Trees & Trails

8/7/2018 Sunday R & R woke with cold noses and a damp ceiling at 6:30am.  It was 3*C with a promise of 17*C.  They had breakfast and RA finished diary from the day before while RL read.  It gave the canvas time to dry.  They took turns at having a shower with the intention of exiting the caravan park just before 10:00am and heading to the Big Rig information centre to have a look around and take some photos of the rigger, rig and Lenroy Slab Hut built in 1893.  They enquired about the nearby Carnarvon National Park and Mt Moffatt but neither was suitable.  Carnarvon was a good two-hour drive and fully booked out because of the holidays and Mt Moffatt, a three-hour drive on unsealed road was impassable after heavy rain.  Before RL drove downtown, they had coffee and then armed with a Roma’s Visitors Guide listing all the points of interest, they set about seeing as many as possible in the day. Roma’s largest bottle tree was the closest.  With a girth of 9.5m, height of 6m and a crown of 20m and being over 100 years old it was pretty impressive.  Fortunately, R & R were able to pop into St Paul’s Anglican Church to view its windows before it was locked after Sunday Service. Dating back to 1876, its 50 stunning stained-glass windows and a 567 working pipe organ were beautiful.  The Maranoa Cultural Centre foyer was open so R & R were able to view its stunning 3D Mural containing 17 elements about the local history of the area.  They sat on a new park bench that had been made from 1500 recycled 2lt milk cartons and were impressed by its quality, while they watched the light and sound presentation describing the elements in the mural.  It was a fantastic display.  There was also an amazing collection of polished rocks in a glass cabinet in the foyer.  Just a couple of kilometres out a local business had a large windmill advertising its store.  The mill was built in 1950 and impressed R & R with its 9m diameter wheel and 15m height.  The Railway Dam could have been easily overlooked as it was not visible from any of the major roads, but it was well worth R & R’s trouble to go there as it was big and clean with quite a few varieties of birds and descriptions of most of the local trees and grasses along its 2km pathway.  It was lovely walking in the middle of the day despite the icy cold wind.  It was after 1:00pm so R & R had lunch and chatted with G, RL’s brother, before driving to look at the site where oil and gas were found in 1900 making Roma the cradle of the gas and oil industry in Australia.  RL drove past the Bell, which has had a checked history being moved from place to place, on his way out of Roma south to Croyden Rest Area 31km on the Carnarvon Hwy towards Surat.  The turn south was directly between a cluster of SMQs and the Roma Saleyards, which just happens to be the largest sale yards in Australia.  The road out to the rest area was undulating red soil with cropping or grazing of cattle and sheep where farmers used artesian water as required. When R & R arrived at the rest area they opened up the flies to dry out which meant sitting and waiting.  They had coffee and RL rang his brother, J, while RA picked through the rocks, eventually settling on one she would call her Roma Rock.  When the flies were adequately dry, R & R rolled them up before winding the camper up and settling in for the night.  RL read and RA wrote her diary early about 5:30 before preparing dinner.  It was interesting how R & R could fill up a whole day … having barely driven 40kms and without spending a cent.

9/7/2018 Monday RL commented that he had had his best night’s sleep in ages but some how he felt tired.  R & R got out of bed about 7:00am to a cool 3*C and had breakfast.  They read for about half an hour as they were in no hurry.  An icy wind blew from the south east.  Shortly after 9:00am, RL was heading back to Roma where they refuelled at United with the best price they had seen in a while, 142.9c/l.  RA asked her husband to stop at Mandandanji Park where there was a great display of indigenous artefacts encased is a huge glass installation and a large painting on a board.  R & R had a look in two op shops and popped into the Cultural Centre where they were invited to join in the NAIDOC celebrations and have a cup of tea thanks to the Maranoa Shire.  Fortified, at nearly 11:00am, they set out for Mitchell 87kms to the east on the Warego Highway.  To the north of the road, the Navigator warned that a permit may be required to enter into or travel through aboriginal lands and communities.  The country side was undulating with cattle, sheep and cropping as the major farming activity.  In some places there were already green crops growing and in others ploughing or spraying. The rail ran to the north of the road and, in the distance beyond, R & R saw the height of Mt Moffatt and the Carnarvon National Park on the horizon.  Kites hovered and circled, gliding above as they drove.  The wind was still icy cold when R & R stopped at Muckadilla about 11:30am.  Muckadilla on Muckadilla Creek had silos, a hall, a hotel, a rail crane (like the one in Mt Barker) and many monuments (Leichhardt, Mitchell, WWII) along with 3-4 houses.  But more importantly it had a great sense of pride about its past, present and future, urging anyone who stopped there to tell others about having been to Muckadilla.  It also had free camping. Shortly out of Muckadilla the road crossed the railway so that it was on the south of the road with Mt Muttaby at 476m beyond it at a distance.  The country side was undulating and there was a wide verge which was more or less treed in some sections and just grasses in others.  R & R arrived at Amby just after noon and thoroughly enjoyed the Amby Archway which told in ceramic picture tiles and text the story of the district.  There was also a new installation of several scar trees which were dead and had been placed near a sign which described the uses that aboriginals had for the bark they removed.  The breeze had dropped somewhat and it was pleasant to stop for a coffee break.  About 12:30pm R & R drove off for the last 20kms to Mitchell where immediately out of Amby they saw the Boral Quarry which had been referred to in the archway.  The rail crossed back to the north of the road and the verge became more densely wooded with cypress the closer they got to Mitchell.  The sign claimed Mitchell as the Gateway to the Outback.  RA set the navigator for Neil Turner Weir on the Maranoa River a couple of kilometres out of town.  Just before 1:00pm they dropped the camper and were sitting in the Ute eating lunch when RL opened the phone to see if they had missed anything.  A woman from Translink had rung to clarify something about he the gocard refund request.  A couple of calls later it was all sorted and the refund credited RL’s account.  About 2:00pm R & R went downtown, parked the Ute, picked up a town map with poi (points of interest) and went off on foot to see what there was to see.  They popped into the library and looked at the quilting exhibition.  Well over an hour later, RL drove 7kms south on the road toward St George to Arrest Creek, the sight of the arrest of two bushrangers, the Kenniff brothers.  Patrick and Jim Kenniff had murdered a constable, Doyle, and a station manager, Dahlke, on Easter Sunday in 1902 and were finally arrested at the creek.  That event was regarded as the final battle between bushrangers and the law after a period of about 100 years. On returning after 4:00pm, R & R set up the camper, had a cup and snack and headed off for a walk along the weir as the sun glistened on the water and made the seed heads on the water grasses golden.  At one point they chatted with a couple who told them that the queue for fuel at Birdsville was 4.5kms long and a crowd of 9,000!  It was still pleasantly warm in the open by the water but the cool air was moving in especially when in the shadow of the trees.  R & R looked at maps together.  For a while RA did her diary and RL read.  RL put his photos on the laptop while RA prepared dinner.  They rang S to see how her day had gone while they ate.  After dinner RL read and RA finished the diary for the day.  It has been a relatively quiet day … R & R were grateful for that … grateful they were not queued at Birdsville.

10/7/2018 Tuesday R & R woke at 7:00am to a very cool 3*C with ice on the Ute and a mist hovering over the water on Neil Turner Weir as the sun was rising.  It would be an hour later after they had eaten breakfast and washed up before the sun would be high enough over the trees to shine on the canvas of the camper.  Not that it mattered because they did not intend going far.  RL read through a draft post with RA before they went downtown Mitchell about 9:00am.  Believe it or not there were four other campers lining up at the op shop just like R & R.  Not long after R & R were at the Booringa Heritage Museum.  In 2008 the Shire of Booringa (with Mitchell its centre) was amalgamated into the Maranoa Council (with Roma as its centre) and the old works depot then was adopted by enthusiasts for a museum.  It was a most comprehensive collection about the town and its businesses, clubs and activities.  One particular exhibit that touched RA was of a milk delivery cart. As a young man, Arthur Fuller would deliver water to the towns folk as there was no town water supply.  Later he and his mother would milk goats and cows and supply, free of charge in some cases, milk to the towns people.  He was content in the thought that the children would have some sustenance in a day.  The museum had a display about the Kenniff brother bushrangers.  Jim served 18 years but Patrick was hanged in Boggo Road Jail in 1903.  The testimony of Samuel Jackson a black tracker was vital evidence, particularly as the defence lawyer tried to discredit him for his lack of understanding of the English language.  Jackson clearly stated “It was about 8 o’clock.”  There does remain a belief that Patrick was not the one who actually fired the shots that killed Doyle and Dahlke.  Fun facts! Termites do not eat cypress pine so it is good for a building material. The highest flooding ever recorded on the Maranoa was also the most recent in the year of 2012.  R & R walked down to the Musical Cattle Grid which was a set of yards in a maze design with designs on the gates and in the middle an arched grid which was tuned like a xylophone that made different notes when struck.  It certainly was a novelty.  RA scoffed at the sign on the river bank that noted to keep a watchful eye out for the short-nosed echidna, the bearded dragon and a tortoise.  RL wanted to drive out to Mitchells Camp about 30kms north toward Mt Moffatt so about 11:00am they set off.  RL set the trip meter and they stopped at the Wild Dog Fence setting of the whistle on the grid several times as they walked round to take photos.  A little further RA exclaimed, “R. R. R. Echidna!”  Fortunately, though it was a strip road, there was no traffic on it so RL was able to stop immediately and back up.  By the time R & R caught up with it, the echidna had its head firmly stuffed into a bundle of grass, but they had seen its snout, feet with string sharp claws and its funny waddling gait as it hurried away.  They took photos of what looks like a dark bundle of grass near a light one and wondered if its spikes were poisonous. (The answer is ”No.”) The last couple of kilometres to Mitchell’s Camp were on a track so RL used 4WD and drove through a fence so RA opened and closed the gate.  About 11:30am they arrived at the site; a lovely clearing featuring box poplar and cypress pine on yellow soil where the embankment down to the dry river bed was deep and steep.  R & R were amazed by the feats of Mitchell and his second in command, Kennedy, and how they survived on their exploration.  On the return journey they spoke with S, their daughter as she had looked up her results online and passed as had S, her boyfriend.  Now they would both have to look for work.  R & R saw a magnificent eagle and a couple of the red necked wallabies that are found in the area.  By 1:00pm, R & R were back at Mitchell and the camper and had lunch.  They took a cat nap under the lovely warm canvas.  About 2:45pm R & R set out for a walk along the river into town and to look at the Yumba Trail.  Along the river bank there were sections where the river bank was extremely deep and impressive.  Yumba was the name given to the area where the aboriginal people lived on the far side of the river as a separate community during the 1950-60s.  R & R popped into the library again, this time to look at the projection room and some memorabilia from the days when the present library was the Maranoa Theatre, first for silent movies and then for the talkies.  R & R knew it would be a long walk and had plenty of time but they did not realise that they would be gone more than two and a half hours and that their legs and feet would be so tired. They calculated that it must have been about 12kms all up.  After coffee, RL read and RA posted.  Together they cooked dinner before ringing C, RA’s brother, and then ringing S.  RL took up a new book while RA did the diary for the day.  They were tired … and it promised to be another cold night and frosty morning.

11/7/2018 Wednesday R & R woke again to an icy cold 3*C at 7:00am with frost on the Ute window and canvas so there was no hurry.  They looked at the maps and brochures for a plan for the day.  RA chatted with a couple about the difference between magpies and the pied butcher birds that were common at the Weir.  She found out that the pied butcher bird is smaller and more thickly set with short legs and a flatter hooked beak; its warble is considered to be prettier than the magpie.  It was just after 9:00am, and heading for 13*C, before R & R started to tidy up and pack down and within the hour they were heading west on Warrego Highway with the intention of sleeping at Sommariva Rest Area 39kms before Charleville.  The railway ran to the south of the road which started out flat and just became more undulating.  The road verge was wide with more or less trees in sections in the verge and behind fencing for sheep, cattle and cropping.  There were many sections which indicated that the road was subject to flooding.  About 10:30am, RL pulled off the highway, 35kms from Mitchell, into Ooline Park.  It was quite a rocky outcrop which featured the Ooline Tree.  The Ooline tree is a remnant from Pleistocene Era of a prehistoric Gondwanan rainforest and is threatened as a species.  It is distinguishable by its bark which look like tiles or shingles and it is often home to the black orchid which attaches itself high up in the trunk. RL really enjoyed watching the flock of little zebra finches splashing in the hollow rock under the tap that he had put water in.  They were delightful.  RA liked the sandstone type of rock which broke in curved shapes almost as if there had been some fossils in the space where they cracked. The short trail was well marked and signposted.  R & R ate their banana and had coffee before pulling back out on to the highway again.  The landscape became more hilly and wooded in the nature strip and behind it.  Ten kilometres later at Mungallala R & R stopped to take photos of the Mungallala man who is made from recycled bits of metal.  They were amused to find his bottom made from a curved shovel giving it a lovely grooved shape in the middle.  Mungallala was a small town supporting the sheep and cattle farming as well as cypress milling communities.  Morven was their next stop 45kms later. On this part of the journey they entered the Murweh Shire and the vegetation was again more dense.  They decided that to venture 11kms south to Tregole National Park and its picnic area would be perfect timing for lunch.  On the way they saw a farmer grading his fire break near new fencing with black faced sheep and lambs.  About 12:30pm they stopped at the picnic area.  It too featured the Ooline tree and many others with their name tags.  It was great for R & R to try and remember which was which.  They walked the 2.1km circuit trail which took them about 50 minutes.  Granted they kept stopping and reading the markers and taking photos but, still, they thought it must have been longer than 2.1km.  They were well and truly ready for lunch just before 2:00pm.  They both noticed that the only moving things in the park were quite a few butterflies, white with black markings but not the common cabbage moth.  R & R returned to Morven which had a huge truck stop shop and a main street which features all manner of all farming equipment and a steam train.  Morven also had a Museum that was $2 Adult and $1 Concession but too late for R & R as it was only open in the mornings.  Beyond Morven it was about 50kms to the rest area.  R & R noticed that the countryside was quite hilly with red dirt and well wooded even behind the new fencing which had a square pattern and was quite tall. At one point they saw a herd of cattle on the road. The road itself was much better and because there was little traffic RL was able to drive slower and take more in.  About 5kms before the rest area the was a sign Halton “Welcome to the Mulga Lands” which made them curious so they looked it up briefly.  R & R stopped at the Sommariva Rest Area about 3:30pm and set up immediately.  RA worked on her ipad and laptop and RL looked at the maps.  They chatted with their daughter, H, for quite a while before preparing dinner.  It was about 6:30pm as train headed west at a distance of about 100m.  RA was glad as they had not seen a train running on the line for a couple of days and wondered it was still in use out that way.  RA was uncertain about going back to read the Halton sign … having always felt uneasy about going back for anything.

12/7/2018 Thursday R & R woke to a warmer 4*C at 7:00am.  It was curious how a couple of degrees can make such a difference.  They had breakfast and packed down and by 9:00am they were heading back to the Halton sign about the preservation of Mulga lands. It explains how, originally the burning method used by aboriginal people, encouraged a healthy growth pattern in mulga trees as well as its understorey grasses.  Rather than the burning practice, local property owners have been “pushing”, sections of their property for more than ten years, which has a similar result.  Along the 40kms drive towards Charleville along the Warrego Highway, R & R were able to see evidence of tired mulga country and efforts to renew and make the mulga environment more sustainable.  About 10kms out of Charleville RL pulled off the road about 50m.  There was a big Rock Hole, currently dry, where free camping, (no toilet) was allowed for 2 nights.  There were the ruins of the old Glenroy Scouring Siding, an abattoir and a power substation on the out skirts before a Charleville welcome sign - Home of Stars and Secrets, and a second - Cosmos Bilby Country.  Shortly after 10:00am R & R were at the information centre asking for a street map and for information about local attractions.  They walked downtown and bought coffee from a supermarket and a couple of items at the three op shops.  They returned to the Ute for a coffee before heading for the Warrego River Walk about noon.  Graham Andrews Park looked like a good spot to have a late lunch.  About half the park was under a works program by the Murweh Shire so it was not really ideal to get the most from its tree walk but it was delightful sitting in the other half with green grass and all manner of ducks and geese as well as a few hens in and around the ponds.  R & R were fascinated by the Vortex Cannons that were brought to Charleville in 1902 to make it rain thus breaking the drought.  Believe it or not!  Clement Wragge brought them to Charleville with the plan to fire rain producing gas into the clouds.  Not so farfetched. Wragge was a brilliant meteorologist, instigating the setup of weather observation stations around Australia, was the first to use data to predict or forecast and was the first person to name cyclones.  At first, he named cyclones after current day politicians claiming that they were natural disasters!   RL was also fascinated by a game in the park that was a combination of frisbee and golf where points were scored for landing the frisbee in a mesh basket that looked something like a bin.  Just before 2:00pm R & R went to look at the Royal Flying Doctor museum at the airport.  It was a most interesting, with some interactive, display.  R & R took turns listening to the telephone conversations between the caller and the doctor, the questions asked and the instructions given by the doctor.  Most remote stations have a medical kit in which every item is numbered to assist anyone who has to help a patient before help arrives.  About 2:40pm, R & R set off for Augathella 84kms, first on the Mitchell Highway and much later on the Landsborough Highway. Almost immediately RL commented,” Nice road.”  The road ran close to the Warrego River, so closely at times that it was not even fenced until the far side of it.  The verge was wide with a mixture of trees and grass, some with a light green tinge and the soil varied from lighter in the lower areas to red in the higher sections of the flat to undulating country side.  Just inside the corner created by the intersection of the Mitchell and Landsborough highways there was a green crop that must have been watered by an artesian bore.  Just before that and also along the Warrego River at the campsite in Augathella township, R & R saw a particular type of river gum that had a distinctive line between dark rough bark on the bottom of the trunk and the smoother cream trunk above.  R & R parked the Ute and camper and went straight to the information centre, in case it closed, just before 4:00pm.  They walked round a while and, RL having no camera with him, it was agreed to return to all the points of interest in the morning.  After setting up the camper and having a cup of coffee, they walked along the dry Warrego River bed before studying the maps and dealing with emails. Interestingly, the Warrego originates near Mt Moffatt in the Carnarvon NP and ends up joining the Darling just below Torale NP/Stn near Bourke.  After dinner, they chatted with S and read or wrote a while.  They were both tired from all the walking over the last couple of days … and RA was not sure she would find what she was looking for in Tambo the next day.