Road tripping through the Queensland red outback

'All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.'

Jack Kerouac, On the Road

We had planned to be road tripping around the South Island of New Zealand for the last ten days. Obviously when the pandemic hit, it caused us (and the rest of the world) to have to reschedule our plans. We were fortunately able to eventually organise credits for the companies we were travelling with (who were genuinely wonderful about it all). With the world shutting down around us, international travel of any kind was off limits (at least, for now). And as the pandemic continued to directly impact travel within countries too, travelling out of state was even off the table (again, at least for now). We got restless being at Home with no international travels in the coming months. It had been a wild few months for us. Both of our cars basically died, we bought a new car, we moved away from the city and into our own slice of paradise, we had been through the stay at home orders that everyone had. Lucky for us, working remotely meant that our jobs were not impacted. And thankfully, our loved ones were all Happy and healthy (even if some of them were stuck in different states for work). As for everything else...well, to say that it has been a year of immense change all around would be putting it mildly.

Fortunately, we had another idea in mind. We decided to travel through our home state instead. I have wanted to see the dinosaur trail here in Australia for so long now. This seemed as good a time as any to tick off this bucket list experience! I mapped out what the road trip would look like, relative budgetary expenses and distance travelled, and accommodation options for each place. The final piece of the puzzle was booking our accommodation and paying for the four-day dinosaur trail pass. Then, just a few weeks after booking everything for our road trip, we were packing the car the night before we were due to leave. We woke up fresh (if not a little tired - especially me...mornings are not my favourite part of the day), gathered our last few bits and pieces, locked up and double checked we had locked the whole house up, put in the directions on our map, put on a podcast, and set out on our first big stretch of road to the great Queensland outback! With a full day of driving ahead of us, we were excited about our first travels in what felt like forever (though it had only been six months, to be fair). We listened to some great podcasts (Common Descent being one of them...and how apt a time to be listening to a palaeontology podcast, haha). I was about to turn twenty-seven and we were going to see dinosaur country. This was a bucket list experience that was finally about to become a bucket list tick!

The ancient towering magic of Carnarvon GorgeTen hours after we pulled out of our driveway at Home, we eased into the little country town of Rolleston. On the way through, we had actually passed through a country road that gave us spectacular views of the gorge from afar. I can distinctly remember being filled with awe, driving through a break between two rocky crevices, with the sounds of 'Sunsets' by Powderfinger welcoming us to the first stop on this incredible road trip. We wanted to stay as close to the gorge as possible, however because we had booked it so close to the start of our trip the only accommodation that was remotely close to the gorge was in Rolleston, an hour and a half away from the gorge itself. If it was not the middle of winter, and if we could have spared the time to hike all the way into the camping ground and back with certain ease in the time we had before we had to leave for Winton, we would have camped in the gorge. As it turns out, we did get to camp. Or at least...we tried to. We were warned of the freezing temperatures at night. We took with us a little tent we bought for a bargain at Anaconda for festivals, thinking this would do just fine because this was the only stop that we were going to camp at.

We got to the caravan park we had booked a cheap little camp spot at, checked in, and parked at our little spot. We got too cocky admittedly, and we walked across the road to the pub for a feed after setting up and locking the car. After dinner and a few drinks, we walked back to our spot, content with the start of a new adventure and looking up at the stars as we approached our little tent. We were there for two nights. As we showered and settled our pillows and blanket into the tent, we were perhaps a little too confident about being able to endure the frosty winter air all night. As snuggly and spacious as this blanket was at Home, it was unfortunately quite obvious quite quickly that the blanket was not going to be nearly warm enough for both of us (to be fair, this is largely because we had brought no padding for the tent floor, so we had folded the blanket underneath us for some added comfort and warmth on the floor). The warmth of our tipsiness gave us a head start, however it was not long before we both abandoned tent and slept in the spacious comfort of our new car. When we woke up the next morning, we were a little sore but surprisingly well rested. After a shower and brushing our teeth, we had woken up enough to be able to make the short ninety-minute drive to the entrance of the gorge. 

Driving into that little road into the gorge is a moment that I will always remember. The morning sunlight was bringing the outback to life for a new day. The closer that we got to the gorge, the higher the ancient stone walls towered up, becoming greater and more profound all the time. And when we eased into the last turn before the car park, we started to see glimpses of wildlife. To the left side of the road, I saw the grass shift against the wind...and then I realised what it actually was. We were seeing our very first emus of the trip! After slowing down to take a photo and watch them for a few moments, we continued on. Parking in the car park at the entrance to the gorge, we pulled on our hiking shoes and locked the car before heading to the information centre. There were a few sights on the hike that I wanted to make sure that we saw. Consulting the map, we realised that the 12k return route through the gorge and back would take us to each of them. So, excited for a day of adventure, we were on our way. We chose to hike into each of the highlights on the way through so that we had a straight shot back to the car after a big day of hiking.We began walking in at the same time as a few old couples who were just as exhilarated as we were about getting to explore the gorge. Not long into our hike, we saw the little sign for the first of four stops of the day: Moss Garden. Walking up amongst the towering stone walls, we noticed that the greenery surrounded us more and more. The trees and plants that peppered the ground of the gorge became greener and more plentiful the further up we walked into a crack in the stone walls. Before long, we edged up some wooden stairs and out to one of the most beautiful waterfalls that I have ever seen, framed between the stone walls and brilliantly alive with fresh water, the flora of a rainforest, and vibrant green moss. Wonderfully silent, like a scene straight out of a fairytale. Sitting there and listening to the water trickling down, we drank some water and had a snack. By the time we left to head further up the trail, we were excitedly chatting and talking about how beautiful Carnarvon Gorge had already proven to be (and so excited for what we were still yet to experience that day).

Taking the hiking trail up towards the towering stone cliffs, we walked for a little while, happily silent and listening to the bird song that surrounded us as the daylight continued to drift down more as early morning gracefully went on. Soon after, we approached the Amphitheatre. This was one of the spots along the trail that I was most excited for. All I had shown Josh was one picture. I had read about the awe inspiring grandeur of this special place. As we approached the steel steps that would lead us into an even tighter crevice in between those same stone walls, a little further up into the gorge. When we finally got up those few flights of steel steps, the sunlight had begun to filter in to the entrance to the Amphitheatre. Following Josh in, I will always remember the moss creating a fine cover along the ground and an opening of soft morning light that drifted down into a tropical oasis that seemed to be frozen in time. Here, the stone walls proved to be even bigger than you can imagine. They towered around us. We sat down and ate our packed lunch (making sure to pack our rubbish into our backpack to take with us, of course), listening to birds sing and the echoes of our voices whirling around this ancient natural amphitheatre. I remember standing there as we were walking out and looking up and we were literally encapsulated in walls of astoundingly tall sandstone. Looking directly up, the stone walls framed a small opening where the blue sky spanned up and some branches from trees atop those stone falls were alive with bright green leaves, the sunlight filtering down through them. I remember having a similar feeling when I was standing in the falling snow in Milford Sound years ago...how small we truly are.

Riding the adrenaline rush, we walked on to our next stop for the day (it is worth noting that all of the stops along this trail through the gorge are not too far apart, a few kilometres at most, so going from one to another is relatively easy). Finally, we saw the little sign and, quickening our pace a little, we reached another few sets of wooden steps that took us up into the canyon. Taking those final few steps up into the crevice of Wards Canyon by a waterfall, it feels like you are stepping back in time (a fitting atmosphere, given the nature of our road trip). Following the little creek further into that canyon, the flora and little fauna are fantastic...and then you see one species of flora that is so massive that it kind of takes you aback for a minute. Wards Canyon is home to the world's largest fern (king fern Angiopteris Evacuate) and as if that is not cool enough, the very fact that it is still there is a link back to the flora that spread across the earth here in ancient Gondwanan times, back when the dinosaurs roamed the planet. When we were reading the signs explaining the history of this magical place, the sounds of the canyon around us were the perfect calming sounds. Every spot on this trail is worth going to, but only juuuuuust coming in behind the Amphitheatre for me, is Wards Canyon. Eventually, we realised we had to move on if we wanted to make it to another spot. By this point, we have gone through most of our two big bottles of water, so it was going to be interesting, to say the least, to see how much more we could get through, knowing that we still had at least 5km to walk back by this point. Nonetheless, on we went.By the time we got to what became our final stop for the day, we had the tiniest bit of water left. But all I can say about this spot is that it was humbling and truly special to be able to even be there. 5km into Carnarvon Gorge's natural stone architecture, we finally made it to the Art Gallery. The Art Gallery is an expanse of stone wall that juts out above the ground, a little way up towards the sandstone walls, and it is a place of spiritual significance to the Bidjara and Karingbal Aboriginal people, who frequented the area so many years ago. Luckily for all of us, they have allowed for access to it (though the paths are far less obvious and there are measures in place to keep vandalism at bay...though unfortunately some fools still have tarnished the site). Accompanying this special place are some of the most incredible art works I have seen. I am an artist, I love art. But I have never seen anything like these. Not on canvas, not sculptures, the Aboriginal people used natural paints to create stories on the stone itself. Today, they are still there. Over two thousand engravings and paintings adorn the stone and tell a rich history of their people. There is a little box where a notepad has been placed with a pen and you can sign your name and write a message. We both did. If you go here, I highly recommend that you take the time to read all of the signs - they explain the artwork, with input from archaeologists, anthropologists, and most importantly, the Bidjara and Karingbal Aboriginal people. 

After staying a while and taking in the extensive ancient artworks of Australia's first people, we knew it was time to head back. The walk back to the entrance area was a lot quicker than the walk in, given the fact that we had stopped off at all the little spots we went to on the way up into the gorge. By the time we finally reached the entrance area, our feet were tired (thankfully we wore our hiking shoes, so it was not nearly as bad as it would have been had we not done that!). Carnarvon Gorge had genuinely exceeded every single expectation...and then some. As we eased out of the parking spot and onto the little road through the bush to head back to Rolleston, we were both in a bit of a state of wonder. While we missed out on Boolimba Bluff, Boowinda, and Mickey Creek, we will definitely be back to take on Carnarvon Gorge again. There is still so much to explore and we can take more time to appreciate it all in more depth next time. After driving back to camp, showering, having a quick dinner, and settling into the car and packing so we could just drive out in the morning and make our way to the first town of the Dinosaur Trail in the morning. As I am sure is obvious from the length of this part, Carnarvon was such a highlight. I already cannot wait to go back and we are both so excited to see more of the gorges throughout not just Australia, but also the rest of the world. 

Six days in the red desert of the Queensland OutbackA quick note that this section is going to be quite short, even though it was the main part of this road trip, because there is a seperate post that goes into our experience at Australia's dinosaur country in detail. Anywho, after a day of driving, we arrived in Winton in the late afternoon to an outback sunset and what is honestly both our highlights from the Dinosaur Trail: the little outback town of Winton (AKA Australia's dinosaur capital!). Winton is now one of my absolute favourite places in the world. I could seriously have just stayed there. We drove into Winton the day before my birthday. And it was the perfect place to start 27. We spent the day at Jump Up's 'Australian Age of Dinosaurs' with life size bronze dinosaur statues, dinosaur bones in the lab, and an unbelievable outback sunset, all to ourselves, with a bottle of wine, Josh, and the best star gazing I have ever seen in my life. Fun fact: Jump Up has been declared as the first international dark-sky sanctuary in Australia (though the sanctuary centre is still under construction). And woah, it earns its status tenfold. The next day we went to the Stampede Monument. Getting to walk with dinosaurs is something that I will never forget. Winton is honestly the biggest highlight of this road trip for me. We got some great buys at the shop at Jump Up (admittedly I went a little crazy excited). I am going back for the annual dig and preserve trip some time in the next few weeks when possible, to actually dig up the bones and work on preserving and organising them in the lab on site at Australian Age of Dinosaurs up on Jump Up!

After two nights in Winton, we sadly had to leave...but it was for a great destination! Two and a half hours from Winton is Hughenden, home to the second stop on Australia's Dinosaur Trail and a museum (in the country, museums are more like large tin sheds or stores - so awesome), the Flinders Discovery Centre. We had a great little cabin in a caravan park and there was a little cafe where we bought some of the best sandwiches we have ever had from a lovely older woman. Some of the most incredible and physically large fossils I have ever seen were in the discovery centre, all incredibly laid out and displayed so that you can get a fantastic look at them in all their glory and even, in one special case, what the dinosaur's skeleton actually looked like when it was stomping around in the prehistoric world (you can see Hughie, a Muttaburrasaurus skeleton, in the pictures). The museum details how and why Queensland was once an inland sea and even has a video that explains how the sediments laid down and created the fossil record. We got to purchase some fossils of our own to add to our collection. The next day, we set out to spend the day hiking Porcupine Gorge. The hike down and back up is a little steep however it is still quite manageable (take water and wear proper hiking shoes to make it easier!). And the views...we could literally see the sedimentary layers in the sides of the gorge that we had just learnt more about the day prior. 

The final stop on the Australian Dinosaur Trail for us was Richmond, just an hour and a half from Hughenden. We bought some sandwiches for the road and drove to the last of three stops of this part of our trip. At one point, we drove past a town that was literally one street and had a population of four people (according to the little steel sign as we drove through to the other side of the street and back into the open outback). We had booked a great little cabin next to Lake Fred Tritton and we were poised and ready to explore. Kronosaurus Korner is the main dinosaur attraction in town. This fantastic little centre has the most unreal ancient aquatic fossils I have ever seen in my life (and certainly in person). We rocked up to the centre at around 7am, if not a little before, because we had booked in to go out for a day dig with the local palaeontologist. Unfortunately, she did not show up because she was unwell (though they did give us a refund, so that was great), so we just explored the centre for a while. I bought a fossicking hammer for myself and Josh amusingly (and sweetly) bought me a kid's dig set toy because he could tell I was disappointed. Richmond is a wonderful little outback town, however because it is so small there is not much to do there. With our dig cancelled (which we would have arrived back to our cabin the night of, had it gone ahead), we had the day free from around 10:30am. We talked and decided to leave a night early to spend more time with Josh's sister and her partner at their new place. So, we got back to our cabin, told reception we would be leaving early, and packed up the car. From the red desert to the green forests of Atherton

The time it takes to get to Atherton from Richmond is around seven hours. During this one stretch of the trip, we went through red desert, light sand roads, dense bush land, and then finally up into the lush rolling hills that took us into Atherton. On the way through, we could have stopped a few times to see the lava tubes and paddle board another gorge, but because we wanted to get to Atherton by night fall, we drove straight through, stopping only once to take a quick stretch and at the lookout by the massive wind turbines. We have been to Atherton a few times now and it never ceases to impress us. The rolling hills are this beautiful bright green colour and are often frequented by cows and other farm animals. We spent the drive listening to podcast episodes and after just three episodes, we were pulling into Josh's sister's driveway! Initially we planned to be in Atherton just one night, however because we got there early we got another entire day with them. It was wonderful and the perfect way to come off the back of nearly a week in the outback. Taylor cooked us some delicious meals and we spent our time there hanging out, having some drinks, and playing with their pup, Datsun. Atherton reminds me a lot of Home, however it is far more of a quiet place which is lovely and really gives you the chance to relax and enjoy your time there. Taylor took us to one of the crater lakes for breakfast the morning after we arrived. It was a soft grey, rainy day. And it was so lovely. We stocked up on cheese and chocolate while we were there (Mark's family owns a dairy store called Gallows, and it is seriously the most delicious cheese and chocolate ever, a must do if you find yourself in or around Atherton!). By the time it was time for us to go, we felt well rested and recharged, and excited to hear on our last few stretches to get home. A quick night stop at Airlie Beach

Our next stop as Airlie Beach for a quick overnight visit. Just over seven hours from Atherton, we were driving all day to get there. Putting on our favourite podcasts, we enjoyed that stretch of road to ourselves for most of the day, giving the classic northern two-fingered wave to any vehicles we saw along the way. When we arrived, the sun was setting and we could juust see the ocean. And we were only there overnight, so naturally we did not see as much as we wanted to. Initially, the plan was to spend the day there (we had packed our snorkel gear for this), however because I really wanted to see the Roos and wallabies at Cape Hillsborough the next day, we headed off crazy early the next morning (before the sun is up early). So, having packed before we went to sleep, and full and content on a belly of fish and chips that we got for dinner along the esplanade, we went to sleep and readied ourselves for the early wake up call. Looking back, if we had known that we were not going to spend the day in Airlie, we probably would have just kept driving and stayed at Cape Hillsborough, however given the fact that plans just sometimes change (and that is an adventure in and of itself), we definitely still enjoyed our short time in Airlie. It is definitely a place that we will go back to and spend more time at next time. By the time we got up in the early AM, dropped our key into the box, and got into the car and drove to Cape Hillsborough, we were running a little later than we wanted to...

A sunrise with the locals at Cape Hillsborough

Cape Hillsborough is just ninety minutes from Airlie. Even so, we still ended up running a tiny bit behind and unfortunately not making it in time to get there before the sun came up. There we were, taking these winding little roads that shifted from actual road to dirt and sand, with the morning slowly coming to life as the sky began to lighten into the day. We were so close to making it and somehow we still ended up running behind. After a seamless road trip covering thousands of kilometres this road trip, we encountered our first little glitch. A truck in front of us spat back rocks (as does tend to happen, obviously) and one smacked right in the centre of our windscreen, effectively (and swiftly, I might add) chipping the windscreen. The damage did not cause a big crack or a shatter (thank goodness), so we kept on driving. After all, what could we do at that point? When we parked at the Cape, we walked the fifty or so metres to the beach and were greeted with the loveliest soft morning sunrise. We had missed the literal sun rising, however we were there when the sun was still low on the horizon. And to the right...we could see dark little shapes near the people. We had made it in time to see some of the resident roos and wallabies! When we reached them, there were six in total, scattered around the beach and enjoying their slow start to the day, snacking on the beach, seemingly unaware that they are the reason that we had made that little detour on our way back Home. I will never forget that beautiful sight...soft blues, pinks, and yellows lighting up the ocean off Cape Hillsborough with kangaroos and wallabies calmly feeding on the sand, playfully fighting with one another before they started their day.Coming back to the calm forests of Home

Our last stretch on this road trip was the longest by far. It took us thirteen hours to get Home - and it was an adventure from the Cape into our driveway, in and of itself. On the way Home from Cape Hillsborough, we took long stretches of road which gave us the opportunity to really enjoy the scenic drive. Josh was driving. I woke up to him slamming on the brakes and the most freaked out look on his face. He told me to stay in the car, but I was too afraid at his expression. Getting out, he explained that he thought he saw a bird come out of nowhere. When we saw the front of the car, Josh was in shock. Lodged in the front of our car was one of the biggest kookaburras I have ever seen. Josh initially thought he was dead but he cocked his head up when I got there and we got a towel from the boot and gently lifted him out. He did not seem to be too badly hurt, just in shock, and the car was undamaged apart from a snap in the grill (an easy fix). It took us a little while to get him out because he had flown directly across as we accidentally hit him, having not even a second to swerve out of the way, but when we did, he moved him to the side of the road. At this point, we were on Flinders, tens of kilometres from any emergency vet and honestly with little reception (if we even had it at all...it kept dropping in and out on that stretch of road). We did not feel okay with leaving him there but as we had begun to walk him over the road, he seemed to come out of the shock and flew off to softly land on the side of the road just in the tree line. He had flown quite well and seemed to be okay. We reluctantly left, not quite knowing what else to do and feeling okay with the fact that he was at least flying well.

When we managed to get reception just a few kilometres up the road, I googled it. It turns out, we made the right decision. Taking an injured kookaburra from its Home environment is okay if there is a vet nearby and they can get it back to its environment within a few days. If they cannot get them back to the exact same spot within a few days and do so after that time, then the others will kill them, regardless of if they are from the same community. It is sad but true (if you see an injured kookaburra and it seems in need of some medical attention, of course call the wildlife care numbers that are signed along the sides of these roads). Luckily for the little guy we accidentally collided with on that dusty stretch of road, he had flown off fine and he could move his head and body quite well. So, we think in that instance leaving him was the right thing to do. A little shaken, we eventually left after watching him for a while and feeling confident that he was going to be okay. That whole day, we drove past many incredible sights. We made it to Yatala Pies (honestly the best pies in Queensland - yes, seriously) just in time to pick up some dinner on the way Home. This road trip really drove home (no pun intended) the fact that we live in a paradise that genuinely does have it all. Just in this one road trip, we had been to the red outback centre of the state to the crystal clear oceans that frame its edges. From the gorge, the red outback, and Australia's dinosaur country, to Flinders, lush rolling hills and the beach, and the various 'Big...' statues and structures along the day, and everything in between and beyond, this road trip was one of the most astounding trips we have ever been on. One of the best parts about Australia is that you can be by the ocean in one moment and then in the desert or by a waterfall in a matter of hours (if that). Australia is magic...and this trip proved that Queensland is its own special kind of wonderland.