Tour Details - 13 Day Historical Outback Trail 12/13 (Dinner & Breakfast)

Day 1. Arrive Cairns, Undara Lava Tubes, Georgetown
Depart Cairns at 8 am and set out for Georgetown. On the way, visit the 190,000 year-old Undara Lava Tubes. On a tour through a section of the ancient tubes, a local savannah guide will provide an insight into the history and geology of these formations. Continue to Georgetown in Far North Queensland and enjoy Welcome Drinks and Dinner tonight.

Day 2. Croydon, Gulflander, Karumba
Travel to Croydon and undertake a self-guided tour followed by lunch at the historic pub. Afterwards, board the Gulflander train at Critters Camp for a memorable rail journey. The railway line was built in the late 1800s as part of a planned trans-continental railway, however only the Normanton to Croydon line was built. Here, rejoin the coach and continue to Karumba. This evening, enjoy local prawns and a glass of wine on the beach as the sun sets over the waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Day 3. Karumba, Adels Grove
This morning you’ll travel to Normanton and see the historic Purple Pub before heading off-road. Visit Burke and Wills Camp 119, the most northerly camp of the explorers’ ill-fated expedition of 1860-61. Continue on to see the beautiful stepped Leichhardt Falls, before arriving at Lawn Hill National Park, renowned for its spectacular gorge and incredible array of plant life.

Day 4. Lawn Hill National Park
Enjoy a full day to explore the gorges, sandstone ranges and spectacular walks of Lawn Hill National Park at your leisure. Perhaps hire a canoe to further explore the rivers and billabongs (own expense).

Day 5. Riversleigh Fossil Fields, Mt Isa
Departing Lawn Hill National Park this morning, take a tour of the World Heritage-listed Riversleigh Fossil Fields, home to some of the most extensive fossil deposits in the world, including some dating back over 25 million years. Here you’ll see the impressions made by some of the most unique species that ever lived, such as the long-extinct marsupial lion. Continue to Mt Isa via the scenic Gregory Downs Camooweal Road.

Day 6. Cloncurry, Winton
This morning embark on a surface tour of the Mt Isa Mine. Then travel to Cloncurry and visit the famous Royal Flying Doctor Museum. Today you’ll visit two famous Outback Queensland pubs. The Blue Heeler Hotel at Kynuna and The pub at McKinlay, better known as Walkabout Creek Hotel of ‘Crocodile Dundee‘ fame. Both are full of a unique character, that is synonymous with Outback Australia. Later, enroute to Winton, stop at Combo Waterhole, thought to have inspired Banjo Patterson’s Waltzing Matilda.

Day 7. Lark Quarry, Waltzing Matilda Centre, Royal Open Air Theatre
Travel to the undercover site of Lark Quarry to view dinosaur footprints. This is the only site in the world where fossilised tracks from a stampede, thought to have happened 95 million years ago, can be seen (Lark Quarry is inaccessible in the wet). Visit the Waltzing Matilda Centre to learn the story behind ‘Waltzing Matilda’. Then tour the Outback Regional Art Gallery and tonight, enjoy a movie at the famous Royal Theatre, one of Australia’s last remaining open-air theatres.

Day 8. Longreach, Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Qantas Founders Museum
Today visit the Age of the Dinosaurs Museum in Winton before travelling to Longreach. Here, you’ll visit the Qantas Founders Outback Museum, and learn the story of Qantas, Australia’s national airline. This is the only place in the world where you’ll enjoy the opportunity to tour a fully-equipped 747 jumbo jet. Then uncover Australia’s bush history at the Stockman’s Hall of Fame.

Day 9. Barcaldine, Lake Maraboon, Emerald
Head to Barcaldine, a small town that had a significant impact on our political history - it was here that the Labor Party began. Visit the Australian Workers Heritage Centre, which pays tribute to the nation’s working men and women. Later, tour the town of Emerald and nearby Lake Maraboon, as well as the surrounding bushland, which is home to birds such as rainbow lorikeets, pelicans and black swans.

Day 10. Emerald, Rubyvale, Carnarvon National Park
Head to Rubyvale, set amid the Sapphire Gemfields. Tour the Miners Heritage Walk-in Mine and gain an insight into the process of sapphire mining. Afterwards, fossick for gems before heading to Carnarvon National Park. Here, you’ll stay two nights on the fringe of Carnarvon Gorge.

Day 11. Carnarvon National Park
This morning in Carnarvon National Park, enjoy a walk through Carnarvon Gorge. On your walk, cross over creek beds on stepping stones and follow the walking track to a pretty waterfall, before reaching the nearby lush Moss Garden (a reasonable level of fitness is required for this walk). After lunch, the day is at leisure to relax or further explore the gorge.

Day 12. Carnarvon National Park, Dalby
Travel via Injune, at the southern end of Carnarvon National Park, to the small country town of Miles, built on a track traversed by explorer Ludwig Leichhardt. Later, arrive in the historic rural township of Dalby, founded in the 1840s.

Day 13. Toowoomba, Brisbane
Travel to Toowoomba then transfer to Brisbane.