And it's back on the road again.....
Roadkill is really bad in this area and is starting to make both of us feel unwell - not just from the really messy ones but also from the sheer numbers and how sad we are that all of these animals have lost their lives.
The wind once again presented itself in force. Driving in the wind just makes your shoulders ache because you are constantly battling to keep the car straight and the van on the road. Most of the wind we've had has been side winds or coming at you from the front on an angle which makes the bigger gusts of wind all that more menacing in terms of their impact. Concentration needs to be complete which is tiring in itself.
The scenery changes quite a bit along this part of the trip. We've seen everything from empty paddocks, bushland to crops which makes the drive a little more interesting than miles of nothing - though sometimes nothing can have a beauty of its own. The roads are straight for miles which makes it easier for traffic to pass but once again I can understand how fatigue is an issue. We've seen a few sheep finally - though at first I thought they were just large red boulders until one of them moved. Covered in the red dust they just kind of blend into the landscape. We came across a flock that had been shorn - what a contrast they made!
There are a number of little towns along the way here - each striving for survival and doing what they can to attract some tourist dollars. Morven for example obviously working on a display of old machinery to grab your attention. With a population of about 200 and not much to look at we slowed down but didn't stop. I often wonder what the heck you do when you live in a town like this.
And then there was Mungallala with a population of 136 - an RV friendly town (like most of the towns throughout Queensland) which had a massive big freecamp but very little else in the town.
The road started to get a little hillier and a little curvier beyond this point and thankfully the wind died down making the rest of the trip a bit more enjoyable.
We passed through Mitchell which by comparison to the surroundings was quite green. A tidy, busy little township on the banks of the Maranoa river with a population of just over 1,000 which would have been worth a look if we had more days to spare.
Some of the names give you a laugh and Muckadilla was no exception. As we came into the town you could see a sign " pub for sale" and as we were talking about the prospects of owning a pub in this part of the world we saw that it had actually burnt to the ground. On looking it up later it appears it burned down last month. Hopefully it was insured!
We arrived at our destination for the day - Roma - around 2.00pm and got set up at the Roma Gun Club caravan park. It's certainly a great money earner for the gun club and was almost full tonight despite supposedly the "peak season" being at the tail end. Unfortunately the ground is at the top of a hill overlooking Roma and while that may offer views over the are it is also subjected to the brunt of the wind which had reared its head again. We decided it would be very unwise to put the awning out for there was also no way of anchoring it to the ground given the gravel sites were so compacted.
After setting up we headed out for a look around Roma starting with the bush gardens. It was less bush and more unkept reeds. The photos of the park were obviously taken when they had had plenty of rain because the grass was dry and prickly and mown up to the edges of the reeds which then towered above you. Trees were wilting and the path that curved around the pond looked uninviting.
The township has a good shopping centre and of course one shop was the focus of Shane's attention - Golders of Roma - another of our Imparja adverts that were a must visit. Shane wandered in to the store and was introduced to the two girls who we'd watched grow up on the adverts (both now quite a bit bigger than they were in the ads over the last 18 years) and came out with an autographed bag. It gave us both a good laugh.
While wandering around the shops a little - something I haven't done in a lot of towns but probably should more often if this is what you come across - we stumbled on this "craft" shop. OMG I have never seen anything like it. The pictures just don't do it justice - and if I were a quilter I think I would have been sure I'd died and gone to heaven. The first 2 aisles were floor to ceiling bolts of material. The 3rd aisle was haberdashery with pretty much everything you could think of. And then it turned into the craziest $2 shop you've ever seen. By this time I'm wandering through hoping to find some velcro to replace one of the pieces that came off the awning somewhere a few days ago to stop the awning coming open while you are driving. I asked the girl at the counter if they had velcro and she immediately went to an aisle, fossicked in behind a stand of cross-stitches in a box on the floor and pulled out a roll of velcro. I can't even begin to imagine the hell that is stocktake in this store!
We visited Roma's largest Bottle Tree - there are hundreds of these trees around the town. The path to get to this tree though via the tourist signposts was almost like going through a maze but we finally found it.
A quick drive past the saleyards which are the largest livestock selling centre in Australia.
This shipping container made an interesting sign....
There are definitely more houses here that don't represent the "Queenslander" style and quite a few new homes being built.
But there are still a lot of Queenslanders.
A visit to the local Council office and Cultural Centre reveals this massive 3D mural which also has an interactive audio component depicting the history of the Roma area.
I almost missed this sign as it caught my eye and I thought I would look it up later to see what it was all about - Dachshund Day https://www.facebook.com/dachshundday/ - check that out!
It's amazing how many people are caravaning still and the number of families travelling with children outside the school holiday period. This is just half of the caravan park. There are at least this many sites on the other side of the vans at the bottom end of this photo.
310km
Total - 11,733km
Top today 22°c - expecting overnight 6°c
No comments:
Post a Comment