Duchess is a quiet town situated on the Inlander rail line 90 km from Mt Isa and 130 km from Cloncurry. The town of Duchess was once a major cattle freight terminal on the rail line that has fallen into decline with the advent of road transport. There are no health facilities in town, though some travellers have stated the cold beer at the Duchess hotel saved their life. Fuel is not available and there is no mobile phone coverage, so travels need to consider this when visiting the area.

During the summer months Duchess has two types of weather, Hot and Wet, and Hot and Dry. It is usually the latter. Duchess averages 9.5 hours of sunshine a day and the annual rainfall of 400 mm tumbles down in the 45 wet days a year. Summer night-time temperatures rarely fall below the mid-twenties, while the daytime temperatures climb regularly towards the forties. The winter dry season will usually find the skies painted a brilliant blue, accompanying daytime temperatures in the mid-twenties and mild nights averaging 11°C.

Queensland Holidays