Outback Queensland

This Friday (16 August) morning saw us driving eastward along the Barkly Highway. 200km later we crossed the border into Queensland. This marked the end of 4 weeks in the Northern Territory. 

This road to Mount Isa was built during World War II with American funds as a link between the southern states and the theoretical 'front line' in the Northern Territory. It was built in such haste - ie just bitumen over the flat countryside - that it became known as Tojo's Revenge - a reference to the Japanese military leader who had forced its building. We can attest to the road condition being less than ideal but obviously better than the alternative.

We didn’t travel much further (14km/218km today) before turning off at the bridge before Camooweal to find a spot along the billabong. It’s a very popular spot so we were happy to arrive early enough (11am eastern standard time… we lost 1/2 hour coming across the border), to get a good position away from the crowds down one end of the water. This basic rural town is the most westerly town in Queensland. 

We walked the length of the camp and did some bird watching and chatting. We even get a few jobs done. The weather is a pleasant 28° and a cool breeze. 

We end up staying another day and strolled from camp into town on Sunday morning.

We met a lovely couple from Penola who have a bigger truck than ours with a great shipping container conversion for their motorhome. 

Monday morning sees us on the road again heading along the Barkly Highway to Mount Isa, which is known as the 'oasis of the outback'. Nestled among the ochre-red Selwyn Ranges, on the banks of the Leichhardt River, the town is a bustling melting pot of culture and industry and also home to the world's third largest rodeo. Which as luck would have it, was on last weekend!

Its main financial base was the huge Mount Isa Mine, the world's largest single producer of copper, silver, lead and zinc. In 1923, John Campbell Miles found a silver-lead ore outcrop. This rich deposit is still producing high volumes of ore and is classed as one of the world's great mines. But unfortunately has ceased production in July 2025. The closure, impacting over 1,200 direct jobs, is due to low ore grades, challenging geological conditions, and aging infrastructure. While the closure marks the end of an era for copper mining in Mount Isa, the city is working on diversifying its economy and exploring alternative industries.

We head to the lookout and noticed the chimney stacks are still in operation so there is possibly some activity still happening at the moment.

We do the usual city activities… find a good bakery, fill up with fuel, go shopping, use the dump point and fill up the water tanks.

We have seen our share of mines and fossils, so we opt to drive 50km back out of town Gunpowder WWII airfield rest stop along the Barkly Highway, having driven 260km today.

Tablelands Highway NT

Our original plans was to drive from Borroloola, Northern Territory to Hellsgate Roadhouse, Queensland along the National Highway 1. This is part of a network of highways that circumnavigate the country, joining all mainland capital cities except the national capital of Canberra. At a total length of approximately 14,500 km it is the longest national highway in the world. Unfortunately this section of the highway has been described to us as F*#&@d and horrendous. The bloke at the repair shop said you would be a fool to take your vehicle along that road. So we decided to go the long way around and head south along the Tablelands Highway.

But before we set off from our cheeky overnight stop we went for the 2km hike around the Caranbirini Lost City. 

48km later we turned off the Carpentaria Hwy #1 at the Heartbreak Hotel, also known as Cape Crawford, onto the Tablelands Highway. It’s 375km of mainly single lane sealed road with plenty of pot holes and undulating bumpy sections. FYI we got to 280m in altitude..

 It took us 5 hours with one rest stop from 9:30am to 2:30pm when we eventually got to the Barkly Highway. We rate this as one of the worst 'Highways' we have ever driven on...

We then travelled another 40km/30mjns to the Wonarah Bore Rest Area, finding a good spot down the back, ending a long day in the road.

478km today