Day-trippers love Lara Wetlands. You’ll find this true outback oasis just 28 kilometres south of Barcaldine and 13 kilometres inland from the Landsborough Highway. It’s accessible by two-wheel drive, but be prepared to take your car along some unsealed roads and cattle grids. You’ll not only find a working station, but an activity area to keep everyone entertained. Discover the wetlands by canoe or kayak, or take a therapeutic dip in a natural artesian pool, heated to perfection like a big, outback hot tub. The wetlands are a photographer’s dream with dead ghost gums standing proud out of the water. They are so beautiful that this writer went twice – to capture their silhouettes while the sun receded behind them and then a second to take starry photographs in this eerily perfect bush setting.