Townsville to Darwin road trip: Distance, drive time & best stops
Townsville to Darwin road trip: Camooweal and the Barkly Highway
The only town between Mount Isa and the Queensland–Northern Territory border is quirky Camooweal.
Things to do in Camooweal include learning about Australia’s cattle droving tradition at the Drovers Camp and seeing the giant cave mouths in Wiliyan-ngurru National Park. If you want to visit Lawn Hill Gorge in Boodjamulla National Park, then Camooweal is the gateway.
What you really, really need to do in Camooweal, however, is stock up on fuel. The next opportunity comes 260km down the Barkly Highway at Barkly Homestead.
Road trip essentials that many travellers forget
Search on the web, and you’ll find ludicrously long lists of equipment to take on a road trip. Australia Travel Questions isn’t going to do that to you. But it is worth buying the following road trip items before setting off. Click through for a good range of options.
- Charging cables – yes, you’ll probably need a spare at some point.
- Car charger adaptor – in case your rental car has the old-fashioned cigarette lighter rather than a USB.
- Multi USB charger – for those hotel rooms that don’t have enough power sockets.
- Fold-up chairs – to make anywhere a picnic spot.
- A really good water bottle – go for a bigger one than usual to last the longer drives.
- Packing cubes – save space but, more importantly, avoid unpacking everything every night.
Threeways or Tennant Creek?
The Barkly Highway is long, lonely road with pretty much nothing to see. The Barkly Homestead is mainly a fuel and food stop, although you can stay the night there if you wish.
It’s another 187km until you meet the Stuart Highway and the Threeways Roadhouse. This is 25km north of Tennant Creek, which is the logical if not exactly gripping overnight stop.
Tennant Creek accommodation options include the cheerful Safari Lodge Motel and the solid Goldfields Hotel Motel.
Things to do in Tennant Creek include discovering Indigenous heritage at the Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Cultural Centre. You can also take in the views from the Bill Allen Lookout and delve into gold rush history at the Battery Hill Mining Centre.
Click through for the next section: Renner Springs and Daly Waters.