Darwin to Hervey Bay

31st July to 9th August
From Darwin we headed south, and started our journey towards home. We took the Stuart Hwy to Three Ways NT, turned onto the Barkley Hwy to Mount Isa QLD, onto the Lansborough Hwy to Winton and Longreach and then the Capricorn Hwy to Rockhampton, finally reaching Hervey Bay 10 days later. A journey of over 3,000km.

Barkley campsite

Our first night on the road was spent camped behind the roadhouse at Dunmarra, where for less that $20 we had a campsite, with hot showers, plus a beer and glass of wine thrown in. Next night was a free camp along the Barkley where we were back to camping by an abandoned bore.

Bladensburg Shearing shed

Just out of Winton is Bladensburg National Park, where we camped for a few days beside Bough Shed water hole. It was originally a sheep station and many of the shearing sheds and buildings are still standing. Today it's reverted to natural grasses and spinifex, with plenty of bird-life including honey eaters, red winged parrots and Brolga.

Brolga at Bladensburg

The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum is built on a jump up just out of Winton, and houses the largest collection of Australian dinosaur bones in the world. Numerous fossil bones have been dug up from the black soil plains of the area including Australia's biggest meat eating dinosaur (Australovenator wintonensis) nicknamed Banjo.

Banjo and Kevin

Longreach is home to the Stockman's Hall of Fame, where we spent a few hours looking at the history of the Australian outback. Before the motor vehicle, transport was slow hard work. Camels teams could  average distances of 1,000km a month, a bullock team 350km and a team of horses about 600km. Getting supplies to the outback was a long slow process.

Our last night on the road before arriving at Hervey Bay was a little town called Duringa, population 200,  about 150km west of Rockhampton. We set up on the town common, and explored the surrounds. The houses were mostly classic old queenslanders, on stilts with wide balconies to catch the breeze.

Packing up the camper-trailer the next morning it was a strange feeling as after almost 5 months living on the road, we'd had our last night in it for a while. It's been such a comfortable and reliable home. From here on it's a quick trip down the east coast, staying with family and friends, to Sydney and home.

Hope you've enjoyed sharing our travels. Jane and Kevin