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Outback Queensland

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Large swathes of Cunnamulla have been shut down over the mercury scare.

Outback town in lockdown after students bring toxic metal to school

A novel show-and-tell item found at the local tip has effectively frozen daily life in the Queensland town while emergency crews race to contain any contamination.

  • Robyn Wuth

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Tenor Filipe Manu is performing in the Festival of Outback Opera 2026 as well as La traviata in Melbourne for Opera Australia.

He once turned up to the opera in rugby shorts. Now he’s singing on the world’s biggest stages

Tongan-New Zealand tenor Filipe Manu cut his hair after he became an opera star. But he kept his tatts.

  • Nick Dent
Opera Queensland’s 2026 Festival of Outback Opera.

Forget the Opera House, this outback festival is the real deal

Once a year, this unpretentious Queensland town plays host to global opera superstars.

  • Katrina Lobley
The area is home to what is believed to be the world’s only evidence of a dinosaur stampede - as depicted above.

The Australian site that inspired a famous scene in Jurassic Park

A lot has changed in outback Queensland over 95 million years. So it’s astounding how much evidence of that time remains.

  • Angela Saurine
An excursion train operated by Outback Aussie Tours.

Three new heritage train trips let you explore the outback in comfort

Two restored 2000-class trains built in 1971 offer excursions through outback Queensland.

  • Tim Richards
From The Royal Hotel to Wake in Fright, the Australian Outback has long been a go-to setting for horrors and thrillers.

Australia’s wild west: Why are so many horrors set in the outback?

From The Royal Hotel to Long Weekend, the Australian bush has long been a go-to setting for horrors and thrillers, but what is it about this vast landscape that’s so scary?

  • Nell Geraets
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Cairns +61407313111 xxCobbold Cobbold Gorge Queensland ; text by Andrew Bain cr: Cobbold Gorge (handout image supplied via journalist for use in Traveller, no syndication)

How a stunning outback gorge stayed hidden for centuries

The history of Cobbold Gorge sounds like a tall tale – a 30-metre deep outback gorge escaping detection to all but the traditional owners until 1992.

  • Andrew Bain
The furniture is screwed down at the Animal Bar ... or at least some of it is.

Inside the notorious outback bar that inspired a Chili Peppers song

Animal Bar, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, has a storied past and a mean reputation.

  • Melissa Mason
Charleville in outback Queensland played an overlooked but fascinating part of Australia’s World War II history.

The secret outback base where the US hid one of its top weapons

Despite playing host to 3500 US airmen and hiding a device used in the bombing of Hiroshima, Charleville barely registers a blip on Australia’s wartime radar.

  • Catherine Best
What Australotitan cooperensis, 'Cooper', the Southern Titan, may have looked like.

Australia's largest dinosaur discovered: How to join fossil digs with Eromanga Natural History Museum

Guests can help dig (and scrape) for Australia's largest dinosaurs and mega-fauna in outback Queensland.

  • Craig Tansley