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Overlander’s Way
This drive follows, in reverse, the droving routes across Queensland from Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory to Townsville.
Townsville is home to Barrier Reef HQ and the Museum of Tropical Queensland, with its HMS Pandora exhibit. Just off the coast is Magnetic Island, more than half of which is designated as a National Park.
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Heading west over the Great Dividing Range you will first reach the historic gold mining town of Charters Towers which even had its own stock exchange at one time, such were its riches. Just a short drive out of town is Leahton Park, home of the biggest herd of Texas longhorn cattle in the country.
Further west you’ll come to Hughenden in what was an inland sea with dinosaurs and marine creatures. At the Flinders Discovery Centre, make sure you see the 7-metre long skeleton of ‘Hughie’, a Muttaburrasaurus. En route to Richmond, rich with marine fossils, you might take a 1-hour side trip to Porcupine Gorge, Australia’s ‘Little Grand Canyon’. At Julia Creek Visitor Centre you will meet the dunnarts, mouse-like creatures which are the rarest and cutest Australian marsupial. You’ll continue to Cloncurry, the birthplace of Australia’s Flying Doctor Service.
Mount Isa is next, the Outback’s only city and hub of a rich mining area. Its many attractions include the World Heritage Riversleigh Fossil Centre and a number of mine tours.
At Camooweal, the last town before the Northern Territory border, do visit the Drovers Camp Information Centre to learn about the cattle industry in Northern Australia.
