Melbourne to FNQ via central NSW and QLD

There a nice off the bitumen drive from Hughenden via Muttaburra and Undarra you could take and there is also a nice off road drive from Mt Garnet to Petford via Irvinebank. I have the Oziexplorer track file for the Mt Garnet to Petford drive that I can let you have if that is useful but I didn't record the drive via Muttaburra (it's pretty well signposted though). If you would like the Ozi file post an email address and I'll send it to you.

Cheers
Pete

Stephen,
I believe you will miss out on a lot if you choose to stick to the blacktop, just a few things you will miss are Lark Quarry/ Old Cork out of Winton, the Combo waterhole (Waltzing Matilda) out of Kynuna the wonders of Lawn hill and the Bloomfield Track which is just another dirt road not a track at all.

Skip the Stockmans Hall of Fame and go to The Matilda centre in Winton.

If you can go down to Wallaman falls out from Ingham (bitumen) or out to Blenco falls west of Kennedy.

Have a good trip.

G'day Stephen

I agree with Pete. The trip from Hughenden to Undara is a good unsealed road, with Porcupine Gorge not far out of Hughenden a must-see. On the way from Hughenden to Undara we stayed at the Oasis Roadhouse.Good spot for an overnight stay but quite small. Undara is well worth three nights and the 1-day guided tour there is good value.

We were advised in July 2010 by various local info centres that road from Barcaldine to Hughenden via Muttaburra may be a bit too rough for one of the caravans in our party, so we went the more northerly route to Torrens Creek and then to Hughenden. That road is mostly sealed though.

Cheers
John

Lightening Ridge is fun. But regardless which route you take in outback NSW, stop at any thermal pool you come to to wash the dirt off - very nice!

Another stunning place to visit between Normanton & Cairns is Cobbold Gorge. Its about 70kms of dirt each way off the Savannah Way at Georgetown, and IMHO is more stunning than Katherine Gorge.

We did Undara too, but found it didnt live up to the expectations of the brochures/website. Even before we went there, people who had been there were kind of non-plussed about it.

Bloomfield Track from Cairns to Cooktown is now quite an easy drive and very pretty. Stop at Cape Tribulation and do Jungle Surfing !! And enjoy great pub meals and atmosphere at Lions Den Hotel.

Your 3 weeks is pretty quick to get to Cooktown even on the bitumen, let alone the dirt. (is that one way or back again?)

G'day Stephen, we did a similar trip last May..via Ivanhoe..Wilcannia..White Cliffs
..Tibooburra..Noccundra..Thargomindah..Windorah..Diamantina Lakes NP..
Middleton..Kynuna..Cloncurry..Lawn Hill..Normanton..Cairns.. back down coast
..Toowoomba..Tamworth & home...took 4 weeks. I would leave out the
Diamantina NP (a bit underwhelming). All roads were fine then, but plenty of
research required now. I doubt you can do any more than Cooktown in 3 weeks.
Also check Mungo NP if going that way....oldbaz.

Hi Stephen, I did that trip last year but continued on to the tip of cape York. The only thing that I would suggest is that you go to Lawn Hill National Park and stay at Adel's Grove for a couple of nights - it was one of the highlights of our trip - and trust me it will satisfy your need for staying on gravel roads! We drove from Mt Isa directly west towards the NT border and then turned north to Lawn Hill (forgotten name of roads etc). When we left Lawn Hill we headed to Burketown and then went across to Normanton/Karumba.