Great Queensland Overlander

Meet your Savannah Guides Operator driver, host and fellow guests at the Burke & Wills Hotel. This evening, discover Toowoomba by night with a mini progressive dinner: drinks, canapés and a guided tour at the Cobb+Co Museum, followed by a welcome dinner at Gips Restaurant in historic Clifford House, set among heritage gardens.  

Step back in time aboard the Commissioner Railmotors with DownsSteam, departing Toowoomba Railway Station for Brookstead. Continue by coach to Miles Historical Village Museum, where more than 30 original and replica buildings recreate an early 20th-century Queensland town. Tonight, experience the Roma Big Rig Night Show, a sound-and-light story of Australia’s oil and gas industry.

Visit the Roma Saleyards, the southern hemisphere’s largest cattle selling facility, to see live auction action and the Interpretation Centre. Continue to Western Queensland Spirit for a guided distillery tour and lunch, showcasing local botanicals and produce.

Travel to Carnarvon Gorge and check in to Carnarvon Gorge Wilderness Lodge, where safari-style cabins sit beneath towering gums. Enjoy dinner at the lodge.

Depart via Springsure to view the Virgin Rock formation, then join a Smoking Ceremony with Traditional Owners acknowledging connection to Country. Continue along the Wilderness Way, often called the Roof of Queensland. Enjoy afternoon tea at the famed Tambo Teddies workshop. In Blackall, take a twilight tour of the historic Woolscour, Australia’s last remaining steam-operated wool-washing plant, followed by dinner onsite.

Visit the Bushman’s Artisans Gallery, in the old Bushman’s Hotel, then enjoy morning tea at The Lodge on Hawthorn. Continue to Isisford’s Outer Barcoo Interpretation Centre, to learn about Isisfordia Duncani, one of the world’s oldest known crocodile ancestors.

After lunch, travel via the legendary Wellshot Hotel, a classic outback pub steeped in history. Arrive in Longreach and check in to your accommodation. Tonight, relax with drinks and dinner at your accommodation.

Board the Great Darr River Rail Run, travelling in a heritage rail motor across Mitchell Grass downs to the Darr River waterhole. Enjoy billy tea and home-baked smoko while your guide shares stories of native plants and bush medicine on a short bush-tucker walk.

Back in town, choose to visit the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, explore the Qantas Founders Museum, or browse country pubs and boutiques. Late afternoon, join the Drover’s Sunset Cruise on the Thomson River, then Smithy’s Outback Dinner & Show for camp-oven inspired dining and live entertainment under the stars.

Travel the Matilda Way to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, perched on a mesa with wide-open views. Join a guided tour of the Laboratory and Collection Room, home to the world’s largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils.

Continue to Winton for lunch and free time at the Waltzing Matilda Centre. Late afternoon, head to the Rangelands Rifts for a guided walk, through narrow fissures and escarpments before sunset refreshments. Return to town for dinner.

Travel northeast, pausing in Corfield, once a Cobb & Co staging post. Continue to Hughenden’s Flinders Discovery Centre to see “Hughie,” a full-size skeletal replica of Muttaburrasaurus, and local fossil exhibits. Enjoy a picnic at Pyramid Lookout with sweeping views over Porcupine Gorge National Park, known as Australia’s “Little Grand Canyon.” Arrive at Mount Surprise late afternoon, check in and dine onsite.

This morning, join a Savannah Guide for a tour of the Undara Lava Tubes, part of one of the world’s longest volcanic cave systems, created by ancient lava flows.

Continue to Woodleigh Station for lunch and genuine country hospitality.

Travel via the Atherton Tablelands to Kuranda and board the Kuranda Scenic Railway for the classic one-way rail journey into Cairns. Rejoin your coach for transfer to your hotel and enjoy a farewell dinner.

Your Queensland overland discovery concludes after breakfast with lasting memories of sandstone ranges, working stations, and warm outback hospitality. Please make your own onward or homeward arrangements from Cairns.