Ironbark House

The local town of Dimbulah (15 minutes’ drive) has all the amenities you might need for an outback stay, from handy stores to a local pool, as well as Camp 64 Museum & Café, with its artefacts from Australia’s pioneering past. A day trip to Mount Mulligan (an hour’s drive) takes you to the scene of a mining disaster in 1921, for visits to the mine, cemetery and abandoned town, and there’s more mining history at Chillagoe (one hour 20 minutes), famous for its limestone caves, marble quarries and Aboriginal rock-art galleries in the Chillagoe – Mungana Caves National Park (one hour 30 minutes). Another fab day out takes you to the Atherton Tablelands (one hour 10 minutes), where stops might include lakes and waterfalls, the centuries-old Curtain Fig Tree near Yungaburra, or heritage houses in Herberton village. En route, stop off at farm shops for artisan ice creams, chocolate and cheese to enjoy back home at Ironbark House.