GAB, Fishing & Bird watching

GREAT ARTESIAN BASIN The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) is one of the largest artesian groundwater basins in the world. It extends 2,400kms from Cape York in the north to Dubbo in the south. At its widest it is 1,800kms from the Darling Downs to west of Coober Pedy. With an area of over 1.7 million square kilometres the Basin underlies approximately one-fifth of the Australian continent. The GAB stores a huge volume of water that is estimated to be 64,900 million megalitres. It is enough water to fill Sydney Harbour 130,000 times. The water supply in McKinlay Shire comes from the Great Artesian Basin. Come and view the 'Gift of the GAB' movie in the auditorium ‘At the Creek’.

FISHING North West Queensland has a great variety of fishing sites including rivers, lakes and creeks. The most common fish caught in this region are barramundi, sleepy cod, catfish and redclaw yabbies. McKinlay Shire has several waterholes to try your luck at including Punchbowl Waterhole (45kms from Julia Creek), Sedan Dip (100kms from Julia Creek), Julia Creek (in town), Combo Waterhole (near Kynuna) and Eastern Creek (22kms from Julia Creek). Throw in a line and spend some time exploring this unique region. BIRD WATCHING McKinlay Shire has a variety of birdlife throughout the year in various places. The best times to visit are directly after the wet season (from January to June), but an abundance of birds can be found well into the dry season, particularly drier climate species. A guide to bird watching in McKinlay Shire and a bird list are available from ‘At the Creek’.