FROM Boulia, there are choices galore for travellers. Some people prefer to backtrack to Winton and rejoin the Matilda Highway, or for the really adventurous, Alice Springs beckons along the Plenty/Donohue Highway route.

For those going south, Bedourie and Birdsville await down the track. But travellers who like to stay on the bitumen will be rewarded with some fantastic scenery on the Diamantina Development Road as they travel northwest to Mount Isa. This route takes in the small town of Dajarra, once the world’s biggest cattle trucking centre.