We knew there was a lot to see on the way from Townsville to Cairns, based on the recommendations we’d received from other camping families along the way, but we probably underestimated just how much is crammed into a relatively small area – especially after we had spent the first five weeks of this trip out in the ‘back of beyond’ where everything is pretty far apart! Our first night out of Townsville, we camped only 75km away, at a place called Big Crystal Creek in Paluma Range National Park. We set up camp and went to check out the creek. It was an amazing preview of what we had…

It was time to check out another recommendation from our Simpson Desert trip leader, Dave from the Sydney Jeep Club (hi Dave!), Undara National Park. We didn’t really know anything about Undara before visiting except “lava tubes”, and you’re probably wondering the same as us now, what on earth is a lava tube? Well, lucky for you all, I’m here to educate and inspire. A lava tube is a geological phenomenon created when slow-moving lava exposed to air solidifies, but lava continues to flow below the surface, leaving a subterranean hollow tube once no more lava flows. Undara formerly was a privately-run tourist operation on a cattle station called “Rosella…

After our whirlwind tour of the Dinosaur Trail we had a look on WikiCamps for a campsite near our final dino-destination Hughenden (home of the Muttaburrasaurus), and hit the jackpot yet again with Porcupine Gorge National Park, just 74km north. Porcupine Gorge National Park covers an area of around 5410 hectares, and extends for about 25km along Porcupine Creek. Over tens of millions of years, Porcupine Creek has excavated Porcupine Gorge, which is cutely known as Australia’s miniature Grand Canyon. Along the bottom of the gorge is a calm, meandering set of rock pools which connect up into a rushing river once the rains come down in the wet season.…

Hitting up the Dinosaur Trail in Queensland was a BIG DEAL to Nick and I, because it was the one part of our trip last year that we really didn’t feel we did any justice at all. We were held up for about three extra days waiting for a radiator, and the three days that we decided to sacrifice in order to compensate were the days we’d planned to spend on the dinosaur trail. This was our second try, and we were determined to make the most of it! Despite having an amusement park kind of name, the Dinosaur Trail is just an area of Queensland where there are heaps…

I’ve mentioned before that Nick and I use an app called WikiCamps to find campsites. Sometimes, the app also leads to cool detours – like our little stopover in a place called Opalton. I learned about Opalton while scoping out campsites near Winton, where we were planning to spend a few days checking out the dinosaur fossils and the world’s only fossilised dinosaur stampede. It was about 100km away from both Winton and Lark Quarry, the site of the fossilised stampede, had a five star user rating on WikiCamps, advertised hot showers, and a price of $2.50 per person per night – sounded awesome to us! Upon arrival, our expectations…

Our next major planned destination was an area of Queensland known as Dinosaur Country, and to get there we had a bit of driving to do and, you know us, a few things to see along the way. None of the places in this post are destinations in and of themselves, but all are interesting places to stop and have a look. First up, just north of Birdsville are these unique trees called Waddi trees. There are only three stands of Waddis in Australia, and the species is thought to herald from the last ice age. The wood doesn’t burn well in fire, and is so hard that it can…

After so many days of back-to-back travel, it was time for a rest in Birdsville, a town of approximately 115 people on the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert, just north of the Queensland-South Australia border. We had planned to stay for two nights, but extended to a third night when we heard from the crew of heroes who stayed behind with our trip leader to await the desert recovery, that they were on their way just one day behind schedule. Birdsville is a town with a bit of everything – history, adventure, unique flora, a bit of culture in the form of a huge music festival we’d only just…

Time now for our convoy to take on the mighty Simpson Desert, containing the world’s longest parallel sand dunes, and to tackle the mighty Big Red as the culminating “boss fight” of the desert, a massive 40 metre high sand dune at the eastern edge. Crossing the Simpson is a very serious undertaking. You must have experience with four wheel driving, or hire a guide who has. You should travel with others for safety’s sake, and ideally never split up into groups of less than 3 vehicles. There is no fuel, food, or water for hundreds of kilometres so you must also bring your own supplies, enough for your planned…

It was finally the day to hit the famous Birdsville Track for our crew of Jeeps and wannabe-Jeep Toyotas. I’d guess that every Australian, especially 4×4 drivers, has heard of the Birdsville Track. This track used to be quite remote and dangerous, crossing three deserts (Sturt Stony Desert, Strzelecki Desert, and Tirari Desert, but over the years has been graded and is now a popular tourist track (still unsealed, but in pretty good condition). First, we made a stop not too far away from Muloorina, 55km to the southeast at Marree, to stock up on fuel, water, and groceries. Marree is the starting point to both the Birdsville Track (heading…