We have now left Charlieville, and headed down the Warrego Hwy towards Mitchell. On the way we stopped at a little town called Morven for a coffee break. The park in the middle of the town is also a bit of a historical area, with the Returned Soldiers memorial in it. The town itself would probably have a population of about 500, and when you look at the number of locals lost during the First World War, you wonder how it ever overcame such a loss. There were about 200 names of persons that went to war, and at least 50 that were killed. Such a tragedy for the small country towns Australia wide.
They had a very unique piece of history in the park. An old hut, made up totally of flattened kerosene tins. These were apparently not so rare in post war times, as after the war, with families struggling to survive during the depression, they were put up in these huts. Pretty tough times. Not so different to the aptly named 'Pick a box' motel in the town. It is made up of renovated shipping containers. Not 5 star apparently.
Then it was off again and to the Neil Turner Weir in the town of Mitchell. This free camp area is huge and is right on the weir. This was going to be our first effort at free camping, with no power or water. The only facility at the weir was a toilet block. That was ok for us, as we have our own shower and water tanks on board. We are also self sufficient with 12V power for the tv and lighting, but alas, not for heating.
Whilst at the weir Deb decided we should explore the weir, and the walking track around it. We would never walk into town from there as it is too far. I think it was a well planned ruse, as before you know it, we have passed the point of no return. It is either continue walking into town for a drink, or die of dehydration on the walk back to the van. We continued our trek and slumped into a chair at the coffee shop. After all that, the coffee wasn't that great.
Deb took a bit of a liking to a huge Bottle tree in the main street as we checked out the local area. I thought they were Boab trees, but they are in fact bottle trees. They also had an artesian baths set up at the Information centre, but, alas, we had no bathers with us. Maybe that was a blessing for them.
Suitably refreshed, we then began the arduous trek back to the park. We felt just like the early explorers, with the only other signs of life being some curious kangaroos, wondering what those silly humans were doing walking way out here. As it turned out, the park was 4klms from town, so that adds up to an 8klm gentle stroll. I was glad that I had my hat on, as it was really quite warm, at least 23C during our walk. Of course, when we got back to the camp I was a perspiring blob.
We stayed there for 2 nights, and there would have been at least 25 other vans there during our stay. We really enjoyed our time at the weir, as the travellers seemed to mix so well. Most nights there were campfires at several of the van sites and it was a great atmosphere. I have become a bit of a stargazer, as looking up at the carpet of stars in the night sky is just awesome. Totally different than in the city, where the night lights diminish it.
After leaving our camp, it was on towards the bigger town of Roma. Having phone service again it was good to see that the world didn't end whilst we were disconnected. We were on our way to stay at the local gun club in Roma. When we got there, it was a really good set up. The vans are all parked on the edge of their carpark, and all have water and power connections. The toilets and showers are spotlessly clean and the members of the gun club make you feel very welcome. Much cheaper that the caravan parks in town and a good place to rest up for a few days.
Since being in Roma we have checked out the shopping centre. It is fairly large for a country town, and was founded on both cattle and sheep initially, before discoveries of gas and oil in the early 1900's. The town itself has a great avenue of honour, for the fallen soldiers, with about 140 bottle trees planted in their honour. All have a plaque attached to honour the fallen.
We also went out and checked out the Roma Stockyards this morning. This is one of the biggest cattle saleyards in Australia. Just Tuesday gone they set an Australian record for selling over 12,000 cattle in one day. The sales are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but this mornings wasn't anywhere near as large. It was really interesting watching the process, as the auctioneer, with his assistants, walks along the raised platform over the pens, as the bidders are down below. Some of the pens only had 2 or 3 cattle in them, whereas other had up to about 15. Each pen is then bid on separately. Trying to understand the lingo of the auctioneer was impossible.
I spoke to a man out there who turned out to be an auctioneer. He explained that at the time of bidding, they do not know the exact weight of the cattle they are bidding on. This seems a bit dumb to me, as they are bidding on the per kg cost of the beast. He said that the cattle buyers, through years of experience, can tell you within 5 kg what a beast weighs.
After selling each lot, they are branded with a chemical brand, and moved through what seems like dozens of gates, to the weighing scales. It is a very complicated process, as each group must be kept together at all times. There were a couple of staff on horses, including a very competent young girl, that seemed to do a lot of the work in moving the cattle between pens. There were literally dozens of gates to be opened and closed individually, to keep them together. They are then put on what looks like a truck weighbridge, as a group, and the weight of that lot recorded against the buyer who bought that pen lot. An impressive operation, just a pity we missed the big day Tuesday.
After that we headed off to check out the biggest bottle tree in the area. It had a girth of over 9 metres. Pretty huge.
I then felt myself being drawn to St Pauls Anglican Church. We went inside and it was a truly beautiful sight. The leadlight windows of the church were just amazing. It is quite well known in the area, with special viewing times set up for non believers. It could almost turn me to religion. The entire church was impeccable inside. They even had a huge pipe organ, for use during the religious services on the weekend. A truly divine experience being in that church.
A quick stroll from there to the local historical clay 3D mural. This was made by a couple of local artists. Accompanying this mural was a taped history of the area, explaining what each part of the mural referred to. It was quite informative and brief, which was even better.
Later that evening the gun club put on a bbq and a few of the members had a practice session. I took a photo of one of the shooters, and by a brilliant piece of luck, got it just as he hit the clay target. Yes, I know, pretty lucky.
We are still here for another day and then moving further east to Dalby. Hearing the horror weather predictions for the next week, I think we should have gone north. I think we are in for a whole week of zero temperatures over night and only up to 15C in the day. May as well be home. Yeh, sure.
Until next time
Sorry, nearly forgot. The BIG WINDMILL. 15 metres high, 9 metres span.
Barry & Deb.
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