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Unmissable Outback Museums and Attractions in Queensland
Unmissable Outback Museums and Attractions in Queensland
Words and Images by: Alistair Smith. Pics supplied by TEQ

Charters Towers Venus Gold Battery. Credit Tourism and Events Queensland

We are in Outback Queensland. Or it could be country New South Wales, maybe even regional Victoria. There’s been a lot of road trips.

In a country town of around 1,000 residents, I pull up in front of the old council building, a deconsecrated church, the mechanics’ institute, or a sprawling former homestead … the traditional locations of the local museums, manned at odd hours by dedicated volunteers from the historical society.

It seems every town has one, and there’s a sameness to them that makes me pause and ponder whether I should go in. I usually do – for among the radios, telephones, sewing machines and mangles (sadly, many items from my own era), there’s usually some local gem that makes the visit worthwhile.

In communities large enough to perhaps qualify for city status, the visit might be to a ‘pioneer village’, the collection of buildings rescued from the surrounding area, with their blacksmiths, telegraph office, grocery store, church, one-teacher school, frequently with a theme reflecting the industry of the area – coal, gold, sheep, riverboats, timber. Or perhaps dedicated to some ‘famous son’.

Next up the scale are the big-ticket professional displays: the Qantas Museum and Stockmen’s Hall of Fame at Longreach; the dinosaurs of Winton. But what catches my attention nowadays is usually something that’s not in that mix, something unusual in an unexpected place yet still relevant to it.

Charleville: Secret World War II

So here I am in Charleville, having tracked down an attraction called ‘Secret World War II’. Mind you, given the size of the sign above the hangar-like building in which it’s housed, it’s not much of a secret anymore. A great find, nevertheless, full of interactive exhibits, telling stories of B17 bombers, the Battle of the Coral Sea, and the development of the bombsight that was used to drop the A-bomb on Hiroshima, as well as personal tales of country dances and romances between the locals and the 3,500 US Army/Air Force personnel stationed in the area from 1942 to 1946. Outside, in the car park, convoys of 4WDs are being assembled, ready to head off on tag-along tours to a number of other related sites in the immediate vicinity.  

Charleville: Stargazing at the Cosmos Centre

As I leave, I see on my left the Cosmos Centre and planetarium (address 1 Milky Way!) and book myself in for a night-time observatory visit using huge telescopes to view the universe under the guidance of an expert. Rug up, I’m advised. Good advice. The night is freezing, but the skies are stunningly clear.  

Texas Longhorn. Credit Tourism and Events Queensland

Mt Isa: Underground Hospitals and Historic Homes

With the World War II theme still fresh in mind, my eye is caught by a leaflet in the Mt Isa visitor centre. After Darwin was bombed in 1942, including a strike on the hospital there, it was feared Mt Isa might be next, the leaflet informs me. So, over a period of 15 weeks, volunteer miners dug four tunnels into the side of a hill here in Mt Isa to create an underground hospital including an operating theatre and a maternity ward. 

Well worth a look, surely. And, fitted out to look at as it was, it certainly deserved to be checked out. However, for safety reasons, you must take a guided tour. Also on the site is a tent house, a form of residence created during the 1930s when there was a shortage of accommodation for miners and their families; as well as a medical museum. 

Cunnamulla Time Tunnel: Journey Back in Time

Set in a pleasant park, the Cunnamulla Fella Visitor Centre is home to a ‘Time Tunnel’, where a shaking and shuddering simulated mining lift takes you ‘underground’ through sandstone rocks and back 100 million years to the time of dinosaurs, the period during which the great artesian basin was created. You cannot leave without watching the particularly good video presentation which explains its importance to pastoral and mining industries and remote communities across 20% of Australia. 

 Charter Towers: The Venus Gold Battery

No simply rocking up unannounced, though, at the Venus gold battery in Charters Towers … where for occupational health and safety reasons, you must book a tour that runs for about an hour and a half – half in shadow, half in flickering sunlight as you tread warily through rough-hewn beams, giant wheels and pulley belts dating back to 1872. 

It was a private commercial exercise, with miners being charged a fee to have their quartz crushed by giant stampers, and it’s easy to imagine the noise and dust created as rocks were pulverised. We’re told that over the years, the facility produced 15 tonnes of pure gold. When I visited, the price of gold was close to $130 per gram. There’s a million grams in a tonne.  I’m still doing the maths.

The Big Rig. Credit Tourism and Events Queensland

Texas Longhorn Experience: A Wild West Experience

While stopped at Charters Towers, I learned of something not quite in the museum category … but I couldn’t resist: the Texas Longhorn Experience, where you can discover all about the Wild West and cattle drives, and the breeding process; and you can go on a safari on Polaris Rangers through the herd of longhorns and other rare cattle. I may have taken a photograph of every single one. Parking areas are big enough to cope with hooked-up caravans if you’re on the move.

Roma, The Big Rigs: Australia’s First Oil Discovery

So what’s Texas famous for apart from the Longhorns? Oil. And as you drive through Roma on the Warrego Highway, there’s no way you can miss The Big Rig, a 1929 steam-driven 40-metre-high drilling rig that dominates a museum (mostly outdoors) dedicated to the region’s early oil and gas industry. In the Roma area, gas was first discovered in 1900, making it the first on-shore place in Australia where gas flowed. I chose a $20 self-guided audio tour to learn all about it as I wandered around among equipment and displays.

On this particular trip, I had to end it here – having to head back towards the coast for a family function. But I was already thinking about my next trip.

Plans for the future?

And I’ve got something pencilled in that apparently fills my criteria: the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum in Cairns. With more than 200 exhibits from 15 countries, the focus is on WWII.  And it’s not just a static display. For example, you can go for a ride in a personnel troop carrier or visit a shooting gallery to test your skill with bolt action rifles. This one comes recommended by a mate who used to drive tanks in the Army. So he would know.

As seasoned travellers understand, when you travel around the country the local tourist information office is the most likely source of information; and with it comes important local knowledge. So a word of warning. If instead you are ploughing your way through the internet, many of the attractions in Outback Queensland are seasonal, usually open from March to October … so best to check before you head off. 

Contact Information:

- Australian Armour and Artillery Museum, 2 Skyrail Road, Smithfield: www.ausarmour.com (07) 4038 1665 

Category: Features
Written: Mon 27 Jan 2025
Printed: January, 2002
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