Cunnamulla to Bourke

Tuesday 17th September
Huge clouds came rolling in yesterday afternoon accompanied by thunder and we thought we were in for a huge storm but although we got some spots of rain it went around us.

Storm clouds rolling in over Cunnamulla

 Ray climbed the sand dune yesterday afternoon just before the storm and he said it was a steep climb so I am glad I didn't do it.

Sand dune at the back of the caravan park

Looking down at the caravan park from on top of the dune

A busload of high school kids from Tumut came into the park yesterday and when they climbed the dune they made it look effortless. Running up and down like crazy.
We got away from Cunnamulla about 9.45am. I went for a haircut and Ray had to go to the chemist which doesn't open until 9.30am. Lots of feral goats, cows, eagles, emus, road kill and black faced sheep along the unfenced road.

Emus crossing the road

Cows crossing the road

We stopped at Eulo for an ice cream and bought a stubby cooler with a Diprotodon on it. This is where some farmers found the bones of this ancient giant wombat, supposedly the largest known marsupial to have lived. It existed from approximately 1.6 million years ago until extinction some 40,000 years ago. The largest specimens found were hippopotamus size.
The closest surviving relatives of Diprotodon are the wombats and the koala. Aboriginals called the diprotodon a bunyip.
We then kept heading to Thargomindah, going over many cattle grids which mark the boundaries of the huge cattle stations.

Approaching another cattle grid

Hundreds of feral goats just wandering everywhere, a major traffic hazard.
When we got to the caravan park at Thargomindah it was a pleasant surprise. Quite a new park, huge clean amenities, native plants, grass around the cabins and toilet blocks. We didn't do much this afternoon. we had happy hour with Eddie and Carol, two people we met in Cunnamulla who are travelling to Nocundra. Before we knew it, it was 6.20pm. As we travel further west the sun is going down later and time just got away on us

Wednesday 18th September
We booked into Thargomindah for 2 nights as we wanted to do some washing and have a look around.
Thargomindah lies on the banks of the Bulloo River about 1000km west of Brisbane. In 1860 the epic expedition of Burke and Wills through far south west Queensland paved the way for settlement in the area. Thargomindah was gazetted as a town in 1874. It has a population of 250 and beef and wool are the main industries. The main shire offices are also in Thargomindah as well as industries related to petroleum/oil and gas
The water supply comes from the huge Artesian Bore under central Australia. The water comes out of the bore at 84 degrees C and then is sent to cooling pond and a desalination pond before it is pumped to the houses.

Hot artesian bore water

 The water still has the sulphur smell of artesian bores but if you let it stand for a few minutes it goes away and leaves lovely sweet tasting water.
We went out to the Bulloo River and took a few photos.

Bulloo River

Maura near the Bulloo River

Ray beside the Bulloo River

Trees along Bulloo River

 Apparently there is no unemployment in the town. If you need a job then you can get one. The new tourist information centre is in the library which is a very modern building with big shady verandahs and a great coffee shop.
While we were in town there were a lot of kids form schools in the area camping in the school grounds and taking part in sports camps. They had representatives here form all of the major sports talking to the kids. The kids were also in the library learning some songs to present in a concert tomorrow night. So great to see and hear.

Thursday 19th September
We left Thargomindah and headed to Noccundra, finding a camp spot beside the river. It was hot, there were little bush flies everywhere and my first impression wasn't a good one.

Our camp at the Wilson River at Noccundra

Sunrise over Wilson River

Wilson River

 Eddie and Carol were there and they asked us if we wanted to go over to the pub for tea that night, so we said yes. Ray and Eddie went over to the pub for a couple of beers and to find out what time dinner was on.
Well did they have a story to tell when they came back. The pub is the only place in town as well as an airstrip and a community hall.
They met some people in the pub from Ballina and Coffs Harbour. They were on a 3 day trip in a very small plane around inland Australia, Cunnamulla, Thargomindah, Innamincka, Flinders Ranges etc. They come into Noccundra for afternoon tea on the first day and as they landed the plane blew a tyre. The pilot Peter had to get a replacement tyre flown in from Longreach so the passengers had to stay the night at Noccundra. Only 4 passengers. He couldn't leave the plane on the airstrip as it was a bit isolated so he drove it down the road and parked in the pub parking area!!!

The plane flying 4 people around inland Australia on a 3 day trip

So when we went over for dinner there were a few people in the bar. The 4 passengers and pilot, us 4, 2 other travellers, 2 passing through workers, 2 truckies and the publican and her husband. Oh and a pigeon fellow and his wife who were letting 300 pigeons off at 7am the next day for them to fly back to Bundaberg. So there were a motley crew if ever I had seen one. So quite a crowd of people squashed into the little bar.

Some of the crowd in the bar of the Noccundra Hotel

 But we had a good evening, with plenty of chat and laughs. The meal wasn't special but we ate it.
The next morning we could hear the plane take off, we saw the pigeons fly away, the trucks and workers left and the overnight campers left. The publican probably breathed a sigh of relief that everyone had gone.

Noccundra Hotel

Plaque in the grounds of the hotel

Notice above all of the doors at the hotel

After leaving Noccundra we decided to go to Tibooburra rather than go to the camp area in the National Park. We drove along very long straight stretches of gravel road.

Pulled up along the road from Noccundra to Tibooburra

The road stretches on ahead

We had to go through the Warri Gate which is the gate in the wild dog fence where you cross from Queensland into NSW.

Approaching NSW

Maura opening the Warri Gate

Ray driving through Warri Gate

The wild dog fence is supposed to stop dingoes getting to the sheep in NSW. It was originally called the rabbit proof fence but that didn't work so now it is the wild dog fence. I don't know how good it is but we did see the guys patrolling the fence to repair holes. We stopped here for lunch and Ray seen a little gecko and it posed while he took its picture.

Little gecko in the rocks

We have decided to stay in Tibooburra for three nights and drive without the van out to Cameron Corner today. It is only 137km so it makes a good day trip.
Tibooburra is about 1157 km north west of Sydney. Gold was discovered around here in 1880 and it was very busy for a few years. Now it is fairly quiet. 2 pubs, 2 servo's/general store, a couple of motels and a caravan park.
Clifton Pugh, the Australian artist was fascinated by the remote outback region and he painted a number of murals, drawings and sketches on one of the internal walls of the Family Hotel. We are going there for lunch on Sunday so I will tell you more about that later.
There are heaps of granite outcrops all over the town and Tibooburra in Aboriginal means "Heap of Boulders" The Tibooburra Outback School of the Air is the villages education provider providing education to the Tibooburra kids as well as the kids on remote properties. For high school the kids have to go to boarding school or are educated at home.

Saturday 21st September
We got away about 9am, went to the ranger station to pay our national park entry and headed out to Cameron Corner. The road is unsealed and in quite good condition. we saw 2 new road graders parked on the side of the road which are obviously used regularly. The scenery was lovely, beautiful bright red dunes, heaps of salt bush and the clear blue sky making a great contrast.

Red dunes in the background

The road to Cameron Corner

As the road is dusty we are throwing up clouds of dust behind us. it is very easy to see another vehicle coming the other way.

Our dust cloud through the rear view mirror

We arrived at Cameron Corner just before lunch. Ray had a couple of beers, we had lunch, had a chat to one of the workers and had a look around. There is not much to see. There is a survey marker to show the border of South Australia, NSW and Queensland. John Cameron, the NSW Lands Surveyor, led the first survey party along the NSW/Queensland border between 1879 and 1881. On arriving at the corner in September 1880 Cameron erected a wooden boundary post with LAT29 and Cameron on it. The replica is still there. The wild dog fence is here also, stretching 5,500km from the Great Australian Bight to South East Queensland.

Cameron Corner store

Survey marker

Ray outside Cameron Corner store. There isn't a river for miles around and everyone asks where we are going fishing

While at Cameron Corner Ray bumped into a fellow he used to go to primary school with. Him and his wife are in a cabin at the caravan park in Tibooburra also. What a very small world.

After leaving Cameron Corner to head back to Tibooburra we detoured into Middle Road. Here there is a forest of Coolibah trees which were drowned in the 1974 floods. Consequently they all died and now look like a forest of ghost trees.

Ghost forest on Middle Road

Driving on Middle Road

 We then drove on to have a look at Lake Pinaroo. The lake only fills when the nearby swamp overflows in a big wet and it takes about 7 years to dry up again. It is very big and quite spectacular.

Ghost tree in Lake Pinaroo

Emu tracks on the edge of Lake Pinaroo

Lake Pinaroo

 

High water level mark on tree. Just level with the grass in the background

We then drove home over a huge clay pan, which in the wet would be filled with water and impossible to drive through.

Clay Pan spread out in front of us

Then back to the van for happy hour.

Sunday 22nd September
Domestic day today. Did a load of washing. Updated the blog and went to the family Hotel for lunch.
This is the hotel which has the Clifton Pugh murals on the wall. Supposedly done in 1969 and according to the bar man he persuaded the local girls to act as models. The murals are very good and you can take photos for a $2 donation to the Flying Doctor Service.
We had a lovely lunch. Steak burgers and a few drinks. Really relaxing on the verandah of the pub.

Pseudo cowboy crossing the road. I think he was trying too hard.

Clifton Pugh mural

Clifton Pugh mural above the bar. Remembering this was done in 1969. A bit of a devil.

View from the verandah of the Family Hotel

Maura having a wine or 2 or 3 or 4 at Family Hotel, Tibooburra. So relaxing



Ray enjoying a beer

 

The granite rocks above the caravan park

Looking down on the van from the granite rocks

See you next blog.

Nindigully to Cunnamulla

Sunday 8th September
Looks like it is going to be another great day in Goondiwindi. We got away about 9am and headed to Nindigully. We knew it was going to be quite busy as there was a camp draft on there over the weekend.
On the way we stopped to go to the loo and I got dive bombed by a magpie. This hasn't happened to me for years.
When we got to Nindigully it was packed. It is a bush pub with camping opposite along the river and a big showground beside it. Firstly there was no camp spaces left along the river, then there was red dust everywhere and huge horse floats as big as semi trailers and caravans everywhere. Then there were hundreds of horses, cowboys, cowgirls and cowkids. So we found a spot up the back and started to set up. When Ray opened the caravan door he was met by a puddle of a yellow substance. Now this was a puzzle as we had emptied the on board toilet before we left Goondiwindi. We finally worked out what it was!!! A bottle of undiluted orange cordial had split and it was this which had run down the back of the cupboard and out onto the floor. We quickly got some water, emptied everything out of 2 cupboards, washed it all and then washed the floor. What could we do as the floor dried? That's right. The pub is next door. Lets go to the pub for lunch. So that is what we did, we had lunch and a few drinks while we waited for the floor to dry.
What a great pub. The oldest licensed hotel in Queensland. It used to be a Cobb and Co stop. Lots of memorabilia around the walls and they have free showers and toilets for the campers, which is also free.

One wall of the Nindigully Pub

Quilt bought to raise money for the McGrath Foundation hanging in dining room of the pub

Wall of hats at Nindigully Pub

View from the verandah of the pub

We decided to stay one night. We wandered over to have a look at the camp drafting and talked to the cowboys camped next door who ended up coming equal second overall.

The next morning we headed to St George and stayed at the caravan park in town for 3 nights. St George is known as the "Inland Queensland Fishing Capital' and it lies on the Balonne River.

Windmill at caravan park

We  went for a drive out of town to the Kapunda Fishing Camp and got a pleasant surprise. it is a lovely bush camp on the banks of the river and we decided to go there for a couple of days after we left the town park. We also went for a drive out to Beardmore Dam which is the main water supply for St George

Beardmore Dam above the wall

Beardmore Dam below the wall

Thursday 12th September
We left St George early and were out at Kapunda by 9.30am and set up by 10am. A great spot right on the banks of the Balonne River.

Balonne River at Kapunda

Our camp at Kapunda Fishing Park

 We could get some shade and there was a slight breeze blowing across the river. Ray made a cook fire and we cooked tea in the pan on the open fire. Everything tastes so much better that way.

Ray and his cook fire

 We had a few showers that night, nothing heavy. We went back into town for a Chinese lunch and when we came back to camp we just relaxed by the river. A bit of a thunderstorm came through in the afternoon and there were a few slight showers during the night.

Pelican on the river

Sunrise over the Balonne River

Looking out on the Balonne River from the van

Saturday 14th September
We got away from Kapunda about 8am and headed to Cunnamulla. We stopped at Ballon for an ice cream and the wattle birds were going crazy in the trees beside us.

On the road there were hundreds of dead kangaroos which had been hit by vehicles. Consequently heaps of birds feeding on the road kill.
We had to slow down at one point to let a flock of emus cross the road.

Emus crossing the road

We saw herds of goats, drovers with cattle grazing in the Long Paddock and flocks of sheep.
We got to Cunnamulla about midday and selected a good spot beside a reserve with a huge sandhill in it.
Cunnamulla is very quiet. Everything shuts down at midday Saturday and doesn't open again until Monday, except the hairdressers which don't open until Tuesday. I need a haircut badly so we are staying until Tuesday. Ray offered to cut it but I don't want a haircut like his.
Sunday has been a very hot day, about 33 degrees and hardly any wind so we put the air con on in the afternoon and just read and talked.
We have an on board toilet which we use when we are free camping. When we got to Cunnamulla it needed to be emptied and there is a public dump point in town. There were some funny symbols on the signs

Winnie the pooh directing us to the Poo Pit

The Poo Pit Ha Ha

It is now Monday and it has rained on and off all night and the temperature has dropped to 20 degrees. Certainly a lot cooler and more comfortable.
We went into town to take some photos. There was a beautiful tree called a bauhinia. We seen them in St George also. Lovely scent.

Bauhinia Tree

In the 1950's and 60's Cunnamulla was booming. Young guys just out of school would be working 7 days a week, mustering chasing scrubbers and breaking in horses. At the end of a hard day they would sit around the campfire on their saddles or swags and yarn together. Around this time Stan Coster wrote a song The Cunnamulla Fella, later sung by Slim Dusty and more recently by Lee Kernaghan. As a tribute to these fellows and also to Slim Dusty the council ran a competition for people to sketch their vision of the Cunnamulla Fella. A sketch was accepted from Mike Nicholas and was sculpted by Archie St Clair and unveiled in Cunnamulla in late 2003.


The Cunnamulla Fella
"Well I'm a scrubber runner and breaker too,
I live on damper and wallaby stew,
I've got a big cattle dog with a staghounds cross,
I never saw the scrubber he couldn't toss'
Cause I'm the fella from Cunnamulla
Yes I'm the Cunnamulla Fella"
 

Next stop will be Thargomindah tomorrow, about 170km to the west.

Goondiwindi, Queensland

We left Tenterfield on Thursday and it was 2 degrees overnight. A bit of fog and a very light frost on the ground.
We arrived in Goondiwindi and it was 30 degrees, blazing sun and no wind.

We had an interesting trip. We stopped at Texas for an early lunch and had a walk down the main street. We will probably go back there in the future and stay for a few days. Lots of history and a very nice place. Real friendly locals, though no 10 gallon hats or big loud booming voices. No wait that is Texas in the US.

Wildflowers deep in the heart of Texas

Just about 20km after leaving Texas we came across a Winnebago stranded right in the middle of the road. My Good Samaritan Ray pulled over and stopped to see if he could help. Apparently the Winnie just stopped, no steering no nothing. Luckily there was quite good vision and other vehicles could see him and he had his hazards on. This problem had happened to him before and it cost $5000 to fix but apparently it is not right yet. They pulled into Texas but the mechanic there couldn't look at until the week after next so they decided to try for Goondiwindi but didn't make it. He had a little car on the back so his wife was driving that in to Goondiwindi to see if she could get a heavy tow truck to come back and get him. He said he was OK so we left him. If he had steering Ray would have come into town, unhitched us and gone back to tow him into town.

Next thing we come across a hand written sign on the road, HUMP. We were unsure if it was an instruction or a warning. About 500metres further on we realised it was a warning and we hit the hump. We were OK as we weren't travelling very fast.

Also along the side of the road, heaps of cotton which had spilled from vehicles. The birds would have no trouble up here looking for nest building material.

We arrived in Goondiwindi about 2pm and set up and relaxed in the nearest shade with a beer.

 It is very warm. Goondiwindi is built on the northern side of the Macintyre River. The Queensland/NSW border runs down the middle of the river.It is a lovely town with very wide streets and lots of trees.

The dam beside the caravan park

Sunset over the dam

Gunsynd, the Goondiwindi Grey, well known as the only horse to win at every track along the eastern seaboard was from Goondiwindi. A statue stands in the Apex park as a tribute to his amazing feats.

The tribute statue to Gunsynd

The old bridge over the Macintyre River which linked NSW and Queensland.

There is a beautiful Natural Heritage Water Park purpose built for all water sports including skiing and triathlons.

Old River Red Gum on the bank of the Natural Heritage Water Park

We met a lovely couple in the van next door John and Julie Birch and their dog Daffy. John is retired and only works part time and Julie is a nurse at Bilaluna Community in the Tanami desert. He is originally from Wyndham in WA and his mother is a full blood aboriginal and his father was a direct descendant of the Afghan traders from the Kimberley. He was an aboriginal liaison policeman in WA for 30 years and was involved in the Halls Creek riots in 1996. He has worked all over WA, the Kimberley, Kununurra, Halls Creek, Broome. They are a lovely couple and we will catch up again in Wyndham next year as he will be back there.
Then I saw another fellow in the park and I thought I recognised him so I asked him where he was from. It turned out he had worked at Boral Asphalt at Dubbo until 2 years ago when it closed. Steve Bruce was his name and he comes from Narromine and was on his way with his wife to 1770. A very small world.

The windmill in the caravan park

We are relaxing for a few days before heading out tomorrow to Nindigully to free camp along the river for a few days. If you want to know more about Nindigully, this is the link to the web site www.nindigully.com

Brunswick Heads then on to Tenterfield

Our remaining time at Brunswick Heads has been great. We had lovely weather every day. We had a couple of showers on the morning we were packing up to leave but still managed to get packed up dry.
Sue and Terry stayed until Sunday 25th August and the boys went fishing every day. They didn't do too good though but everyone else was in the same boat. There just weren't many legal size fish to be caught. They did catch another crab though even though it had thrown its nippers.

Terry and Ray fishing

Terry and Ray had crab for afternoon tea

There was a beautiful full moon on 21st August which looked great over the river

Full moon rising

Each afternoon we enjoyed afternoon refreshments sitting on the "poop deck", which is really the cement slab on top of the storm water pit

Ray, Maura, Sue and Terry

Terry, Ray, Maura and Sue on the poop deck

We enjoyed a flathead and bream lunch on the day before Sue and Terry left. It was a combination of all of the fish caught so at least we got one meal out of it.

Meagan(my niece) came down from Brisbane for lunch on the Tuesday. She brought some lovely salads and sour dough bread. Ray went and got some prawns and we had a veritable feast for lunch. Lee was there too so I got some photos of all of us together.

Maura, Ray, Lee and Meagan

Lee and Meagan

 

Visiting turtle

While she was there the turtle came for a visit so Meagan was able to get some good photos.

We have had a few great lunches out. A couple of meals at Billinudgel pub, lunch at Ocean Shores Country Club and lunch at Brunswick Hotel.

The view coming out the front door of Ocean Shores Country Club

We left Brunswick Heads for Tenterfield on Tuesday 3rd September, stopping at Drake Hotel for lunch on Lee's recommendation. Lovely meal and a great old pub with lots of historic paraphernalia on the walls from the days when Drake had a gold mine.

Arrived in Tenterfield about 2pm and it is quite a bit cooler on this side of the Great Dividing Range. It is supposed to get down to 2 degrees overnight. Thank God for the diesel heater.

Today we went for a drive up to Mount Mackenzie where you can see over the town of Tenterfield and also over the northern ranges.

Overlooking Tenterfield from Mount Mackenzie Lookout

Maura at Lookout

Ray at Lookout

 

Tenterfield is in the New England region of NSW at the intersection of the New England and Bruxner Highways. The town was gazetted in 1851 and gold was discovered nearby in Drake in 1858. The main industries are beef cattle breeding and superfine wool production.

Entertainer Peter Allen was born and raised in Tenterfield where he lived with his grandfather George Woolnough who was a saddler and owned the Tenterfield Saddlery, the subject of Allen's song "Tenterfield Saddler". Next we move on to Goondiwindi so see you next blog.