Ditch the city stress, roll up your sleeves and get amongst Outback Queensland’s people and places. Things get real out here. Feel the dust settle on your skin and smell the sweat as the bucking bronco twists and turns, or lean back and look at the millions of stars scattered above you.

You’ll meet people who actually have the time to stop and speak… and smile! The bigger the country it seems, the bigger the characters. Talk to drovers, truck drivers, farmers, publicans, artists, prospectors, miners - big booming voices, big smiles, big stories, big hearts.

And it’s not just the residents that have stories to tell. The sense of connection to history from the time of the dinosaurs to Australia’s first fumbling steps of nationhood is palpable.

Hit Australia’s dinosaur trail, join a paleontological dig and uncover a Muttaburrasaurus’ metacarpal, or fossick for gemstones on a prospector’s plot.

Plenty of more recent history has been preserved in the area’s world-class museums – Aussie legends were born as were airlines in what would seem the most unlikely of places, and generally there’s a monument to help celebrate these historical turning points.