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If you’ve ever pondered where ‘the middle of nowhere is’, you’ve never been to Birdsville!
Situated in Queensland’s dusty Diamantina Shire (in the far south-western corner of the State), this one-pub town with just a handful of streets and a permanent population of one hundred hardy souls is about as remote as it gets. For that reason, Birdsville enjoys cult status as a travel destination amongst the country’s caravanning fraternity. And trust us, getting there is an Aussie road trip like no other!
Many travellers start the journey in the Queensland capital Brisbane; from there it’s just under 1,400 kilometres to Birdsville as the weary crow flies, or roughly 1,600 clicks if you’re travelling by road. Branded the ‘Warrego Way’ by Outback Queensland Tourism, the route is relatively straightforward until you reach Charleville. From there, the sealed road narrows to one lane, before the tar vanishes completely on various sections between Windorah and Birdsville. Known as the Birdsville Developmental Road, this part of the journey is not for the fainthearted — or those with a low clearance vehicle. While the road is graded and suitable for 4WDs and SUVs, you’ll need to take it very slow and steady — and be across the weather at all times. From October to March, any amount of rainfall can seriously compromise the condition of the road or close it entirely.
Brisbane to Birdsville Road Trip – Top Oz Tours & Travel Ideas – Google My Maps
If you’ve ever pondered where ‘the middle of nowhere is’, you’ve never been to Birdsville! Situated in Queensland’s dusty Diamantina Shire (in the far south-western corner of the State), this one-pub town with just a handful of streets and a permanent population of one hundred hardy souls is about as remote as it gets.
One SUV that makes road trip adventures with friends and family a breeze is the Mitsubishi Outlander. It has a roomy interior and spacious boot for luggage, and comes with the option of AWD. Before you buy a Mitsubishi Outlander (or any vehicle for that matter), research its suitability for the road trips you plan to do.
How long will it take you to do the Brisbane to Birdsville trip? Having recently completed it with a caravan in tow, we’d suggest giving yourself at least a week. That will allow you enough time to tick off all the activities listed in this story along the way.
So, without further ado, let’s roll! Here are ten top things to do on a Brisbane to Birdsville road trip.
Watch our video of ten top things to do in Birdsville:
10 Top Things to Do in Birdsville, Outback Queensland, Australia | Birdsville Travel Guide
Are you planning a visit to the iconic town of Birdsville in outback Queensland? In this episode of our online travel series we bring you ten amazing things to do in Birdsville, Bedourie, and Betoota, which can all be found in the remote Diamantina Shire.
1. Visit the Amberley RAAF Base in Ipswich
Take the opportunity while passing through Ipswich, west of Brisbane, to visit the famous Amberley Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base. The working base’s Heritage Centre is open to visitors two days a week, but access must be pre-arranged. Following ID checks, you’ll be escorted to the Centre (which is housed in a heritage hangar) to begin your two-hour tour with a volunteer guide. There’s a vast cache of military flight hardware on display, along with artefacts and memorabilia pertaining to the general history of defence in Australia.
2. Hitch up at Toowoomba’s Cobb & Co Museum
While you’re in for some bone-jarring moments down the track, spare a thought for the passengers of yesteryear travelling through regional Queensland by horse-drawn conveyance. It was their lot to be shaken from pillar to post for the entire duration of the journey! Learn more by paying a visit to Toowoomba’s Cobb & Co Museum — home to the hugely impressive National Carriage Collection. It encompasses dozens of beautifully restored and maintained horse-drawn vehicles, and you’ll end up spending a good two or three hours here. The museum is just one of Toowoomba’s many attractions and it’s worth braving the steep climb up the Great Dividing Range to explore the city, rather than taking the bypass. The drive time from Ipswich is just on one hour.
3. Step back in time in Miles
Continue heading west along the Warrego Highway through Dalby (the gateway to the Western Downs) and Chinchilla — quirkily known as the melon capital of Queensland (and with an annual melon festival to prove it!). Fifty-or-so kilometres further on will bring you the spick and span township of Miles — home to the must-visit Miles Historical Village Museum. This open air facility started small back in the 1970s with one relocated community hall building, and now boasts an entire period township of real-deal and replica buildings (although you’ll be hard pressed to tell them apart) packed with artefacts from Queensland’s pioneering past. The village is open daily.
4. Admire Roma’s creative credentials
A leisurely 1.5-hour drive from Miles, Roma is the administrative hub of the Maranoa Region and is best known for natural gas production and its cattle industry. Those with an interest in either will want to check out The Big Rig museum (which stages an evening light show) and the sprawling Roma Saleyards. Visitors can do a free tour of the latter on Tuesday mornings. We happened to wander into the Roma on Bungil Art Gallery in the heart of the CBD, which doesn’t appear on many lists of things to do around town — and should! The space is beautifully presented and hosts a mix of local and touring exhibitions. Check their website for details of what’s on during your visit. The Gallery is an altogether delightful and insightful way to beat the heat.
5. Learn some WWII history in Charleville
You’ll detect a definite change in the landscape as you depart Roma; farming country morphs into scrubby outback and small townships fly by in the blink of an eye. It’s roughly a three-hour drive from Roma to Charleville — a characterful, close-knit community of 3,500 people and home to a surprisingly diverse array of attractions. Be warned: Charleville is one of those places where you may well find yourself deciding to stay an extra night or two, so keep your arrangements flexible if you can.
The Charleville Bilby Experience will delight visitors young and old, and history buffs will love the WWII Secret Base interactive museum. It’s absolutely first rate and shares the little-known story (unsurprisingly, as it was top secret at the time) of 3,500 US air force personnel stationed here during the Second World War. Plenty of remnants of the wartime base’s infrastructure remain, and it’s not hard to pick them out once you know where to look.
6. Noodle for your fortune in Quilpie
If you want to avoid unsealed roads further on, hanging a right from Charleville will take you up towards Longreach and Winton. From there, you can cut across to Boulia and down to Birdsville. However, it’s one doozy of a detour. So, straight ahead we go!
The drive from Charleville to our next stop of Quilpie takes just on two hours — and as mentioned, the road narrows to a single lane. Take it easy from here on; playing chicken with up to 200 tonnes of road train coming in the opposite direction is not advisable. Ensure that you have plenty of time to pull over safely and avoid these barrelling behemoths (who will have no chance of stopping if you don’t get out of the way!).
Quilpie is a sleepy place, but it recently made headlines across the country with an offer of $20,000 grants to those willing to move to the town, buy land, and build a house to live in. The combined Visitor Information Centre, Museum and Art Gallery in the main street is a good spot to start your visit and get a handle on the various things to do in the wider area. Quilpie is renowned as the home of the Boulder Opal, and you may like to noodle for your fortune in the public fossicking area near the airport.
7. Walk with dinosaurs in Eromanga
Opals aren’t the only wonders being unearthed in outback Queensland. Thousands of pieces of the fossilised remains of Australian megafauna — long suspended in time in a field of sedimentary rock known as the ‘Winton Formation’ — have been found across the region, and are now on display in various museums and research facilities. The excellent Eromanga Natural History Museum is located an hour’s drive west of Quilpie and holds a set of remains of what is believed to be the country’s largest dinosaur — the plant-eating sauropod Australotitan cooperensis — also known as the Titanosaurus.
8. Bliss out by the water in Windorah
From Eromanga, head north to Windorah: vaguely familiar to most of us from the nightly news weather map. Located in the heart of Queensland’s channel country (so known due to the numerous, mostly dry rivulets that snake across the landscape), this trim township is welcoming and worth a wander. Drop by the distinctive Outback Shop (you can’t miss it) — an Aladdin’s cave of camping supplies, groceries, gifts, and souvenirs. One of the best things to do in Windorah is simply to hang out by tranquil Cooper Creek (the crossing is located a few kilometres before you hit town). Camping is permitted here, and it’s a great spot for fishing, swimming, canoeing, birdwatching, or just blissing out by the water beneath a shady coolabah tree. Now this is what an outback holiday is all about!
9. Enjoy the Betoota Hotel’s hospitality
From here on things get a little crazy, and preparation is the key. Do not set off along the Birdsville Development Road without carrying plenty of water, extra fuel, and some sort of reliable communication device (and no, your mobile phone is not going to cut it!). The total drive from Windorah to Birdville is 380 kilometres, but it can be an excruciatingly slow trip due to the corrugations and general condition of the road. Depending on the time of year, you can split the journey in two with an overnight stay at the one-of-a-kind Betoota Hotel, and we can’t recommend this highly enough.
Open during the main tourist season from April to October, the pub is all that remains of what was once a whole township. It offers cold beer, a hearty feed (a set menu), shower facilities, a sociable atmosphere, and plenty of sagely advice on making it safely to Birdsville/Windorah. Camping is permitted around the pub, and there’s some onsite accommodation available.
10. Say g’day to Birdsville
Passing the epic Dreamtime Serpent Sculpture on a roadside hillock just after the Betoota turn-off, it’s time to begin your final run towards Birdsville. Take time en route to appreciate the arid beauty of this ancient, almost alien-like landscape, and reflect on the epic journey you’ve almost completed. You’ll roll into Birdsville stiff, sore, tired, and caked in red dust, but with a sense of accomplishment that’s rarely felt in today’s world of instant gratification. Mark the moment with a celebratory bevvy at the iconic Birdsville Hotel!
This post was published thanks to Car Expert.
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Do you have any suggestions to add to our list of top things to do on a Brisbane to Birdsville road trip? We would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.
The information contained in this story is general in nature and does not constitute professional advice in any way. We make every effort to ensure this content is accurate, but we do not guarantee it. You should do your own research and seek the advice of relevant local authorities when arranging your trip.
Cover image: Tourism and Events Queensland/Jumo Kim. Additional images: Envato
About the writer
Adam Ford is editor of Top Oz Tours & Travel Ideas, and a travel TV presenter, writer, blogger, and photographer. He has travelled extensively through Europe, Asia, North America, Africa, and the Middle East. Adam worked as a travel consultant for a number of years with Flight Centre before taking up the opportunity to travel the world himself as host of the TV series Tour the World on Network Ten. He loves to experience everything a new destination has to offer and is equally at home in a five-star Palazzo in Pisa or a home-stay in Hanoi.
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