Cloncurry
Known as the “Friendly Heart of the Great North West, Cloncurry is an area rich in minerals and history. Sitting on the crossroads of the Matilda Highway and the Overlander Way, its main industries are copper and gold mining and cattle. Our visit here was only going to be a brief one, just one night, […]
Cunnamulla
Mention Cunnamulla and you automatically think of the Outback. Hundreds of kilometres of red dust and clear blue skies that stretch forever belie the thriving township that survives out here in this vast hot land. Situated in the mulga belt of South-West Queensland, the region supports the mulga tree, one of the acacia family, and […]
Hughenden
100 million years ago the Hughenden region was part of a great prehistoric inland sea. The giant Muttaburrasaurus roamed the shore and the skies were ruled by mighty Pterosaurs. Today, Hughenden embraces the spirit of the outback like no other place and there’s not a dinosaur in sight. Well, not a real one, anyway. We […]
Karumba
Karumba, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, is one of those places that anyone with a yen for fishing just has to visit. It’s a long way from anywhere but I’m reliably told (by my other half)) that it’s worth it. The Burke Developmental Road, also known as the Matilda Highway, is a long, lonely stretch of […]
Longreach
It’s flat, pretty bare country coming into Longreach. It’s so lonely a stretch of road that I wondered what it would be like driving along here at night. The word “dark” wouldn’t come close to describing it and the only light would be the brilliance of the stars overhead. Would we be able to see […]
Noccundra
John has a list of places he absolutely has to see and number 4 on that list is the town of Noccundra in Outback Queensland. It’s a tiny little spot on the map that could be mistaken for a dirty mark on the paper. But he was determined that we were going there and, as […]
Queen Mary Falls
Summer. It’s hot, the beaches are crowded, the traffic horrendous. And the humidity is a killer. We wanted to go away for a break but really did not want to face the heat and the crowds. When John suggested Queen Mary Falls my first thought was “where?” 209 kilometres (130 miles) southwest of Brisbane, on […]
Rainbow Beach
Isn’t it strange how a spur-of-the-moment decision can change everything. Rainbow Beach was not in the plan at all. We had intended to stay somewhere else but that fell through and then a signpost on the side of the road changed our whole trip. It might be off the main highway but what an astoundingly marvellous […]
Richmond
Richmond, the fossil capital of Australia. Known as the “Oasis in the Outback, the township boasts outstanding gardens filled with bougainvilleas,native trees, and shrubs, the man-made Lake Fred Tritton, and the award-winning Kronosaurus Korner Fossil Centre, one of the star attractions on Australia’s Dinosaur Trail. The whole area was once an inland sea and some of […]
Roma
Roma, Capital of the Western Downs, as the publicity goes, is the centre of Queensland’s oil and gas exploration. It is also the service centre for much of western Queensland and although it is a modern country town it does boast some impressive heritage buildings, including the Roma Court House, opened in 1901. The original court […]