The Touring Wombats Travel blog for the Tagalong which is basically split into 3 categories:
Pre-Tagalong22 where we travel from Melbourne to Mudjimba (QLD) via the Kidman Way to Longreach & Winton, then Carnarvon Gorge, Roma etc
Tagalong22 with 17 other Bailey caravans traveling through QLD over 4 weeks
Post-Tagalong22 where we head back to Melbourne via the coast
Check out the 1st and 2nd sections of the trip on the Tour Maps web page.
TIP: Posts are displayed with the latest on top of the browser and then in descending order with the oldest being at the bottom (i.e. last). There are also lots of website links to explore things (which open in a new window).
Longreach is the largest town in central Queensland and, as such, is an important rural service centre for one of the state’s most prosperous wool and beef areas. Located on the Tropic of Capricorn it services an ever-growing tourism industry which has been driven by the success of the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas Founders Outback Museum (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Getting there
It was a fairly short 134km drive from Lara Wetlands northwards to our new destination, so no stops along the way.
Accommodation
We pulled into the Longreach Tourist Park and found our site among the other 300+ sites in the park. This place is absolutely huge and tends to fill-up and empty out on a pretty regular basis. We have 4 nights here.
A bloody BIG park!
Reception
The pool
Our site
Nice Sunset
A nicer sunset
It was pretty amazing when, in the morning at least 50% of the park empties out and later in the afternoon it was full again. That would mean that every day there would be over 150 caravans going from or coming into Longreach!
Morning
Afternoon
Stockmans Hall of Fame
The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre is Australia’s premier outback heritage institution. The centre provides visitors with a spectacular outback experience.The outback is as prosperous, tough and unforgiving as it ever was. It’s where hard yakka, guts and resilience built our nation’s identity and why the great Australian stockman – the legend of the bush – became our national hero.
The enduring journey of the stockman, the challenges and demands, and the evolution of this epic industry continue to this day. The museum will awaken you to the hardships, passion, bush comradery and industry changes that have shaped the industry that has made our country great.
The Cinema Experience and Live Show
We booked into the Stockmans Experience Tour ($68ph) which begins with a 30 minute movie showcasing virtual and real footage across a 16m screen featuring the birth of a nation through the eyes of the Australian stockman.
Then it was outside to be seated under a massive roof (out of the hot sun) to experience a brilliant display of horsemanship by Lachie Cossor who runs the live show. He’s an experienced stockman, horseman, rodeo rider, entertainer, and now singer as well. This was so entertaining and we all learned a lot about the stockman and their life on the land. Plenty of laughs were had when Lachie showed the crowd how to groom his horse called Ernie. Ernie was the perfect showman/horse upstaging Lachie many times – a real hoot!
The show also included his working dogs (also plenty of laughs) rounding up the sheep and concluded with an introduction to this massive 1000kg bull named Jigsaw, who Lachie rides out to meet the crowd.
We rate the show a 10 out of 10 – a must see when in Longreach.
Ernie gets a manicure
Ernie gets a clean
Ernie gets a deeper clean
Ernie hates his blanket
Ernie plays a trick on Lachie
Ernie plays a trick on Lachie
Ernie hates his blanket
Ernie likes a song
Amazing horse control
The crowd
Rosie
Lachies Dogs
The Museum
The museum experience is simply icing on the cake to what was one of the best experiences we have had on this trip so far.
Anthony Rennick - Whip maker
Cracking the whip
While we were exploring the museum we met Anthony Rennick who was creating another of his beautiful stockman whips. The Wagga Wagga whipmaker has been wintering in Longreach for over a decade now, moving his operation to the Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre where he is a living exhibit.
Our friend Jackie was so impressed that she purchased one of Anthony’s whips and it included a free training session out the back of the Hall of Fame, which we all participated in.
Anthony Rennick - Whip maker
Anthony Rennick - Whip maker
Beautiful creations
Jackie
Liam
Merrisa
Merrisa
Here’s a couple of examples of Merrisa attempting to crack the newly created whip and absolutely nailing it on 1st attempt at two whipping styles…
And then it was Neil’s turn…
Around the town
Longreach has so much to offer the visitor. Even a stroll through the town centre throws up some unexpected delights such as “The Drovers”, which were part of “The Human Factor” sculptures by John Underwood, created for the Brisbane World Expo ’88.
Street Art
Standing on the Tropic of Capricorn
Main Water Tower
Council Offices
Council Offices
The Drovers
The Drovers
A cheeky Drover
A friendly Drover
A friendly Drover
Starlight’s River Cruise
We were picked up at our caravan park a 4:45pm and then bused out to the Thomson River to participate in Starlight’s Cruise Experience run by the Kinnon family.
We took a gentle cruise at sunset east down the Thomson River on the Thomson Belle, a very old paddle wheeler, following their recently introduced Pride of the Murray paddle wheeler. As the sun sets of the trees in the west we return to to the jetty.
After the cruise we disembarked to enjoy a traditional stockman’s campfire dinner followed by bush poetry with a local outback storyteller, Scotty reciting bush poetry and a few funny yarns. Scotty was an ageless old soul, who when about 16 years old seriously injured both feet and cannot wear shoes (they make him fall over) so goes everywhere barefooted. The legend has it that he was banned from doing his lawn mowing rounds by Work Cover and so his mate mate him a pair of boots with no soles so he could trick the inspector 😂.
Afterwards, we moved down to the seated area on the riverbank to watch the Starlight’s Spectacular Sound & Light Show – a unique big-screen presentation featuring the Kinnon & Co family and locals in the amazing adventures of the notorious local cattle thief known as ‘Captain Starlight’.
Finally, in the atmospheric surroundings of the bush at night, we enjoyed the timeless favourite – billy tea and damper. Then it was back to our accommodation after wonderful 4.5 hours of mesmerising dinner and shows.
Cost of experience was $125pp, including pick-up at accom, river cruise, dinner & show, movie, tea & damper and return to accom. 4.5 hours of total enjoyment!
We also rate the show a 10 out of 10 – a must see when in Longreach.
The Cruise
The Dinner & Show
Dinner consists of bush stew and mashed spuds with bread to mop up the gravy. Dessert was an apple cake with custard. Then the show begins with Jeremy Kinnon providing an insight into the stockman’s travels and gear they use. Pretty funny, especially the many items he says are “available at me mum’s shop in town“. Then out comes Scotty to tell us his bush poetry and some funny yarns.
After dinner the crowd moves down to be seated for an after-dark Captain Starlight movie in outdoor riverbank theater and brothers Jeremy and Lane Kinnon begin the movie with an introduction which is an absolute scream. Please enjoy the video below, which is only part of the intro…
QANTAS Museum
They’ve gone all out at the QANTAS Museum in Longreach. You just cannot miss the place as you drive into town from the Barcaldine direction. There’s now a massive carport style roof built over the 4 planes, including a Jumbo Jet.
The Tour
We began our tour under the massive roof as our guide spoke about each of these amazing aircraft in great detail, about their life and how they arrived at the museum. We then were taken through
DC3
Starting its life as a C-47 with the United States Army Air Force in 1944, it was given to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1944 before becoming a QANTAS Empire Airways aircraft and being converted to civilian DC -3 standard as VH -EAP in 1948. The aircraft still has the large double C-47 style doors.
Developed from the earlier DC1 and DC2, the DC3 revolutionised air travel in the 1930s. It was relatively fast, reliable and able to carry up to 28 passengers in comfort. Despite its success, QANTAS did not begin to operate the DC3/C47 until 1945 when military C47s became available in large numbers. After service with QANTAS in New Guinea, VH-EAP was sold in 1960 but continued to fly in New Guinea. In 1982 it returned to Australia and was flown by Bush Pilots Airways (later Air Queensland). There were a number of other owners and last flew in January 1993. VH-EAP was later donated to QANTAS Founders Museum by John Williams, with the aircraft being dismantled, transported to Longreach and repainted in its original QANTAS Empire Airways colours by retired and serving QANTAS staff.
When I was 5 years old we moved to Madang in Papua New Guinea for 3 years as my father took over as the head Met Officer (Meteorologist) and we flew from Port Moresby to Madang in a DC3 just like the one at the museum.
707
This particular Boeing 707 – 138 – originally VH-EBA – was the first jet of thirteen 138 purchased by QANTAS from Boeing and the very first civilian jet aircraft registered in Australia. The 707 replaced the propeller driven Super Constellations and practically halved the flying time on QANTAS overseas routes. The new Boeing 707s were so fast they also introduced Australians to “jet lag” for the first time. After serving with QANTAS, the aircraft was operated by other airlines and private operators. After several years lying derelict at Southend Airport in the United Kingdom and about to be scrapped, it was purchased by QANTAS Founders Museum and restored and flown to Longreach in June 2007 by a dedicated group of volunteers, mostly retired QANTAS engineers.
747
VH-EBQ, “City of Bunbury”, was the first QANTAS aircraft named after a West Australian provincial town to mark the 150th Anniversary of Western Australia and Bunbury being declared a city. VH-EBQ was accepted from Boeing by QANTAS on 10th December 1979. During its working life with QANTAS it is estimated the aircraft carried over 5.4 million passengers and flew over 82.54 million kilometres – equivalent to more than 2000 trips around the world or ten round trips to the moon or ten years continuous flying.
VH-EBQ is unique in being the only surviving Boeing 747 – 200 with Rolls Royce engines. VH-EBQ was donated to QANTAS Founders Museum by Qantas Airways and landed at Longreach on 16th November 2002.
Super Constellation
QANTAS operated Constellations on the Kangaroo Route between Sydney and London from 1947 -1955 before the Super Constellation operated the route from 1954-1962. The Constellation was the first aircraft that enabled QANTAS to establish and sustain long-range overseas air service in its own right and it was the longest air service in the world using the same aircraft all the way.
Constellations were the first QANTAS aircraft to feature flight hostesses (female cabin crew) and be pressurised. QANTAS Super Constellations operated the first ever regular round-the-world air service via both hemispheres in 1958. The Museum’s Super Constellation was built for the US Navy in 1953 before being used as a cargo aircraft. The aircraft has been repainted to resemble the QANTAS Super Constellation “Southern Spray” VH-EAM.
A stroll through the Museum
The museum tells the story of Australia’s national airline, from its early days in Outback Queensland to present day. Characters of the early QANTAS days and their pioneering spirit contributing to the impact the airline had for all Australians is brought to life through life size exhibits, historical artefacts and interactive displays including the National Heritage Listed QANTAS hangar.
We found a full replica of the Avro 504K which was the first QANTAS aircraft and was used by the airline for five years. Powered by a 100 h.p. Sunbeam Dyak engine, it was modified to carry up to two passengers as well as the pilot.
A real, full sized, Catalina flying Fortress is also parked behind the museum. Catalina flying boats played important roles for QANTAS in two eras. During the 1950s, they enabled air services to be provided to remote villages in New Guinea and around the South Pacific where aerodromes hadn’t yet been built. But, it was in the last two years of World War Two that they became the lifeline which helped keep QANTAS alive and maintained communications between Australia and the United Kingdom.
From their Facebook profile… Lara Wetlands is a bush camping experience situated at Lara Station, 28klm south of Barcaldine or 78klm North of Blackall on the Landsborough Hwy, then 13km in to Lara Station via our access road. Look for the Yellow & Black Lara sign.
Lara Wetlands is a bush camping experience situated at Lara Station, 28klm south of Barcaldine or 78klm North of Blackall on the Landsborough Hwy, then 13km in to Lara Station via our access road. Look for the Yellow & Black Lara sign. No need to book, Roll On In! ***CASH ONLY*** Spend some time at one of our tranquil shady camping areas surrounded by a picturesque Wetlands abundant with birdlife. Enjoy a campfire with friends and or family whilst gazing at the stars in the night sky. Firewood is available for purchase and a limited number of fire drums are free to use. BYO firewood / fire drum if you wish. No self collection of firewood anywhere on Lara Station or our access road. All size vans, mobile homes and tents welcome. No powered sites and no allocated sites. You choose your own site once checked in at our Office. Generators are welcome but in specified times only. (8am-10am and 3pm-5pm) Fresh Artesian drinking water and fill point as well as a black dump point. Thermal controlled Artesian Mineral Hot Pool included in camp and day fees for relaxation purposes only. Childrens playground, cubby house, sand pit and smaller thermal waterhole for the young ones. Complimentary kayaks and bicycles. Complimentary flush toilets & hot showers available. Pets are welcome, however your fur babies must be on leash at all times in all areas and bins are provided for you to collect your pets droppings and dispose of same responsibly. No second chances for pets caught off leash. CAMPING FEES: $25/couple per night $15/single adult per night $45 family package (2 adults, up to 4 children under 15yrs) ***CASH ONLY*** ***NO EFTPOS AVAILABLE ***
Leaving Charleville we headed north on the Matilda Way (Landsborough Hwy) stopping off along the way to check out the towns of Augathella and Tambo as well as a refuel in Blackall (route map) before turning left off the highway at about 79kms from Blackall onto the Lara Wetlands access road – red dirt for 14kms to get to the wetlands.
Augathella stop-over
A nice little town famous for it’s mascot called the “Meat Eating Ant.” The town chose the enormous insect as its mascot not because it’s overrun with the (much smaller) real-life version, but because of its football team. There is also a nicely painted water tower in town worth a look.
Great Artesian Basin
While in Augathella we come across some interesting info at the base of their water tower. It’s about the “Great Artesian Basin”. Here’s some information about it…
The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) is Australia’s most significant hydrogeological system. Covering more than 1.7 million square kilometres, the GAB underlies parts of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory. The GAB contains a vast volume of underground water (estimated at 64,900 million megalitres) and is the largest groundwater basin in Australia. Groundwater from the GAB is a vital resource for pastoral, agricultural and extractive industries as well as for many town water supplies, supporting at least $12.8 billion in economic activity annually (Frontier Economics 2016). The GAB also supports significant Indigenous cultural values and sustains a range of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs), including iconic mound springs across central Australia.
Another nice little town famous for it’s “Tambo Teddies store” which Google says it’s open until 1:00pm on Saturdays but we discovered it was actually 12:00pm and therefore closed. Probably saved a hit on the budget anyway . Lunch at Fannymaes then back on the road again.
Accommodation
Lara Wetlands Station was a really great place to stay. We pulled up facing the water so our Bailey caravan’s windows showcased it each day. There’s no power but accessible drinking water (fill your tanks from one of their many hoses but can’t stay connected). A fire pit every night was so good to get around.
The road in and out of Lara Wetlands is 13kms of red dirt from the highway and still a but boggy from rains from 2 weeks ago.
The Campground
There’s plenty of space around the wetlands to set-up. The lake’s probably no more deeper than 1metre (in the middle) and it takes around 30 minutes to do the lap. It’s a very pretty place and the dead trees in the lake make for a good photo or 12.
I had a paddle across the lake in one of their free canoes and followed up with a dip in their thermal pool – serenity!
Sunsets and Sunrises
What a great spot for either sunset or sunrise. Great colours in the sky and a sliver of moon in the sunset too.
Sunset
Sunset
Sunset
Sunrise
Sunrise
Sunrise
Sunrise
Sunrise
Bird life
We’d heard that it’s a haven for birds but there wasn’t that many but enough to fill the film roll.
Facilities – Very rustic but with flushing toilets
CP Location – 39052 Landsborough Hwy Barcaldine
Our rating/score – 8/10
Was it a nice town to visit? – This is not in a town, just a bush setting with no shops around
Activities & places of interest – just a walk around the lakeand bird watching or a swim in thermal pool
Tourist info centre? – none
Would we return? – Yes
We rate the town – 8/10
Overall thoughts – A really great spot to stay. They have fresh water but no power. The staff are really friendly. It’s a bit of a drive in from the highway (13km or red dirt) but really worth the effort. 2 nights would be a sufficient enough time to stay here.
Charleville is a rural service centre on the Warrego River. With a population of over 3,000, it is the largest town in South West Queensland. Surrounded by rich pastoral land, it grew to prominence as an important transportation stopover between the vast properties of western Queensland and the vital rail-head at Roma. Today the town is an important centre with offices of both the School of Distance Education and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Getting there
Its a 201km trip from Cunnamulla to Charleville travelling straight north on the Mitchell Hwy (route map). We made a couple of stops along the way…
Wyandra
Wyrandra is exactly half way between Cunnamulla to Charleville, so we pulled in for coffees. There’s really only one thing in this town worth stopping for and it’s the Wyandra Post Office, General Store and Caravan Park (maplink). The bloke who runs this place is a real scream who serves great brewed coffee and freshly made scones. His humour is something else! Find it n WikiCamps
The boss
Angellala Bridge Monument
On Friday 5th September 2014, a truck carrying 52.8 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was involved in a single-vehicle incident. The blast radius was more than 1 kilometre and was the equivalent power to 10-15 tonnes of TNT; so powerful that 30 km away Charleville residents thought there was an earthquake. A police car travelling to the scene was damaged about 200 metres away from the blast.
On Friday 5th September 2014, a truck carrying 52.8 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was involved in a single-vehicle incident. The blast radius was more than 1 kilometre and was the equivalent power to 10-15 tonnes of TNT; so powerful that 30 km away Charleville residents thought there was an earthquake. A police car travelling to the scene was damaged about 200 metres away from the blast. In fact, the explosion was measured as a seismic event measuring 2.1 on the Richter scale. The explosion site looked like a war zone with the complete demolition of the road bridge and as well as the Angellala rail bridge, that had stood since 1897.
Eight people were injured, the truck driver, four firefighters, one police officer and two bystanders. It can only be described as a miracle that no one was killed. The truck driver received burns to 35% of his body while the firemen, police officer and the two bystanders suffered multiple fractures, lacerations, head and chest injuries and deep burns from the explosion.
On the day truck drivers Jimmy Bateman SC, Timothy Bunyan SC as well as Charleville Fire Fighters LT Jake Sullivan SC, LT Peter Hackwood SC, FF Nathan Thompson SC, and FF Clinten McCarthy SC went above and beyond and have been recogonised for their efforts. The six men have been awarded the Star of Courage for their acts of courage in circumstances of great peril. Queensland Police officer Adam Pearson, made it approximately 200 metres from the site before it exploded. Officer Pearson also received a bravery medal for his immediate actions. The four fire fighters also received the “Pride of Australia Award”.
Amongst all the devastation a small fragment of the driver’s bible was found. How this one small piece of paper survived is remarkable. The fragment is from Psalm 31.
The monument symbolises the bridge and the information boards provided represent the human and historic aspects of the site. The memorial is located 8.2kms north of the town of Bakers bend (maplink)
On Friday 5th September 2014, a truck carrying 52.8 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was involved in a single-vehicle incident. The blast radius was more than 1 kilometre and was the equivalent power to 10-15 tonnes of TNT; so powerful that 30 km away Charleville residents thought there was an earthquake. A police car travelling to the scene was damaged about 200 metres away from the blast.
In fact, the explosion was measured as a seismic event measuring 2.1 on the Richter scale. The explosion site looked like a war zone with the complete demolition of the road bridge and as well as the Angellala rail bridge, that had stood since 1897. Thankfully not a life was lost.
The monument symbolises the bridge and the information boards provided represent the human and historic aspects of the site. The memorial is located 8.2kms north of the town of Bakers bend (maplink)
Monument to the old bridge
Accommodation
It’s pretty funny as I’d listed the phone number of another caravan park for the one we intended to stay at, so upon arrival all we got was “you’re not booked in here mate!” so with a quick phone call we discovered that we’d actually booked the Bailey Bar Caravan Park instead and it proved to be a pretty good mistake.
Even though this park is in need of some pretty serious upgrading (one WikiCamp review said “This Park should be demolished, the Public Health need to visit!! Only shining light was Darren a lovely guy) we enjoyed our stay here. A camp barby on our 1st night and then a camp oven stew on our last night was excellent. Our hosts were really nice and put on a great dinner too. We had 3 nights staying here.
Around the town
Charleville Historic House & Museum
Dating back to 1887 the building was purpose built as Charleville’s first national bank, before it went onto become a private boarding house until the 1970’s.
Filled to the brim with treasures of yesteryear, some dating back as far as the 1800’s, you’ll be surprised at what you’ll find and it’s well worth your time to take a look. It’s located in Alfred Street Charleville (maplink).
Many of the original features of the bank still remain which include marble fireplaces and the vault. The display is completed with a large early day machinery display in the grounds including a life size replica Cobb & Co Coach, Rail Ambulance and Steam Engine.
Charleville Water Tower
The Charleville & Cunnamulla Water Towers were painted by renowned artist Guido van Helten in 2019. It’s located in Parry Street Charleville (maplink).
Separated by 200 km, Cunnamulla and Charleville are joined by the rivalry they share of a simple game. They meet twice a year, then complete in a grand final where they are destined to try and best each other. The murals of both represents the significance of the game to the community.
Charleville Railway Station
Charleville railway station is a heritage-listed railway station on the Western line in King Street (maplink). It was built from 1888 to 1957.
The tourist information centre is located in the station building. While we were there a train was waiting at the platform to begin it’s 17.5 hour trip to Brisbane.
Cosmos Centre
With great expectations we booked into the Charleville Cosmos Centre for their evening show called the Big Sky Observatory and it was terribly disappointing. With the sales pitch beginning with “A mesmerising sky filled with thousands of stars, combined with the beauty of deep celestial objects all come alive in front of your very eyes during your adventure to the Big Sky Observatory” you’d expect to see some pretty spectacular stuff but you just get an enlargement of watch you see with the naked eye. I’m sorry but it sucked! The guy doing the presentation is really knowledgable, so no complaints there, it’s just it didn’t even come close to my expectations of what the telescope would show you of our galaxy. Even the final “coup-de-graph” of viewing Saturn was a total disappointment. My score is a lowly 2 out of 10.
WW II Secret Airbase
An interesting fact we discovered was that, during WW II the US established a strategic Secret Airbase in Charleville. In 1943 there were 3500 United States Army Air Force personnel stationed in here.
We made 2 visits to the airbase – a self guided tour through the museum and then a 2 hour “tagalong” with a guide around what used to be the secret US airbase. It’s located at the Charleville Airport (maplink)
1st visit – Secret Airbase Museum
Our 1st visit was to the static display housed in the main building. There’s plenty to learn about this “secret base” and it’s really well set-up. The interactive bomb drop is great and out of the 4 of us only Merrisa could successfully drop the bomb on the target.
The rumour is (no facts here because it’s still an official secret place) that the Americans set-up the base to act as a strategic location, far enough inland that the Japanese bombers could not reach it.
2nd visit – Secret Airbase grounds tour
Back again to the secret airbase, this time to take the tagalong tour through some of the vast area the original base had occupied.
Taking up 25sq km with 101 Australian purpose built buildings, 3 runways and many large unique planes flying in and out on a regular basis- this little town was sworn to secrecy. All in a massive effort to conceal and protect the location of this TOP SECRET AF base. But what made it so special was the object that was being so heavily protected was the Nordon Bombsight, the prize piece of the American’s upper hand in the Battle of the Coral Sea….. And not even the base soldiers knew it was there – Just Incredible!
Bilby Rescue Centre
Bilby Rescue was initiated by a couple of guys by the name of Frank Manthey and Peter McRae, whose passion to rescue these tiny marsupials from certain extinction is something of an absolute wonder. They created an organisation called Save the Bilby Fund in 1999 and what has occurred from their early work has been areas set aside for the Bilbies to safely re-populate their species.
The Bilby Fence at Currawinya National Park was designed to protect bilbies from feral animals and predators to enable them to live and breed in safety. It opened in 2003 and cost $500,000 to build the 25sq km electrified predator-exclusion fence. Save the Bilby breed and release captive bilbies to a sanctuary surrounded by a predator exclusion fence in Currawinya National Park with the aim of building a population of 400 free-living bilbies; and it’s working.
Cunnamulla is a rural service centre which is the administrative seat of the Paroo Shire – a vast shire which covers 47,617 sq. km of South-West Queensland. With a population of over 1600 in 2011, Cunnamulla is significantly larger than the other towns in the shire – Eulo, Yowah and Wyandra. While the town offers little to tempt the curious traveller, it does have a distinct old world charm. The hotels in the main street have remained unchanged for over half a century, the shops still have a pre-supermarket feel to them, and the tree-lined streets evoke the world of the country town long past. (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Getting there
Yet another fairly boring 258km drive north along the Mitchell Hwy (route map) from Bourke to Cunnamulla. At least it took us into Queensland. 😄
Accommodation
Staying at the Cunnamulla Tourist Park wasn’t too bad. It’s a G’Day park so we got the 10% discount. It’s close enough to town (maplink) enabling us to take a leisurely stroll into do some shopping. @ nights here before moving on to Charleville.
Outback Stockman Show
We found out about the Outback Stockman Show show at our caravan park. It’s run by a fantastic bloke called Paul Clarkson. He takes the crowd through how a bushman’s horse is trained along with their working dogs. This is a brilliant show with plenty of laughs and great stories. Paul shows how much he loves his animals and how much trust they have in him.
Totally recommend the Outback Stockman Show. It’s on run at the Cunnamulla Show Grounds every morning at 11am – book through the Cunnamulla Visitors Centre and it’s $25 per person.
Cunnamulla Fella
Located out the front of the Cunnamulla Visitors Centre is a massive bronze statue called the Cunnamulla Fella.
The Cunnamulla Fella is a song written by Stan Coster and sung by Slim Dusty. He is an iconic Australian Bush character. The town of Cunnamulla has erected a statue of the Cunnamulla Fella as a tribute to Stan and Slim and to the ‘ringers’ of the bush. The statue is double life size bronze. It was created by sculptor Archie Sinclair from a drawing by Mike Nicholas. The statue is located in front of the Paroo Shire Hall in Cunnamulla gazing across the centre of the town.
Song’s Lyrics
Now I’m a scrubber, runner and a breaker too I live on damper and wallaby stew I’ve got a big cattle dog with a staghound cross I never saw the scrubber we couldn’t toss ‘Cause I’m the Feller from Cunnamulla Yes I’m the Cunnamulla Feller
Now I’m a scrubber, runner and a breaker too I live on damper and wallaby stew I’ve got a big cattle dog with a staghound cross I never saw the scrubber we couldn’t toss ‘Cause I’m the Feller from Cunnamulla Yes I’m the Cunnamulla Feller
Now once when I was drovin’ on the cattle trails I met a little girl her name was Ada Vale I said “Marry me Ada and I’ll be the feller And we’ll settle down in Augathella” I’ll be the Feller at Augathella Yes I’ll be the Augathella Feller
Oh, she said her daddy’s name was Charley Ville She had a lot of kiddies and a lot of bills So I grabbed my horse that was nice and handy
And I never stopped till I reached Dirranbandi I was the dandy at Dirranbandi Yes I was the Dirranbandi Dandy
Now in my moleskin trousers and my Williams boots Aboard an outlaw as he leaves the chutes In my goose neck spurs I rake their fiery hide And the girls all shouting around the ringside Oh he’s the Feller from Cunnamulla Yeah he’s the Cunnamulla Feller
Now I’ve done a little fightin’ in the western bars Done a little lovin’ neath the moon and stars I wear bright clothes and shirts full of colour And the girls know me as that certain feller Yes he’s the Feller from Cunnamulla Yes he’s the Cunnamulla Feller
Oh he’s the Cunnamulla Feller Yes he’s the Cunnamulla Feller
Here’s a great YouTube video by Australian C&W singer Lee Kernaghan singing the Cunnamulla Fella…
Cunnamulla Water Tower
The Cunnamulla & Charleville Water Towers were painted by renowned artist Guido van Helten in 2019.
Separated by 200 km, Cunnamulla and Charleville are joined by the rivalry they share of a simple game. They meet twice a year, then complete in a grand final where they are destined to try and best each other. The murals of both represents the significance of the game to the community.
Allan Tannock Weir
A short 5km trip out of town takes you to the Allan Tannock Weir on the Warrego River. Pretty cool weir and it shows how high the river is at the moment. They recently had a lot of rain here and there’s plenty of evidence that the river had flooded over the weir uprooting trees and leaving plenty of debris behind.
Summing up…
Accommodation – Cunnamulla Tourist Park (07) 4655 1421
Bourke is located on the Darling River 110 metres above sea level. Lying on the edge of the desert and servicing the surrounding large pastoral properties, it is a town which is relatively prosperous due to tourism and people passing through on their way to or from Queensland. In recent times the impressive Back o’ Bourke Exhibition Centre has drawn visitors eager to learn about outback Australia.
Bourke is located on the Darling River 110 metres above sea level. Lying on the edge of the desert and servicing the surrounding large pastoral properties, it is a town which is relatively prosperous due to tourism and people passing through on their way to or from Queensland. In recent times the impressive Back o’ Bourke Exhibition Centre has drawn visitors eager to learn about outback Australia.
The town was once an important port on the Darling River with wool from all across western New South Wales and south western Queensland being transported by bullock wagons and shipped down the river to South Australia. Consequently it has an impressive Court House, a number of impressive public buildings, and a solidity which is the result of its early prosperity. A visitor can spend two or three days exploring the town and surrounding countryside and “once you’ve crossed the North Bourke bridge” as the song goes “And stood on the dust of an ancient red ridge, the locals know the outback calls you back”. As Henry Lawson wrote: “If you know Bourke, then you know Australia.” (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more)
It’s a fairly short 167km trip to Bourke (route map) with nothing much to see along the way but some emu’s and goats.
Accommodation
We booked into the Mitchell Caravan Park for 3 nights. Bourke had recently had a lot of rain and there were only 50% of the sites available, so it was great that we’d pre-booked as a lot of people were turned away. It’s nice park BUT if you ever stay there try to get a site of the north side of the park NOT the south side (where we were) at the highway is about 5 metres behind these site with heaps of trucks going past on the highway.
Couple of Baileys
A bit wet
Camp kitchen
Camp kitchen
Facilities
Grass Parrot
Grass Parrots
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
Great sunset
Great sunset
Port of Bourke
The old Bourke Wharf is a great pot to check out, situated on the famous Darling River with great views along the river. The Crossley Engine next door was not working when we were there but is apparently pretty cool when it’s being demonstrated.
Darling River
Under the wharf
Under the wharf
Darling River
Crossley Engine
Crossley Engine
Back of Bourke Centre
The Bourke Visitors Information Centre is a must visit place as it houses stories of Outback Legends like Barefoot Harry, Captain Starlight, the Camel traders, WWI Prisoners of War, Charles Bean the man behind the Australian War Memorials.
The entry fee also includes the showing of a locally produced animated story called Lifeblood which was absolutely fascinating. From the Producer – “Lifeblood is a film about the intersection of place, history, and our identity. Who are we as Australians? We are disconnected from our true cultural identity. We don’t understand our environment, and therefore we don’t know how to protect the delicate equilibriums that have existed for millions of years on our planet“.
Lifeblood Movie
North Bourke Bridge
The original road bridge over the Darling River is now closed (and looking pretty sad). We stopped off to check it out and to find out a bit about the Paddle Steamer PV Jandra but it was closed due to the river being in flood – would have been a great experience 😞.
After turning off the highway we were then on 16kms of red dirt road, which was still wet in places, giving us a bit of red mud fun. There were also plenty of emus along the road, which never run in a straight line!
The 700m walking track into the rock art area is well defined and easy to navigate. It just gets a bit hairy crossing the small creek in front of the rock art area. Returning to the car-park we came across a inquisitive Bearded Dragon (lizard) sunning himself on the track. Then it was time for lunch in the great picnic area (no lizards were eaten).
A bit of red mud
Here’s a video of some emu’s we met along the access road. Looked like one was having a bath on side of the road…
Fred Hollows Grave
On our return trip from the national park we stopped off at the Bourke Cemetery to take a stroll among some of the history of people buried there as well as visiting the grave site of the famous Australian Eye Surgeon Fred Hollows.
For over 100 years Cobar has been a mining town. Even today an essential part of every visitor’s itinerary is a visit to the New Cobar Open Cut Gold Mine and the Peak Gold Mine. Cobar is one of those deceptive country towns which, on the surface, just looks like any one of a hundred rural service centres. However just beneath this ordinary exterior there is an exceptional museum, an excellent Mining Heritage Park, a remarkable Sound Chapel and a superb display of Aboriginal rock art at Mount Grenfell. Mining still drives the local economy but, in the winter months, it becomes popular with tourists driving from the coast to Broken Hill (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Getting there
It was a 367km trip from Griffith (route map) and we stopped off along the way at a small rural town called Merriwagga (maplink), where the term “The Black Stump” is said to have originated.
The story of “the black stump” recalls how in 1886 a bullocky named Blain stopped at what has subsequently been gazetted as the Black Stump Tank
The story of “the black stump” recalls how in 1886 a bullocky named Blain stopped at what has subsequently been gazetted as the Black Stump Tank. This was an overnight camp and watering hole for wagon trains which were carrying produce south to the paddle steamers on the Murrumbidgee River. Blain went looking for feed for his animals leaving his wife, Barbara Blain, to make camp for the evening. When he returned he found that her dress had caught fire, presumably while she was lighting the fire for the evening meal, and she had burned to death. It is said that when asked about his wife’s death Blain explained, with that peculiarly droll and dry matter-of-factness of the Australian bush, that when he found her she “looked just like a black stump”. The observation was so often repeated that the idea of the “black stump” became an image of isolation and hardship and most commonly occurred in expressions like “beyond the black stump” and “this side of the black stump”.
We went looking for the black stump memorial and couldn’t find it, so just checked out the town discovering that the Black Stump Hotel is said to have the highest bar and bar-stools in Australia (lofty 1.3 meters high). Local legend has it that the original publican built the bar this high so that local ringers could ride their horses right up to the bar! Pity that it was closed as we were too early in the day to check it out. Next stop-off was Hillston for a coffee and a photo taken with the local emu before moving onto our destination of Cobar.
Merriwagga
Merriwagga
Merriwagga - Black Stump Hotel
Hillston
Hillston
Accommodation
Checked into the Cobar Caravan Park which has really nice big sites, but amenities need to be seriously updated. 2 nights here before moving on to Bourke.
Cobar Museum and Miners Memorial
The Cobar Tourist Information Centre includes a museum highlight mining in the area and was a great place to spend some time.
We then ventured over the road to the Cobar Miners Heritage Park, which is a memorial been built to pay tribute to the hundreds of miner’s who have lost their lives mining in the Cobar Shire. It was only built in 2020 & opened in 2021.
Just around the corner from there is the famous Cobar Town Monument which is the iconic gateway to Cobar. Anyone travelling to or through Cobar must have a photo of these remains of what would have been a huge copper smelter
Information Centre
Cobar Town Monument
Cobar Town Monument
Miners Memorial
Miners Memorial
Miners Memorial
Miners Memorial
Miners Memorial
Miners Memorial
Miners Memorial
Fort Bourke Hill Lookout & Peak Gold Mines
Fort Bourke Lookout is just minutes out of town (maplink) and the view from the viewing platform provides a vista over the open pit and entrance to the underground mines.
The rich Cobar mineral belt is clearly visible in a straight line from North to South (line up the head-frames). The mining here is all underground now with the entrance at the bottom of the pit.
Cobar’s water comes from Burrendong Dam 400km away and is pumped from Nyngan via a 135km pipeline into storage tanks on top of Fort Bourke hill.
Cobar Sound Chapel
The Cobar Sound Chapel is located on a dirt road a few kilometers north-east of Cobar, along a dirt road (maplink). It’s basically a large old metal water tank that has been converted into a musical art-piece. It’s quite amazing. It was completed in early 2022 and is a creation by composer / sound artist Georges Lentz.
The Sound Chapel is locked and you need to get to get the keys from the Cobar Visitors Centre, BUT there is a catch as you need to pay a $300 (cash only) deposit to get these keys! We didn’t have that much cash on us (who does these days!) so drove out to check it out from the outside. You can actually hear the music from outside which is still pretty cool.
Griffith is a little piece of Italy in the heart of the Riverina. It still has the extraordinary statistic that 60% of the city’s population have Italian ancestors and it still celebrates Italian culture with extensive vineyards in the region, providores in the town selling local produce, and excellent cafes and restaurants where the pasta and coffee can be favourably compared to the best that Sydney (and Italy) can offer. Today the city’s dominant Italian culture has been enriched by substantial populations of Tongans, Samoans, Afghanis, Indians and Aborigines.
Griffith is a little piece of Italy in the heart of the Riverina. It still has the extraordinary statistic that 60% of the city’s population have Italian ancestors and it still celebrates Italian culture with extensive vineyards in the region, providores in the town selling local produce, and excellent cafes and restaurants where the pasta and coffee can be favourably compared to the best that Sydney (and Italy) can offer. Today the city’s dominant Italian culture has been enriched by substantial populations of Tongans, Samoans, Afghanis, Indians and Aborigines.
Griffith emerged out of the construction of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) in the early years of the twentieth century. The irrigation channels, and the regular supply of water through the hot summer months, have made the area surrounding the town a major producer of rice, citrus fruits (valencia oranges are the largest crop), stone fruits, vegetables, wheat, cotton, sheep, wool, eggs and canola. Amusingly all of the gherkins used by McDonald’s are also grown in the district. Inevitably Griffith has had strong associations with marijuana growing and the activities of the ‘Griffith mafioso’ reached such a level in the 1970s that local anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay was mysteriously “disappeared”, presumed murdered. Griffith was designed by the American architect and town planner, Walter Burley Griffin, and its central feature is the broad, attractive main street with a wide median strip and a impressive park. At the top of the main street are two circular roads. This radial design echoes Griffin’s famous design for Canberra. (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
It’s a fairly short 132km drive from Jerilderie (route map) but along the way we pulled into the town of Coleambally to check out their unique water tower and street art. Both were very impressive; we debated the shape of the water tower and couldn’t agree on being a wine glass, schooner or a mortar bomb. Its mosaic depicts the history and amenities of Coleambally. 24½ metres in height, with a capacity of over 1 million litres, it is filled from two deep bores and is the towns water supply. The street art is in the form of a giant Brolga (just in front of the water tower) as well as some unique lizards in the median strips made from welded chains.
Chain Goanna
Chain Goanna
Water tower base
Water tower base
Water tower
Water tower base
Water tower base
Water tower
The Brolga
The Brolga
Accommodation
Arriving at the Griffith Tourist Caravan Park (maplink) we were a bit disappointed as it looked pretty run down, but a young couple had just taken it over with a huge project ahead to get it up to scratch. We had 3 days to spend exploring what Griffith had to offer before moving on to Cobar.
Around Griffith
The Hermits Cave
The Hermit’s Cave is well worth a visit – perched high on the ridge of Scenic Hill, part of the McPherson Ranges, it offers a fabulous view across irrigated farmland to the Binya Hills and Cocoparra National Park in the distance.
The cave was once the home of Valerio Ricetti, a miner from Broken Hill who lived the life of a hermit in his cave on Scenic Hill for many years from 1929 to 1952. A keen gardener, Valerio transformed the rocky escarpment and created dry-stone-walls, paths and stone steps creating access to areas that he called, the Garden, the Chapel and the Main Cave. The walls of the Main Cave feature paintings of small daisies, created by Ricetti. Read more on Wikipedia
De Bortoli Winery
We then took a trip out to the De Bortoli Winery in Bilbul (maplink) for a bit of a tasting. Our host, Dominique, provided the wine tasting, making our visit very enjoyable and interesting. We ended up purchasing some whites and a bottle of their Old Boys 21 Years Barrel Aged Tawny (yum!).
Centenary Sculptures at IOOF Park
Griffith celebrated 100 years of progress in 2016. The Centenary Celebrations hinged around the 17 day International Sculpture Symposium, which was held during May. Seven of the world’s best hard stone sculptors converged on Griffith to transform 20 tonnes of granite into beautiful pieces of public art. The granite sculptures, which reflect the theme ‘Griffith’s cultural diversity and the meaning of water’ are located on Centenary Walk, in the IOOF Park in Kookora Street (maplink). This is really cool and well worth a visit.
#1 Wine & Orange Blossom
Whitton Malt House
While we were at the De Bortoli Winery we asked our host about other places to visit and she suggested we check out the Whitton Malt House (about 48kms south of Griffith), so off we went and found it to be a pretty amazing place, only having been created in 2020.
The Malthouse is truly amazing with accommodation, a man-made lake where you can fish (catch & release Murray Cod), a special golf course where you pitch at targets in the lake (pretty cool), some great metal art – especially the horse created from all sorts of metal objects from spanners, cutlery, machinery parts, chains etc. This is just an add-on to the wonderful distillery and function centre which is the jewel in the crown.
Make sure that you pay the Malthouse a visit if you’re ever in the area – totally well worth it!
Sculpture by Tobias Bennett
Some friendly Parrots
On our last afternoon here we discovered the source of the crap over our car; it was a pair of beautiful Australian Ringneck Parrots. They were eating the fruit on the tree next to our van and after 1 chew the fruit was discarded onto the car, before the next piece of fruit was chosen. They were forgiven as they were so beautiful – so I just moved the car 😄. The sunset that evening was also pretty special with a nice orange sky.
Would we return? – Probably not – been there & done that
We rate the town – 7/10
Overall thoughts – Not a bad town to visit and we really enjoyed taking in the places of interest. If we were to stay here again we’d pick another caravan park as this one was pretty run down; however – a young couple have only recently taken over the park and we wish them luck updating it to a better one.
Jerilderie, which is located on the Newell Highway in the heart of the Riverina, is famous for its connections with Ned Kelly. It is reputedly the only town in New South Wales where Ned Kelly and his gang robbed the local bank and Ned’s famous defence of his lifestyle and explanation for why he became a bushranger is known as the Jerilderie Letter because it was during the robbery that he handed it over hoping that it would be published. (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Getting there
Jerilderie is a 323km trip (route map) from our home in Melbourne. Up the Hume Fwy, taking the Shepparton turn-off thru to Tocumwal and then the Newell Hwy to Jerilderie.
It’s so good to be back on the road again, heading north away from the cold of Melbourne. The 1st morning in Jerilderie was only 2 degrees, so we really didn’t escape the cold too much 🤣
Accommodation
We arrived at the Jerilderie Motel & Caravan Park late in the arvo. It’s a really nice park with plenty of room. The caravan park is in town so it’s an easy walk into check it out (maplink). We had two nights here before moving on to Griffith.
Around Jerilderie
One thing we didn’t know about Jerilderie was…
Ned Kelly came to Jerilderie in 1879 – with a bounty on his head, he could be shot on sight by anyone. Yet Ned boldly relieved the Bank of £2000, chopped down the telegraph poles, locked the police in their own cells, booked up the cost of shoeing his horses to the police. He held more than 30 hostages while shouting the bar and burned the mortgages held in the bank’s safe – all in three days
No person aware of Ned Kelly’s presence in Jerilderie took advantage of the AUD260,000 reward for his capture or made an attempt on his assassination. The main purpose of Ned Kelly’s visit to Jerilderie was to have his 40 page manifesto published – now known as The Jerilderie Letter. The document didn’t surface until 100 years after the event.
Would we return? – only as a stop-over spot & may free camp next time (great spot near the lake)
We rate the town – 7/10
Overall thoughts – Pleasant enough town to visit and the caravan park was good. Went to the pub for dinner on the Saturday night and that was a bit of a disappointment – took nearly 2 hours to get our meals 😠.