arrived intact.
About 12km north on the Bedourie Road, some slow-growing, old and very rare Waddi trees stand about 5m tall and resemble sparse conifers wrapped in prickly feather boas with warped, circular seed pods; the wind blowing through the needles makes an eerie noise, like the roar of a distant fire.
Big Red
38km west of Birdsville • Two-wheel-drive vehicles can often reach the base with care – check conditions before setting off
For a dramatic sight, head west of Birdsville to Big Red, the desert’s largest dune, at the start of the Simpson Desert crossing. It’s worth the journey to see the dunes, flood plains and stony gibber country (red desert, covered with loose stone) on the way.
Arrival and information Birdsville and around
By plane Birdsville airport, on Graham St, northwest of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au). Extra flights from Brisbane are scheduled for the Birdsville Races in early Sept.
Destinations Bedourie (2 weekly; 35min); Windorah (2 weekly; 1hr); plus indirect flights to and from Bedourie, Boulia, Brisbane, Charleville, Mount Isa, Quilpie and Toowombah (2 weekly).
Tourist information Birdsville’s Wirrarri visitor centre (daily 8.30am–4.30pm; 07 4564 2000, http://thediamantina.com.au) is at 29 Burt St. Staff will give you the lowdown on the state of the various Outback tracks and can direct you to landmarks such as the Burke and Wills Tree beside the Diamantina and the 1923 Australian Inland Mission building on Adelaide St.
Services The Birdsville Roadhouse on Frew St (daily 8am–6pm; 07 4656 3226) has fuel, mechanics and a general store selling groceries, souvenirs and more.
Festivals For more on the Birdsville Races race weekend – featuring alcohol and horses, in that order (the Birdsville Hotel trades over 50,000 cans of beer in just two nights) – check out http://birdsvilleraces.com, and for details of the Big Red Bash – held in July in the Simpson Desert and dubbed the world’s most remote music festival – visit http://bigredbash.com.au.
Accommodation and Eating
Birdsville Caravan Park Florence St; http://thediamentina.com.au. This friendly place, set on the banks of the Diamantina billabong, is a good place to stay for a night, with caravan sites, motel-style rooms and cabins. Advanced booking recommended. $/$$
Birdsville Hotel Adelaide St; http://birdsvillehotel.com.au. Given the lack of alternatives, be sure to book ahead for the comfy accommodation at this iconic, award-winning hotel. It also has a great bar-restaurant with regular roasts, BBQs and buffets, plus a “seven-course takeaway” – a pie and six-pack. $$$
Beyond Birdsville
North of Birdsville, the next substantial settlement, Mount Isa, is a lonely 700km further on, and fuel is available about every 200km.Bedourie, 190km to the north, is well worth a stopover for its pool, artesian spa and hotel (see 333).
Those heading west across the Simpson Desert to Dalhousie Springs in South Australia need a Desert Parks Pass. Feasible in any sound vehicle during a dry winter, the 520km Birdsville Track descends to Marree in South Australia (see page 510).
Information Beyond Birdsville
Permits The Desert Parks Pass ($182) is available online at www.parks.sa.gov.au or Birdsville’s Wirrarri visitor centre (see page 332).
Accommodation
Royal Hotel Herbert St, Bedourie; http://bedouriehotel.com. This atmospheric hotel, built of adobe bricks in 1886, provides cosy en-suite rooms, hearty “Outback dining” – such as colossal T-bone steaks washed down with cold beer – and a welcoming atmosphere, whether you are staying here or not. It’s open daily from 10am. $$
West from Rockhampton, the Capricorn and Landsborough highways traverse the heart of central Queensland to Winton and ultimately Mount Isa. There’s a lot to see here – just a couple of hours from the coast you’ll find magical scenery atop the forested, sandstone plateau of the Blackdown Tableland National Park, while the town of Emerald offers seasonal farm work, and is a gateway to The Gemfields’ sapphire mines. Continue inland for both Barcaldine and Longreach, which are historically significant towns, while further west, Winton sits surrounded by a timeless, harsh orange landscape, with access to remote bush imprinted with dinosaur footprints at Lark Quarry.
Getting Around Rockhampton to Winton
By plane Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au) connects Townsville, Winton and Longreach. QantasLink (http://qantas.com.au) connects Brisbane, Blackall, Barcaldine and Longreach, and flies from Brisbane to Emerald. Virgin Australia (http://virginaustralia.com) also flies to Emerald from Brisbane.
By train The twice-weekly Brisbane–Longreach Spirit of the Outback (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) connects Rockhampton, Emerald, Barcaldine and Longreach (westbound from Rockhampton Tues 4.40am & Sun 1.03am; eastbound from Longreach Mon & Thurs 10am; 27hr Rockhampton–Longreach).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) runs daily coaches connecting Rockhampton with Emerald, Barcaldine, Ilfracombe and Longreach.
By car The Capricorn Highway (A4), which runs more or less along the Tropic of Capricorn, slices across the region from east to west between Townsville and Barcaldine, where it connects with the Landsborough Highway (A2) to Longreach, Winton and Cloncurry. Both highways are sealed and reasonably well maintained.
Blackdown Tableland National Park
As you move inland, the coastal humidity is left behind and the undulating landscape becomes baked instead of steamed. The highway loops over hills, running straight for many kilometres then surprising you with a bend. Gradually, the Blackdown Tableland National Park emerges from the horizon, dominating the landscape by the time you reach tiny Dingo, 150km from Rockhampton.
Sitting at 600m above the heat haze of the highway, the gum forests, waterfalls and escarpments of the national park are a delight. A 20km sealed access road is signposted on the highway 11km west of Dingo, and runs flat through open scrub to the base of the range. Views over a haze of eucalyptus woodland are generally blocked by the thicker forest at the top of the plateau, but at Horseshoe Lookout there’s a fabulous view north and, after rain, Two Mile Falls rockets over the edge of the cliffs. From here the road runs past Munall campground (see page 334). At night, the air fills with the sharp scent of woodsmoke, and the occasional dingo howls in the distance – with a torch, you might see greater gliders or the more active brushtail possum.
Walks in the park
Walks in the park include short, marked trails from the campsite to Officers Pocket, a moist amphitheatre of ferns and palms with the facing cliffs picked out yellow and white in the late afternoon; and a circuit track along Mimosa Creek, past remains of cattle pens and stock huts to some beautifully clear, ochre stencils of hands and weapons made by the Gungaloo people over a century ago.
Rainbow Waters
At the end of the vehicle track, 6km past the turn off to Munall campground
Blackdown’s finest scenery is at Rainbow Waters. These falls are surrounded by eerie gum forest and are at their glorious best around dawn; from the lookout above you can spy on birds in the rainforest below and hear the explosive thumps of rock wallabies tearing across ledges hardly big enough for a mouse. A long staircase descends into a cool world of spring-fed gardens, ending on a large shelf where the falls spray from above into a wide pool of beautifully clear but paralyzingly cold water.
Arrival and Accommodation Blackdown Tablelands
By car There’s no public transport into the park, so you will need your own vehicle for the drive from Rockhampton or Emerald. Some parts of the park (including the campground) are accessible by 2WD, but a 4WD is essential for the scenic Loop Road.
Climate Temperatures can reach 40°C on summer days and drop below zero on winter nights.
Munall campground 8km beyond the park entrance; http://parks.des.qld.gov.au. This excellent DES site is shaded by massive stringy-bark trees, with toilets, fire pits and a creek to bathe in; there’s no water so bring plenty with you. Watch out for currawongs (crows) that raid unattended tables, tents and cars for anything, edible or not. Advance bookings essential. Per person $
The highway west of Dingo crosses the lower reaches of the Bowen Basin coalfields into cotton country, signalled by fluffy white tailings along the roadside. Despite its proximity to the Gemfield towns of Sapphire and Rubyvale, EMERALD, 125km along, was named by a surveyor who passed through after heavy rains had greened the landscape. A dormitory town for nearby coal mines, at the junction of routes north to Mackay and south to Carnarvon Gorge, Emerald’s rich soil supports sunflowers, citrus trees, grapevines, lychees and rock melons, all of which attract swarms of seasonal fruit-pickers. Most essential services are on the Capricorn Highway, here called Clermont Street, including the town’s landmark railway station, built at the turn of the twentieth century.
Arrival and Information Emerald
By plane Emerald airport, on Gregory Hwy, 6km south of the town centre, is served by Qantas (http://qantas.com.au) and Virgin Australia (http://virginaustralia.com).
Destination Brisbane (2–6 daily; 1hr 45min).
By train The twice-weekly Brisbane–Longreach Spirit of the Outback (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) calls at Emerald station on the Capricorn Hwy (Clermont St), departing Wed 9.30am & Sun 6.02am (westbound) and Mon & Thurs 7.33pm (eastbound).
Destinations Barcaldine (7hr 25min); Brisbane (16hr 25min); Longreach (9hr 50min); Rockhampton (5hr 25min).
By bus Greyhound coaches (http://greyhound.com.au) call at the railway station.
Destinations Barcaldine (2 weekly; 3hr 50min); Ilfracombe (2 weekly; 4hr 40min): Longreach (2 weekly; 5hr); Rockhampton (2 weekly; 3hr 30min).
Tourist information The visitor centre (Mon–Fri 9am–4.30pm, Sat 9am–3pm, Sat 9am–1pm; 07 4982 4142, http://centralhighlands.com.au) is on Clermont St, near The Big Easel, the world’s largest reproduction of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, hand-painted by Canadian artist Cameron Cross.
Accommodation
Due to a steady influx of workers, accommodation is tight year-round (particularly midweek), especially during the April harvest or November cotton-chipping season.
BIG4 Lake Maraboon Holiday Village 943 Fairbairn Dam Rd; http://lifestyleparks.com.au. Lying 18km southwest of town, this park has serene sites and cabins overlooking a meandering lake three times the size of Sydney Harbour – it’s stunning at sunset. Facilities include a restaurant, picnic spots, camp kitchens, pool, free BBQs and kayak and boat hire. $$
Emerald Explorers Inn Gregory Hwy; http://emeraldexplorersinn.com.au. At the edge of town, the Emerald Explorers Inn provides comfortable well-appointed rooms (some with spa baths), a licensed restaurant and a saltwater swimming pool, all within walking distance of the main shopping centre. $$$
Springsure and around
Carnarvon Gorge (see page 329) lies 250km or so south of Emerald via the town of SPRINGSURE, which is set below the weathered orange cliffs of Mount Zamia, also known as the Virgin Rock – though weathering means you can no longer see the likeness of the Madonna and Child. It’s 70km from Springsure to Rolleston, the last source of fuel and supplies before Carnarvon Gorge.
Old Rainworth Fort & Heritage Complex
10km southwest of Springsure • Mon–Wed 10am–3pm • Charge • 07 4984 1964
The Rainworth Fort & Heritage Complex is a squat stockade of basalt blocks and corrugated iron built by settlers in 1862 after “the Wills Massacre”, when on October 17, 1861, Kari forces stormed Cullin-la-ringo station and killed nineteen people in retaliation for the slaughter of a dozen Aboriginal peoples by a local squatter. Despite its name, the fort was designed to securely store supplies from potential invaders rather than safeguard people, and its design was unique at the time. Sharing the fort’s serene situation are the relocated Cairdbeign School and Homestead, each of which dates back to the nineteenth century and beautifully displays relics of the period.
Accommodation Springsure and around
Springsure Overlander Motel 10 Eclipse St; http://springsureoverlandermotel.com.au. If you wind up in Springsure for the night, try this motel, which has 40 decent en-suite rooms with a/c, TVs and DVD players. There’s a licensed restaurant on site and undercover parking to keep your car shaded in the Outback heat. $$
The hot, sparse, rubble-covered country an hour west of Emerald masks one of the world’s richest sapphire fields and, with hard work, the chances of finding some are good – though you’re unlikely to get rich. The closest fields to Emerald (and the best-geared for beginners) are Sapphire and Rubyvale.
Sapphire
The well-worked country around SAPPHIRE looks like a war zone, with mine remnants scarring the countryside. There’s not much here except a post office, and the houses are scattered along the road and a section of Retreat Creek, where the first gems were found.
Rubyvale
Miner’s Heritage: 97 Heritage Rd • Daily 9am–3pm • Charge for 40min mine tours • http://minersheritage.com.au
The town of RUBYVALE has several shops, service stations, a pub and a few exhibition mines to tour. The most popular is Miner’s Heritage, which was opened as a working sapphire mine in 1982. You can go on a guided tour and try your hand at fossicking – if you don’t find anything of value, there’s always the gift shop.
Gems were first discovered in 1870 near Anakie, but until Thai buyers came onto the scene a century later, operations were low-key; even today there are still solo fossickers making a living from their claims. Formed by prehistoric volcanic actions and later dispersed along waterways and covered by sediment, the zircons, rubies and especially sapphires found here lie in a layer of gravel above the clay base of ancient riverbeds. This layer can be as far as 15m down, so gullies and dry rivers, where nature has already done some of the excavation work, are good places to start digging.
Specking and fossicking
Looking for surface gems, or specking, is best after rain, when a trained eye can see the stones sparkle in the mud. It’s erratic but certainly easier than the alternative – fossicking – which requires a pick, shovel, sieve, washtub full of water and a canvas sack before even starting (this gear can be rented at all of the fields). Cut and polished, local zircons are pale yellow, sapphires pale green or yellow to deep blue, and rubies are light pink, but when they’re covered in mud it’s hard to tell them from gravel, which is where the washing comes in: the wet gems glitter like fragments of coloured glass.
You have to be extremely enthusiastic to spend a summer on the fields, as the mercury soars, topsoil erodes and everything becomes coated in dust. The first rains bring floods as the sunbaked ground sheds water, and if you’re here at this time you’ll be treated to the sight of locals specking in the rain, shuffling around dressed in Akubra hats and long Drizabone raincoats. Conditions are best (and hence the fields busiest) as soon after the wet season as possible (around May), when the ground is soft and fresh pickings have been uncovered.
Gem parks and mine tours
If this all seems like too much hard work, try a gem park such as Pat’s Gems Tourist Fossicking Park (07 4985 4544), just outside Sapphire, where they’ve done the digging for you and supply a bucket of wash along with all the necessary gear (around $10–15). All you have to do is sieve the wash, flip it onto the canvas and check it for stones. There’s certainly an art to it, but visitors frequently do find stones. Pat’s also sells $15 bags of wash that include a sapphire ready for faceting (cutting). Gem parks can value and cut stones for you. For a break from the business end of a pick, take a mine tour (see below) and see if the professionals fare any better. In some ways they do – the chilled air 5m down is wonderful – but the main difference is one of scale; the method and intent are the same.
FOSSICKING Licences
If you’re keen to hunt for gems, you’ll need a fossicker’s licence, available online at http://qld.gov.au and from shops and gem parks, which allows digging in areas set aside for the purpose or on no-man’s-land. The $8.30 licence is valid for one month and gives you the right only to keep what you find and to camp at fossicking grounds.
Arrival and Accommodation The Gemfields
By car The (sealed) turn-off to both Sapphire and Rubyvale is off the Capricorn Hwy about 43km west of Emerald; from here, Sapphire is 11km north and Rubyvale a further 7km north.
Festivals You’ll hear plenty of tall stories during the annual Gemfest (http://gemfest.com.au), held in Aug in Anakie (just south of the Capricorn Hwy, opposite the Sapphire and Rubyvale turn-off).
Blue Gem Tourist Park On the banks of Retreat Creek, Sapphire; http://bluegemtouristpark.com.au. About 30 minutes’ drive west of Emerald, this caravan park has adequate caravan sites and cabins (with either shared or en-suite bathrooms). However, the best accommodation here is a converted 1922 railway carriage, complete with kitchen and en-suite bathroom. There’s also a store selling basic supplies and (fast) food. Un/powered site $, cabins $$, railway carriage $$
Rubyvale Motel & Holiday Units 35 Heritage Rd, Rubyvale; http://rubyvaleholiday.com.au. This complex has a mix of standard motel rooms and larger self-contained one or two-bedroom apartment “units”, as well as a shaded pool, jewellery shop, and – rather surprisingly – a small observatory ($32 for stargazing tours; no under-16s). Doubles $$, apartments $$$
Over the Range to Winton
Jericho Drive-In, 21 Jericho Rd • April–Oct Sat 6.45pm • Charge• http://jerichodrive-in.com
Vistas from the rounded sandstone boulders at the top of the Great Dividing Range reveal a dead flat country beyond. Rivers flow to the Gulf of Carpentaria or towards the great dry lakes of South Australia, while sealed roads run north to Clermont and south to Charleville. You’ll notice an increase in temperature as flies appear from nowhere, tumbleweeds pile up against fences and trees never seem closer than the horizon. Sheep dominate these parts, though there are some cattle and even a few people out here. The next stops on the road or rail line before Barcaldine (“Barcy”, pronounced Barky, to the locals) are the townships of Alpha where you can find fuel and a café, and Jericho, one of the last places in Queensland with a drive-in cinema.
Barcaldine
It was near BARCALDINE, 300km west of Emerald, during the 1885 drought, that geologists first tapped Queensland’s artesian water, revolutionizing Outback development. The town further secured its place in history during the 1891 shearers’ strike, which – though a failure itself – ultimately led to the formation of the Australian Labor Party.
Oak St
A lone eucalyptus “ghost gum” – so called for its stark white trunk – was a rallying point for the striking shearers in 1891, and became an icon of Australia’s labour movement. It was included on the National Heritage List in 2006, but later that year was poisoned and died. Its stump and root ball have been preserved as part of a controversial multimillion-dollar monument, The Tree of Knowledge, shaded by a veil of more than four thousand hanging charred timbers, topped by a sparkling glass roof. At night, it is lit to great effect. You’ll either love it or hate it. Beneath it is a granite sculpture, resembling the tips of a pair of shears, which forms a memorial to shearers arrested during the strike.
Australian Workers’ Heritage Centre
94 Ash St • Mon–Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 10am–4pm • Charge • http://australianworkersheritagecentre.com.au
You’ll struggle to miss the Australian Workers’ Heritage Centre, underneath a massive yellow-and-blue marquee. It has an expanding collection of displays that concentrates on the history of the workers’ movement after the shearers’ strike. There is also film footage, artefacts and plenty of sepia-tinted photos, covering themes including Outback women and Aboriginal stockmen.
Arrival And Departure Barcaldine
By plane Barcaldine airport, on Myall St, just west of the town centre, is served by QantasLink (http://qantas.com.au).
Destinations Brisbane (3 weekly; 2hr 55min); Longreach (3 weekly; 30min).
By train The twice-weekly Brisbane–Longreach Spirit of the Outback (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) calls at Barcaldine station on the Capricorn Hwy (Oak St), departing Wed 4.55am & Sun 1.16pm (westbound) and Mon & Thu 12.27pm (eastbound).
Destinations Emerald (4hr 55min); Longreach (2hr 25min); Rockhampton (12hr 30min).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) Rockhampton–Longreach and Bus Queensland (http://busqldoutback.com.au) Brisbane–Mount Isa coaches depart from the Capricorn Hwy (Oak St).
Destinations Blackall (daily; 1hr 20min); Brisbane (daily; 18hr); Charleville (daily; 5hr 45min); Cloncurry (daily; 8hr); Emerald (2 weekly; 3hr 35min); Ilfracombe (daily; 50min); Longreach (daily; 1hr 15min); Mitchell (daily; 8hr 20min); Mount Isa (daily; 10hr); Rockhampton (2 weekly; 7hr 40min); Roma (daily; 9hr 25min); Toowoomba (daily; 15hr 55min); Winton (daily; 3hr 25min).
Information and Tours
Tourist information The visitor centre (daily 8.15am–4.30pm; 07 4651 1724, http://barcaldinerc.qld.gov.au) is on the Capricorn Hwy at 149 Oak St.
Festival Barcaldine’s Tree of Knowledge Festival (http://treeofknowledge.com.au) in May features sheep shearing, go karts and a parade.
Tours For a closer look at Outback caves, waterholes and Aboriginal art – much of it on private property – with a tall tale or two thrown in, contact Tom Lockie at Artesian Country Tours (http://artesiancountrytours.com.au); the day-long “Aramac & Gracevale” tour ($145, including lunch) is highly recommended.
Accommodation and Eating
Barcaldine Tourist & Caravan Park 51–65 Box St; http://barcaldinetouristandcaravanpark.com.au. Popular with campers and caravanners, this is also a good option for those who prefer a bit more comfort, which can be found in the en-suite cabins. It’s easy to see why, especially when you factor in the free billy tea and damper in the afternoons during high season (May–Sept). Un/powered sites $, cabins $$
Ironbark Inn Motel 72 Box St; http://ironbarkmotel.com.au. The corrugated-iron-roofed Ironbark Inn is a typical Outback-style motel, with reasonable if rather old-fashioned rooms and cabins, an outdoor pool, and the attached 3Ls bar-steakhouse (“liars, larrikins and legends” – and everyone else – welcome). Cabins $, doubles $$
A one-hour drive south of Barcaldine on the Landsborough Highway takes you to the small town of BLACKALL, which sits on the banks of the often dry (but occasionally 5m-deep) Barcoo River. The famous black stump, a surveying point used in pinpointing Queensland’s borders in the nineteenth century, is on Thistle Street near the school. The original stump has been replaced by a more interesting (if less blackened) fossilized one. In Aussie parlance, anything east of here is “this side of the black stump”, while anything west is “beyond the black stump”, another term for Outback remoteness.
Shamrock Street, shaded by palms and bottle trees, is the main road on which you’ll find banks, supplies, the visitor centre and a few places to eat.
Woolscour
Evora Rd, 4km north of the town centre • Guided tours daily on the hour every hour, 9am–4pm • Charge • http://blackalltambotourism.com.au/blackall-woolscour
In 1892, in the merino country surrounding Blackall, Jackie Howe fleeced 321 sheep in under eight hours using hand shears, a still unbroken record. You can learn more about the area’s merino wool heritage at the steam-driven Woolscour (Australia’s last remaining steam-operated plant where the freshly sheared fleeces are vigorously washed and cleaned), which was built in 1908 and was in commercial operation for seventy years.
Arrival and information Blackall
By plane Blackall airport, 4km southwest of the town centre, is served by QantasLink (http://qantas.com.au).
Destinations Brisbane (3 weekly; 3hr); Longreach (3 weekly; 35min).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) coaches services between Brisbane and Mount Isa call at the BP station, 10 Shamrock St.
Destinations Barcaldine (daily; 1hr 15min); Brisbane (daily; 16hr); Charleville (daily; 4hr); Cloncurry (daily; 9hr 30min); Ilfracombe (daily; 2hr 15min); Mitchell (daily; 6hr 25min); Longreach (daily; 2hr 35min); Mount Isa (daily; 11hr); Roma (daily; 7hr 30min); Toowoomba (daily; 14hr); Winton (daily; 4hr 45min).
Tourist information The visitor centre (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am–1pm; 07 4657 4637, http://blackalltambotourism.com.au) is in Ram Park at 108A Shamrock St on the Landsborough Hwy.
Accommodation
Blackall Caravan Park 53 Garden St; http://blackallcaravanpark.com.au. A 10min walk from the town centre, this caravan park has a general store, regular country music performances, billy tea and damper in the afternoons, and a huge campfire perfect for swapping stories in the evenings. $$
Ilfracombe
On the Landsborough Highway between Barcaldine and Longreach, 80km west of the former and just 27km east of the latter, ILFRACOMBE essentially forms a living museum. The main drag comprises the “Machinery Mile”, with pastoral machinery, vehicles and farming equipment lined up next to the highway. Also here are an artesian spa in the town’s Memorial Park, Australia’s biggest bottle collection at Hilton’s Bottles, and a hundred-year-old homestead.
Arrival, Accommodation and Eating Ilfracombe
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) Rockhampton–Longreach coaches call at the stop opposite the Post Office on the Landsborough Hwy (High St).
Destinations Barcaldine (daily; 1hr); Blackall (daily; 2hr 15min); Brisbane (daily; 18hr 55min); Charleville (daily; 6hr 40min); Cloncurry (daily; 5hr 5min); Emerald (2 weekly; 4hr 35min); Longreach (daily; 20min); Mount Isa (daily; 9hr); Rockhampton (2 weekly; 8hr 40min) Roma (daily; 10hr 20min); Toowoomba (daily; 16hr 50min); Winton (daily; 3hr 15min).
Wellshot Hotel 20 Main Ave; http://wellshothotel.com.au. The iconic Wellshot Hotel is the town’s centrepiece, boasting an array of local memorabilia (including some evocative old photos), ice-cold beer and daily meals, plus brunch on Sun. Expect pub grub – burgers, steak sandwiches, steaks and salad – with some home-style desserts at dinner. Seven basic rooms have a/c and shared bathrooms. $
Unlike many other western towns, LONGREACH, 110km west of Barcaldine and right on the Tropic of Capricorn, is more than surviving. The lynchpin for this is the ambitious Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre (usually just known throughout Queensland as the less tongue-tangling “Hall of Fame”), but the town was also one of the first to realize the potential of tapping Queensland’s artesian water reserves for stock farming, and was the original headquarters of Qantas (see page 337). On Longreach’s main drag, Eagle Street, south off the Landsborough Hwy, you’ll find hotels, cafés, banks, a cinema and a supermarket.
Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre
Landsborough Hwy, east of Longreach town centre • Museum Daily 9am–4pm • Charge • Stockman’s Experience Show daily (except Fri) 9am, 9.30am, 11am, 11.30am • Charge• http://stockmanhalloffame.com.au
The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre is a masterpiece not just in architectural design – it’s a blend of aircraft hangar and cathedral – but in being an encyclopedia of the Outback. Displays unashamedly romance the Outback through film footage, multimedia presentations, photographs and exhibits. History starts in the Dreamtime and moves on to early European explorers and pioneers (including a large section on women in the Outback), before ending with personal accounts of life in the bush. There’s also an art gallery, a café and two exciting shows, the Stockman’s Experience and the Outback Stockman’s Show, where third-generation horse-breaker and stockman-famed drover Lachie Cossor heads a team of performing horses and cattle dogs. Allow at least half a day to take it all in.
Though Qantas (the Queensland and Northern Territories Aerial Services) was founded in Winton in 1920, the first joy-flights and taxi service actually flew from Longreach in 1921, pioneered by Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness. Their idea – that an airline could play an important role by carrying mail and passengers, dropping supplies to remote districts and providing an emergency link into the Outback – inspired other projects such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Though the company’s headquarters moved to Brisbane in 1930, Qantas maintained its offices at Longreach until after World War II – during the war US Flying Fortresses were stationed here – by which time both the company and its planes had outgrown the town.
Landsborough Hwy, east of Longreach town centre • Daily: 9am–4pm • Charge • http://qfom.com.au
The Qantas Founders Museum’s prized possessions are a decommissioned Qantas jumbo jet and a restored 1950s Boeing 707, Australia’s (and Qantas’s) inaugural registered passenger jet. Each can be viewed on various guided tours, including a 747 “wing walk” tour, during which you take a stroll along the wing of a (grounded) 747 jumbo jet. An original 1922 hangar forms part of the exhibition, which also includes interactive displays, classic advertising posters and cabin staff uniforms from days gone by. There’s also a flight simulator. Allow at least half a day, especially if you’re an aviation buff.
The Station Store and Outback Pioneers
126-128 Eagle St • Shop Mon–Fri 8.30am–5pm, Sat 9am–1pm • Stagecoach ride Mon–Fri from 8.30am; 4hr • Charge• Starlight’s Cruise Mon–Sat 4.30pm; 4hr • Charge • Old Time Tent Show Mon–Fri at noon; 1hr • Charge • http://kinnonandco.com.au
A family-run enterprise The Station Store emporium (with café) sells quality Outback crafts and clothing. Their experience and activity company, Outback Pioneers, offers stagecoach rides (including a gallop through the bush) a paddlewheeler cruise and an Old Time Tent Show (with animals, stockmen and live theatre) and other fun options. Discounts are available for those who’d like to try several.
Arrival and Departure Longreach
By plane Longreach airport (http://longreachairport.com.au), on the Landsborough Hwy just east of the town centre, behind the Qantas museum, is served by QantasLink (http://qantas.com.au) and Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Blackall (3 weekly; 35min); Brisbane (daily; 2hr 5min); Townsville (2 weekly; 2hr 25min); Winton (2 weekly; 40min).
By train Longreach station opposite Anzac Memorial Park on the Landsborough Hwy (Sir Hudson Fysh Dr) is the western terminus of the twice-weekly Brisbane–Longreach Spirit of the Outback (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au), which arrives Wed 7.20pm & Sun 3.40pm and departs eastbound Mon & Thurs 10am.
Destinations Barcaldine (2hr 7min); Brisbane (25hr 55min); Emerald (9hr 23min); Rockhampton (14hr 57min).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) Rockhampton–Longreach coaches depart from Duck St (opposite Commercial Hotel).
Destinations Barcaldine (daily; 1hr 25min); Blackall (daily; 2hr 25min); Brisbane (daily; 17hr 15min); Charleville (daily; 7hr); Cloncurry (daily; 6hr 45min); Emerald (2 weekly; 5hr); Ilfracombe (daily; 25min); Mitchell (daily; 9hr 25min); Mount Isa (daily; 8hr 40min); Rockhampton (2 weekly; 9hr 5min); Roma (daily; 10hr 30min); Toowoomba (daily; 17hr); Winton (daily; 2hr 10min).
Information and tours
Tourist information The visitor centre (Mon–Fri 9am–4.45pm, Sat & Sun 9am–3pm; 07 4658 4141, http://experiencelongreach.com.au) on Eagle St is housed in a replica of Qantas’s original office.
Tours Alan Smith (“Smithy”) and his wife Sue run the well-established Outback Aussie Tours (http://outbackaussietours.com.au). They offer a wide range of tours in and around Longreach and further afield, including sunset cruises on the Thomson River (4hr; $130 including dinner), dinner shows (3hr; $89), day-trips to Winton ($249) and more.
Accommodation and eating
Albert Park Motor Inn Stork Rd; http://longreachaccommodation.com. This large motel has spacious and well-equipped rooms, plus an outdoor pool and a decent restaurant. It’s a brisk 25min walk from the town centre, but close to the Hall of Fame and Qantas Founders Museum and operates a courtesy transfer bus to the train station and airport. $$
Apex Riverside Park Campsite 5km west of town; 07 4658 4141. Located in a park next to the Thomson River and run by the local council, this unpowered campsite has toilets and a BBQ area, but no showers (the nearest are at the CWA in Qantas Park). Four-night maximum stay; bring all equipment with you. Pay at the visitor centre on Eagle St. $
Longreach Motor Inn 84 Galah St; http://longreachmotorinn.com.au. This friendly, centrally located motel is a good choice. Rooms are smart and comfortable, there’s a palm-shaded pool, and a very good on-site restaurant, Harry’s. Family rooms and two-bedroom suites offer more space. $$$
Longreach Tourist Park 12 Thrush Rd; 07 4658 1781, http://longreachtouristpark.com.au. Located around 2km from the town centre, not far from the Hall of Fame and the Qantas Founders Museum, Longreach Tourist Park is one of the town’s more economical options, with a mix of caravan sites and cabins, plus a decent restaurant. $$
A 180km-long run northwest from Longreach across the barren Mitchell Plains, WINTON is a real frontier town where dust devils blow tumbleweeds down the streets – a fitting backdrop for the 1800s-set film The Proposition (2004), written by Nick Cave. As Queensland’s largest cattle-trucking depot, Winton has a constant stream of road trains rumbling through, and a fair swag of history: Waltzing Matilda premiered at the North Gregory Hotel (see page 339), and Qantas was founded here in 1920. The surrounding country is an eerie world of windswept plains and eroded jump-ups (flat-topped hills layered in orange, grey and red dust), opal deposits and dinosaur footprints.
50 Elderslie St, Winton • Daily 9am–5pm • Charge • http://matildacentre.com.au
Wrecked by fire in 2015, the Waltzing Matilda Centre, Winton’s premier tourist attraction, is now housed in an architecturally impressive new complex, affectionately dubbed the “Opera House of the Outback”. The main museum and gallery is a celebration of rural heritage, with displays on local landscapes and the lifestyles that inspired Paterson’s immortal ballad. The adjoining Qantilda Museum contains a hoard of 20th century artefacts including cordial bottles, domestic items and a steam locomotive.
Dinosaur Drive, 24km southeast of Winton • April–Nov daily 8.30am–5pm; Dec–March 8am–5pm (closed Sun); tours daily on the hour 9am–2pm • Charge• http://australianageofdinosaurs.com
The Australian Age of Dinosaurs is spectacularly sited on a red mesa plateau outside Winton. It’s home to the world’s largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils, which are examined on the interpretive guided tours. You can watch as skilled technicians painstakingly prise million-year-old bones from their rocky tombs – and if you have a couple of days to spare, you can get your hands dirty by joining a dig for a week or learning how to prepare fossils in the laboratory. This whole place is fascinating, and kids will love the animated recreations of two “local” dinosaurs, Banjo and Matilda.
Waltzing Matilda
The first public performance of “Banjo” Paterson’s ballad Waltzing Matilda was held in April 1895 at Winton’s North Gregory Hotel, and has stirred up gossip and speculation ever since. Legend has it that Christina MacPherson told Paterson the tale of a swagman’s brush with the law at the Combo Waterhole, near Kynuna, while the poet was staying with her family at nearby Dagwood Station. Christina wrote the music to the ballad, a collaboration which so incensed Paterson’s fiancée, Sarah Riley, that she broke off their engagement. (Neither woman ever married.)
While a straightforward “translation” of the poem is easy enough – “Waltzing Matilda” was contemporary slang for tramping (carrying a bedroll or swag from place to place), “jumbuck” was slang for sheep, and “squatters” refers to landowners – there is some contention as to what the poem actually describes. The most obvious interpretation is of a poor tramp, hounded to death by the law, but first drafts of the poem suggest that Paterson – generally known as a romantic rather than a social commentator – originally wrote the piece about the arrest of a union leader during the shearers’ strike.
Either version would account for its popularity – it was one of four songs Australians chose to become the country’s new national anthem in 1977, coming in second, and Aussies readily identify with an underdog who dares to confront the system.
Corfield & Fitzmaurice Building
Elderslie St • March & Nov to mid-Dec Mon–Fri 10am–4pm; April–Oct Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am–1pm, Sun 11am–3pm • Charge • 0487 758 719
Next to the North Gregory Hotel (see page 339) is the immense, wooden Corfield & Fitzmaurice building, which opened as a general store in 1916 and now houses a vast collection of rocks and fossils from around the world, including a life-size diorama of the Lark Quarry dinosaurs, as well as displays about opal mining and the wool industry.
Dinosaur Stampede National Monument
Lark Quarry Conservation Park, 110km southwest of Winton along an unsealed road (2hr; check with tourist office about road conditions) • Dec–March, Mon–Sat 8.30am–5pm; April–Nov daily 8.30am–5pm • Daily guided tours (45min) 9.30am–3pm • Charge; included in Australia’s Dinosaur Trail Pass (http://australiasdinosaurtrail.com; $115) • http://dinosaurtrackways.com.au
You may need to dodge kamikaze kangaroos and patches of bulldust on the way to the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument, previously, more accurately, named the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Trackways. It’s not surprising to find dinosaur remains here: the place looks prehistoric, surrounded by stubby hills where stunted trees and tufts of grass tussle with rocks for space. Over three thousand footprints which were excavated here in the 1970s are now protected within a temperature-controlled building. Paleontologists have theorized that, some 95 million years ago, a carnivorous dinosaur chased a group of turkey-sized herbivores to a rock face where it caught and killed one as the others fled. Exciting though this scenario sounds, recent examination of the tracks suggests that they probably weren’t made at the same time. For some, the mystery just adds to the experience.
Arrival and departure Winton and around
By plane Winton airport, on the Landsborough Hwy northeast of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Longreach (2 weekly; 40min), Townsville (2 weekly; 1hr 25min).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) coaches depart from the stop at 74 Elderslie St once daily in each direction.
Destinations Barcaldine (3hr 15min); Blackall (4hr 30min); Brisbane (18hr); Charleville (8hr 35min); Cloncurry (3hr 50min); Ilfracombe (2hr 20min); Longreach (2hr); Mitchell (11hr 35min); Mount Isa (5hr 45min); Roma (12hr 40min); Toowoomba (19hr 10min).
Tourist information The visitor centre (daily 9am–5pm; 07 4657 1466, http://matildacentre.com.au) is at the Waltzing Matilda Centre, 50 Elderslie St. You can book local tours (including to Carisbrook Station and the Dinosaur Stampede) here.
Festival Winton’s lively five-day Outback Festival, famous for its madcap Dunny Derby, takes place in late September.
Fossicking Staff at the visitor centre can offer up-to-date advice on travelling the 125km of unsealed road south to Opalton to fossick for semiprecious stones, though to go there you must be entirely self-sufficient.
Accommodation and Eating
Boulder Opal Motor Inn 16 Elderslie St; http://boulderopalmotorinn.com.au. Roomy accommodation in clean and pleasant – if fairly standard – a/c motel rooms. Adjoining rooms are a good option for families, and there’s a swimming pool, BBQs, and a good restaurant. $$
North Gregory Hotel 67 Elderslie St; http://northgregoryhotel.com. Although the decor is a little dated, this is easily the most charming and character-filled place to stay in town, with a range of clean and simple rooms (some with shared bathrooms, others en suite), a restaurant with a menu featuring local produce including lamb, beef and Queensland seafood, and a bar and café. $$
Winton Outback Motel 95 Elderslie St; http://wintonoutbackmotel.com. Conveniently located just 500m from the Waltzing Matilda Centre, with no-nonsense rooms, well-equipped with microwave, fridge and a/c. Room service breakfast is available on request. $$
Entertainment
Cinema On Wed evenings April–Sept, treat yourself to a film at The Royal Theatre, complete with canvas seats and original projector, on Elderslie St, next to the North Gregory Hotel. Check what’s on at the visitor centre (see page 339).
Festivals Every Sept Winton stages the five-day Outback Festival, (http://outbackfestival.com.au) which features rodeo and bush poetry events. For nine days in late June/early July, The Royal Theatre is the venue for The Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival (three-day pass $135; http://visionsplendidfilmfest.com), Queensland’s answer to the Sundance Film Festival.
North of Winton
Some 165km north of Winton lies the shaded, muddy Combo Waterhole, 8km (unsealed) off the road, which is allegedly the billabong mentioned in Waltzing Matilda. A shade further on, KYNUNA’s low-slung Blue Heeler Hotel was another of the first places where the song was performed. Definitely worth a stop, this atmospheric pub has plenty of memorabilia (write your name on the walls along with other travellers) and you might even see the dancing brolgas that fly in on a daily basis. You might recognize the single-storey Walkabout Creek Hotel at MCKINLAY, 75km past Kynuna, as the rowdy Outback pub in the film Crocodile Dundee. It’s quieter these days, but worth a look.
West of Winton, it’s a sealed road 366km to BOULIA along one of the most beautiful and surprisingly varied stretches of scenery in Queensland’s Outback, alternating between endless plains, lush creeks and blood-red hills. Boulia is best known for its enigmatic Min Min Light, an eerie, unexplained car-headlamp-like light reputedly seen in the bush at night.
25 Herbert St • March–April Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat & Sun 9am–1pm; May–Oct Mon–Fri 8.45am–5pm, Sat & Sun 9am–5pm; Nov–Dec Mon–Fri 8.45am–5pm • Charge • http://boulia.qld.gov.au
If you don’t see the real Min Min Light (locals maintain “you don’t go looking for it, it comes looking for you”), drop into the Min Min Encounter for a 45min sound-and-light show where you’re directed through a series of rooms to meet automated characters depicting real-life locals, describing their close personal encounters with the lights. Spooky.
Stonehouse Museum
Pituri St • Mon–Fri 9am–3pm • Charge • http://barcoo.qld.gov.au
The Stonehouse Museum was one of the first homes to be built in western Queensland, constructed in 1884 out of local stone bonded with limestone, gidyea ash and sand. Today, it’s a small but interesting museum featuring rare Aboriginal artefacts and lots of marine fossils.
CAMELS IN THE OUTBACK
Camels were introduced to the Australian deserts in the 1800s, as an aid to European explorers opening up the inland areas of the continent. Later set free, they bred prolifically, and there are now estimated to be more than 300,000 feral camels in the whole country, most of them in Central Australia. Culling is carried out but is controversial. Australia also now exports camels to the Middle East. And in some Outback restaurants, you might even find camel on the menu.
Arrival and Departure Boulia
By plane Boulia airport, on Herbert St, west of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Bedourie (2 weekly; 40min); Mount Isa (2 weekly; 45min).
By car If you’re driving from Winton, you can stop at the fuel station 163km west of Winton at Middleton’s combined pub/general store. From Boulia, Mount Isa is 303km north on sealed roads and Birdsville is 400km south on an unsealed road. If you’re really enjoying the ride, Alice Springs is 814km west on the Donohue and Plenty “highways” – a long stretch of dust and gravel. Be sure to fuel up in Boulia if you’re heading that way, as the next chance is 467km west in Jervois in the NT.
Information
Tourist information Boulia’s visitor centre (March–April Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat & Sun 9am–1pm; May–Oct Mon–Fri 8.45am–5pm, Sat & Sun 9am–5pm; Nov–Dec Mon–Fri 8.45am–5pm; 07 4746 3386, http://boulia.qld.gov.au) is at the Min Min Encounter, 25 Herbert St.
Festivals Families flock to Boulia for the July camel races (http://bouliacamelraces.com.au); tickets include camping at the rodeo grounds before, during and after the three-day event, which also features live bands.
Accommodation
Desert Sands Motel 50 Herbert St; http://desertsandsmotel.com.au. The pick of the town’s (admittedly limited range of) accommodation options, the Desert Sands Motel is a quiet place with a dozen functional en-suite rooms, welcoming owners, and pleasant, shady gardens. $$
All the major settlements along the 1000km stretch between Townsville and the Northern Territory border are mining towns, spaced so far apart that precise names are redundant: Mount Isa becomes “the Isa”, Cloncurry “the Curry”, and Charters Towers “the Towers”. It’s a shame that most people see this vast area as something to be crossed as quickly as possible – even if time is limited, Charters Towers’ century-old feel and Mount Isa’s strange setting are worth a stopover. With the freedom of your own vehicle, you can explore the scenic Porcupine Gorge National Park, which is a great place to swim, and the spectacular oasis of Lawn Hill Gorge.
Getting around Townsville to the Territory
By plane Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au) connects Townsville, Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek and Mount Isa. QantasLink (http://qantas.com.au) flies between Townsville, Cloncurry and Mount Isa, while Virgin Australia (http://virginaustralia.com) flies to Cloncurry and Mount Isa from Brisbane.
By train The twice-weekly Townsville–Mount Isa Inlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) connects Charters Towers, Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek, Cloncurry and Mount Isa (westbound from Townsville Wed & Sat 12.40pm; eastbound from Mount Isa Thurs & Sun 1.30pm; 21hr Townsville–Mount Isa).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) has a weekly service from Townsville to Tennant Creek (NT) via Charters Towers, Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek, Cloncurry and Mount Isa (departing Wed 12.40pm from Townsville, Thurs 1.30pm from Mount Isa).
By car The main route from Townsville to the Territory follows the old Overlanders’ Way – the Flinders Highway (A6) – to Cloncurry, where it meets the Barkly Highway (A2) to Mount Isa and Three Ways (NT).
Gold country
Two hours west of the coast, the dry scrub at the heights of the inland range at the community of Mingela once covered seams of ore that had the streets of both Charters Towers and Ravenswood bustling with lucky-strike miners. Those times are long gone – though gold is still extracted from old tailings or sporadically panned from the creek beds – and the towns have survived at opposite extremes: connected by road and rail to Townsville, Charters Towers became a busy rural centre, while Ravenswood, half an hour south of Mingela, was just too far off the track, and today is almost a ghost town.
Ravenswood
The wind blows dust and dried grass around the streets between the mine shafts and lonely old buildings of RAVENSWOOD, and some are sealed 50km south off the main highway. Gold was discovered here in 1868, and within two years there were seven hundred miners on Elphinstone Creek. The main attraction is to wander among the restored buildings, notably the still-trading Railway and Imperial hotels, and stroll up to the hilltop lookout.
Accommodation and Eating Ravenswood
Imperial Hotel Macrossan St; 07 4770 2131. One of the best Edwardian buildings in town, the wonderfully atmospheric Imperial has been carefully restored and still has its original wood panelling. The antique-filled bar is a fine place for a drink or a meal, and you can stay the night in one of the charming rooms (shared bathrooms). $
Once Queensland’s second-largest city, and often referred to in its heyday simply as “the World”, CHARTERS TOWERS is a showcase of colonial-era architecture. A First Nations boy named Jupiter Mosman found gold here in 1871, and within twelve months three thousand prospectors had stripped the landscape of trees and covered it with shafts, chimneys and crushing mills. At first, little money was reinvested – the cemetery is a sad record of cholera and typhoid outbreaks from poor sanitation – but by 1900, despite diminishing returns, Charters Towers had become a prosperous centre. There’s been minimal change since, and the population, now mainly sustained by cattle farming, sits at around 8500, about a third of what it was in the town’s heyday. Don’t be surprised if you hear local wags refer to the place as “Charlie’s Trousers” (for no particular reason).
In the city centre, Gill and Mosman streets are shaded by old wooden arcades, and numerous spruce old buildings include the headquarters of one of Queensland’s oldest surviving newspapers, The Northern Miner, and the classically elegant post office and World Theatre (a cinema and performance venue). Shops, art galleries and cafés now line the glass-roofed courtyard of the former Stock Exchange, and the solid facade at the adjacent town hall betrays its original purpose as a bank, which stored gold bars smelted locally.
Zara Clark Museum
36 Mosman St • Daily 10am–2pm • Charge • http://nationaltrust.org.au/places/zara-clark-museum
Housed in a late Victorian building, which was once a general store, the Zara Clark Museum has an absorbing jumble of everything from old wagons to a set of silver tongs for eating frogs’ legs, as well as local mining, transport and medical exhibits.
The Miner’s Cottage
26 Deane St • By prior arrangement only; check at the visitor centre (see page 341) • Charge• http://theminerscottage.com.au
The Miner’s Cottage is a typical nineteenth-century, timber-framed worker’s house jam-packed with a private collection of period artefacts. The welcoming and informative host will explain how to pan for gold, before showing guests how to try it themselves.
Lissner Park
Off Bridge St, east of the centre
There’s plenty of shade under giant bat-inhabited fig trees at Lissner Park, whose Boer War memorial recalls stories of Breaker Morant – a local soldier and poet executed by the British after shooting a prisoner, who has, thanks to several books and a 1980 feature film, become an Australian folk hero.
Venus Gold Battery
4km out of town on Millchester Rd • Guided tours (75min): Mon, Wed, Fri 10am, 11.45am & 2.30pm; Tues, Thurs, Sat & Sun 10am • Charge • http://historicaustralia.com.au
The Venus Gold Battery is a fascinating illustration of the monumental efforts needed to separate gold from rock. Abandoned in 1972 after a century of operations, the battery is a huge, gloomy temple to the past, its discarded machinery testament to the fact that this was once a sweatbox filled with noxious mercury fumes and the noise of huge hammers smashing ore into manageable pieces. Highlights of the tours include two holographic film presentations that bring the mill to life.
Texas Longhorn Wagon Tours & Safaris
441 Urdera Rd, Leahton Park, 8km north of town • Safari Mon, Tues & Thurs–Sun 9am; 2hr • Charge • Wagon tour Wed 9am; 3hr • Charge • http://texaslonghorn.com.au
It’s worth heading out to Leahton Park, home of the Texas Longhorn Wagon Tours & Safaris, where you can view the country’s largest herd of purebred Texas Longhorns from a 4WD safari vehicle, or a wagon pulled by Percheron draught horses.
Arrival and information Charters Towers
By train The twice-weekly Townsville–Mount Isa Inlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) calls at Charters Towers station on Enterprise Rd on the east side of town, departing Wed & Sat 3.40pm (westbound) and Fri & Mon 7.05am (eastbound).
Destinations Cloncurry (13hr 20min); Hughenden (4hr 25min); Julia Creek (10hr 15min); Mount Isa (18hr); Richmond (76hr 55min); Townsville (3hr 5min).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) coaches depart from the Woolworths service station on Gill St.
Destinations Cloncurry (4 weekly 7hr); Hughenden (4 weekly; 3hr 40min); Julia Creek (4 weekly; 6hr 30min); Mount Isa (4 weekly; 12hr); Richmond (4 weekly; 5hr); Townsville (4 weekly; 1hr 40min).
Tourist information The helpful visitor centre (Mon–Fri 8.30am–4pm, Sat & Sun 9am–4pm; 07 4761 5533, http://visitcharterstowers.com.au) is at 74 Mosman St.
Accommodation and Eating
Irish Molly’s Bar and Grill 120 Gill St; http://facebook.com/irishmollyhotel. A lively spot for a no-nonsense lunch (noon–2pm) or dinner (6–8pm) – think steak or fish and chips – and a drink (they even have Guinness on tap). Good-value specials, and there’s live music on Fri nights. $$
HUGHENDEN, 245km west of Charters Towers along the highway, comprises little more than a dozen wide streets, a supermarket, a couple of hotels and some banks. Eight kilometres south of town, Mount Walker rises 152m above the pancake-flat black soil plains, offering a 360-degree panorama of the district – especially photogenic at sunset. The road is sealed till the turn-off, then again to the summit’s six lookout points.
Flinders Discovery Centre
37 Gray St •Daily 9am–5pm • Charge; included in Australia’s Dinosaur Trail Pass (http://australiasdinosaurtrail.com) • http://visithughenden.com.au
Hughenden’s main draw for visitors is the Flinders Discovery Centre, which focuses on the swamp-dwelling Muttaburrasaurus, which lived in the early Cretaceous period around a hundred million years ago. Its bones were found south of town in 1963 and assembled into a 7m-long skeleton (now known as “Hughie”).
Porcupine Gorge National Park
63km north of Hughenden along the partially surfaced Kennedy Developmental Rd
Porcupine Gorge National Park is best seen at the start of the dry season (May–July) before the Flinders River stops flowing, when good swimming holes, richly coloured cliffs, flowering bottlebrush and banksia trees reward the effort of getting here.
Look for wallabies on the walk into the gorge, which leads down steps from the campsite and becomes an increasingly steep, rough path carpeted in loose stones. The white riverbed, sculpted by water, curves into a pool below the orange, yellow and white bands of Pyramid Rock. This is the bush at its best – sandstone glowing in the afternoon sun against a deep-blue sky, with wildlife calls echoing along the gorge as its stony shadow creeps over distant woods.
Arrival and information Hughenden and around
By plane Hughenden airport, 5km northeast of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Julia Creek (3 weekly; 1hr 15min), Mount Isa (3 weekly; 2hr 15min); Richmond (3 weekly; 25min); Townsville (3 weekly; 1hr).
By train The twice-weekly Townsville–Mount Isa Inlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) calls at Hughenden station on Resolution St in the town centre, departing Wed & Sat 8.20pm (westbound) and Fri & Mon 2.40am (eastbound).
Destinations Charters Towers (4hr 15min); Cloncurry (9hr); Julia Creek (5hr 35min); Mount Isa (13hr 15min); Richmond (2hr 15min); Townsville (7hr 30min).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) coaches depart from Lights on the Hill, Flinders Hwy, west of town.
Destinations Charters Towers (4 weekly; 2hr 55min); Cloncurry (4 weekly; 4hr 20min); Julia Creek (4 weekly; 2hr 50min); Mount Isa (4 weekly; 5hr 50min); Richmond (4 weekly; 1hr 25min); Townsville (4 weekly; 4hr 35min).
Tourist information Hughenden’s visitor centre (daily 9am–5pm; 07 4741 2970, http://visithughenden.com.au) is in Flinders Discovery Centre, 37 Gray St.
Accommodation and Eating
Hughenden
FJ Holden Café 55 Brodie St; 07 4741 0254. Named after a classic range of Australian cars, this cheerful 1950s-style diner is decked out with gingham tablecloths and Elvis memorabilia. The menu features everything from whopping great burgers to chai lattes. $
Hughenden Allen Terry Caravan Park 2 Resolution St; http://hughendenvanpark.com.au. Located next to the town’s 35m swimming pool, this caravan park has grassy sites and self-contained, a/c, en-suite cabins. $$
Porcupine Gorge
Porcupine Gorge Pyramid Campground 11km along the access road; http://parks.des.qld.gov.au. Perched at the top of the gorge, this DES campsite has 22 sites for caravans and campers, composting toilets and limited cold water for washing. Bring all your gear (including stoves, food and drinking water) with you. Camping permits are required (book online). Per person $
A 115km journey west of Hughenden along the highway brings you to the small town of RICHMOND on the banks of the Flinders River, one of Queensland’s longest. One of its major attractions is Lake Fred Tritton, named after a former mayor, which is popular for fishing, swimming and water-skiing.
Kronosaurus Korner museum
91 Goldring St • Daily 8.30am–4pm • Charge; included in Australia’s Dinosaur Trail Pass (http://australiasdinosaurtrail.com) • http://kronosauruskorner.com.au
The Kronosaurus Korner museum displays the fossils of hundred-million-year-old fish, long-necked elasmosaurs, and models of a Kronosaurus Queenslandius excavated in the 1920s by a team from Harvard University and now on show in the US. Pride of the collection is a complete skeleton of a seal-like pliosaur, from the Cretaceous period a hundred million years ago – the most intact vertebrate fossil ever found in Australia – and the minmi ankylosaur, with its armour-plated hide. Look for the big blue-and-white kronosaurus outside; the museum doubles as a visitor centre and there’s also a café and bakery.
Arrival and information Richmond
By plane Richmond airport, 5km northwest of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Hughenden (3 weekly; 25min); Julia Creek (3 weekly; 30min), Mount Isa (3 weekly; 1hr 30min); Townsville (3 weekly; 1hr 40min).
By train The twice-weekly Townsville–Mount Isa Inlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) calls at Richmond station on Middleton St in the town centre, departing Wed & Sat 10.45pm (westbound) and Thurs & Sun 11.58pm (eastbound).
Destinations Charters Towers (7hr); Cloncurry (6hr 15min); Hughenden (2hr 15min); Julia Creek (3hr 10min); Mount Isa (10hr 50min); Townsville (10hr 10min).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) coaches depart from Kronosaurus Korner, 91 Goldring St.
Destinations Charters Towers (4 weekly; 4hr 55min); Cloncurry (4 weekly; 3hr); Hughenden (4 weekly; 1hr 25min); Julia Creek (4 weekly; 1hr 30min); Mount Isa (4 weekly; 5hr); Townsville (4 weekly; 6hr 35min).
Tourist information The visitor centre (daily 8.30am–5pm; 07 4719 3377, http://richmond.qld.gov.au) is at Kronosaurus Korner, 91 Goldring St.
Accommodation
Lakeview Caravan Park 109 Goldring St; http://richmondlakeviewcaravanpark.com.au. Close to Kronosaurus Korner and overlooking Lake Tritton, this is the best place to stay in town, with caravans, bunkhouses, and more comfortable en-suite cabins. $$
JULIA CREEK, a 149km drive west of Richmond along the main highway, is home to the near-threatened Julia Creek dunnart, a nocturnal, insect-eating, mouse-like marsupial measuring just 10–12cm. You can see one of their more common relatives, a fat-tailed dunnart, going about its business and learn about them at the live exhibit called Beneath the Creek in the visitor centre. However, the town is best known for April’s quirky three-day Dirt n Dust Festival (http://dirtndust.com) which combines serious sporting competitions such as horseracing and a triathlon with more offbeat events such as bog snorkelling – an artificial bog is dug out of the dry soil for the occasion.
Arrival and Information Julia Creek
By plane Julia Creek airport, 3km southwest of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Hughenden (3 weekly; 45min), Mount Isa (3 weekly; 45min); Richmond (3 weekly; 30min); Townsville (3 weekly; 2hr 30min).
By train The twice-weekly Townsville–Mount Isa Inlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) calls at Julia Creek station on Goldring St, opposite Julia St, departing Thurs & Sun 2.10am (westbound) and 8.55pm (eastbound).
Destinations Charters Towers (10hr); Cloncurry (2hr 50min); Hughenden (5hr 30min); Mount Isa (7hr 25min); Richmond (3hr); Townsville (13hr 15min).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) coaches depart from the rest area opposite 42 Burke St in the town centre.
Destinations Charters Towers (4 weekly; 6hr 35min); Cloncurry (4 weekly; 1hr 25min); Hughenden (4 weekly; 3hr); Mount Isa (4 weekly; 2 hr 45min); Richmond (4 weekly; 1hr 35min); Townsville (4 weekly; 8hr 15min).
Tourist information At The Creek visitor centre (Mon–Fri 8.30am–5pm, Sat & Sun 9am–noon; 07 4746 7690, http://atthecreek.com.au) is at 34 Burke St.
Accommodation and eating
Julia Creek Caravan Park Old Normanton Rd; http://atthecreek.com.au. Backing onto Julia Creek itself and a good spot for fishing and nature walks, this caravan park has low-cost sites, donga units, cabins (shared and en-suite bathrooms), a TV lounge and a pool. During June to September the park offers Monday night bush dinners. $$
CLONCURRY, 137km west of Julia Creek, is caught between two landscapes, where the flat eastern plains rise to a rough and rocky plateau. Given that Cloncurry is one of the hottest places in Australia, you can be assured of a warm welcome: average summer highs are between 36°C and 38.5°C (still nowhere near the record high of 46.9°C, hit in December 2012). Cloncurry offers glimpses into the mining history that permeates the whole stretch west to larger Mount Isa. Copper was discovered here in 1867, but as the town lacked a rail link to the coast until 1908, profits were eroded by the necessity of transporting the ore by camel to Normanton. The highway runs through town as McIlwraith Street east of the railway line, and Ramsay Street to the west.
Cloncurry Unearthed
Mary Kathleen Memorial Park, Flinders Hwy (McIlwraith St) • May–Oct Mon–Fri 8.30am–4.30pm, Sat & Sun 9am–4pm, Nov–April Mon–Fri 8.30am–4.30pm, Sat & Sun 9am–1pm • Entry by donation • http://cloncurry.qld.gov.au
Displaying 20th century buildings, vehicles and machinery salvaged from the short-lived mining town of Mary Kathleen (see page 344), Cloncurry Unearthed is an Outback heritage museum that’s primarily of geological interest, with a comprehensive catalogue of local ores, fossils and gemstones arranged in long cases. First Nations tools and Burke’s water bottle add historical depth.
John Flynn Place
Daintree St • Mon–Fri 9am–4pm, Sat & Sun 9am–3pm; Sat & Sun closed Nov–April • Admission by donation • http://experiencecloncurry.com.au
Cloncurry’s isolation inspired the formation of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and John Flynn Place is a monument to the man who pioneered the use of radio and plane to provide a “mantle of safety over the Outback”. The exhibition explains how ideas progressed with technology, from pedal-powered radios to assistance from the young Qantas, resulting in the opening of the first Flying Doctor base in Cloncurry in 1928.
The Chinese and Afghanistan Cemeteries
Chinese Cemetery: off Isley St • Afghanistan Cemetery: north end of Henry St
A different aspect of Cloncurry’s past is evident in the cemeteries on the outskirts of town. To the south of the highway, before you cross the creek on the way to Mount Isa, is the Chinese Cemetery. Here, a hundred plots recall a brief nineteenth-century gold rush when the harsh conditions took a terrible toll on Chinese prospectors. At the north end of Henry Street, the unnamed graves at the Afghanistan Cemetery are all aligned with Mecca. Afghanis were vital to Cloncurry’s survival before the coming of the railway, organizing camel trains that carried the ore to Normanton from where it was shipped to Europe.
Arrival and information Cloncurry
By plane Cloncurry airport, 6km north of town, is served by QantasLink (http://qantas.com.au) and Virgin Australia (http://virginaustralia.com).
Destinations Brisbane (2 weekly; 2hr 10min); Mount Isa (2–3 weekly; 25min); Townsville (2–3 weekly; 1hr 25min).
By train The twice-weekly Townsville–Mount Isa Inlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au) calls at Cloncurry station on Hutchinson Parade on the south side of town, departing Thurs & Sun 5.20am (westbound) and 5.45pm (eastbound).
Destinations Charters Towers (13hr 10min); Hughenden (8hr 40min); Julia Creek (3hr 10min); Mount Isa (4hr 15min); Richmond (6hr 10min); Townsville (16hr 25min).
By bus Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) calls at Cloncurry Agencies, 45 Ramsay St.
Destinations Barcaldine (daily; 8hr 20min); Blackall (daily; 9hr 40min); Brisbane (daily; 26hr 20min); Charleville (daily; 14hr 5min); Charters Towers (4 weekly; 8hr); Hughenden (4 weekly; 4hr 30min); Ilfracombe (daily; 7hr 25min); Julia Creek (4 weekly; 1hr 25min); Longreach (daily; 7hr 5min); Mitchell (daily; 16hr 35min); Mount Isa (daily; 1hr 30min); Richmond (4 weekly; 3hr); Roma (daily; 17hr 45min); Toowoomba (daily; 24hr 10min); Townsville (4 weekly; 9hr 40min); Winton (daily; 4hr 5min).
Tourist information The visitor centre (Mon–Fri 8.30am–4.30pm, Sat & Sun 9am–4pm; 07 4742 1361, http://experiencecloncurry.com) is at Cloncurry Unearthed in the Mary Kathleen Memorial Park on McIlwraith St. Staff can advise on where to go bush-bashing for gemstones and furnish you with a fossicking licence (from $9.02 for one month; also available at http://qld.gov.au; see page 335).
Services Most services – banks, supermarket, half-dozen bars and a post office – are along Ramsay St or the grid of streets immediately north.
Accommodation and Eating
Cloncurry Caravan Park Oasis 56 McIlwraith St; http://cloncurrycaravanparkoasis.com.au. The best caravan park in Cloncurry, with camping sites, thirteen cabins (five without en suites) and a saltwater pool to cool off in. $$
Gidgee Inn Motel McIlwraith St; http://southerncrossmotelgroup.com.au. This upmarket, eco-conscious motel, named after a local tree and with distinctive red “rammed earth” walls, is close to the Mary Kathleen Memorial Park. It has spacious en suites and a saltwater swimming pool. $$
North from Cloncurry
The (sealed) Burke Developmental Road heads 380km north from Cloncurry past forests of termite mounds and kapok trees to Normanton (see page 350). The tiny settlement of Quamby is about 46km north of Cloncurry and the Burke and Wills Roadhouse another 137km beyond it. Aside from being a welcome break in the journey, with fuel pumps and a bar, the roadhouse also marks the turning west on a sealed road to Gregory Downs, gateway to the oasis of Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park.
West to Mount Isa
The rough country between Cloncurry and Mount Isa, 118km along the highway, is evidence of ancient upheavals that shattered the landscape and created the region’s extensive mineral deposits. While the highway continues to Mount Isa past the Burke and Wills monument and the Kalkadoon/Mitakoodi boundary at Corella Creek, forays into the bush uncover remains of less fortunate mining settlements.
About 2km off Barkly Highway (on an unsealed road normally reachable in a 2WD in dry conditions)
About midway between Cloncurry and Mount Isa, is the ghost town of Mary Kathleen, where uranium was found in 1954. The two-street town was built in 1956 and completely dismantled in 1982 when export restrictions halted mining, but you can still just make out the layout.
As the only place of consequence for 700km in any direction, the industrial smokestacks, concrete paving and sterile hills of MOUNT ISA assume strange oasis-like qualities on arrival; it’s a shock to see that the mine is right in the heart of the city. There are a number of things to pique visitors’ interest before heading on: unusual museums, local mine tours, Australia’s largest rodeo every August, and simply the fascinating way the town has grown around the mine. One of the world’s largest cities in terms of surface area – its administrative boundaries stretch halfway to Cloncurry and all the way to Camooweal – Mount Isa sits astride a wealth of zinc, silver, lead and copper. The city’s founding father was John Campbell Miles, who discovered ore in 1923, established Mount Isa Mines the next year and began commercial mining in 1925 (see page 346).
West of the often-dry Leichhardt River, Mount Isa Mines, with its two huge chimneys illuminated at night, is the city’s major landmark; the City Lookout on Hilary Street gives an excellent view. The Barkly Highway runs through town as Marian and Grace streets, with the city centre immediately south of the latter between Simpson and West streets; the highway then crosses the river and joins the road to Camooweal in front of Mount Isa Mines.
Outback at Isa
19 Marian St • Daily 8.30am–4.30pm • Isa Experience & Outback Park Charge • Riversleigh Fossil Centre Charge • Hard Times Mine Tour Charge• http://discovermountisa.com.au
Mount Isa’s main tourist attraction is Outback at Isa, a museum and visitor information complex. The Isa Experience explores the history of the region: multimedia displays on the ground floor examine prehistoric life, First Nations culture and the development of Mount Isa as a centre of mining activity, while the theatre on the upper level shows a poignant film focusing on the personalities who fostered the city’s multinational community over the years. Outside is the Outback Park, a two-hectare garden with a central lagoon surrounded by native plants.
The Riversleigh Fossils Centre gives an excellent insight into how paleontologists working at the Riversleigh Fossil Site have discovered an incredible record of the marsupial and mammalian evolution and environmental change that occurred between ten thousand and twenty million years ago. Imaginative, life-sized dioramas and an informative video recreate the region at a time when it was a lush wetland, populated by ancestral platypus and koalas, giant snakes and emus, carnivorous kangaroos and the enigmatic “thingadonta” (so called by researchers because it was unlike anything they’d seen before). Officially, this strange creature is now known as Yalkaparidon coheni. You can also visit the laboratory, where fossils are prepared by soaking boulders collected at Riversleigh in weak acid, dissolving the rock to leave bones, beaks and teeth intact.
Mount Isa’s working mines are not accessible to the general public. However, you can get a vivid feel of what it’s like beneath the surface by taking the miner-led Hard Times Mine Tour. Visitors are equipped with full protective gear, including hard helmet and torch, before descending into the 1.2km of tunnels that make up the specially constructed mine. Guides are former miners.
The Mount Isa Mines complex, owned since 2013 by multinational mining giant Glencore, is a land of trundling yellow mine trucks, mountains of slag, intense activity and kilometres of noisy vibrating pipelines. Copper, silver, lead and zinc deposits are mined almost 2km down by a workforce of four thousand; the rock is roughly crushed and hoisted to the surface before undergoing a second crushing, grinding and washing in flotation tanks, to separate ore from waste. Zinc is sold as it is, copper is smelted into ingots and transported to Townsville for refining, while four-tonne ingots of lead and silver mix are sent to England to be separated.
Underground Hospital and Beth Anderson Museum
65 Deighton St • April–Sept Mon–Sat 9.30am–2pm • Charge • http://undergroundhospital.com
The Underground Hospital and Beth Anderson Museum is well worth a visit for its fascinating collection of medical memorabilia, much of which, including an original operating table, is still coolly sited within the hollowed-out hillside here. Following the bombing of Darwin in 1942, the underground chambers were constructed to protect patients in the event of an air raid but were never used.
Lake Moondarra
20km north of Mount Isa, on the road to Camooweal
Lake Moondarra is hugely popular at weekends for watersports – windsurfing, water-skiing, sailing and canoeing – and for fishing. During the week, it’s nearly deserted, attracting goannas and wallabies as well as flocks of pelicans. Beyond the dam wall at the north end of the lake, the unexpectedly green and shady Warrina Park is the unlikely home of peacocks and apostle birds.
Arrival and Departure Mount Isa
By plane Mount Isa airport (http://mountisaairport.com.au), 7km north of the city centre is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au), Virgin Australia (http://virginaustralia.com) and Qantas (http://qantas.com.au). Mount Isa Coaches (http://mountisacoaches.com.au) runs an airport shuttle service.
Destinations Boulia (2 weekly; 50min); Brisbane (1–3 daily; 2hr 15min); Cairns (4 weekly; 2hr); Cloncurry (3–4 weekly; 30min); Julia Creek (3 weekly; 45min); Townsville (daily except Sat; 1hr 30min); plus indirect flights to Birdsville, Burketown, Charleville, Hughenden, Quilpie, Normanton, Karumba, Richmond, Toowoomba, Windorah and other destinations.
By train Mount Isa station on Flower St, west of the river, is the terminus for the twice-weekly Townsville–Mount Isa Inlander (http://queenslandrailtravel.com.au), which arrives Thurs & Sun 9.35am and departs eastbound at 1.30pm.
Destinations Charters Towers (17hr 25min); Cloncurry (4hr 5min); Hughenden (12hr 55min); Julia Creek (7hr 25min); Richmond (10hr 30min); Townsville (20hr 40min).
By bus Mount Isa is the starting point for long-distance coaches to Brisbane and Townsville. Greyhound (http://greyhound.com.au) coaches depart from 66 Camooweal St.
Destinations Barcaldine (daily; 9hr 45min); Blackall (daily; 11hr 10min); Brisbane (1–2 daily; 26hr 10min); Charleville (daily; 15hr 5min); Charters Towers (4 weekly; 10hr); Cloncurry (1–2 daily; 1hr 20min); Hughenden (4 weekly; 6hr 25min); Ilfracombe (daily; 9hr 20min); Julia Creek (4 weekly; 3hr 15min); Longreach (daily; 8hr 30min); Mitchell (daily; 17hr 45min); Richmond (4 weekly; 6hr 40min); Roma (daily; 18hr 50min); Toowoomba (daily; 23hr 50min); Townsville (2 4 weekly; 11hr 5min); Winton (daily; 5hr 50min).
By car From Mount Isa, it’s a monotonous 200km to Camooweal and the fringes of the black soil Barkly Tablelands, and over twice that to Boodjamulla. Several car rental firms have offices at the airport.
Information
Tourist information The excellent visitor centre (daily 8.30am–4.30pm; 07 4749 1555, http://discovermountisa.com.au) is at Outback at Isa, 19 Marian St. It offers a range of excursions, including full-day tours of Mount Isa for $299 (http://northwesttours.com.au).
Accommodation See map page 345
The mining boom has seen rents skyrocket, and this, combined with the town’s role as a staging post for interstate travellers, means accommodation is surprisingly expensive and in short supply.
AAOK Moondarra Accommodation Village 2 Moondarra Drive, 4km north of the city off Camooweal Rd; http://moondarraaccommodation.com.au. The best bet for caravanners, this caravan park is in a picturesque location beside a shady bird-filled creek, and offers a saltwater swimming pool, basic bunkhouses and en-suite cabins. $
Ibis Styles Mt Isa Verona cnr Rodeo Drive & Camooweal St; http://all.accor.com. A reliable mid-range hotel with a few colourful quirks to it, bang in the centre of town, providing welcoming service, pool, restaurant, and well-equipped and spacious en suites with a/c, flat-screen TV, bathtub, and loungers. $$$
Traveller’s Haven cnr Pamela & Spence sts; http://travellershaven.com.au. Traveller’s Haven is Mount Isa’s only real backpacker option, a 10min walk from the centre, offering decent three- to five-bed dorms and private rooms, plus a pool, communal kitchen and TV lounge. $
Eating See map page 345
The Buffs Club 35 Grace St; http://buffs.com.au. The Buffs (for buffalo) is the best all-rounder in town, with a complex containing a restaurant, café, bar, bottle shop and poker machines. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner daily, with a menu firmly weighted towards meat-eaters, plus pizzas, a few pasta dishes and the occasional curry. It offers a free courtesy bus service. $$$
Mount Isa Irish Club 1 Nineteenth Ave, 2km south of the centre; http://theirishclub.com.au. Similar to The Buffs but with a more Celtic feel, this restaurant-bar-club-coffee shop also has a popular grill for evening meals. It also has a free courtesy bus service. $$
Boodjamulla National Park
West of Mount Isa, off the Barkly Highway, Boodjamulla National Park is hidden from the rest of the world by the Constance Range. Suddenly, the park’s red sandstone walls and splash of tropical greenery are revealed. There’s little warning of this change in scenery; within moments, a land that barely supports scattered herds of cattle is exchanged for palm forests and creeks teeming with wildlife. There are two sections to the park, Riversleigh Fossil Site and Lawn Hill Gorge, both highly worthwhile.
The gateway to the area, GREGORY DOWNS, is a tiny community where the pub is the local hub. Each May Day weekend, there’s a wild canoe race down the Gregory River behind the hotel, beside which is a beautiful sandy shore where you can camp for free (toilets and showers available in town). From here, Lawn Hill Gorge is 76km west along a decent gravel road.
Riversleigh Fossil Site
Around 110km north of Camooweal, the World Heritage Riversleigh Fossil Site was once cloaked in rainforest supporting many ancestral forms of Australian fauna. The road from Camooweal to Riversleigh crosses the Gregory River three times around Riversleigh Fossil Site, offering sudden patches of shady green and cool air in an otherwise hostile landscape. Camping is not allowed at Riversleigh; the nearest place is at Lawn Hill Gorge.
Riversleigh’s fossil finds cover a period from twenty million to just ten thousand years ago, a staggering range for a single site, and one that details the transitional period from Australia’s climatic heyday to its current parched state. Riversleigh may ultimately produce a fossil record of evolutionary change for an entire ecosystem, but don’t expect to see much in situ as the fossils are trapped in limestone boulders which have to be carefully blasted out and treated with acid to release their contents. A roadside shelter houses a map of the landscape while fossil sites – comprising entombed bones and teeth – surround the rocky outcrop behind, linked by marked pathways highlighted by illustrated interpretation boards.
Lawn Hill Gorge
When Lawn Hill Creek started carving its 40m-deep gorge the region was still a tropical wetland, but as the climate began to dry out, vegetation retreated to a handful of moist, isolated pockets. Animals were drawn to creeks and waterholes and people followed the game – middens and art detail a First Nations culture at least seventeen thousand years old. The National Parks campsite occupies a tamed edge of the creek at the mouth of the gorge. An easy hour’s paddle over calm green water takes you from the National Parks campsite between the stark, vertical cliffs of the Middle Gorge to Indari Falls, a wonderfully refreshing swimming spot with a ramp so you can carry your gear down. Beyond here, the creek alternates between calm ponds and slack channels choked with vegetation before slowing to a trickle under the rock faces of the Upper Gorge. You’ll see plenty of birds – egrets, bitterns and kites – though freshwater crocodiles are harder to spot. Since visitor numbers have increased, this timid reptile has retreated to the Lower Gorge, a sluggish tract edged in water lilies and forest where goannas lounge during the day and rare, purple-crowned fairy wrens forage in pandanus leaves. The rocks along the banks of the Lower Gorge – reached on a short walking track from the campsite – are daubed with designs relating to the Dingo Dreaming, a reminder of the sanctity of the gorge to the Waanyi people.
In the creek itself are turtles, shockingly large catfish, and sharp-eyed archer fish that spit jets of water at insects above the surface. Just how isolated all this is becomes clear from the flat top of the Island Stack, a twenty-minute walk from the camp. A pre-dawn hike up the steep sides gives you a commanding view of the sun creeping into the gorge, highlighting orange walls against green palm-tops, which hug the river through a flat, undernourished country.
Arrival and Departure Boodjamulla National Park
By car If you’re making for either Riversleigh Fossil Site or Lawn Hill Gorge, ensure you have a campsite booked and check the latest road conditions (http://parks.des.qld.gov.au) before setting out. The unsealed route to Riversleigh is generally 4WD only (or sometimes even closed altogether), but the Lawn Hill road via the Gregory Downs Roadhouse, while also unsealed, is fine for most cars if it’s dry. The two sections of the park are linked by a 70km track, which is sometimes closed or 4WD only. Wherever you’re driving from, make sure you fuel up.
Accommodation
Lawn Hill Gorge 4km from the park entrance; http://parks.des.qld.gov.au. This DES campsite occupies a tamed edge of the creek close to the mouth of the gorge. Tank water, flushing toilets and cold showers are the only facilities available. Bookings (especially March–Oct) should be made well in advance. Per person $
Wugudaji Adels Grove Camping Park 5km from the gorge; http://adelsgrove.com.au. Founded as a miner’s homestead, and then turned into a botanical garden, this eighty-acre site is an appealing place to stay, with caravan sites, pre-erected safari-style tents, cabins (some with en-suite bathrooms), and bunkrooms (sleeping six). There’s a shop, meals are available, and canoes can be rented. Advanced bookings are essential. $$
The great savannahland of the Gulf of Carpentaria – described by the Dutch explorer Jan Carstensz as being full of hostile peoples – was ignored by the Europeans for centuries after his 1623 visit. Renewed colonial interest, however, was stirred in 1841 by John Lort Stokes, a lieutenant on the Beagle (which had been graced by a young Charles Darwin on an earlier voyage), who absurdly described the coast as “Plains of Promise”.
It took Burke and Wills’ awful 1861 trek to discover that the land here was deficient in nutrients and that the black soil became a quagmire during the wet season. Too difficult to develop, the region hung in limbo as settlements sprang up, staggered on for a while, then disappeared – even today few places could be described as thriving communities. Not that this should put you off visiting – with few real destinations but plenty to see, the Gulf is perfect for those who just like to travel. Don’t miss the awesome lava tubes at Undara, less than four hours from Cairns, while further afield there are gemstones to be fossicked, the coast’s birdlife and exciting barramundi fishing to enjoy, as well as the Gulf’s extraordinary sunsets and sheer remoteness to savour.
Essentials Gulf of Carpentaria
Tourist information Visitors to the Gulf need to be reasonably self-sufficient, as there are few banks, and accommodation is limited to campsites or pricey motels. For information before you go, contact Savannah Guides (http://savannah-guides.com.au), a respected network of tour guides which manages many of the regional reserves.
Dangers It’s possible that you will come face-to-face with the Gulf’s two crocodile species. Locals stress that the only place you’re safe in the water is the shower, so habitually check swimming pools before plunging in, as these amphibians often wander. Stay away from the edges of waterways at all times. Also be sure to bring plenty of insect repellent.
Getting Around
By plane Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au) covers some of the region’s key stops, flying to and between Karumba, Normanton and Burketown from Cairns and Mount Isa.
By train The weekly Cairns–Forsayth Savannahlander (http://savannahlander.com.au) leaves Cairns on Wed (March–Dec) and travels via Kuranda, Mutchilba and Dimbulah to Almaden on the Chillagoe road. On Thurs it continues via Mount Surprise and Einasleigh to Forsayth. On Fri, it heads back via Einasleigh to Mount Surprise, and on Sat it returns to Cairns. The train travels at a snail’s pace, hauling over rickety bridges in carriages with corrugated-iron ceilings and wooden panelling – a pastiche of Outback iconography. Train and accommodation packages begin at $1200. The Gulflander (http://gulflander.com.au) runs once a week each way along an isolated stretch of line between Normanton and Croydon (Wed 8.30am from Normanton; Thurs 8.30am from Croydon; 5hr; single/return $69/115; option of returning from Croydon by bus on Wed). Special services to Critters Camp (2hr each way, $49 return) run on demand (May–Sept; enquire at Normanton station).
By bus Trans North (http://transnorthbus.com) covers the Gulf Developmental Rd from Cairns to Georgetown, Croydon, Normanton and Karumba (3 weekly; 11hr; $156).
By car The main route through the region is along the sealed, 580km-long Gulf Developmental Rd (Highway 1, part of the Savannah Way touring route) which leads west off the Atherton Tablelands to Normanton. Be warned that wet-season flooding (possible Dec–April) can cut main roads and isolate areas of the Gulf for weeks at a time. You shouldn’t venture far off-road without a 4WD at any time.
By tour Heritage Tours (http://heritagetours.com.au) offers excellent tours in this part of Outback Queensland. Nine-night 4WD safaris, staying in a mix of safari tents and motels, with most meals included, are priced from $4,199 (twin share).
The Undara Lava Tubes are astounding, massive subterranean tunnels running in broken chambers for up to 160km beneath the scrub – most weren’t discovered by non-Indigenous people until the 1980s, although tool sites around the cave mouths show that the local Ewamian people have known of their existence for a long time. The tubes were created 190,000 years ago after lava flowing from the now-extinct Undara volcano followed rivers and gullies as it snaked northwest towards the Gulf. Away from the cone, the surface of these lava rivers hardened, forming insulating tubes that kept the lava inside in a liquid state and allowed it to run until the tubes were drained. Today, thick vegetation and soil have completely covered the tubes, and they’d still be hidden if some of their ceilings hadn’t collapsed, creating a way in. These entrance caves are decked in rubble and remnant pockets of thick prehistoric vegetation quite out of place among the dry scrub on the surface.
Once inside, you’ll find that the scale of the tubes is immense. Up to 19m high, their glazed walls bear evidence of the terrible forces that created them – coil patterns and ledges formed by cooling lava, whirlpools where lava forged its way through rock from other flows, and “stalactites” made when solidifying lava dribbled from the ceiling. Some end in lakes, while others are blocked by lava plugs. Animal tracks in the dust indicate the regular passage of kangaroos, snakes and invertebrates, but the overall scale of the tubes tends to deaden any sounds or signs of life. Four species of microbat use some of the tubes as a maternity chamber, emerging at night en masse to feed – up to 150,000 at a time. Lying in wait (though harmless to humans) are brown tree snakes, commonly known as night tigers, which dangle from the treetops.
Arrival and Tours Undara Lava Tubes
By bus The stop for the Trans North (http://transnorthbus.com) Cairns–Karumba service (3 weekly) is at the Gulf Developmental Rd junction. The Undara Experience can pick you up if forewarned; it also runs private coaches from Cairns (3 weekly).
Destinations Cairns (4hr 25min); Croydon (3hr 30min); Karumba (6hr 35min); Mount Surprise (25min); Normanton (5hr 40min).
By car Undara is 275km southwest of Cairns and 390km northwest from Townsville, on the Savannah Way.
Tours Access to the lava tunnels themselves is only allowed on a Savannah Guides-led tour, which you can book at the Undara Experience (http://undara.com.au). The main tours (March–Oct, 2hr, $60) take you through some of the tubes and deliver an intimate rundown on local geology, flora, fauna and history. During the green season (mid-Nov to mid-March), two-hour tours are available. Sunset tours (2hr, $63) include the flight of the microbats.
Accommodation
Undara Experience Savannah Way; http://undara.com.au. A bar and an excellent restaurant accompany a range of accommodation options here, including eleven restored, early 1900s railway carriages with beautiful original features such as leather seats, pull-down stainless-steel handbasins and polished timber fittings. There’s a pool, and you’ll find plenty of other activities, including sunset wildlife-spotting tours and numerous self-guided walks. $$$
Mount Surprise and around
Aside from being a stop for the Savannahlander train, there’s little more to MOUNT SURPRISE, 40km north of Undara, than a service station, a hotel and a couple of caravan parks. Beyond Mount Surprise, the Gulf Developmental Road – sealed, but among the worst in Queensland for stray cattle – crosses the Wall, where expanding gases in a blocked subterranean lava tube forced the ground above it up 20m into a long ridge.
O’Briens Creek Topaz Field
The area’s main attraction lies a bumpy 40km north of Mount Surprise at O’Briens Creek Topaz Field and its waterhole known as the Oasis (check road conditions before departing). You’ll need a fossicker’s licence to search for gems – you can pick one up online at http://qld.gov.au or from Mount Surprise Gems (see page 349).
Arrival And information Mount Surprise
By train The weekly Cairns–Forsayth Savannahlander (http://savannahlander.com.au) stops at Mount Surprise station on Thurs, en route for Einasleigh and Forsayth. On Fri it returns, stopping overnight before continuing its homeward journey to Cairns on Sat.
By bus The stop for the Trans North (http://transnorthbus.com) Cairns–Karumba service (3 weekly) is at 7 Garland St.
Destinations Cairns (5hr); Croydon (2hr 30min); Karumba (5hr 25min); Undara (25min).
By car Check road conditions at http://racq.com.au or call 07 13 19 05.
Bedrock Village Caravan Park Garnet St; http://bedrockvillage.com.au. This is a friendly place – with a nod to the Flintstones – and offers decent sites and cabins. The owner here is a registered Savannah Guide and runxss tours to Undara (see page 348). $$
On the Gulf Developmental Road, about 90km west of Mount Surprise, GEORGETOWN is a diminutive but nonetheless lively little place, home to several places to stay, and with shops and pubs strung out along the main street. The area around Georgetown has a reputation as a good place to fossick for gold nuggets.
Arrival and Information Georgetown
By bus The stop for the Trans North (http://transnorthbus.com) Cairns–Karumba service (3 weekly) is at 18 George St.
Destinations Cairns (6hr 35min); Croydon (1hr 30min); Karumba (3hr 25min); Mount Surprise (1hr); Undara (2hr 10min).
Tourist information The visitor centre (April–Sept daily 8.30am–4pm; Oct–March Mon–Fri 8.30am–4pm; 07 4079 9027, http://unearththeridge.com.au) is at TerrEstrial on Low St, which doubles as a library and mineralogy museum.
Accommodation
Latara Motel Gulf Development Rd; http://georgetownaccommodation.com. Set amid seven acres of bushland, the Latara Motel has basic en-suite rooms with TVs, fridges and tea- and coffee-making facilities, as well as self-catering rooms and villas, a pool and restaurant-bar. $$
Forty kilometres south of Georgetown along a partly gravelled road is FORSAYTH, terminus for the Savannahlander train and the last place to stock up before heading into the bush to two unusual locations: Agate Creek (2hr south in a 4WD through the scrub), where fossickers scour the creek banks after each wet season for these semiprecious stones, and Cobbold Gorge, 50km south of Forsayth on a passable dirt road. An attractive oasis inhabited by freshwater crocodiles and crayfish, the gorge is surrounded by baking-hot sandstone country. Located on Robin Hood cattle station, it’s owned by the Terry family, who run tours (see below).
Arrival and Tours Cobbold Gorge
By train Forsayth station is the southern terminus of the weekly Cairns–Forsayth Savannahlander (http://savannahlander.com.au). It arrives on Thurs afternoon and leaves again on Fri morning, overnighting at Mount Surprise and arriving in Cairns on Sat evening.
Destinations Cairns (2 days); Mount Surprise (5hr 15min).
Tours Between April and Oct, Cobbold Gorge Tours (http://cobboldgorge.com.au) runs 3hr boat tours of the gorge ($116), scenic helicopter flights (15min, $330), and stand-up paddle boarding tours into the gorge ($58).
Accommodation
Cobbold Village Cobb Rd; http://cobboldgorge.com.au. As well as caravan sites and en-suite cabins (the latter come with a/c, TVs and kitchenettes), this resort/village on Robin Hood cattle station has a restaurant and coffee shop and a pool to cool off in. Savannah Guides run tours from here. $$
CROYDON, 150km west of Georgetown along the Gulf Developmental Road, was the site of Queensland’s last major gold rush after two station hands found nuggets in a fence-post hole in 1885. Within five years the railway was built, carrying up to two hundred passengers a week, and lucky miners whooped it up at Croydon’s 36 hotels (only one survives today), before chaotic management brought operations to a close in 1900. Today, the place feels frozen in time, with most of its elegant buildings predating 1920. Several of these now form the core of the heritage precinct, including the general store and the restored old courthouse with their original fittings; it’s free to wander inside.
Lake Belmore
4km north of town along a sealed road
The highlight of the local area is Lake Belmore, a great spot for a picnic (free electric barbecues are available) or a spot of barra fishing. Some locals swim here, though be warned: there are freshwater crocodiles about; camping is prohibited. En route to/from Croydon you’ll pass the stunning Diehm’s Lookout.
Arrival and Information Croydon
By train Croydon station on Helen St, on the west side of town, is the southern terminus of the weekly Normanton–Croydon Gulflander (http://gulflander.com.au), which arrives Wed 1.30pm and departs northbound Thurs 8.30am.
Destination Normanton (5hr).
By bus The stop for the Trans North (http://transnorthbus.com) Cairns–Karumba service (3 weekly) is at the Gulfgate BP Roadhouse, Gulf Developmental Rd.
Destinations Cairns (8hr 5min); Georgetown (1hr 30min); Karumba (2hr 35min); Mount Surprise (2hr 30min); Normanton (2hr).
Tourist information The friendly visitor centre (Oct–May Mon–Fri 9am–4.30pm; Sat & Sun 10am–3pm (from mid-Sept); 07 4748 7152, http://croydon.qld.gov.au) is at the True Blue heritage centre on the Gulf Developmental Rd at 51 Samwell St. It can provide a self-guided walking tour leaflet and directions to other relics, as well as to Lake Belmore.
Accommodation
Croydon Caravan Park Alldridge St; http://croydon.qld.gov.au. This well-shaded park, on the Georgetown side of town, is a good place to stop for the night, with sites and cabins, plus a pool and a book exchange. $$
Founded on the flat, gritty banks of the Norman River in 1868, NORMANTON was once the Gulf’s main port, connected to the Croydon goldfield by rail and Cloncurry’s copper mines by camel train. Normanton’s fortunes declined along with regional mineral deposits, and today there’s only a sparse collection of stores and service stations, with shop awnings and a handful of trees providing scant shade. A worthy survivor of former times is the beautiful timber Burns Philp Store, built in the 1880s, which covers almost an acre and remains upright despite the attentions of over a century’s worth of termites. It now houses the library, along with the visitor centre.
Arrival and Departure Normanton
By plane Normanton airport, on Airport Rd just south of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Cairns (4 weekly; 1hr 30min); Karumba (1 weekly; 30min); Mount Isa (4 weekly; 3hr 55min).
By train Normanton’s historic railway station, adorned with ferns and greenery, is on Matilda St in the town centre. This is the home terminus of the weekly Normanton–Croydon Gulflander (http://gulflander.com.au), which departs Wed 8.30am and arrives back Thurs 1.30pm.
Destination Croydon (5hr).
By bus The stop for the Trans North (http://transnorthbus.com) Cairns–Karumba service (3 weekly) is at 29 Woodward St.
Destinations Cairns (10hr 5min); Croydon (1hr 40min); Karumba (55min); Mount Surprise (4hr 30min).
By car Karumba lies 70km north on a sealed road; Cloncurry is 400km south via the Burke and Wills Roadhouse; Burketown is 226km west on a partially unsealed and often dusty road.
Information
Tourist information The visitor centre (Mon–Fri 9am–3.30pm; 07 4747 8444, http://carpentaria.qld.gov.au) is in the Burns Philp building on Landsborough St. Pick up a self-guided walking-trail leaflet of the town’s historical points of interest.
Accommodation
Gulfland Motel and Caravan Park 11 Landsborough St; http://gulflandmotelandcaravanpark.com. As well as powered sites shaded by mango and palm trees, rather old-fashioned motel rooms are on offer here. Facilities include a pool, restaurant, BBQ area, book swap, and laundry. $$
Reached from Normanton along a 70km sealed stretch of cracked, burning saltpan, patrolled by saurus cranes and jabiru storks, KARUMBA sits near the mouth of the Norman River. The town mostly survives on prawn trawling and fishing, and live cattle exports to Asia.
Central Karumba is along Yappar Street on the Norman River’s south bank, with a supermarket, café, post office, and a smattering of places to stay. Karumba Point, 10km downstream, overlooks mudflats and mangroves along the river mouth where it meets the Gulf’s open seas. It’s the nicer of the two areas and has more places to stay.
Les Wilson Barramundi Discovery Centre
149 Yappar St, 2km outside town along the river • Centre April–Sept daily 9am–4pm; Oct–March Mon–Fri 9am–1pm • Free • Tour 45min • Charge • http://barracentre.com.au
Declining stocks of barramundi in the Gulf have inspired the opening of the impressively designed Les Wilson Barramundi Discovery Centre, which raises fish for release into the wild. During the tour, you have the chance to hand-feed the fish and learn about their regeneration.
Arrival and Departure Karumba
By plane Karumba airport, on the coast 8km north of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Cairns (1 weekly; 3hr 30min); Mount Isa (1 weekly; 3hr 5min); Normanton (1 weekly; 30min).
By bus The stop for the Trans North (http://transnorthbus.com) Cairns–Karumba service (3 weekly) is at 21 Palmer St, Karumba Point.
Destinations Cairns (11hr); Croydon (2hr 35min); Mount Surprise (5hr 25min); Normanton (55min).
Information and Activities
Tourist information The visitor centre (April–Sept daily 9am–4pm, Oct–March Mon–Fri 9am–1pm; 07 4745 2211, http://carpentaria.qld.gov.au) is in the library at 154 Walker St.
Fishing and cruises If you want to go fishing or on a sunset wildlife-spotting cruise, contact Kerry D Fishing (http://kerrydfishing.com.au) or Ferryman River Cruises (http://ferryman.net.au).
Accommodation, Eating and Drinking
End of the Road Motel Palmer St, Karumba Point; http://endoftheroadmotel.com.au. The smartest option in town, the award-winning End of the Road Motel has bright and spacious en suites and apartments opening directly onto the waterfront, plus a pool and all mod-cons, including hairdryers and DVD players. $$$
Karumba Point Sunset Caravan Park cnr Yapper St & Massey Drive; http://sunsetcp.com.au. A short walk from town, this caravan park is a solid choice, offering both cabins (with either shared or private bathrooms), as well as sites and a pool. $
Sunset Tavern 2 Ward St, Karumba Point; 07 4745 9183. A popular local pub, right on the waterfront, this is the perfect spot for a cold beer or glass of wine while watching the sun set across the Gulf. Generous servings of good pub grub, including super-fresh barra and mud crabs, are on offer too. Main courses range from pub classics like fish’n’chips and steak with salad, or you could splash out and have the seafood platter. $$
Set on the Albert River some 230km west of Normanton, via the site of Burke and Wills’ northernmost camp near the Bynoe River, BURKETOWN balances on the dusty frontier between grassland and the Gulf’s 30km-deep coastal flats. Another Gulf fishing hotspot, it’s renowned for the spectacular Morning Glory rolling cloud formations that appear in the early morning from late September to early November. The lack of sealed roads into town makes Burketown something of an outpost (the closest sealed road extends as far as Gregory Downs, 117km to the south; see page 347), but you’ll find a good range of facilities including a modern pub and a hot artesian spring.
Arrival and Information Burketown
By plane Burketown Airport, just west of town, is served by Regional Express (Rex; http://rex.com.au).
Destinations Doomadgee (2 weekly; 25mins); Mornington Island (2 weekly; 40mins); plus indirect flights to Cairns and Mount Isa.
By bus There are no long-distance coaches to Burketown; the closest option is the Trans North (http://transnorthbus.com) Cairns–Karumba service (3 weekly).
Tourist information The visitor centre (April–Oct daily 8.30am–4pm; 07 4745 5111, http://burketown.com.au) is in the old post office building on the corner of Musgrave St and Burke St.
Services There’s a convenience store and a post office on Sloman S (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am–noon). The Tirranna Springs Roadhouse, 27km west of town, is the nearest place to get fuel.
Accommodation and Eating
Burketown Caravan Park Slomen St; http://burketowncaravanpark.net.au. A welcoming place for travellers, with decent powered sites, basic rooms and larger cabins (the latter have shared or private bathrooms). Basic groceries are available on site, as is fishing gear if you prefer to catch your own dinner. $$
Burketown Pub Beames St; http://burketownpub.com. The Burketown Pub has two bars, a dining room, pool tables, and a beer garden. Burgers, sandwiches and fish and chips are on the menu for lunch, while for dinner there are steaks, calamari and more. $$
If you have a 4WD and want to head into the Northern Territory, drive 170km west from Burketown via the First Nations community of Doomadgee to the Hell’s Gate Roadhouse, 50km from the NT. As you continue the drive west through pandanus-frilled waterholes and anthill-strewn landscapes, you’re rewarded with glimpses of plentiful wildlife and even saltwater crocs. The road on from Hell’s Gate improves inside the Territory, and once there you shouldn’t have any trouble reaching Borroloola, 266km up the track.