We arrived at Wrotham Park Lodge in a cloud of dust, feeling like two travel-weary 19th century explorers.

The Toyota LandCruiser, pristine white when we’d collected it in Cairns that morning, was now spray painted in red Outback grime. Dust filled our throats and our bones still ached from the corrugated road.

“Where exactly is this place, Dad?” asked my teenage son as we left the blacktop outside Chillagoe and joined the Burke Developmental Road, which links the outstations and mining camps of far north Queensland to the port of Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria.

You could understand his concern. Around us was a vast moonscape of rock and low scrub, with the occasional rocky outcrop to break the monotony. This country is known as Gulf Savannah – a frontier landscape of black soil plains and sparse woodlands, where bull sharks swim 300kms inland up the tropical rivers and strange creatures like barking spider, a type of tarantula, can be found.

Many visitors to Cairns are blissfully unaware of what lies beyond Atherton Tableland, the escarpment to the west. I had some idea of what we might discover, having spent a few days at a disused gold mine outside the wonderfully named town of Dimbulah the previous year.

Although most of Wrotham Park’s well-heeled guests fly into the property (which is 320kms by road from Cairns), I’m glad we chose to drive – despite the lengthy section of unsealed road between Chillagoe and the station itself.

Like the Kimberley region in Western Australia, this part of Queensland retains the authentic feel of the frontier, with dusty Outback towns that have changed little since the 1940s and myriad of landscapes – from the lush rainforest to vast fields of coffee, sugarcane and mangos to an ancient inland sea dating back 400 million years.

The region’s colourful history lives on in towns such as Mareeba, Dimbulah, Petford, Lappa and Almaden. Some are enjoying a new-found prosperity based on coffee or tourism, others (once thriving mining or sugar cane centres) are now little more than ghost towns, with little more than a street and a railways siding to mark their existence. Only the tumbleweed is missing.

Mareeba, home of the annual Mareeba Rodeo (held each July), is now the centre of Queensland’s thriving coffee industry. Make sure you stop here to sample some of the local brews – the Coffee Works in Mason Street sells a wide range of Arabica coffees, plus Australian-grown teas. Nearby are the Mareeba Tropical Savanna and Wetland Reserve. Guided walks are available.

At Lappa, we found a quaint, if eccentric, pub, The Espanol Hotel, which now houses a random collection of colonial memorabilia, cobwebs and dust. Sadly, the Espanol is a pub with no beer and no publican – its owner known locally as Yappa from Lappa had gone walkabout for the day.

Next stop was Almaden, best known for having a resident cow that wanders with Hindu-like immunity down the main street, and a classic Outback pub, The Railways Hotel. Built around 1900 the pub has a Mediterranean-style beer garden, rich with hibiscus and flowing pots. There are raffia-covered wine bottles on a high shelf. Could this dusty place be named after the legendary Spanish city of Almaden? I imagine a lonely Spanish pioneer pining for tapas and a glass of rioja. I ask the publican, who scoffs at the idea and so the mystery of Almaden’s Iberian connection remains unsolved.

At Chillagoe – famous for its limestone caves, mining heritage and aboriginal rock art – a similar mystery surrounds the fate of its once-promising marble quarries. Several fortunes have already been squandered trying to market what is reputedly the finest stone in the Southern Hemisphere. Today, elegant columns of this beautiful white marble stand abandoned by the roadside like exhibits for some sinister orthodontic theme park.

Chillagoe is best known for its extensive network of limestone caves (700 in all) and astonishing rock formations, such as serrated ledges, archways and balancing rocks. A number of cave, bush tucker and rock art tours can be booked at the visitor centre.

From Chillagoe to Wrotham Park Lodge is a further 150km on unsealed roads. While the Burke Development Road is usually well graded, this is not a journey for the feint-hearted. After the wet season the track from the main road to the station can be particularly challenging.

The final sight of the lodge is very welcome indeed – the experience enhanced by the welcome we received. While the vehicle was valet parked – not exactly common practice in the Outback – we were ushered into The Homestead where a lunch of chicken spring rolls, kangaroo prosciutto and salad was laid out on the long, communal dining table.

Valet parking isn’t the only thing that sets Wrotham Park Lodge apart – the standard of cuisine here is quite astonishing given the remote location; the wine list would match any found in one of Sydney or Melbourne’s better restaurants. Guests numbers never exceed 20, thus ensuring a sense of privilege and seclusion.

Wrotham Park Lodge is part of a 1.5 million acre (that’s twice the size of Luxembourg) working cattle station which is steeped in history. Today, the station carries around 70,000 head of cattle and a team of stockmen, farm hands, helicopter pilots, mechanics, cooks and other staff the run the operation.

After lunch we were escorted to our luxury accommodation. In keeping with the cattle station theme, each of the 10 self-contained guest cottages are known as Quarters, but are unlike anything the average cowboy is likely to encounter – each spacious, air-conditioned building is equipped with leather armchairs, ensuite bathrooms, king-size beds (twin rooms are available), compact disc players and a private veranda for drinking in the view over the Mitchell River.

There are some clever touches, too, such as the pair of binoculars (sea eagles, cockatoos, ospreys and lorikeets are just some of the birds here) and a classic Australian squatter’s chair for that evening sundowner.

Although we’d enjoyed the challenge of driving from Cairns we soon discovered that our Wrotham adventure had only just begun. Over the next two days, we went fishing for barramundi, explored the station by 4WD, took an early morning horse ride and frolicked in the lap pool. Other activities on offer include helicopter mustering, quad biking and guided nature walks.

For those who want to really immerse themselves in station life, Wrotham also offers a chance to take part in the annual mustering (May 14 to mid-September). This is when stockmen on horseback round up the far-flung herd, sometimes with the help of a helicopter.

Despite his earlier doubts my son absolutely fell in love with Wrotham Park Station – and still talks about our evening meals in the Homestead. For the next six months his dinner conversation would invariably include the line “Dad, it’s not as good as Wrotham”.