Outback Queensland

Beyond the Great Dividing Range the sky opens up over tough country that's both relentless and beautiful. Travellers come for the exotic and intimate Australian experience, their restlessness tamed by the sheer size of the place, its luminous colours and its silence. It's a place that echoes with Indigenous stories down through the ages, and tales from Burke and Wills to Waltzing Matilda. Towns like Winton, Longreach and Birdsville in particular capture the essence of this vast place.

In the dry season, endless blue skies hover over stony deserts, matched only by the brilliant velvety clarity of the Milky Way at night. It's a long way between drinks out here, but it's well worth the drive.