In Biloela, visit Greycliffe Station, a beautifully preserved slab hut dating back to the 1870s that's been converted into a museum. The Queensland Heritage Park offers educational tours and a chance to get up close to a variety of farm animals ranging from donkeys to ostriches. About 12 kilometres south of town is Mount Scoria, a strange basalt formation about 150 metres high with symmetrically shaped rocks that look like a giant staircase. Nearby, the Callide Power Station offers guided tours of the complex. Just east of Biloela is Kroombit Tops National Park, worth a side-trip if you have a four-wheel-drive (check with the local visitor information centre as a two-wheel-drive vehicle may be permitted if the road is in good condition). Originally a penal colony, Gladstone now boasts Queensland's largest port. Take a drive up to the William Golding Memorial Lookout atop Auckland Hill for a view over Port Curtis and the Gladstone Marina. Walk through Gladstone's Tondoon Botanic Gardens for a dose of fresh air and rare species of plants. Before the final leg of the round trip, dawdle through the Port Curtis Historic Village, located on the Bruce Highway, for one last dose of Australia's rural heritage.