Tiaro Discovery Drive
Take a drive through the Tiaro countryside and discover its hidden, rural charms...
- Begin your journey of discovery at the Tiaro Visitor Tourist Information Centre and Craft Cottage in the restored railway station on the Bruce Highway at Tiaro. The cottage has locally produced art and craft, homemade jams, pickles and cakes and gifts.
- Free camping (two night maximum stay) is available in the heart of Tiaro behind the Royal Hotel (in Inman & Price streets), with toilet and shower facilities in the adjacent Tiaro Memorial Park in Mayne Street.
- The Mary River runs beside the town of Tiaro and one of the best places to enjoy all it offers is at Petrie Park, a couple of kilometres north. Facilities include a boat ramp, toilets, barbeque and shady camping area.
- Continue south along the Bruce Highway where Bauple Mountain and its national park provide a stunning backdrop to the surrounding farming and bush land.
- Take a left turn to visit the small township of Bauple, named after the Bauple Nut, (or Bopple Nut) which is native to this area and is now known as the macadamia nut.
- Stop in and step back in time at the Bauple Museum, run by the Mt Bauple and District Historical Society, in the heart of the town.
- Next stop south is the quaint little town of Gundiah (7 km off the Bruce Highway) which comes from the local Aboriginal word Goondiah, which means goodbye. Gundiah is home to the Prince Alfred Hotel and nearby Emerys Bridge is a great location for a quick dip on a hot day or just relax beside the gentle flowing waters of the Mary River.
- From Gundiah you can continue to Munna Creek, on the Woolooga Road. Free camping is available at the Munna Creek Hall on Woolooga Road. A maximum of two nights is permitted. There are no facilities.
- Return to Woolooga Road. On Miva Road, just over the boundary of the Fraser Coast local government area, is the picturesque Dickabram Bridge, where you can sometimes spot rare Mary River lungfish below drifting to the river surface to breathe. Built in 1886, this historic structure is one of only two bridges of its kind in Australia that was traversed by car and train.
- Miva Road continues through to the small town of Gunalda, nestled in the foothills of the Gunalda Range.
- Head north back to Tiaro and take a break at Glenwood Park, bordered by Gootchie Creek and Pepper Road, about 1 km off the highway from the Arborten Road turnoff . The shady areas bring a variety of wildlife into the park in the late afternoon and evenings, including kangaroos, wallabies, ducks and goannas. Facilities include a BBQ area, shelter, playground, sports oval and community hall.