Dinosaur Country

After breakfast and check out, we’ll leave our bags with the hotel and walk the short distance to the Queensland Museum Tropics, part of the Queensland Museum network. Perched on the edge of Ross Creek, it tells the stories of World Heritage-listed rainforests and reefs, and the tragic tale of the frigate HMS Pandora, dispatched from England in November 1790 to reclaim the HMS Bounty and its 25 ‘pirate’ crew. She struck the Great Barrier Reef in August 1791 and all on board perished. Discover the story of what she was doing there and why.

There’ll be time for lunch at leisure before we reclaim our luggage and head to the railway station to board the Inlander train for the journey to Charters Towers. 

This evening we’ll enjoy dinner together at the local tavern. 

Overnight: Country Road Motel, Charters Towers (B, D)

This morning after breakfast, we’ll strike out of town to Leahton Park, a working cattle property just 10 kilometres away, and home to Australia’s Texas Longhorns, some of the longest horned cattle in the world. Here we’ll embark on a Safari experience to see these historical and magnificent cattle up close, many of which are direct descendants of the millions of Texas Longhorns that walked in the great trail herds from Texas in the late 1800s! There are also Asian Water Buffalo, American Bison, Mexican Sardo Negro, African Ankole Watusi and Scottish Highland cattle – bovine experience like no other!

It’s then back into town for lunch, before travelling a short way out of town again to the Venus Gold Battery, the largest surviving Battery in Queensland for a guided tour. When gold was found by a First Nations boy in 1871, Charters Towers became the richest city in Queensland and second largest after Brisbane, boasting a stock exchange, grand buildings and houses, fine shops, wide streets, electricity, gaslights, telegraph and the telephone – it had everything. But a reefing field meant that the mines were dependent on crushing facilities. Very quickly a collection of processing batteries (mills) sprang up around creeks that could supply sufficient water for their needs.  Built in 1872, this mill is one of what were hundreds providing gold crushing facilities for over a century – the huge “stampers” pounded away through the day and night right up until 1973.  

We’ll return to Charters Towers later in the afternoon, where the rest of the day and evening is at leisure.

Overnight: Country Road Motel, Charters Towers (B, L)

This morning after breakfast and check out, we hit the Flinders Highway, also known as ‘Overlander’s Way’ and travel west along the dinosaur trail to the town of Hughenden, located halfway between Townsville and Mount Isa. 

Upon arrival in Hughenden, we’ll enjoy lunch at a local cafe before we take time to explore the Flinders Discovery Centre, home to “Hughie” a seven-metre tall Mattaburrasaurus replica cast from the bones of a 110-million-year-old dinosaur found in the Hughenden region  Late afternoon, we’ll continue an hour or so further west along the Flinders Highway to the small town of Richmond.  

Tonight’s dinner is hosted at the hotel. 

Overnight: Ammonite Hotel, Richmond (B, L, D)

This morning after a hearty cooked breakfast and check out we’ll head to Kronosaurus Korner, Australia’s premier marine fossil museum and Richmond’s main attraction. There’ll be time here to explore this unique museum before enjoying lunch in the Kronosaurus Cafe.

After lunch, we’ll continue our exploration along Australia’s Dinosaur Trail to Winton in the heart of dinosaur country, and our home for the next three nights. Along the way, you’ll learn more  about the staggering natural history of this outback landscape, the story of the great Inland Sea, and the significance of this part of Australia in the global paleontology community.  

Upon arrival in Winton, we’ll go directly to our hotel and check in. There’ll be time to relax with a drink in the hotel courtyard, believed to be the spot of the first ever performance of the iconic Aussie ballad, “Waltzing Matilda”, or explore the town centre before regrouping for dinner in the hotel’s authentic retro dining room.

Overnight: North Gregory Hotel, Winton (B, L, D)

This morning after an early breakfast at the hotel we’ll begin our exploration of Australia’s rich dinosaur legacy, hosted by the amazing Vicki from Red Dirt Tours in a private 4WD vehicle. With Vicki’s knowledgeable guidance, we’ll head out into the wild outback country west of Winton to the exceptional Lark Quarry National Monument. 

It was here, some 95 million years ago, that about 150 small two-legged dinosaurs,  coelurosaurs about the size of chickens, and slightly larger ornithopods, some of them as large as emus, came to drink at what was a vast lake teeming with life and surrounded by lush greenery. A huge meat-eating theropod, smaller than a Tyrannosaurus, approached the lake and charged. The stampeding herd of smaller dinosaurs left a chaotic mass of footprints in the mud as they ran to escape. A local Station Manager discovered the Dinosaur Trackways in the 1960s and showed them to a local enthusiast but it wasn’t until scientists visited the area in 1971 that the story of the Trackway began to unfold. What they were looking at was, and still is today, the world’s only recorded evidence of a dinosaur stampede.

Your time here includes a guided tour, a film, and a picnic lunch before returning to Winton.  

Later this afternoon we head out to visit the jump-up (mesa) region of Rangelands Station where erosion has created narrow channels (rifts) through the rock. We’ll explore these rift formations before enjoying the spectacular views and watching the sun go down from the sunset lookout while enjoying some nibbles and a glass of wine. 

Dinner tonight is at leisure.

Overnight: North Gregory Hotel, Winton (B, L)

This morning is yours at leisure to explore the classic outback town of Winton, starting with a leisurely breakfast in your own time at the Musical Fence Cafe near the hotel -just order what you want and it will be taken care of. Once replete, you may wish to visit the heritage truck and machinery museum; check out the famous boulder opals; or just wander the streets full of many interesting heritage buildings. We highly recommend a visit to the Waltzing Matilda Centre, the first museum in the world dedicated to a song.  

After lunch at leisure, Vicki will collect us from our hotel for the drive out to visit the extraordinary Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, a world-class centre and home to the world’s largest collection of Australia’s largest dinosaur fossils. 

Here, you will have plenty of time to wander the fascinating displays and enjoy a guided walk through Dino Canyon featuring life-sized bronze dinosaur dioramas.

To cap off the day, we’ll enjoy an early dinner at Age of Dinosaurs and a visit to the  Gondwana Stars Observatory, a great addition to this already marvellous Outback story.

Overnight: North Gregory Hotel, Winton (B, D)

This morning after a light breakfast at the hotel and checking out, we’ll board our private coach to take us the 180 kilometres to Longreach, situated right on the Tropic of Capricorn, home to two of Australia’s great Museums – the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas Founders Museum, and our home for the next three nights.

Discovered in 1862 by William Landsborough who claimed the area and established the enormous Bowen Downs cattle station, the town was named after the “long reach” of the Thomson River and gazetted in 1887. The railway arrived in 1892 and Longreach was a founding centre for Qantas in the 1920’s. 

On arrival, we’ll go directly to the Qantas Founders Museum and enjoy lunch. After lunch you can explore the museum at leisure to learn about the four key founders of Qantas, the third oldest airline in the world, and discover what life was like in Queensland in the 1920s, before a private guided tour where you will see iconic aircraft including the Douglas DC-3, Lockheed Super Constellation, Boeing 707 and explore the Boeing 747.  

Tonight at sunset, you’ll enjoy ‘Luminescent Longreach’, a spectacular light and sound experience where world class projection mapping and 360 degree immersive sound brings the 100 year story of Qantas to life projected onto the body of the mighty Boeing 747.

Dinner after the sound and light show will be a sumptuous three course dinner at a local restaurant.

Overnight: Longreach Motor Inn, Longreach (B, L, D)

After breakfast it’s off to the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Australia’s premier museum and heritage centre celebrating the rich history and culture of outback Australia. Established in 1988, the Hall of Fame pays tribute to the pioneering spirit of the stockmen and women who played a vital role in shaping the nation’s rural heritage. 

You’ll be able to explore this spectacular museum at your own pace before regrouping to enjoy the live ‘Outback Stockman’s Show’, an exhilarating celebration of Australia’s rugged heritage, showcasing the skills, resilience, and spirit of life on the land. You’ll see traditional horse riding, working dogs, whip cracking, and cattle mustering skills up close, and the accompanying lively bush poetry and music  provides a captivating and entertaining insight into the lives of those who work the land.

Lunch is at leisure, before returning to our hotel for some time to relax before embarking on a very special Silver-Tails Sunset rail experience, enjoying drinks and canapes as you ride on the Silver Bullet, a heritage 2000 class Rail Motor, through the spectacular changing colors of floodplain, Gidgee, Open Downs, Ghost gums and Red Mulga Country, to dinner under the stars at Smithy’s Outback Dinner & Show. Settle back and enjoy an evening to remember dining under the stars beside the Coolibah-lined Thomson River.  

Overnight: Longreach Motor Inn, Longreach (B, D)

This morning after breakfast we’re back on the Silver Bullet Rail Motor for an excursion to Ilfracombe, named after a small town in Devonshire England. This little town originated in 1891 as a transport nucleus for Wellshot Station, the largest sheep station in the world at the time. Another record claimed by the shire is that of the largest mob of sheep ever moved as a single flock, when in 1886, a mob of 43,000 sheep moved through the area with a droving team of 27 horsemen. That doesn’t include the cooks, blacksmiths and hands which need to accompany the drovers.

Listen to incredible stories of nostalgia told by the rail motor drivers, who bring back to life ‘the hub of the West’ and explore unique attractions like the Wellshot Centre & Machinery Mile, before enjoying lunch at the famous Wellshot Hotel, the oldest pub in the west, showcasing lots of quirky and interesting memorabilia not to mention a little history that could keep you entertained for years. 

This evening we head out of Longreach for dinner under the stars at Camden Park Station and Historic Homestead, the property that once hosted the Queen and Prince Phillip. An 18,000 acre working sheep and cattle station, it was the home of Sir James Walker, knighted for his outstanding service to the community and a founding member of the Stockman’s Hall of Fame. Property owner Dan will jump on the coach at the gate and talk you through life on his  fifth generation, family sheep and cattle property. On arrival step inside the old homestead and tour the working sheds before enjoying a BBQ under the stars (weather permitting) or in the 100 year old woolshed.     

Overnight: Longreach Motor Inn, Longreach (B, L, D)

This morning we’ll check out and walk across the road to the station to board the Spirit of the Outback departing at 8.10am. After settling into your first class sleeper compartment, wander down to the train’s “Tuckerbox” dining car for some breakfast.

Traveling on the Spirit of the Outback train from Longreach to Brisbane is a spectacular 1,325-kilometre journey that immerses passengers in the heart of Queensland’s diverse landscape and connects travelers with the essence of Australia’s rural and urban stories.

Along the way, either from your private cabin or while enjoying a drink in the “Shearers Rest” lounge car, or while tucking into chef-prepared meals at lunch and dinner, you’ll enjoy the ever-changing scenery, from the wide-open plains and rugged terrain of the outback, and through Central Queensland towns like Barcaldine, where you will enjoy a short stop to see the Tree of Knowledge, Jericho, Alpha, Emerald, Blackwater and Bluff to the lush pastures and rolling hills closer to the coast.

Overnight: On board the Spirit of the Outback (B, L, D)

Wake up this morning to a vista of the lush subtropical coastal plain and the Glass House Mountains and enjoy a leisurely breakfast on the train as we roll the last way into Brisbane, arriving into Roma Street station around 10am, the end of our adventure.   

From here you can take a train or taxi to the airport for the flight home or onward connections if you are continuing your Queensland adventure. (B)