Heading Back East

We’d reached Birdsville, which although a destination point, was still 1,600 kilometres from Brisbane.  There was quite a journey ahead.  But first we took a whole day to relax.

There are two places of note in Birdsville, the pub and the bakery.  We ate well in both.  Sunday roast at the Birdsville Hotel does not disappoint in quality, quantity or price.  And the curried camel pies at the bakery could well be described as a culinary delight.  So much so that we had pies when we arrived, pies the next day and then took a couple with us.  We were so taken with the pies that we forgot to take a picture, so here’s one of the pub instead.

My bush repair on the hydraulic pipe was holding up.  Not a drop of oil was being leaked and I reckoned that it would see us all the way back without a problem.  For once I was right!

160 kilometres from Birdsville is the town of Betoota.  The population is zero, apart from one weekend in the year when the Betoota Races are held and the population suddenly swells to several thousand.  The pub, that has been closed for several decades, is about to reopen so, who knows, maybe Betoota will once again flourish.  It has some inspired artwork to assist.  According to Aboriginal legend, the Dreamtime Serpent is travelling through Mihika country, making pathways connecting the river systems.  It’s rendered here in different types of local gravel.

Overnight camping at Windorah, population 80, was quiet, peaceful and another step towards home.

Next morning, back on the road, we passed a herd of brumbies (wild horses), stopped briefly for coffee in Quilpie, population 574, another brief stop at Toompine, the pub without a town, population 2, scared some kangaroos, wild goats and emus and finished up for the day at Eulo, population 108.  Urban it was not, but in comparison with the Simpson, it seemed almost crowded at times.

Kim insisted on stopping for a photo opportunity.  Can’t think why!

Awake early, we saw another glorious sunrise and once again hit the road.  Cunnamulla was preparing for the annual Cunnamulla Fella festival of bull riding, whip cracking, wool bale rolling and shearing competitions, yee-hah!  We didn’t stop.

A significant rain event was forecast and we didn’t really fancy ending the trip with packing away a soaking tent, so pressed on, instead soaking up the kms through Bollon (possibly a population) to overnight at Thallon, population 292.

The local pub, the Francis Hotel, was welcoming.  The pub is also the post office, information centre, shop, restaurant and social hub.  We ate well, chatted with the locals, had a few glasses and turned in.  Up early for sunrise to see the silo art at its best, we joined a small group of fellow travellers with the same idea.

The silos are huge, some 30 metres high.  The effect is as startling as it is colourful.  The skill required to paint them is extraordinary.  Two street artists, Travis Vinson [known as Drapl] and Joel Fergie [The Zookeeper] completed the work which has attracted tourists to the tiny town and helped to reinvigorate its economy.  It took a lot of paint too – over 500 litres and 500 spray cans.

Our final day was to complete the last 600 kilometres and so we hit the road.  Goondiwindi has a pleasant coffee shop but we didn’t have the time to linger very long.  The area grows vast quantities of cotton and the roadsides were littered with the confetti of cotton tufts blown free from the trucks transporting it.  We wondered why such a loss of product was tolerated.

Kim does have a penchant for interesting diversions and typically she found a narrow, winding road through the foothills of the Great Dividing Range to Stanthorpe, a fruit growing area that claims to be the coldest place in Queensland.  Apple pie at Suttons is a real treat that we enjoyed before setting out on the final leg of our travels.

The sky blackened and just as we completed the steep descent of the Cunningham Gap, the heavens opened and we were deluged with rain.  Not content with that, the elements drummed up a violent thunderstorm followed by heavy hail.  Visibility dropped to a few metres and we stopped until it passed.

Approaching Brisbane we encountered traffic light land.  Stop - go rush hour traffic made driving more hazardous than it was in the desert.  However, we arrived home safely, luxuriated in long hot showers and drew a line under what had been a great adventure.