Rockhampton to Uluru

Which way are you thinking of heading to Alice...across The Plenty Hwy on the dirt or along the bitumin via Barkly Hwy?

You can check MyBlogs (2008) for what to see in Central Australia. 2009 blogs cover more of the Northern Territory and Queensland, featuring the dinosaur country of Boulia-Winton. Links from these will find you places to camp as well. We travelled the Barkly Highway, not the Plenty - Donohue highways.

Depending on their ages, most children are fascinated with dinosaurs, so if you have not toured this area before, it may be worth factoring it in to your trip.

Have a look at the websites for all the places along your route. They usually list everything to see in their area as well as times for annual events etc. This is just one example. Longreach

Book sellers, camping equipment shops and many newsagents have camping books like Camps Australia. Camping book They list thousands of campsites and low priced caravan parks.

A couple of years ago we were held up at Bourke in NSW for two days by flooded roads. I asked the police for a road report and they directed me to a free camp site beside the Darling River a few ks out of town.Tourist information centres would most likely do the same. There are plenty of sites out there. .

Worth stopping in Winton for a couple of days to see both Lark Quarry dinosaur trackways and Australian Age of Dinosaurs.

You can camp at Long Waterhole, south of Winton. Poddy Ck parking bay, with toilets & shelter sheds, is a good spot, about 85kms west of Winton. There are are a few other places to pull off the road before you get to Middleton Pub. Lilleyvale parking bay, near Old Cork turnoff, has toilets & s/sheds. The old Hamilton Pub ruins, just west of Hamilton Channels, has toilets & s/sheds.

Bendeacca Ck, on Donohue Highway, is just off the junction with Boulia-Mt Isa road, with plenty of room to find a camp. The Georgina R. Crossing is popular, then nothing until you get to Tobermorey Station. Then Jervious Station has fuel, camping and ice creams. Gem Tree is a good spot & worth shopping if it fits into your schedule. In 2011, we found there weren't many other bush camps, because the heavy feed was growing right up to the edge of the road.

Bob