The Matilda Way

A bit further up the Matilda Way is Wyandra, 97 kilometres to the north. The highway follows the route of the railway and it’s the railway system that actually dictated where towns would be created. Wyandra, once a major water stop for steam engines that hauled wool and sheep to the marketplace.

100 clicks up the track and you’ll get to Charleville. Now, Charleville is a town that is worth some serious attention, with a history featuring early cameleers, Cobb & Co and Qantas. It has one of Queensland’s largest ‘School of Distance Education’ facilities and is a major base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, servicing towns as far as Birdsville in the state’s far south-west. Experience the Secrets of Charleville by booking on the Top Secret WWII Tour and discovering what 3500 USAAF personnel were doing here from 1942- 1946 or book into the Charleville Cosmos Centre and Observatory.

Marvel at the amazing night sky like you have never seen before. You can also view the Sun through a special Hydrogen Alpha telescope. Astronomy by Day interactive area is very popular with children, including short films, meteorites and interactive displays all to do with the space around us.

Tambo is 119 kilometres further north and is home to the famous Tambo Teddies, established during the years of low wool prices but still going strong and producing teddies adored by children everywhere, pop in and watch these cuddly creations come to life. Grab a brochure from the Visitor Information Centre and follow the pathways around the oldest town in the west; many of the original buildings are still standing today. At the town’s heritage precinct, friendly locals love to chat, while there try your hand at Morse Code messaging.

Blackall is ‘home of the original black stump’. Heed not what other states claim, as locals descended from early identities such as Jackie Howe steadfastly stick to the belief that the stump located in Thistle St is the genuine article. In 1892 Jackie set a world record by shearing 321 sheep in seven hours and 40 minutes. He held that record for 58 years and when it was finally broken it was only by a shearer using machine shears, which were unheard of in Jackie’s era. It’s here that you will again greet the Barcoo River, which flows close to the town. Keep count of how many times you cross the Barcoo on this trip, as local legend has it that after the tenth crossing you’re there to stay.

A major attraction, the Historic Blackall Woolscour is living history and a direct physical link to Australia’s pioneering era. Open all year, the massive steam engine is operated between May and September. Blackall was supposed to have the first artesian bore in the central west, only to be beaten to the punch by Barcaldine, just 109 kilometres further along the Matilda Way.

If you’re travelling between Barcaldine and Ilfracombe during August to September, spectacular wildflowers (in season) are a must see and the many species of birds will appeal to bird watchers. In Ilfracombe, old tractors, disused farm equipment and historic rural machinery have been neatly laid out, forming an open-air museum known as ‘machinery mile’. Wander around town and visit the Wellshot hotel, take a dip in the artesian spa, the corrugated iron Langenbaker Cottage and Post Office, which claims to have been Australia’s first motorised mail service.

The bustling town of Longreach came into prominence for visitors in 1988 when the Queen opened the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame. This modern centre is world famous and warrants much more than just a casual glance. The entire history, adventure and essence of the Australian outback is rolled into one huge, diverse and informative display. Adding life to this western Queensland town are a number of other first-class attractions, namely the Qantas Founders Museum, with its own decommissioned Boeing 747 Jet as its centrepiece.

The School of Distance Education offers tours of its facility, which provides an education to students within a 1000 kilometre or more radius via satellite internet. The Longreach Pastoral College, the Longreach Power House Museum and the Longreach Arts and Cultural Centre, in the old Ambulance Station, where locals display their arts and crafts, are also worth a visit.

Winton is the Dinosaur Capital of Australia and hosts two major dinosaur attractions, the Australian Age of Dinosaurs and the Dinosaur Stampede at Lark Quarry Conservation Park. Both museums offer guided tours and a real dinosaur experiences.

Cloncurry is 348 kilometres on from Winton, but a side trip to discover the Combo Waterhole just south of Kynuna is well worth the trip. The waterhole Banjo Paterson drew inspiration from for the national folk song Waltzing Matilda. Walk the 2.5 kilometre return circuit to the billabong along the Diamantina River and have a picnic “under the shade of a Coolibah tree“.

Another hours travelling will take you through undulating and open downs country to the town of Cloncurry.

While there, a must-stop is Cloncurry Unearthed, Visitor Information Centre and Museum. See the water bottle of explorer Robert O’Hara Bourke or learn more about Mary Kathleen (a former Uranium mining town) or wander through the museums’ mineral and gem collection, which is ranked as one of the most comprehensive in Australia.

It’s a good stretch of road extending the 71 kilometres to Karumba, a town right on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Although it seems to take the longest of any previously travelled section of the highway, it’s all to do with the excitement of finally reaching the ‘end of the road’ and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Its very location makes Karumba an excellent place to get a ‘feed’ of fresh seafood including excellent prawns, for which the town is noted. Visit one of the many vibrant bars at night and you’re sure to run into somebody from the prawn trawling fleet. Speaking of bars, music buffs may know the Red Hot Chill Peppers’ song ‘Animal Bar’, from the album Stadium Arcadium, which is written about Karumba and named after one of the town’s bars.