Outback Queensland Tours
Birdsville to Cairns Tour
Outback Queensland Tours Birdsville to Cairns tour starts after the Birdsville races September 7 and follows the Diamantina River and the Dinosaur Trail to Townsville & Cairns. 3 days 2 nights comfy camping or accommodated. Completes Sept 9. Cost $1200 or tag along $1200 for 2 people. Then optionally join Savannah Way tour to Darwin
Outback Queensland Tours – Birdsville to Cairns Tour Highlights
The Dinosaur Trail via Winton and Larks Quarry to Hughenden to view the Muttaburrasaurous
The Diamantina River stretches 900 kilometres from the Selwyn Range in Queensland to Lake Eyre in South Australia and is
lined with River Red gums, coolibahs and bluebush. At Diamantina Gates, the river’s many channels converge to flow through the ancient limestone forms of the Goyder and Hamilton ranges. Our tour follows the river from Birdsville & Betoota, and we overnight in the Diamantina National Park.
Ruins of the Mayne Hotel, perating between 1888 and 1951, was a much-appreciated rest stop for travellers, opal miners,
stockmen and drovers, who stopped to quench their thirst with drinks kept cool in the underground cellar. At night
the cellar was opened to allow the cold evening air in and during the day was kept closed to keep the hot air out.
Mystery of the Min Min Lights
Numerous stories surround the phenomenon of the Min Min lights of outback Queensland. One bush legend suggests the lights first appeared near the ruins of the old Min Min Hotel, a rough and ready drinking hole on the Boulia—Winton Road, notorious for fleecing its patrons. Built in the 1880’s the infamous pub burned to the ground about 40 years later, leaving nothing but a nearby cemetery. The eerie lights dancing across the plains at night were said to be the dead souls from this desolate graveyard. Although there appears to be no satisfactory scientific explanation for the source of the lights, it is suggested they are luminous balls of gas that seep up from below ground and drift with the wind across the open plains. A range of other theories on the light source includes static electricity, swarms of luminous insects, refracted light and, birds such as barn owls which, like glow worms, are said to be bio-luminescent (producing light from their own bodies).
Min Min Encounter
At the visitor information centre in Boulia there is an interesting light show, the Min Min Encounter, which showcases numerous theories about the source of the Min Min Lights. (note this tour sect6or may not visit Boulia or this centre – depends on road conditions at the time.
Old Cork Homestead
The sandstone ruins of Cork homestead is the last vestige of a station setup in 1875, one of the first properties in western Queensland. Before Winton was established in the late 1870’s, the station was the distribution point for local mail, which arrived by packhorse from Muttaburra (over 150 kilometres east of Winton