Tuesday, Jun 04, 2013 at 22:08
G'day Tony,
we live on the Central Coast as
well.
Here's a few ideas;
- Leave the Coast and head towards Denman and
Dunedoo. Head north to Coonabarabran and stay there for the night. Coona is a destination in itself but it's possible to have a good look around for half a day then head north to Pilliga.
Camp at the Pilliga
Bore Baths. This is a
free camp and the baths are great.
- From Pilliga, have a late start and pop into the Cuttabri Wine Shanty for lunch. From there head up to Wee Waa, then west to
Burren Junction. Turn to Collarenebri and you can take the dirt road to
Lightning Ridge. There's plenty to do in The Ridge to occupy a couple of days. Make sure you visit one of the walk in mines and follow their tourist drives.
- Leave
Lightning Ridge and drive up to
Goodooga. From
Goodooga you can travel through the Culgoa NP to
Cunnamulla. The Culgoa NP is pretty remote in itself and you won't come across much traffic. It's dirt all the way from
Goodooga to about 60kms from the
Mitchell Hwy, then it's 30 km to
Cunnamulla. You should be able to make it through to
Eulo where you can
camp behind the
Eulo Queen Hotel for a small fee.
-
Eulo is a great little town. The pub has a great feed. The Date
Farm has to be seen. There is heaps of "stuff"to
check out, as
well as the artesian mud baths and the addictive Sticky Date Liqueur.
- After leaving
Eulo, turn north to
Yowah. Here you can
check out some Queensland opal. It's a way smaller set up to The Ridge but it is worth popping into.
- From
Yowah, back track a bit then head up to the South Western Hotel at
Toompine. That's all that's there. Good beer and good food is all you'll need. If you have time,
Quilpie a good spot to
check out. More opals but it's not the only thing there. The cake shop/
bakery must be visited. The
Channel Country Caravan Park is a really good Park. Reasonable rates, friendly hosts, quiet and every other night it has a dinner around the campfire and bush entertainment. There are artesian spas on site to relax in as
well.
- After
Quilpie you head west to
Windorah. You can
camp on the banks of the
Cooper Creek but it does get busy. If you're there the Wednesday before the
Birdsville Races you get to take part in the Yabbie races on the road in front of the pub. Good little town. There'll be a few
Police presence and they often
test every vehicle leaving town for
Birdsville.
- It's a fair drive from
Windorah to
Birdsville. Make sure you fill up before you leave town. If you have a diesel don't line up in the street. At the top servo there's a high flow diesel pump away from the main building that most people miss.
- The drive out to
Birdsville is spectacular.
Check out the reddest sand dunes not far west of
Windorah. At that time of year there will a fair bit of traffic. There are overtaking opportunities, so it's not worth risking anyone's life trying to overtake if it's not safe to do so. It's a long drive but there is so much to see. If you can, it would pay to get a as much Gidgee timber after
Windorah. While you're still on the bitumen you'll pass heaps of gidgee. Take chainsaw if you can, because you'll struggle to cut it with anything less.
- The caravan park gets absolutely chockers when the races are on. You can
camp between the race course and the town. In town there are
toilets and you can use the caravan park showers for a price. There are buses, again for a small fee, to the races and back. Heaps of
Police, so don't drink and drive.
The event is great. If Brophy's Boxing Tent is there it's worth whatever you pay. The whole town has a good tome and the races are worth the trip.
I'll write up a suggestion for a return trip later.
Hoo roo,
Steve
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