Alice Springs

Then on to Boulia

The link between Central Australia and Outback Queensland is provided by the Plenty and Donohue Highways. This stretch of road was first built to allow cattle stations a means of transporting beef through road train access.

Today, it is also a 'short-cut' for travellers from Boulia, Mt.Isa and other outback Queensland towns to get to Alice Springs and the'Red Centre' in a more direct way.

The Plenty/Donohue highways are a long pathway through open plains, cattle stations and aboriginal communities.

Several rivers and creeks which form the channel country need to be crossed through this diversity of country from red sand and clay to bulldust and gravel.

Boulia

The town of Boulia is the pivotal point of the far west, with Mount Isa 300 kilometres to the north and Winton 370 kilometres to the east. It is linked to Alice Springs via the Donohue Highway and the town is acknowledged as being the Capital of the Channel Country, which gives rise to the great rivers that flow west to Lake Eyre.

Boulia is the centre of a prosperous beef and wool industry with cattle generally grazed in the western and northern areas and sheep properties to the east. The Shire shares a 320 kilometre common border with the Northern Territory and it's western boundary marks the eastern edge of the mighty Simpson Desert.

Camel racing in Boulia at the Boulia Camel Races.

This event is held annually on the third weekend of July each year. It's an event not to be missed, as the ships of the desert show their paces around the race track, hopefully the right way around. Free camping at the Racecourse is included in the entry fee for the weekend. A range of accommodation is available in the Boulia Shire including a Motel, Hotel/Motel, Caravan Park and Station Stay. Great dining is to be had, whether it be at the Hotel/Motel’s Cooridgea Watering Hole and Restaurant, the Choice Roadhouse or the Encounters Café.
Town information at http://www.boulia.qld.gov.au/

How to get here.

We have sealed roads linking Boulia to Winton (Kennedy Developmental Road) and also Mount Isa (Diamantina Developmental Road). The Diamantina Developmental Road from Boulia to Bedourie is partially sealed. Boulia can also lay claim to having a short cut gravel road taking travellers across to Alice Springs (Donohue and Plenty highways).

About The Outback Way

The Outback Way extends 2,750km from Laverton, Western Australia to Winton, Queensland via central Australia. As a self-drive route it passes through central Australia’s deserts, Ayers Rock, The Olga’s, Alice Springs and a host of fascinating places of interest. The Outback Way is made up of seven inter-connecting roads including The Great Central Road (WA); Tjukaruru Road, Lasseter Highway, Stuart Highway and Plenty Highway (NT); and Donohue Highway and Min Min Byway (QLD). Collectively these are

THE OUTBACK WAY
There are very few road signs in outback Australia and many of the Outback Way’s places of interest are sometimes not so easy to find. Then again, it wouldn’t be an outback adventure without an element of surprise! The adventurous traveller has plenty to discover, and the less adventurous traveller can safely prepare their outback journey using this website, the brochure and the Guidebook!

When to travel the Outback Way
http://www.outbackway.org.au/

The Plenty Highway accurately doesn't commence till around the NT/QLD border, to get there you travel from Boulia in outback Queensland along the Donohue Highway (track). Typically spoken , the Queensland section of the track is in the worst condition with long stretches of extreme bulldust and big holes (making it a dry weather road only) - the NT section is more regularly maintained and graded. http://www.exploroz.com/

The Plenty Highway stretches from Western Queensland to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory There are two starting off points for this trip. Mt Isa and, further south, Boulia in Western Queensland. The trip ends at Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Boulia to Alice Springs is about 800 km and from Mt Isa about 30 km longer. The longest stretch without fuel is on the Boulia to Alice Springs route and is about 460km, between Boulia and Jervois Homestead, although some fuel may be available at Tobermorey (phone first (07) 4748 4996.

The town of Boulia is the pivotal point of the far west, with Mount Isa 300 kilometres to the north and Winton 370 kilometres to the east. It is linked to Alice Springs via the Donohue Highway and the town is acknowledged as being the Capital of the Channel Country, which gives rise to the great rivers that flow west to Lake Eyre. Things to do in Boulia's include the Min Min lights tour. No-one seems to know just exactly what the phenomenon is but there have been sightings of these mysterious Min Min lights for nearly a century and even skeptics are convinced that the phenomenon really exists. The Min Min lights first appeared near the site of the old Min Min Hotel which is located 73 km east of the town at the junction of the roads from McKinlay and Winton. The old hotel is now little more than a ruin although the bottles and the nearby graveyard are a reminder that it obviously had a colourful past. For a report: http://www.exploroz.com/

Leaving from Boulia the first leg of the journey is on the Donohue Highway from Boulia to Tobermorey, about 255 kilometers. If you are taking this route check for adversed road conditions and with the local authorities first to see if there has been flooding at the river crossings further west as, if so your trip could be delayed or cause you problems in crossing some of the creeks.

Other sources to view: http://www.overlander.com.au/

Acacia peuce, or Waddywood

Acacia peuce, or Waddywood is one of the most rare and striking trees of the Australian arid zone. Status Vulernable - Unique Plant

Distribution With northerly migration of the Simpson Desert dunefields and the consequent expansion of unsuitable habitat from the south, Waddy-wood has retracted to three disjunct populations on the fringes of the Simpson Desert (Deveson 1980; Chuk 1982). Two populations in the east, 300 km apart, occur at Boulia and Birdsville in Queensland. The third and smallest population is 400 km west in the Mac Clark (Acacia peuce) Conservation Reserve, 230 km southeast of Alice Springs (Courtesy and reference Schabort 2000).

Photographs Courtesy Of: NTTC - Northern Territory Tourism Commission.
Maps Courtesy Of: NTTC - Northern Territory Tourism Commission.
Photographs Courtesy Of: PJ B Private Collection.
Information courtesy of Parks and Wildlife Service NT for the promotion of tourism for the Larapinta Trail.

Photographs Courtesy of NTTC - Northern Territory Tourism Commission
Information courtesy of Parks Northern Territory

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East MacDonnell National Park and West MacDonnell National Park
in the MacDonnell Ranges in Northern Territory, Central Australia
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