My wife and I have travelled all over outback Queensland. It's fascinating country. Also thousands of people live there.

There's a old Queensland joke about "Where's Outback?". The American tourist gets off the plane in Brisbane and while in the International airport asks a luggage porter: "Am I outback?" The porter laughes and tells him, "Brisbane is a world class metropolitan city! You're not outback until you're in Toowomba". The tourist then goes east to Toowomba and while ordering a harmburger at the MacDonalds asks a local: "Is Toowomba outback?" The local looks insulted and answers: "Toowomba is the major city of the Darling Downs and a center of art and culture! You're not outback until you're in Quilpie". The tourist then travells hundreds of kilometers east to Quilpie and at a local pub asks: "Am I outback?" The bar tender looks amused and answers: "Don't be silly! Quilpie has a population of over a 1000 people and is a major source of opal gemstones. You're not outback until you're east of Birdsville". The tourist then travels hundreds of kilometers over dirt roads, passes Birdsville.... and so on. The point is the tourist never gets "Outback" and simply keeps going east searching for it but never finding it. "Outback" is more a state-of-mind than an actual location.

Gary