Why?
Why leave the ocean, the coast and the vibe of the Sunshine Coast for the outback of central Queensland? Hmmmm, a good question indeed!
Answer: for 'the experience of life in the outback', and to earn/save $$$ to pay for the next leg of my journey.
Why work?
Not having squllions of $$ in the bank, I need to work as I travel to pay for the next leg of my exploration, and accepting a short 2 month work assignment in the outback is one way I can combine 'experiencing' life in the outback, while earning decent pay which also comes with free accommodation - so to the outback it is!
10 days Brisbane to Longreach
My plan: visit as many National Parks on my way across the country, with my primary aim being Expedition & Carnarvon Gorge National Parks.
My route:
Heading west out of Brisbane my route was:
Mt Nebo, Mt Glorious, D'Aguilar National Park, Wivenhoe Dam, Fernvale, Lowood, Lockyer National Park, Ravensbourne National Park, Crows Nest National Park, Dalby, Chinchilla, Roma, Injune, Expedition National Park, Carnarvon Gorge National Park, Injune, Mt Moffat section of the Carnarvon Gorge, Mitchell, Morven, Augathella, Tambo, Blackall, Barcaldine and on the 9th day I drove into Longreach.
This is how that looks on a map of Queensland.
Not exactly a straight line across the country.
2,451kms.
Lake Wivenhoe
After coming down from Mt Glorious, the Wivenhoe dam is an ideal spot to take a break, and enjoy the scenery.
Lowood - tree full of bats
Lowood is a small rural town situated on the Brisbane River in the Somerset region. The reason I mention it here, is that I screeched to a halt as I was driving through when I spotted a tree full of bats beside the river/road. I love watching bats.
Lockyer National Park
Quoting the parks website I was drawn to viewing Lockyer as it was pegged as a fun 4x4 drive "the park is a popular area for a variety of activities, including remote bushwalking, and 4WD and motorbike touring".
While the trails were not technical, they were still enjoyable 4x4 driving.
So nice to be off tarmac city streets and being back on 4x4 trails.
Here is a taster of the tracks.
Ravensbourne National Park
I liked the look of Ravensbourne National Park, but the camping area was super busy and I had not booked in advance so ended up cruising on and not staying, but it did look like a lovely camping area.
Crows Nest National Park
Visiting these parks on a Saturday without having booking in advance for the camping area meant there was no room for me to stay, I am not sure if I picked a popular weekend or if they are always that busy, but suggest if you want to visit these you may want to book.
Chinchilla Round Waterhole bush-camping
Located just out of town, this little bush-camping spot is a great place to spend the night.
The tarmac track you can see in the photo below is actually a section of closed road that I found my way onto by driving around a few obstacles. The main official camping area is also nice, it just happened to have a few people near it... so I did my usual thing and drove off trail, around and over obstacles, to find a more remote quiet spot, as you do....
Expedition National Park - Lonesome section
This is the view from the Lonesome Section lookout, stunning isn't it.
With the idea of camping beside Lake Nuga Nuga my second night in the park I headed off early the following morning in light rain towards the lake.
Note to my fellow travellers, do not try to drive to Lake Nuga Nuga in the wet, as there is a very strong possibility you will become stuck in the mud.
I should know better. I should know that to drive on any dirt in the outback if the dirt is wet risks bogging.
I am still in the middle of creating a video of this journey across the country... I have some fabulous footage to share with you... but as wanted to share this post with you now as it has been so long since I posted, SORRY!
I have some fun adventures to share..... I just need to make time to create the videos!
Thanks for sharing this journey with me.
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