Travelling Itinery Melbourne to Cairns

[xcvator]

Bronny and I are in the process of trying to plan our itinery for the cape trip and I'm looking for suggestions for places and things to do on the way to Cairns.
We can leave around the last week of May and have booked a site at placid waters ( Cairns caravan park) for the 4 nights before we leave for the cape.
The only other stopover set in stone is 2 days (3 nights) is Longreach for the museums.
We have both "wikicamps" and "Camps 6" to find actual camping sites and I'm planning on trying to do about 6 ( max 7) hours driving per travelling day  but neither of us wants to just do continual overnight stops, we're looking for a few places to stay a couple of nights and have a look around.
Suggestions please
Keith

[Andrew_C]

I thought Canarvon gorge was a pretty good stopover on the trip we did that way a few years ago.

[GeoffA]

Hi Keith,

Which way are you planning to go? Longreach isn't exactly "as the crow flies" to Cairns.
The Kidman way is a good drive, with some interesting towns along the way. Take care with wildlife.

Just north of Bourke.......
http://www.backobourke.com.au/exhibition-centre.php
Not big, but something to look at. A reason to stop....

If you're going to be around Longreach, Barcaldine has.....
http://www.australianworkersheritagecentre.com.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Knowledge_(Australia) .....not much of it left now, though....
We found both interesting for the history.

Depending on your route, you could have a look at Carnarvon National Park. Excellent scenery. Very nice for a few nights' stopover. No free camping, but Takaraka has good facilities. It's a fair drive off the highway. Check prices before pulling in.

Expedition National Park is also very nice. Good scenery, with camping (small fee, envelopes). No facilities where we camped, but may be available in other camp spots. It's just across the highway from Carnarvon NP.

About 20km north of Charters Towers there's a big free camp area. It's in Camps 6. Be aware, it's well used and has been very busy whenever we've travelled through there. We've found it better to go on to Greenvale. A nice little place to stop (pub ).

Undara Volcanic NP is also worth a look if you're interested in that sort of thing. We enjoyed it, but check all prices before pulling in.....

[duggie]

Hi Keith,
About 20km north of Charters Towers there's a big free camp area. It's in Camps 6. Be aware, it's well used and has been very busy whenever we've travelled through there. We've found it better to go on to Greenvale. A nice place little to stop (pub ).

The spot that Geoff mentions is 40 km from the Towers, called Fletcher River, but I travel that road every week and mid year that camping spot is fairly full with Grey Hair Nomads.

Undara Lava Tubes                               - http://undara.com.au/

Cobbold George                                   -http://www.cobboldgorge.com.au/

Kidston Dam, Oak Rush Outback Resort -http://www.gulf-savannah.com.au/visiting/etheridge-shire/35-einasleigh.html

Reedy Brook Station                             -  http://www.yellowpages.com.au/qld/wyandotte/harriman-g-a-j-m-13689714-listing.html

Woodleigh Station                                - http://woodleighstation.com.au/camping.html

Granite George                                    - http://granitegorge.com.au/wordpress/

These are just a few places that might interest you.

cheers duggie

[GeoffA]

Local knowledge ^........