This was our quickest stop yet, just the one night. There were only a few attractions in little Hughenden and we were starting to really get over the heat, so we decided to make it a brief but memorable stop.

First on the list was the town’s giant windmill (of course!). This 35ft Comet windmill is one of the largest of its kind ever made in Oz. Back when it was a working windmill on ‘Wirilla’ Station it could pump, with just an average wind, in excess of 1 million litres per day, as much as 69 litres of water per rotation!!

Hughenden was our last stop on the outback Queensland dinosaur trail, so we had to make sure we saw Mutt (the life-sized statue of the Muttaburasaurus that was discovered in this region a few years ago).

The Hughenden Discovery centre also had some cool dinosaur stuff, as well as some amazing historical artefacts from the local region.  A stroll down the road revealed some incredible sculptural art.

You can’t pass through this town without checking out the FJ Holden Cafe. You’d think that this cafe was named after the famous car, not so. It’s name originated from the two owners – Frank and Jan Holden. Although the enterprising Holdens have also got a huge collection of 50s, 60s and 70s car memorabilia that features, of course, the iconic Australian FJ Holden.

One of the most amazing sights in this region is the stunning Porcupine Gorge. Tucked away in a National Park about an hour out of town, is the landmark that is referred to as Australia’s Grand Canyon. Surrounded by scrub that gives no indication of the treasure hidden inside until you get right to the edge, Porcupine Gorge is quite a sight to behold. Carved by years of wet season rains, the canyon reveals layers of beautiful coloured sandstone cliffs that tower above the creek below. Seeing as we were visiting at the end of the dry season, there were only a handful of sad little waterholes and very, very dry bush in the creek bed. I’m sure this would be an even more incredible sight in the middle of the wet season. Of course no water, only cliffs are required to create the perfect ‘koo-ee’, and that’s exactly what the girls did for oh, at least half an hour!!

Now it’s time to get back to civilisation – and by that I mean the coast! Please God I need a cool breeze! There’s just one more stop on the outback trail to make and we did this one in a flash. It was the historical town of Charters Towers about 140km inland from Townsville. Established on a new gold field in the 1870s, this town went on to become one of the first inland ‘cities’ in Queensland. The thriving city boasted well-formed streets,  underground electricity and some 65 hotels. There are so many beautiful, historical buildings in this place, it was hard to know where to point the camera first!