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The thousand-plus-kilometre haul from the coast's comforts to Queensland's remote southwestern corner dumps you tired and dusty on the South Australian border, with some exciting routes down the Birdsville and Strzelecki tracks or through the hostile red barrier of the Simpson Desert yet to come. There are two ultimate targets: the outpost of Birdsville , with its annual horse races, and the Dig Tree at Nappa Merrie on Cooper Creek , monument to the Burke and Wills tragedy. The highway scenery is as bleak as you'd expect: after crossing the fertile disc of the Darling Downs , the country withers and dries, marooning communities in isolation and hardship. Detour north through Queensland's Central Highlands , however, and you'll find a landscape peppered with forested sandstone gorges and Aboriginal sites at Carnarvon National Park - worth the journey even if you don't go any further. The most practical route into the area from Brisbane is on the Warrego Highway , through Toowoomba, Roma and Charleville towards Quilpie. Roma is the jumping-off point for the highlands; from Quilpie there are largely unsurfaced roads to Birdsville and the Dig Tree. The twice weekly Westlander train runs in this direction to Charleville, as do daily buses en route from Brisbane to Mount Isa. Running parallel to the Warrego to the south, the Cunningham Highway crosses the Downs between Warwick and Goondiwindi (the limit of the bus service in this direction), then heads out to Cunnamulla. West of Cunnamulla you're on your own, heading across oil-, gas- and opal-fields towards the Dig Tree; 4WD is preferable beyond the bitumen and is generally essential for reaching the Dig Tree.
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