- Queensland Holidays

Retrace the tracks of Cobb & Co, the first people movers of the outback, as you traverse the unique and fascinating Adventure Way. Bitumen roads now replace the rutted tracks once taken by horse drawn coaches of all but the last 150 km, enabling even those in a two-wheel drive to experience the richness of this route.

The rewards are spectacular - vivid sunrises and sunsets, night skies with millions of stars sprinkled across the heavens. It will take your breath away.

The Adventure Way takes you from Queensland's richest grain and cotton producing area, Dalby, through brigalow and belah belts to the outback plains where mulga lines the road tinged orange from the surrounding sandy soils. The mulga slowly gives way to a treeless gibber landscape and Queensland meets South Australia where the Adventure Way terminates at Innamincka.

You won't be on the road long till you understand why they call it the Adventure Way! From gut wrenching stories of spirit and tragedy, Queensland's outback has become famous and evolved into a must see destination. However, don't think venturing into the outback means a loss of civilisation and all the mod cons we have come to regard as the essentials of life. All along the route, there is fine accommodation, great hearty meals, and best of all plenty of water for hot relaxing showers provided courtesy of the Artesian Basin, the vein of life running under this stark beautiful land.

You could easily accomplish the whole drive in two days but then you would miss all the exciting activities and sites along the way, and there are plenty. This drive has a different adventure to be experienced each step, characters and sites exclusive to each area who will welcome and share with you their special part of Queensland. It's worthwhile planning to take a few extra days if time permits to explore the byways.

Dalby, just over 200 km north-west of Brisbane is the heart of Australia's richest grain and cotton growing region and the starting point of the captivating Adventure Way. Call in at the Visitor Information Centre in Thomas Jack Park to get all the info you need to explore Dalby and its surrounds.

There's plenty to do like visiting the Pioneer Museum, Jimbour House, a cotton gin, even the park itself filled with native trees and shrubs, interspersed with waterfalls, lily pond and picnic areas. Parking has been set aside for caravanners to easily pull in and enjoy the area.

Just outside Dalby is the Lake Broadwater Conservation Park. Covering over 350 hectares when full, it attracts a variety of visitors, from day-trippers, campers and water sports enthusiasts. For bird watchers - over 240 species have made this area their home or use it for breeding including moorhens, grebas, herons, swans, stilts, jabirus and brolgas. Once on the road you'll pass through brigalow and belah scrub, past vast grazing and farming paddocks until reaching the small settlement of Moonie. Australia's first commercial oilwell was opened south of Moonie in 1961. Moonie has long been a popular stop for truck drivers and has a very well appointed roadhouse with restaurant, motel accommodation, and camping ground. Across the road is the Rural Transaction Centre with craft shop and internet access.

From Moonie, travel through the Western Downs communities of Westmar and Flinton till you meet the Carnarvon Highway. From here, it's only nine kilometres into St George passing over the Jack Taylor Weir. From the bridge spanning the Balonne River, you'll understand why St George has become known as the as the inland fishing capital of Queensland.

St George is not all fishing tales - out in these parts the Balonne Shire is regarded as the 'Window to the West'. While in St George sample the wares at Riversands Winery, the most western winery in Queensland, marvel at the talent of Steve Margaritis' carved emu egg collection, visit a rock melon farm, the St George Heritage Centre, Aboriginal Rock Wells, the list goes on and on.

Don't miss Rosehill Aviaries - the most complete collection of Australian parrots in the world - 64 km west of St George. The aviaries are about 14 km off the main road and well worth the stop. Admission is reasonable with all monies raised going back into the upkeep of the aviary or bird conservation projects. Next stop is Bollon on Wallum Creek. Be sure to keep your eyes open here as Bollon is home to a very large habitat of koalas and it is common for visitors to spot them snoozing in the gum trees right on the highway in the centre of town. When its time to bid farewell enjoy the easy drive to Cunnamulla, 171 km due west on a fully sealed road.

Come and meet the Cunnamulla fella - and girls - at the town that supports one of the biggest wool producing areas in Queensland - in a good season over 2 million sheep graze throughout the region. First stop should be Centenary Park on the banks of the Warrego River. Cunnamulla, takes it's name from an Aboriginal term for 'long stretch of water' describing the Warrego River that skirts the town. Huge Coolabahs provide a shady setting to enjoy a picnic lunch and there are plenty of free barbecues, picnic tables and a playground for the children.

The park is also home to the Visitor Information Centre housed in the original Cunnamulla school building built in 1885. Inside the centre, a comprehensive display dedicated to the wool industry includes a model of Tinnenburra woolshed, reputedly the largest in the world with 101 stands. Information on self walk/drive and guided tours is also available.

For something a little different, try the 'Dead Men Do Tell Tales' guided cemetery tour and listen to the tragic story surrounding the death of Frances Rankin, the spine tingling yarn of the headless dog, and view the monuments erected in memory of the pioneering families of the district. Join the Heritage Trail discovering the historical sites of Cunnamulla ranging from the Museum to The Robber's Tree where Joseph Wells climbed and attempted to hide from authorities after bungling his attempt to rob the Queensland National Bank - his efforts placed him in Australian history books as the last man to be hung for a 'robbery under arms'.

South of Cunnamulla check out the dwarf-like red sand dunes, and if the winter rains have fallen have your camera ready to capture the pretty little wildflowers. When its time to hit the road its only 66 km west to the village of Eulo. Bird lovers, don't miss the opportunity to see attractive Bourke's Parrots and social Halls Babblers at the Padabilla Stock Route watering camp 15 km east of Eulo. Campers are welcome to pull up for the night however this is a bush camping site with no facilities or roll into Eulo - 'Gateway to Bilby Country'.

Eulo, is a quaint little town not short on character and with plenty to do in and around for a day or longer. At the Eulo Queen Hotel, hear the stories of the self proclaimed Eulo Queen, Isobel Robinson, who ruled this outback town for over thirty years. Sharing the main street is the Eulo General Store, undoubtedly one of the best-stocked shops in the west, an air raid shelter constructed during the Second World War and the Bilby Burrow, an outback art and craft gallery housed in the telegraph building. On the western end of town is Palm Grove Date Farm producing a variety of goods from date wines to cosmetics. Open to the public you can also treat yourself to a revitalising mud bath - who said you left civilisation behind when you ventured into the outback?

On the western fringe of town drive the nature trails along the Paroo River and visit the grey-white hillocks called mud springs. A natural phenomenon, they're formed when the artesian water from deep below the ground mixes with clay and rises to the surface. Each year Eulo hosts the world's premier reptile race - the Annual World Championship Lizard Races when Shingle-back lizards, collected from the surrounding Mulga take to the red dusty bowl of the Paroo Track - it could only happen in Eulo!

There is a couple of interesting byways between Eulo and Thargomindah. The first is only 8 km and takes you to Currawinya National Park and Hungerford - this is a dry weather road only and can be rough. The second, 13 km from Eulo, leads to the opal fields of Yowah via the fully sealed Opal Byway. Still today, fossickers come across gems in the public fossicking area worth a small fortune. Within 40 km of Thargomindah is Lake Bindegolly National Park. After good rains three separate lakes come together providing a massive haven for birdlife and a birdwatchers heaven. The park is home to some interesting flora including the rare Acacia ammopila. Due to the fragile nature of the park, access is by foot only and no camping is allowed. Next stop - the capital of the Bulloo Shire - Thargomindah.

There's one thing you don't have to worry about when you visit Thargomindah - missing out on a hot shower. Here the water travels nearly one kilometre from the Great Artesian Basin underground, arriving at the surface a steaming 84 degrees Celsius. It actually has to be cooled before you can take that relaxing shower - at least you know you can make it a long one.

The pioneers of Thargomindah or 'Thargo' as it has become affectionately known harnessed the water pressure from an artesian bore as the energy source for Australia's first hydro-electric scheme. This little outback town 1,000 km from Brisbane, became the third in the world after London and Paris to power electric lights in this way and today visitors to town can view the old hydro power plant in action and the tungsten globes flicker into life just as they did in the 1800's.

Not to be missed in Thargo is the historical old buildings including Leahy Historical House, the printery and original hospital. The hospital is home to the Visitor Information Centre and Bulloo Built, where local timbers collected from old woolsheds and homesteads is recycled into impressive wooden giftware. Accommodation in Thargomindah caters for all levels of travellers with motel and hotel rooms, cabins, bunkhouse, powered and unpowered sites. Then back onto the Adventure Way, over the Grey Range and 123 km down the road take a short 19 km detour to the one pub town of Noccundra. The picturesque stone hotel set near the Wilson River makes for a great smoko break and is popular with anglers trying their luck in the western waterholes. Back on route, the bitumen continues taking you past the Jackson and Naccowlah Oil fields.

Once you pass the first Cooper Creek crossing the sealed road ends. 350 km west of Thargomindah and 14 km off the main road is the most famous Coolibah Tree in the world - The Burke and Wills Dig Tree. A stark reminder to the explorers' ill-fated trip, it stands on the northern bank of Cooper Creek. Next to it is the immaculately preserved face of Burke carved by artist John Dick ten years after the explorers perished nearby and yes it's called the Face Tree.

From the Dig Tree cross the Cooper Creek bridge for the last 46 km across the South Australian border into the outback settlement of Innamincka and the end of the Adventure Way.

Duration:	3 hrs 15 mins
Distance:	298 kms
Road Conditions:	Sealed

Duration:	30 mins
Distance:	289 kms
Road Conditions:	Sealed, unfenced

Duration:	40 mins
Distance:	66 kms
Road Conditions:	Sealed, unfenced

Duration:	1 hr 20 mins
Distance:	130 kms
Road Conditions:	Sealed, unfenced

Duration:	3 hrs
Distance:	369 kms
Road Conditions:	Single lane sealed, unsealed, unfenced, dirt sections may be rough and sandy. Impassable when wet.