Winton to Hughenden

Our next planned stop was Hughenden. Once again we found we could not make a booking at the one and only caravan park but having now stopped at Showgrounds in both Barcaldine and Winton we felt this could be possible again. So off we headed, north east along State route 62. Not long after leaving Winton the road narrowed to become a single lane strip of sealed tar. This was okay most of the time but we kept our eyes looking well forward aware that road trains used this road and they have preference. So each of the few times one came towards us we slowed right down and pulled off onto the gravel shoulder and hoped not to receive a shower of stones and small rocks. Sadly we did get hit a couple of times but the windscreen only suffered a couple more chips. About 130kms along the way we came to Corfield, with its small club. It was too early to have a beer or lunch but we took the opportunity to swap over driver in the widened road/parking area.

After changing seats we were on our way again, pleased to now see a dividing line in the road, although no shoulder area to retreat to if we had a road train coming towards us.Just over an hour later we came to Hughenden. Like several other towns street art was an attraction. The water tower being well decorated.There was also one of the local dinosaurs replicated on a vacant block.

Hughenden Accommodation

We parked near the Tourist Information Centre and as we approached the door we were pleased to see dogs were welcome. That was a good thing as it was quite a hot day and we didn’t want one of us to have to wait out in the heat with Mel while the other went in. The lady behind the counter was super helpful and we soon had a booking for a powered site at the showgrounds. However it was for only one night. Once again we had run into a problem. Apparently the Outback Masters Golf Tournament had come to Hughenden for the weekend which explained why the Allen Terry caravan park had no vacancies and also why we couldn’t stay more than one night. If you aren’t towing a caravan you also would have the option of the Great Western Hotel, The Royal Hotel or the Motel.

What to see and do in Hughenden

We took a copy of the local Visitor Guide which gave us lots of ideas of what to see and do. The trouble was we would need to narrow our choices down to what could be done in what remained of the day. The helpful lady suggested the attached Flinders Discovery Museum, but as we had spent time at the Winton Age of Dinosaurs we decided not to do another similar museum. In this part of Queensland several towns are near dinosaur digs so have attractions on that theme. We also would have liked to go out to Porcupine Gorge in the nearby national park but needed more than half a day so that’s on our list for next time. In the end we drove off to the showgrounds and set up our caravan and ate a late lunch. On the other side of the the very dry Flinders River is the Robert Gray Memorial Park. We decided to take a walk along the trail through the park. Here’s a view from the park looking back towards where we were set up at the showgrounds with lots of other caravans. We could also now see a path across the dry riverbed but we were happy to have driven as it was now really hot and it wouldn’t have been fun walking all that way. The park was well shaded and had a number of places of interest to stop as we walked along the path.In keeping with the street art we had seen there were a number of sculptures.Even the public toilet block was covered in colourful artwork.At the far end of the park we came to a small war memorial dedicated to the Dogs of War with an attached water bowl. Now, in her short life, our little dog, Mel usually hasn’t drunk from public water bowls, preferring her own water bowl. But to our amazement she stopped and took a drink from this bowl – a coincidence or was she attracted to it by lots of doggie scents.Our walk completed we drove back across the bridge and into town where we purchased a few groceries at the small supermarket. In the main street we also saw another imposing artwork, a nautilus made from the top of a windmill.

Sunset Lookout at Mt Walker

The last thing we did was take the drive out to Sunset Lookout on Mt Walker, not far out of Hughenden. This had been highly recommended to us by the lady at the Tourist Information Centre. The ten minute drive south is steep in spots but we soon came to the top of the mountain and judging by the number of cars we found Sunset Lookout pretty quickly. There are a number of lookouts taking in the views across the surrounding countryside in all directions. Here’s a selection of my photos which I hope you like. It was a beautiful ending to the day.