Outback Attractions

The little township of Boulia (pop. 300) lies on the Burke River in the Channel Country outback. Originally established in 1876 as a supply base for an explorer named Henry, it soon developed into an important stopover on the cattle-droving route.

The Stone Cottage Museum (1880) is a feature of the town.

Chillagoe (pop. 220) was once an important mining town (copper, silver, lead, gold, wolfram).

Chillagoe has a small museum with relics of old mining days.

1876ha (in nine separate parts).

The most striking features of the Chillagoe-Mungana Caves National Park are the limestone cliffs, up to 70m high, containing stalactitic caves, some of them very large. In some of the caves are Aboriginal rock paintings. Visitors are allowed to enter a few of their caves on their own (pocket torch essential); others can only be seen on a conducted tour.

Croydon (pop. 220) was once an important gold and silver town and lies in the Gulf Country. Gold was discovered here in 1883, and in spite of its remote situation the settlement grew rapidly. But when the mines (the best known of which was the Golden Gate) were worked out in the 20th C. the population declined equally rapidly. Some buildings and machinery of gold-mining days have survived, and much restoration work is being done with a view to establishing an open-air museum.

Another relic of the past is the rail bus which travels once a week along the isolated line (155km) between Croydon and Normanton, near the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

12,000ha.

The central feature of the park is a gorge up to 60m deep cut through the Barkly Tableland by Lawn Hill Creek. In the bare rock faces are Aboriginal paintings. Archaeological evidence shows that the area was settled more than 30,000 years ago. The perennially flowing river has created an oasis with a rich flora and fauna (kangaroos, emus, many birds, freshwater crocodiles).

There are 20km of walking trails in the park.

Normanton (pop. 1150) was founded in 1868, was at one time an important river port through which prospectors and supplies were conveyed to the goldfields round Croydon.

The old Gulflander train, running only between Normanton and Croydon, still operates, though the original steam engines gave place in 1922 to a rail bus which runs once a week.

Quilpie (pop. 760) is on the Bulloo River in the Channel Country outback and is a center for the large sheep and cattle stations in the area. It is chiefly famed for the opals found here (boulder opals).

The little town can be reached by way of the asphalted Diamantina Developmental Road from Charleville or by rail, but to see the opal-mining area involves a drive in an all-terrain vehicle. In summer it can be almost intolerably hot.

St Finbarr's Church has an altar, font and lectern made from opal-bearing rock.

700,000ha.

Simpson Desert National Park lies in southwestern Queensland, on the borders of South Australia and the Northern Territory. It is a region of sandy hills and ranges of dunes up to 30m high extending for long distances from southeast to northwest. There is scanty vegetation of tussock grassland in which a few desert animals live. After the occasional showers of rain the ground is carpeted with flowers, attracting great flocks of birds.