Thursday, 3 October 2024
Yesterday afternoon we had an APT Outback Discovery bus arrive wanting to park around the back of the motel. With another guest parked at 90 degrees to our room we hadn’t parked in front of our room so with the motel owner and the bus driver we set about playing some musical vehicles to accommodate everyone. The motel’s back ‘paddock’ was full with other four-wheel drives and dog trailers leaving little room for this bus! Cathy moved the Subaru along a bit and put it on an angle which made room for Bernie to back the truck in between the other car at 90 degrees and the Subaru.
Then we all watched as the bus driver maneuvered his much bigger vehicle into a sliver of space on the paddock. I bet he loved having an audience, ha, ha? He didn’t seem to have any of his passengers staying at the Darling River Motel. We decided he must have dropped them off at the posh accommodation over the river in North Burke -the Bourke Bridge Inn?
We expected to be woken early by the bus departing but, no, Bernie and I didn’t hear a thing. Cathy and Steve on the other hand heard him start up and head out and then beep, beep, beep as he reversed to negotiate the corner of the motel before finally departing the premises on his way to collect his passengers for their early morning departure. Glad we slept through that at 6.10am this morning!
With the Kidman Way terminating at Bourke, this morning we set out heading north on the Mitchell Highway. The first few kilometres out of Bourke were blessedly free of animals. We had to drive around an unfortunate pile of dismembered kangaroo that came to grief overnight or early this morning, but there was nothing else near the roadside … at least initially. It was too good to last and before long there were herds of feral goats grazing alongside the road.
So, I’ve been typing up the travel diary a paragraph or two at a time all day as we travelled along. Capturing things while they were fresh in my mind and hoping to save time in the evening with the day’s activities already recorded. It also helps me to stay awake and alert while we travel rather than falling asleep!! I’ve just opened up my document now and other than the two paragraphs above, it’s all gone. Not happy Tracey … to say the least. That means that there is not going to be nearly as much detail as there was going to be. And I’m going to be nervous about even trying to record things as we continue travelling.
Our first stop of the day was at Engonnia where the town’s sign was bigger than the town itself. Abut 40 kilometres north, just after passing through Barringun we reached the Queensland border where we had to stop for the obligatory border photos. There were two signs to be photographed. The first one – Welcome to Queensland and the second one – Welcome to Outback Queensland. There was also a sign saying G’Day and Welcome to the Matilda Way which provided information about sights to see along the road north. Most of the places were already on our list but it did give us the heads up about a couple of additional points of interest.
We reached Cunnamulla before noon so turned west onto the Adventure Way heading for Eulo to view the statue of the diprotodon. As we drove into town from the east we found the statue on the outskirts of town together with a statue of a frill-necked lizard statue atop a tank stand. During the Pleistocene Epoch between 2,588 million years ago and 30,000 years ago marsupial megafauna roamed this area. Diprotodon Optatum was a wombat-like creature weighing up to 2.8 tonnes! The frill-necked lizard recalls the Eulo Lizard Races that were held every August/September between 1967 and 2000.
Now it was definitely time to find some lunch. Hmmn, the Eulo Queen Hotel had a board out saying that the kitchen was closed for lunch. We continued along the street to the General Store which looked all closed up. Arriving at the Eulo Queen Opal Centre it looked promising, sort of. We wandered in where we were greeted by a man and a dog and pointed to a fridge that held drinks and a few cakes. When we asked if there was anywhere we could buy some lunch a woman came in from the verandah and told us she could do pies, sausage rolls or toasted sandwiches. Cheese toastie for four it was. Steve was really happy when she added that she could do proper coffee and could even offer alternative milks!
After our toasties we drove back to Cunnamulla to check out the Cunnamulla Fella a larger-than-life statue that is a tribute to the Aussie larrikin stockman. He is the subject of a song that was written by Stan Coster and set to music and performed by Slim Dusty in 1965. More recently the song has been covered by Lee Kernaghan.
From the statue we made our way into the visitor centre which is home to the Artesian Time Tunnel and Heritage Museum. First, we watched an interesting video about Australia’s amazing artesian basin. Such an incredible resource that has been over-exploited, wasted and mismanaged for many years. Finally, it was recognized that the use of the water had to be better managed so that the water supply could be relied upon for generations to come.
After the video we rode the ‘lift’ which took us back in time to the beginnings of the artesian basin. It was a bit gimmicky but a bit of fun on a Thursday afternoon in downtown Cunnamulla. After the time tunnel we explored the collection of items in the Heritage Museum before making our way through the art gallery.
Back outside we walked over the Darby Land Bridge to the other side of the Warrego River to complete the Warrego River Walk. Although the guide suggested that we would see prolific birdlife and Western Grey and Red Kangaroos all we saw was the Meat Ants (also known as Gravel Ants) and one lone pelican on the river. Fortunately, no-one was bitten by an ant. Once again, our timing was off for sunset. There is a sunset viewing platform halfway along the trail, but we were there when sunset was still hours away. I’m sure we’ll catch a great sunset sometime, somewhere?
We walked back to the town side of the river and chatted with a man and his grandchildren trying their luck with some fishing lines in the water. They weren’t having any luck today. On our way back to the vehicles we wandered past the new Cunnamulla Hot Springs which have been developed by the same people who own the Peninsula Hot Springs back down in Victoria.
After refuelling and buying a few groceries we made our way to the Club Boutique Hotel to check-in. I’m never quite sure what to expect at ‘boutique’ hotels. Sometimes it’s a euphemism for quirky, sometimes it’s a way to make a small room sound bigger?? Tonight’s offering is a small bedroom with a huge ensuite bathroom. Very pretty BUT who wants their writing desk in the bathroom next to the toilet??
We had planned to eat at the hotel, but things were a bit chaotic – the cook left with her teacher husband at the end of term last week and then the deep fryer broke down on Monday. However, a reduced menu was still on offer, but NO CHIPS. Although meals are usually offered with salad and/or chips and veggies tonight it was salad and a baked potato … with whatever was ordered. Three times pork belly with maple glaze and one steak. Despite the owner picking up the mantle in the kitchen dinner was good.
