Any suggestions please

Sounds like a great trip. We did soime of this trip in July and loved it.

Leigh Creek - Coal Mine Tour - free. Excellent if you can work around it. Booked through the information centre at Leigh Creek. They only do it 2 days a week I think. The Info centre can help with that. We stayed at Copley - Caravan park is good but a bit noisy from passing traffic.

Farina - interesting - call in and have a look. Good cheap camp spot down the end.

Birdsville track - Mungerannie - not cheap but worth stopping the night. Good to get there early to get a good spot tucked in amongst the trees. Nice artesion spa to have a dip in or just up the road at Mitta bore there are places to tuck yourself away for free camping.

Boulia CP excellent and on the banks of the Bourke River.

Birdsville - we camped about 1.5 kms out near the old windmill on the banks of the Diamantina. You will pass the windmill on your way into Birdsville just before the bridge. Free

Winton - Bladensburg NP. $10/n - camp on banks of creek or you can just free camp just out of Winton on the road out to Bladensburg. A couple of good drives through the NP including Scrammy Drive.

Mt Isa - all of the parks were chockers when we were there. Did manage to get squeezed in.Free camp at Mary Kathleen Ruins - wish we had found it before hand as we didn't enjoy Mt Isa at all.

Hope that is of some help.

Cheers

There's a half day tour at Coober Pedy that operates out of the Stuart CP - takes in a mine, opal shop (of course), u/ground church, Breakaways, the dog fence etc. We found it really interesting.

If you come back via Burra in SA pick up some saltbush hogget .... hmmmm, scrumptious. We got a leg boned @ 2.2 kg and managed to roast it in the Cobb.

Are you taking in the Flinders Ranges?

Heaps to see and do along that route. Get a copy of Camps 5 for free camps. Lawn Hill north of Mt Isa is a must - you could spend a few days there camping either at the National Parks campground or at Adels Grove. Make sure you take a canoe for a paddle up the Gorge - magnificent. If you are into fossils stop into the Riversleigh site on the way to Lawn Hill, and have a look at the Riversleigh centre in Mt Isa.

Good camping beside the river north of Burketown, and a good campsite at Leichardt falls where the Burketown - Karumba Rd crosses the river. Another top spot at Gregory Downs beside the creek there.

We didn't like Karumba much (we're not into fishing!) and its one of those places where you have to book months ahead.

Give yourself plenty of time (at least a week or more) to look around Alice Springs and the west and east Macdonnell Ranges. Other good places coming south are the Painted Desert and the Breakaways just north of Coober Pedy.

Have a great trip,

Val

Hi Julie

Any reason for Winton, why not Bedourie, Boulia, Isa plenty to see that way, Look at Kingfisher Camp between Bourke town and Borroloola. Good camp at the Devils Marbles

Phil

Sounds like a great trip you're planning there Julie, we've only been to two of the places on your list..... Birdsville and Winton. Birdsville's attraction's are well documented, Winton maybe not so well documented. I found Winton a quaint town with lots of character. The Matilda Centre is not as modern as the Stockman Hall of Fame down at Longreach, but has an old world charm about it that makes it a must see. 100 k's or so outside of Winton is Lark Quarry, where ancient dinosaur footprints are on display, again an intriguing place.

Cheers

Brian