Cunnamulla QLD – Tagalong22

About Cunnamulla

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 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
- Cost per night – $36.00 (@ 25-Jul-2022)
- Stayed for – 2 nights
- Facilities – Dated but always clean
- CP Location – 69 Watson St Cunnamulla – close to town
- Our rating/score – 6/10
Was it a nice town to visit? – yes
- Activities & places of interest– not much to do but we still enjoyed ourselves
- Tourist info centre? – Cunnamulla Visitors Centre (07) 4655 8470
- Would we return? – Definitely
- We rate the town – 7/10
Overall thoughts – This was a great place to stop. IGA was a bit pricey but the town was nice.