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Day 1 : Hay to Broken Hill -
Sunday 6th June - 613 km
As any Trek veteran will tell you, a good Trek is about the people, the towns and the roads, and on day one we will experience the best each of these ingredients has to offer. We only travel 6 klms before we experience the first dirt road of the week, as we head across One Tree Plain towards Clare Public School, then along the bed of Lake Garnpang in the Mungo Scrub World Heritage Listed National Park, before we stop for lunch in Pooncarie.
We then cross to the western side of the Darling River up to Kinchega National Park that surrounds Lake Menindee, before turning to Broken Hill where our dinner will be in the main operations hangar of the
RFDS Base.
Day 2 - Broken Hill to Copley -
Monday 7 June - 445 km
Breakfast this morning is at Silverton, a town that once was home to 3,000 people in the 1890’s, when silver was first discovered in the area. Today’s 50 residents enjoy a much more relaxed atmosphere and the town is now better known as the home to movies such as the Mad Max series, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Today’s journey will take us into South Australia as we cross several local properties that are rarely accessed by the general public. People out here rely on the Doctor and are more than happy to make us welcome. |
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We follow a path below the Dog Fence across to Frome Downs, and from there head northwest towards historic Copley. Our experience over the years tells us that the smaller the town the greater the experience, and the 74 Copley locals will make us very welcome.
Day 3 - Copley to Birdsville -
Tuesday 8 June - 634 km
Today we tiptoe a path up the iconic Birdsville Track between the Tirari and Strzelecki Deserts and the Sturt Stony Desert, as we pass through the old Ghan town of Marree, to have lunch at Mungeranie Hotel and Roadhouse. The towns are few and far between in this part of the Outback, and we will still see glimpses of the historic Ghan train line that followed the route of the original overland telegraph line, before the train line was moved in 1980.
The Birdsville Track is one of the best known and loneliest tracks in Australia, and its inhabitants have been battling the searing heat, floods and mechanical breakdowns for over 100 years. The Track is a lifeline to the isolated settlements and stations along the way. Not much has changed since 1860 ‐ the Track is still just that ‐ a track through the desert and sandhills.
Opened in the days before reliable vehicles, good communications and air access in case of emergency, in modern times the RFDS keeps people along the Track in touch with the outside world.
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Day 4 - Birdsville to Stonehenge - Wednesday 9 June - 537 km
We now start to head northeast and today we travel through the quintessentially Queensland towns of Windorah and Jundah, on to the tiny settlement of Stonehenge.
Windorah is in the heart of Channel Country where the primary source of income is from sheep and cattle grazing, however in recent years, money has come in from several oil and gas facilities that have moved into the district.
Stonehenge is primarily grazing country, but is also home to the over-the‐horizon radar base that allows electronic detection of targets at very long ranges.
Day 5 - Stonehenge to Barcaldine - Thursday 10 June - 592 km
We cross the Tropic of Capricorn on our way to the small grazing town (pop. 106) of Muttaburra, located on the Thompson River, also known for the discovery of the Muttaburrasaurus dinosaur, some 12 metres long and weighing 15 tonnes.
Onwards to Barcaldine and after the last three days spent in very small towns, the comfort and clean sheets of Barcaldine’s various accommodation options will be sought by many Trekkers, after a day spent travelling through some of the most diverse country in this part of Australia. |
Day 6 - Barcaldine to Ravenswood - Friday 11 June - 640 km
Today we continue our Trek north and we head across some very large cattle stations and several varying types of country as we start to climb through Cudmore National Park and on through Laglan Station and Elgin Downs. Lunch today will be at Belyando Crossing, before we cut across to Lake Dalrymple and the Burdekin Falls dam, up to the historic town of Ravenswood for the evening.
Day 7 - Ravenswood to Hamilton Is - Saturday 12 June - 280 km
Today is a short day, allowing us ample time to make the ferry timetable from Shute Harbour at lunchtime. First cars will depart Ravenswood at 7:30 am and make their way to the coastal city of Bowen, then south along the coast via Airlie Beach to Shute Harbour, where we will board the ferry to Hamilton Island.
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