Outback Queensland road trip: Day 1 Tweed to Roma

By the numbers

1 car

Around 6 hours

556 kms

The weather before we left home was drizzling on and off and it was lucky that we had a car to leave in unlike many other trips I have taken, which is by flying somewhere. This trip is actually different as we are heading out west into the deepest and darkest part of Queensland. I doubt even Paddington Bear would know the way there from Peru. The direction we were heading around 9am was the M1 that would take us to the Logan motorway and off to the small town of Roma. The sky cleared up well before we whizzed past Nerang and the traffic was pretty light.

 

We were following a polite GPS lady that kept telling us where to go as we pointed towards Toowoomba, but was able to bypass the city with trucks going in the other direction. The polite lady couldn't pronounce Warrego highway properly and called it something else, but we knew where we were going.. Though the question at one stage was do we head towards Goondiwindi, but that might have been a fatal flaw in reaching Roma in the other direction. Straight through the town of Dalby where we kept changing areas like the Western Downs and right onto Outback Queensland. There was one stage we were forced to stop by the police as there was a wide load. Two huge digger buckets heading towards a mine somewhere went past taking up the road before vanishing into the distance.

 

At Chinchilla we stopped for a bad coffee, food and a pitstop. Nearby there was the big watermelon slice that I was informed was one of the many big things dotted around the country and also something to do with the town as there was a festival next year for watermelon. Onwards we went through Miles where we would be on the last leg of a long drive that would take us past grain silos with no art work.

 

We spotted where we were going to stay in Roma pretty quickly and it was not long after 3pm, so we were relieved to have found our next destination and go for a walk somewhere. Where we are staying is decent and there are two beds, which is better than sharing a bed with another family member. The issue if you could even call it that is the wifi isn't that great on my phone and spotty with my laptop, but at least we have heat as its supposed to get cold. Around 3 degrees cold and we are going to go on a saleyard tour in the morning so that might be a little brisk, but we shall see now wont we.

 

Near to where we are staying is the Big Rig a tourist attraction and the info centre that will help us navigate to our next destination that could change before we get there and depending on accommodation like in Quilpie. There is something that we had also come to see and that was the sculptures that people make out of metal like dogs, a helicopter and a few other interesting pieces. The ages of the people raged from kids under 10 to adults and a few of the artworks told a story about why they had made it and the cost involved along with the time it took. It was getting dark as we wandered around and we were happy to had seen this as it was advertised online and pretty sure we seen it on Landline last year. We went to the local pub for a meal as we were getting hungry and then we walked back to the room where we warmed it up as it was starting to get a touch chilly.

The 2026 Queensland road trip

 

This blog basically will be bought to you by the song ‘I have been everywhere’.

This year I am going on a road trip into the depths of Queensland. I have the dates sorted out for June / July and spent most of today working out where I would like to go on the three week journey.

The middle of the trip was for us to reach Longreach and Winton. The rest of the plan came together with a few places I thought I wanted to visit. The museums that are in far off places like Euromanga, St George, Blackall, Richmond, Muttabarra just to name several.

At the moment many of these places happen to have flood waters, but by the time we end up out there the deserty regions will be green.

 

I actually poured over a map of Queensland and even a website about the locations as there are many dinosaur fossils found out that way. There are plenty of other things to see along the way. At the moment I have a slight plan and will wing the rest,

 

 

 

Links

I’ve been everywhere’ By The Beggars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20oqyMVbss0

 

Outback Queensland guide

https://www.outbackqueensland.com.au/

 

Tips and tricks to my 2025 Japan trip

 

On my trip to Japan in June / July 2025, I came across a few issues that I had never thought about. While I knew it would be summer when I arrived, I soon learnt the heat and humidity can knock you around. I thought I would share some tips from my trip that might be common sense. I will keep adding more as I think of them to another blog, but the tips and tricks can work just about anywhere.

 

Trains are easy to catch and found having an IC card convenient like the ICOCA from the Kansai area. You can top them up at any train station that has the topup machines for IC cards.

 

Google will at times give you the answers to your questions instead of trying to look through the website like for the Shinkansen. The English answers seem to come straight from the website.

 

Some locations like in Osaka will have several stations in the area like Namba station does. There is the JR station, Metro, Kintetsu and Nankai. Make sure you don’t enter the wrong station as the IC card doesn’t always let you out. Really doesn’t help if you are in a rush. I spent half hour at the Kintetsu station, when I was meant to be at the Nankai station in Namba.

 

Walking above ground can be easier to find your destination. Sometimes shorter too. An idea I had was to walk to the closest underground entrance to the station you will catch the train. Might be less crowded especially if there are other entrances along to the like the metro.

 

The exits to the underground walkways can get confusing and if you aren’t paying too much attention send you in circles. The bigger areas like in Tokyo can send you anywhere.

 

Don’t really need to carry water around as vending machines are nearly everywhere. Helpful in summer.

 

People lining up for the train aren’t always waiting for the train that is at the platform, but the next one. I nearly made that mistake and got on the train by the skin of my teeth.

 

The summer heat and humidity can knock you around, and you might make silly decisions on the fly. Wear a hat and UV sleeves are helpful, but you can buy umbrellas for UV protection too

 

Some problems with trains have easy solutions. I jumped on a train only to realise it wasn’t the one I was after. That one was actually next and an express. The one I accidentally caught terminated two stations before my actual destination. I caught another train and could use the ticket to get out of the station. I arrived around 5 mins after the train had departed even though I was around an hour away on the wrong train.

 

Google can help if you are wanting Eki or train stamps. They can give you locations to find them in bigger stations. Some Metro stations have them too. Try airports too and the customer service people might tell you where the next one is.

 

Google maps can be good in telling you what platform you need for your next destination. Some stations have lists of the next stations along the line.

 

Kombini, or convenience stores are not only good for food, but other things like band aids and utility knives if you have problems with your shoes like fabric on your sole bunched up.

 

Some of the smaller stations in cities might not have takeaway meals like bentos. The bigger stations can be 5 min walk from the smaller stations.

 

Be aware not every town has footpaths everywhere outside the main roads. You could be walking on the side of the road next to traffic. The narrow one way streets are always interesting to walk down. The narrow roads might even send you around rice paddies. A strange experience at first.

 

Take a walk through the various shops like bookshops. The visuals can be interesting even when you don’t know the language.

 

Some items might not be what they seem. Bought a CD and the packaging made it look like a record / vinyl in size. Google translate with the staff can be fun and frustrating when you are unsure on what to expect.