Outback Mates Magazine 2018

Outback Mates.

TOP TALES FROM OUTBACK QLD: TRAVEL, PEOPLE, LIFE & THE GREAT OUTDOORS

ISSUE 2 / July-Dec 2018

MATES ON THE ROAD:

Meet the Busby boys

commbank.com.au/assetfinance

HISTORY & MYSTERY

Charleville & Eromanga

ROAD TRIP

From Windorah to Birdsville

Letter from the Publisher Welcome to the second edition of Outback Mates. We hope you enjoy the stories and that you also take advantage of the many deals included in this issue. From a free beer when you order food at a great Aussie pub, to a third night’s accommodation in a riverside caravan park when you pay for two, we created the Outback Mates card to ensure that you make the most out of your trip to Outback Queensland, and that you also meet some of our great operators, who will welcome you with open arms into their beautiful part of the world.

There’s really nowhere else like Outback Queensland — it offers so much to the explorer who is ready to hit the road trip in search of adventure and importantly these days, places to truly get off the grid. Road trips, great pubs filled with characters (always with a tall tale or a few to tell) and wide-open spaces to sleep under the stars is only the tip of the sand dune (excuse the pun) when it comes to this wild and wonderful part of the world. Outback Queensland has fantastic, secluded (and often deserted) swimming holes to cool down en route, and it also has some of the world’s top dinosaur hotspots. Don’t get me started about dinosaurs! You can fossick for bones alongside archaeologists and palaeontologists, see bones from some of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered in the world, and spend time with people who have devoted their lives to life on this planet long, long ago.

And one thing that has Outback Queensland standing out from the rest of the state, is the events that the towns and cities host.

Whether it’s the Dunny Derby, where people race outback loo chariots, or the Big Red Bash, where renowned musicians play to crowds on the edge of the Simpson Desert, Outback Queensland has some of the quirkiest, wacky, wild and fun events in Australia.

So, make sure you check out our events calendar and try to fit in a few during your journey.

Outback Mates.

EDITORIAL Publisher: Michelle Hespe Editorial Assistant: Sarah Hinder Designer: Jon Wolfgang Miller Sales Executives: Sonja Halstead and Effe Sandas CONTRIBUTORS Natasha Dragun Ant Ong Fiona Harper Jo Stewart Guy Wilkinson THIS MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED ON BEHALF OF OUTBACK QUEENSLAND TOURISM ASSOCIATION

Please direct enquiries into Outback Mates loyalty cards or Outback Mates Magazine to: admin@outbackqueensland.com.au

PRINTING

SOS Print + Media 65 Burrows Road, Alexandria, NSW, 2015

From all of us on the Outback Mates team, we hope you have a fun time exploring this spectacular, vast place that the people featured in this magazine call home. And drop us a line anytime, as we love hearing about your adventures.

Michelle Hespe & the Outback Mates team J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

1

CRIKEY! W H AT A S WA G O F D E A L S Sign up now for an Outback Mates card It's $20 for life, and you'll have access to some of the best deals in Outback Queensland

Member 4 8/12/2015 8:3 4653 - Mates

Card.indd 1

outbackmates.com.au

contents O U T B AC K M AT E S M AG A Z I N E

F E AT U R E S

20 Cover Story: Busby Marou This diverse duo is incredibly passionate about improving Indigenous relations and awareness, while on their mission to create great music. Both hailing from Rockhampton, the boys look to country Australia for inspiration.

24 Outback Encounters Small endangered marsupials, fossilised kangaroos and the largest dinosaurs that roamed Gondwanaland are some of the treasures revealed on an Outback Queensland road trip.

30 Road Trip Jo Stewart takes us on a journey across wide-open roads under star-studded skies, with Birdsville in her sights.

SPECIAL F E AT U R E

42 DESTINATION HIGHLIGHT: CUNNAMULLA A town emblematic of the larrikin Aussie spirit, Guy Wilkinson takes us through the cinematic landscapes and tough chequered history of colourful Cunnamulla.

36 Destination Highlight: Mount Isa Feature We go underground, literally, and find that there is far more to Mount Isa than mining and the rodeo.

48 Six wild Experiences in Outback Queensland

REGULARS 07 Events Calendar Don’t miss out on the best and biggest events happening around Queensland’s outback towns.

12 Captain Starlight: Outlaw of the Outback Learn about larrikin legend Harry Redford. Sarah Hinder tells how the endearing outlaw became known as 'Captain Starlight'.

52 Great Outback Camping Recipes Our pick of the best Australianstyle recipes for outback camping.

From sensational stargazing to full-tilt stagecoach gallops, we explore six of Outback Queensland’s most exciting experiences.

54 Waterholes and Billabongs The best spots to cool off around Queensland’s red, rugged outback.

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

3

View the wonders of the

Outback Night Sky Up close and personal at the Charleville Cosmos Centre & Observatory. From meteor showers and eclipses to planet and moon viewings, the sky is putting on a show and the best place to see it all is at the Charleville Cosmos Centre in Outback Queensland.

Using powerful Meade telescopes, the Cosmos Centre allows visitors to see 16,000 light years into space and offers night time Observatory sessions, Astronomy by Day experiences & Sun viewing sessions. While star-gazing in the vast Outback sky comes free with any visit, getting a closer look at the night sky through telescopes will be an experience you will remember forever.

Astronomy by Day is an interactive display area with our newest additions, the Cosmos Shuttle and Stargazing Theatre.

There's something for everyone here at the Charleville Cosmos Centre & Observatory with a Planetarium also on its way.

Book by going to www.experiencecharleville.com.au or call 07 4654 7771 today.

Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/CharlevilleCosmosCentre

LEGEND

Jardine River NP

sealed unsealed

Iron Range NP

sealed unsealed

Weipa

Oyala Thumotang NP

B

Visitor Information Centre

Smithbur ne R 71

Ri v e r

rdt

ha Leich

R. 85

39

58

113 48

191 101

Astrebla NP

CP

99

Lake Machattie

Stonehenge

Windorah

109

Haddon Corner Sturt Stony Desert

Dig Tree

Desert

Lake Eyre North

Merty Merty

Lake Blanche

94

85 69

187

Quilpie

215

7

23

R iver

Yowah Cunnamulla

177

122

SOUTH

C

NEW

137

30°S 140°E

142°E

u

Bourke Rive r WALES ng rli 146°E 144°E Da

Childers

Mundubbera Gayndah

Miles 129

Tara 113

180

113

Bollon

St George

Nindigully

88

Dirranbandi 66 Hebel Mungindi R.

A2

Dalby

Moonie

97

BRISBANE

34

Gatton

Ipswich Coolangatta

28°S

Warwick Tweed Heads Murwillumbah Stanthorpe Byron Bay

203

Lismore

123

Moree

Brewarrina Walgett

Narrabri

150°E

Maroochydore Nambour Caloundra Caboolture Bongaree

Toowoomba

Goondiwindi

Lightning Ridge

148°E

Maryborough

Gympie 26°S Tewantin

Kingaroy

Chinchilla 127

195

Fraser Island

Eidsvold Biggenden

w

Surat

Hervey Bay

Gin Gin

Wandoan

210

210

47

217

Da

91

209

Monto

Theodore

NP

Barringun Tibooburra

Biloela

Mungallala Mitchell 46 42 Roma Morven Yuleba Tregole 44 45 Muckadilla 141Wallumbilla

98

13

Seventeen Seventy 24°S Agnes Waters Moura Banana Kroombit Miriam Vale Tops NP A1 Bundaberg

Injune

87

99

Lake 131 Eulo 68 Bindegolly NP 122 Currawinya 164 NP Hungerford

Morgan

Baralaba

Taroom

40 109

A2

84

Cooladdi

55

Yeppoon

Rockhampton Duaringa A4 Gladstone Mount 196

Salvator Carnarvon Rosa Kaka NP A7 Nuga Mundi Nuga Isla R. NP Gorge Mt Moffatt NP Expedition r 192 ar 106 NP

Augathella

Toompine Wyandra

82

120

119

Charleville

74

Thargomindah

110

48

Cheepie 36

20

Cameron Corner

37

74

This map is indicative only.

Please obtain detailed road maps of the areas you plan to visit before you leave.

281

71

Tambo

Adavale

152°E

f

Tieri Middlemount

54

101

247

R.

191

Marree 138°E

Clermont

A2

Idalia

85

5

Noccundra

46

28°S

12

114

20°S

22°S

Blackall

112

© mapuccino 2018 www.mapuccino.com.au

Dysart

67

Emmet

158

161 180

47

er

Sarina

Nebo

200

A7

Aramac

Yaraka NP

Eromanga

167

SOUTH Innamincka Kati AUSTRALIA Thanda -

22

52

Cr

40

Strzelecki

51

102 52

50 NP

92

e ek

168

12

63

104

Wi lson

Poeppel Corner

109

Betoota

Birdsville

A2

Jundah Welford

Co ope r

164

89 116

R.

Moranbah

Lake Dunn

Muttaburra

Glenden

125

253

MungaThirri NP

Forest Den NP

Bladensburg NP 179

110

Th

Bedourie

61

R.

ri

Mackay

Sutt er

360

Capella 52 Rubyvale Ilfracombe Barcaldine Emerald Opalton D Sapphire 53 76 Longreach 27 131 A4 80 87 i ce R . r l Jericho Alpha 168 Lake A Blackwater 168 ive Diamantina Lochern R 151 Maraboon 67 Lark NP NP Springsure Quarry Isisford 46 44 i am an

53

a tin

787 966 1073 1179 1280 1399 1483 1680 1799

716 895 1002 1108 1209 1328 1412 1609 1728

Kilometres

Bowen

Ri v er

73

ar

Airlie Beach Proserpine Hamilton Island Collinsville Lake A1 Dalrymple

248

205

Winton

524 703 810 916 1017 1136 1220 1417 1536

N

0

134

Moorrinya NP

83 74

B

Ayr R.

67

Corfield

341 520 627 733 834 953 1037 1234 1353

150°E

Townsville

Torrens Creek

46

64

114

118

24°S

84

Middleton

229

Boulia

144

at

Balgal Beach

and o

209

o

na

A2 Combo Waterhole CP 164

Stamford

1211

18°S

re

Palm Island

Bely

76

Prairie

Hughenden 43

150

115

Ingham

in

roo R .

Ge

244 Outback Way ‘Australia’s Longest Short Cut’ goes to Laverton, WA

NORTHERn TERRITORY

80

Richmond

Maxwelton

Kynuna

Dajarra 146

200

Pa

Duchess

rgi 115

22°S

26°S

106

McKinlay

149 112

Urandangie

119

50

oms on

Greg

Alpurrurulam

C lo ncu

Cloncurry A6134

G

Porcupine Balfe’s Creek Charters Gorge White 158 A6 Towers NP Mtns Homestead NP Pentland

F lin de

158 337 444 550 651 770 854 1051 1170

179 286 392 493 612 696 893 1012

ee

A2

108

Blackbraes 246 NP

Julia Creek Nelia 50R. 44

641

Karumba Normanton 71 263 Burke & Wills Junction 192 446 375 Cloncurry 183 366 629 558 Kynuna 183

Winton

433 517 714 833

534

R

Quamby

Mount Isa

tR .

Cardwell

k Burd e

Camooweal Caves NP

R. rry 235

326 410 607 726

355

Distances are shown in kilometres and follow the most direct major sealed route where possible.

To check road conditions call RACQ on 1300 130 595 or Queensland Government Traffic & Travel Information on 13 19 40

148°E

Mission Beach

Tully

Herbe

Girringun NP The Lynd Junction Greenvale 52

rs

74

380

Ravenshoe

200

Kajabbi

70

River

Burke & Wills Junction

Innisfail

88

r

a rm

Camooweal

20°S

89

Gordonvale Babinda

83

68

79

Undara Volcanic NP

225

Cobbold Gorge

n

58

Gunpowder

57

148

192

No

90

Croydon

45

Mount Garnet

Ri ve r

Boodjamulla 118 (Lawn Hill) Gregory Downs Adel’s Grove 105 NP 90 87 r Lawn Hill Rive 129 Gorge Riversleigh Waggabundi ry o

148

153

220 304 501 620

e go

77

Cairns

83

Atherton

Mount Surprise Georgetown

be rt

l

93

Gi

Burketown

Tiranna 18°S Domadgee

16°S

Daintree NP Mossman

Mareeba

Einasleigh R.

Normanton

Boulia

NT Border 15 Camooweal 213 Mount Isa 188 Cloncurry 119 307 322 257 445 460 Julia Creek 138 287 406 594 609 Richmond 149 261 399 518 706 721 Hughenden 112 89 201 350 488 607 795 Torrens Creek 810 247 359 508 Charters Towers 158 646 765 953 968 292 381 493 642 780 899 1087 1102 Townsville 134

Port Douglas

Chillagoe

119 203 400 519

Rockhampton Barcaldine 580 Longreach 107 687 Winton 179 286 866

Pacific Ocean

W

Karumba

394 640 850 246 1026 1587

146°E

River c h e ll

.

Augathella 84 Charleville 281 Cunnamulla 197 316 400 Barringun 119

Ne b ine

South Wellesley Islands

Staaten River NP

226 472 682 456 858 1419

456 543 632 1193

Longreach Barcaldine 107 213 Blackall 106 207 314 Tambo 101

r

Reef

Sweers Is.

Gulf of Carpentaria

176 737

14°S

r ie

Cooktown

Lakeland Mi t

d R. Lyn

Mornington Island

ar

Cape Melville NP

Rinyirru (Lakefield) NP

MitchellAlice Rivers NP

Outback Regions Gateways to the Outback

210 297 386 947

Birdsville Betoota 168

QUEENSLAND

Coen Yarraden

Non-Accredited Visitor Information Centre

89 650

Windorah Quilpie 246

at

Archer River

sealed unsealed

Charleville 87 Morven

l g oa Bi R . rrie

sealed unsealed

Airport, Int’l Airport

16°S

Mitchell Brisbane 561

12°S

Gre

14°S

Thursday Island

Ward River

12°S

TRAVEL PLANNER

10°S

89

Distances in kilometres Sealed Roads Unsealed Roads Capricorn Way Matilda Way Adventure Way Great Inland Way Overlander’s Way Pacific Way Savannah Way Warrego Way Natural Sciences Loop Outback Way QR Traveltrain Traveltrain coach connection Bus Queensland Route

10°S

144°E

n R.

142°E

so

140°E

Tenterfield

Casino

Glen Innes Grafton Inverell

Armidale

Ballina Yamba

Coffs Harbour530°S

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18 152°E

154°E

Baralaba Historical Village

Callide Dam, Biloela

Robinson Gorge, Expedition National Park

Events Calendar

What's on in the Outback Outback Queensland is bursting at the seams with

quirky (and some downright wacky) events and festivals.

So why not plan your next adventure around some of the highlights we've listed here for you. You'll not only meet many other travellers and locals, you'll have bucketloads of fun too.

July BIRDSVILLE BIG RED BASH

As the world’s most remote music festival, the Big Red Bash is an experience of a lifetime. Some of Australia’s best-loved country and rock musicians play in the Simpson Desert, and this year’s line-up includes John Farnham, Daryl Braithwaite and the Hoodoo Gurus. The three-day event also hosts ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’ drag races, Fashions in the Desert and Indigenous craft workshops. bigredbash.com.au

July CLONCURRY STOCKMAN’S CHALLENGE

July BEDOURIE CAMEL RACES

Camels reign supreme in Bedourie, where you can watch dozens of them race in six events which attract hundreds of spectators. There are plenty of novelty events, too, such as pig racing, wood chopping and a traditional oven cook-off which involves baking your own damper. www.outbackqueensland.com.au/event/bedourie-camel-and-pig-racesand-camp-oven-cook-off/

July BOULIA CAMEL RACES

With a 1,500-metre cup final, this is Australia’s longest camel race. At this outback event, set against a backdrop of red dirt, you’ll find live gigs, camel tagging, rideon lawn mower races and great kids entertainment. bouliacamelraces.com.au

July QUEENSLAND HERITAGE RALLY

Celebrate the country’s pioneering spirit at the Queensland Heritage Park in Biloela, where exhibitors come together to host a working rally to showcase vintage agricultural machinery and collectables. Join in on the workshops to teach the lost trade of blacksmithing. qldheritagerally.com.au

Regarded as one of the greatest horse events in Australia, the Cloncurry Stockman’s Challenge draws participants into a thrilling competition designed to display the horses’ athleticism, ability and trainability, whilst also exhibiting the riders’ horsemanship. currychallenge.com.au

August MOUNT ISA MINES ROTARY RODEO

Mount Isa Rodeo has been delivering nonstop action and rocking entertainment for decades. This year marks the 60th anniversary. There's also bull riding, bareback and saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling and barrel racing — or take a behindthe-scenes tour. isarodeo.com.au

August CUNNAMULLA FELLA FESTIVAL

Cowboys, bull riders, shearers and stockmen all congregate for this jampacked program, suitable for the whole family.

Enjoy country music, live entertainment and a lively carnival atmosphere. cunnamullafellafestival.com.au

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

7

Events Calendar

July–Dec '18

August

Drovers far and wide come together to celebrate Australia’s rich droving history at this annual festival, just outside Camooweal. A parade with funny floats as well as musicians, horses and coaches hit the streets, before a night of entertainment begins. droverscamp.com.au

August– September BIRDSVILLE RACES

August

WINDORAH INTERNATIONAL YABBY RACES

Held annually the Wednesday night before the Birdsville Races, this event draws punters ready to watch crustaceans race their hearts out. The Windorah International Yabby Races takes place outside the Western Star Hotel, raising funds for charities and local community groups. outbackqueensland.com.au/event/windorah-internationalyabby-races

September

CHARLEVILLE BILBY FESTIVAL & NATIONAL BILBY DAY

No other Australian animal has its own national day, but we're glad this cute animal does. National Bilby Day creates awareness about the endangered marsupial, and you’ll be able to learn all about the cute creatures and even meet some. savethebilbyfund.com

8

O U T B A C K M AT E S

DROVER’S CAMP FESTIVAL

September PRIDE OF THE WEST FESTIVAL

Head to Bulloo Park for a showcase of the most talented stock horses and riders in the region. The festival is famous for its station horse challenge, and sees stockmen and women gather to take part in events such as two-handed cutting, and bush racing. quilpiediggers.com

The ‘Melbourne Cup of the Outback’, the Birdsville Races attract crowds of 6000 from all over the globe, there to punt on horses from around the country. The 13-race program is held over two days, during which racegoers are treated to a stack of live entertainment. birdsvilleraces.com

October LAKE MOONDARRA FISHING CLASSIC

Mark your diary for the last weekend of October to test your seaman skills at the Lake Moondarra Fishing Classic. Once a year, this lake turns from picturesque to packed-out for three days of non-stop fishing action. lakemoondarrafishingclassic. com.au

DALBY

TOOWOOMBA

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

9

Charleville Bush Caravan Park, Bush Camp & Bush Cottage

Set among 40 acres of bushland, Charleville Bush Caravan Park offers a homely spot to stay just 2km outside the centre of Charleville. The park boasts 32 spacious drive-through powered sites which cater to every size of caravan and motorhome, while their Charleville Bush Camp is a lower cost alternative camp for caravanners whose vehicles are fully self-contained.

Offering terrific regional tours and tailored packages, accommodating hosts Graham and Debbie are always ready to help personalise your stay. Listen to Graham’s talks around the campfire about the local geography and western river systems.

Take a tour around the historic town to discover its history, its past fires and floods. Join their 4WD Tag Along Tour, to explore Birdsville, Innamincka, Windorah and Tibooburra with seven nights of motel accommodation at each stop along the way.

While for those without wheels, their quiet Bush Cottage, surrounded by serene natural bushland and entirely selfcontained, including a queen-size bed and all the mod cons one could need. As Deb says, “We're a home away from home.” charlevillecaravanpark.com.au

10

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Out & About

Red Dirt Tours

For insightful, personalised day tours in and around Winton, look no further than this one woman show. Locally owned and operated, Red Dirt Tours is headed up by experienced travel guide and passionate local, Vicki Jones.

Adventures with Red Dirt Tours range from discovering our great dinosaur past and archaeological wonders with the Australian Age of Dinosaurs and Lark Quarry Dinosaur Stampede, to witnessing the natural wonders, rift formations and spectacular sunsets of Bladensburg National Park and the Rangelands, to learning all about the pioneers and history of Winton’s surrounding region in and around Carisbrooke Station.

An historic tour of town will reveal Winton for all its rich history, from its role in the famed bush ballad Waltzing Matilda to the origins of QANTAS. With no shortage of longer tours and packages, travellers can opt for the Winton Explorer for a fournight stay in town at the Outback Motel. Or embark upon Australia’s Dinosaur Trail Tour, for six days traversing the outback dinosaur trifecta – Winton, Hughenden and Richmond – to uncover everything to do with Australia’s rich dinosaur history.

Sit back, relax and let Vicki take the dirt roads for you. reddirttours.com.au

7 Best Fishing Spots in the Sandstone Wonders • Biloela – Callide Dam • Cracow – Cracow Beach, Dawson River • Dululu – Dee River Crossing • Moura – Apex Park, Dawson River • Taroom – Glebe Weir • Taroom – Ken’s Camp, Sandy Creek • Theodore – Junction Park www.sandstonewonders.com for more information!

Sandstone Wonders Hook, line and sinker — the Sandstone Wonders region will lure you right in! Just west of Queensland’s Capricorn Coast in the Banana Shire, it is an easily accessible half-day drive northwest from Brisbane, or just over an hour’s drive south-west from Gladstone. Some say it’s the best freshwater fishing destination in Australia. And we can tell you why...

With plenty of rivers and creeks meandering through the region, along with both natural and man-made dams, weirs and lakes, there’s a perfect fishing spot waiting for you.

One of the main water courses in the Sandstone Wonders is the picturesque Dawson River, which flows almost right through the whole Shire; from Expedition National Park in the southwest to Baralaba in the northwest, before it joins the Fitzroy River further north. In the very north of the Shire, the Dee and Don Rivers run across the region. There’s no shortage of great locations to drop in a line, whether it be for a few hours, or a few days. So pack your rod, hat and your sunnies, and head to fishing heaven in Outback Queensland.

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

11

Legendary Character

Captain Starlight – Outlaw of the Outback

Legendary larrikin and King of the Cattle Duffers, Harry Redford is not your average historic hero. WORDS: Sarah Hinder An idolised outlaw, Harry Redford was most notorious for his bold exploits as a cattle duffer (thief), during which he drove more than some 1,000 stolen cattle from Bowen Downs Station outside Longreach on a tremendous overland journey into South Australia. He was written into history as ‘Captain Starlight’ and immortalised in Australia folklore as a national hero who changed the landscape of Australian pioneering.

His father was a convict, transported to Australia for stealing four pieces of leather. Henry “Harry” Redford was the youngest of 11 children and left his family home outside Mudgee, New South Wales to begin the tough career as a stockman at the Bowen Downs Station.

Realising that remote parts of the extensive cattle station were rarely patrolled, the young maverick devised a plan, along with two fellow workers, to steal cattle from Bowen Downs and drive them on an untraversed 3,000km overland journey to South Australia, selling the cattle along the way.

Redford’s epic journey across the Channel Country and Strzelecki Track in 1871 was the same hazardous route followed by the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills, who had perished while attempting to cross Australia just 10 years before – but Redford survived and made his way back to his family home in NSW. Some two years after settling in Mudgee, Redford was finally caught by authorities in Sydney and transported to Queensland’s Roma District Court to be put on trial.

However, in a sensational twist of events, the jury was so

12

O U T B A C K M AT E S

in awe of the cattle thief’s outstanding droving skills and so endeared by his natural charm that he was found not guilty and acquitted of all charges.

The trial became infamous across Australia, but his role in Rolf Boldrewood’s 1892 novel, Robbery Under Arms, elevated Harry Redford to something of a national hero.

Based on Redford and other notorious bushrangers, the novel follows the fugitive’s cattle-droving escapades and adventures, earning him the affectionate nickname of ‘Captain Starlight’.

Despite being on the wrong side of the law, Redford’s skills and contribution to Australia’s droving history are unmatched other than by a select few drovers. In the 1880s, he was one of the first pioneers to drive cattle along the Strzelecki Track and Cooper Creek. For more than a decade afterwards, Queensland cattle were overlanded along the very tracks Redford pioneered.

Even today, Australia’s most experienced drovers traverse the 19-day Redford trail. Redford’s larrikin spirit lives on at Longreach’s Kinnon & Co’s Harry Redford Old Time Tent Show, which re-enacts the enduringly popular story of Captain Starlight. On a tour of historic Nogo Station, you can witness the stockyard ruins where Redford is said to have kept his stolen cattle before setting out, while Starlight’s Spectacular Sound & Light Picture Show retells the adventures of the cheeky cattle thief around a bush campfire or at sunset aboard the Thomson Princess Riverboat.

Outback sunset over Roma

Roma Saleyards

Moss Garden at Carnarvon Gorge

Great Outback Adventures Begin in Roma Roma and the Maranoa region offer a big outback adventure just half-a-days drive, or a one-hour flight from Brisbane. People have been drawn to the ancient beauty of Carnarvon Gorge for millennia, and you too will be captivated by the huge rock overhangs, towering cliffs and the spiritual significance of the landscape. The quaint town of Injune provides the ideal base for all your Carnarvon Gorge adventures.

Whilst in the Maranoa region you can join an authentic tour of the biggest saleyards in the southern hemisphere, wrap your arms around Roma’s biggest bottle tree and

learn all about the discovery of oil and gas in Australia at The Big Rig Roma. Immerse yourself in nationally significant Cobb&Co history at Surat and relax in the ancient artesian waters in Mitchell. To make your adventure truly memorable, plan your trip around one of our big events including Easter in the Country, Mitchell Camel and Pig Races, the Roma Cup or the 2019 Cobb&Co Festival.

Give us a call at The Big Rig and Roma Visitor Information Centre and our friendly local staff can help you plan the perfect outback adventure 07 46222325.

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

13

Classic Pub Yarn

Middleton Hotel

Have a beer and yarn at the Middleton Hotel — one of the most isolated pubs in the country.

Located 168km west of Winton and 193km east of Boulia, the charming town of Middleton was quite aptly, yet accidently, named.

The history of the town dates back to 1862 when the search party for the ill-fated Burke and Wills, led by John McKinlay, passed through the area. Following along the Diamantina River and then a small creek heading northwest, the party became the first white settlers to enter what is now the Winton District area. And so that same creek, just north of old Cork Station, was named after McKinlay’s second in command as Middleton Creek.

The town of Middleton was built up during the successful Cobb & Co. era, which pioneered horsedrawn coach transport and mail routes throughout the region. And so, it became that the Middleton Hotel was originally built as one of the “Nine Pillars of Cobb & Co.”, the nine horse changing stations along the 384km, four-day Winton-Boulia route. The route, Mail Service 216, flourished between 1895 and 1915. However, with the advent of the motor vehicle quickly rolling out across the country, both the era of Cobb and Co. and the town of Middleton fell into decline.

Today, all that survives of the settlement is the Middleton Hotel, its camp grounds across the road and the disused Town Hall. However, the hotel became a quirk

of the outback, and home to one of the most isolated pubs in Australia! A visit to the historic hotel today means friendly Western hospitality, quality outback grub, and perhaps a stay at the 'Hilton Hotel”'– the free camp grounds across the road, with welcome sign reading 'Vacancy, no air-conditioning, no TV, no pool, no charge'.

The toilet and shower facilities of the pub may be used for a small donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Owned and operated by the friendly Cain family, a visit to the pub is a chance to find out more about the town’s rich history, outback droving and, of course, the iconic pub – while outside the hotel is an original Cobb and Co. coach just waiting to be inspected.

Middleton Hotel today is the only food and (emergency) fuel stop between Boulia and Winton, as well as such a fun and offbeat place to visit. So, despite its isolation, there are always plenty of visitors dropping by for a stay at the 'Hilton Hotel' or for a beer and some grub en route between towns. Along the scenic drive, be sure to keep an eye out for the signposted ruins of the Hamilton and Min Min hotels, and to stop by nearby Cawnpore Lookout, overlooking that stunning scenic country so long ago traversed by those early explorers and the coaches of our horse-drawn past.

Despite its isolation, there are always plenty of visitors dropping by for a stay at the 'Hilton Hotel', or for a beer and some grub en route between towns.

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

15

Retreat Reviews

Lara Wetlands Bush Camping An oasis in the harsh outback, Lara Station's wetlands offer a tranquil and community-minded atmosphere for campers just 28km south of Barcaldine. Surrounding the beautiful wetlands, abundant with birdlife and wildlife, are plenty of shady spots to set up camp, gather around the campfire and stargaze under incredible open skies.

Taking advantage of the wetlands' natural environment, owner Jodie Jarden has developed an artesian mineral thermal pool where visitors can lounge after a long day, and a special swimming and fishing area for those who are keen to throw a line in or get wet. Being knee-deep, the rest of the wetlands are perfect for kayaking enthusiasts, and it's a

birdwatcher’s paradise with over 110 identified bird species calling the region home.

The campsite offers everything you need for a comfortable stay — from flushing toilets, hot showers and some of the purest artesian drinking water in the country.

As Jodie explains, it’s a place where people often come to stay for one night, and then often ask to extend the stay to three or three weeks, and even sometimes, the entire season.

Always striving to maintain its beautiful, unique environment, Lara Wetlands’ mandate is: “Take only pictures. Steal only time. Leave only footprints.” www.facebook.com/LaraWetlands/

Shandonvale Station A 100-year-old working outback station, Shandonvale Station offers its guests an enchanting combination of luxury accommodation with personal insights into outback lifestyle.

A one-and-a-half hour drive out of Longreach and just north of Barcaldine, Shandonvale is set upon 15,000 acres and is home to kangaroos, camels, goats, horses, up to 6,000 sheep and a plethora of birds.

The property is owned and operated by the passionate StentSmith family, and Lane and Deon have been working hard since 2007 to bring the station back to life, operating at its full potential. The property's recently renovated Shearers' Quarters

16

O U T B A C K M AT E S

opened the site up for guests wanting a taste of station life without skimping on luxury. With four Queen-sized bedrooms and a beautifully restored living area, guests can bathe in a traditional claw-foot bath and wake up each morning to a seasonal breakfast created from delicious station produce.

Fly in a chopper over rugged landscapes, build your own campfire and enjoy a cold beer as the sun goes down. The family's dedication to gourmet regional cuisine allows guests to connect with the place their food comes, showcasing the journey from paddock to plate. shandonvalestation.com.au

BOULIA HERITAGE COMPLEX

Situated cnr Hamilton and Pituri street, Boulia Further info at Boulia Visitor Information Centre P: 0747463386 E: tourism@boulia.qld.gov.au W: www.boulia.qld.gov.au

Outback Mates

Directory

18

BANANA SHIRE'S SANDSTONE WONDERS

CHARLEVILLE COSMOS CENTRE & OBSERVATORY

Banana Shire, Outback Queensland T 07 4992 9500 W www.sandstonewonders.com

1 Milky Way, Charleville, Qld T 07 4654 7771 E enquiries@cosmoscentre.com W www.experiencecharleville.com

Travel out of the townships and discover a remarkable place where big adventure awaits. We have some of the best fishing in the country. There’s always more to explore, more to discover, and more you’ll want to remember. Sandstone Wonders – Simple Pleasures, Ancient Places.

At our acclaimed, experiental observatory, see the wonders of our Outback night skies and view the beauty of the Milky Way galaxy through powerful Meade telescopes. Enjoy ‘Astronomy

by Day’ and book in for our incredible ‘Sun-viewing’.

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Directory

EROMANGA NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

HARD TIMES MINE TOUR, MOUNT ISA

1 Dinosaur Drive, Eromanga, Queensland T 07 4656 3084 E info@enhm.com.au W www.enhm.com.au

19 Marian Street, Mount Isa, Queensland T 07 47491555 HOURS: 8.30AM — 5.00PM, 7 DAYS W www.mietv.com.au

The ENHM is committed to discovering, conserving and showcasing the fossil, natural and cultural heritage from the prehistoric and modern day environments of the upper Murray/Darling and Lake Eyre/Cooper basins. Stay on-site in air-conditioned, stylish 4-star accommodation.

Don regulation mining overalls and descend into the depths of Earth in an Alimak Cage. Delve into an exploration of mining, shared by guides who spent their lives underground. Get up close with the machinery and try your hand at the air-leg drill and feel the earth rumble with the firing of the blast face.

Extensive hot breakfast included with your night's stay

LEICHHARDT ACCOMMODATION, MOUNT ISA

THE ROCKS MOTEL, CHARLEVILLE

3-5 Camooweal Street, Mount Isa, Qld T 07 4743 3323 E admin@leichhardtaccommodation.com W www.leichhardtaccommodation.com

74 Willis Street, Charleville T 07 4654 2888 E bookings@rocksmotel.com.au W www.rocksmotel.com.au

Leichhardt Accommodation offers comfort and convenience like no other operator in Mount Isa. Whether you're enjoying a holiday, travelling for work or simply passing through town, be spoilt and relax in our spacious ensuite rooms.

The Rocks Motel offers city-style accommodation with country hospitality. Whether it's a family holiday or a business trip, we have 20 modern, stylish rooms with everything that a discerning traveller could need. The Rocks Restaurant is set in beautifully landscaped gardens, serving modern Australian cuisine.

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

19

Songs

Outba from the

20

O U T B A C K M AT E S

ack

Cover Stars

Applauded Rockhampton duo Busby Marou is not only on a mission to make great music — they’re here to promote Outback Australia and Indigenous issues in the process.

WORDS: Natasha Dragun INTERVIEW: Riley Palmer J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

21

Cover Star

T Busby Marou was one of the headlining acts at this year’s Big Red Bash held in the Simpson Desert, 35km west of Birdsville in Queensland. bigredbash.com.au

22

O U T B A C K M AT E S

alking to Thomas Busby, half of the duo that comprises Australian folk-inspired pop outfit Busby Marou, it’s hard to believe that the band has only been together for just over 10 years.

United in Rockhampton in 2007, guitar-playing Busby and his multi-instrumental mate Jeremy Marou have since released three albums and two EPs. Although significant, that’s probably not the highlight of their careers.

They’ve also won two APRA (Australian Performing Right Association) music awards, taken out 2010’s Indigenous Award at Brisbane’s Q Song Awards, and the same year claimed the Deadly for Most Promising New Talent in Music.

This year, their musical prowess was on show at April’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, thanks to their song 'Days of Gold' being chosen as the event’s prestigious mascot theme tune.

Perhaps more importantly, they have shared the stage with some of their musical heroes: Powderfinger, Pete Murray (who also produced their first EP, limited-release The Blue Road), Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Dan Sultan, The Panics, Archie Roach, Paul Dempsey, Shane Howard, Art V Science, Passenger, Halfway — you get the picture.

It’s a varied line-up, and one that’s inevitably due to the band’s passion to spurn uniformity — in every sense of the word. “We’re one of the very few bands who seems to skip around all the genres and festival categories,” says Busby. “Where we feel most comfortable is probably in the more rootsy singer-songwriter role. We play at all festivals, from country to blues and roots to Triple J festivals.

The older we get, the more we decide to embrace everything we love, which is no one single thing.”

Queensland calling

This diversity shines through well beyond Busby Marou’s live performances. A proud Torres Strait Islander, Marou is committed to ensuring that the sounds and stories of his people are reflected in the band’s melodic riffs and meaningful lyrics. And with both boys hailing from Outback Queensland, there’s even more impetus to look to country Australia for musical inspiration.

“We have great memories of Central Queensland,” says Busby. “I remember growing up there and being free to experience the world without shackles. We were able to explore everything that’s great about the countryside, from fishing, four-wheel driving and playing sport to getting on a horse and cruising over to a mate’s house. I don’t know if my children will get the chance to do that. We were in a really safe country town where everyone knew each other, and that gave us the freedom to let our imaginations run wild — and sometimes get into mischief. When we go home now, I know everyone in town and it feels like they just want us to do well.”

Needless to say, these carefree recollections have made their way into Busby Marou’s music.

“The stories in our songs, particularly from our last album Postcards from the Shell House, include all our favourite places growing up,” says Busby.

“But even in the melody and music, they reflect what we were listening to growing up. I remember singing Wilson Phillips songs with my sister, in the mirror with a hairbrush, and listening to REM and Bruce Springsteen with my brothers. It’s all those memories and sounds that form our basis of songwriting, which we love.”

Cover Stars

Unlike many mainstream bands that pump out songs faster than YouTube can upload them, genuine thought goes into the production of a Busby Marou album. “With the rise of tech and the speed at which things are distributed, big pop songs are getting out there fast. But if you look hard enough, you can find musicians that rival the greatest artists of all time.” says Busby. “Jeremy’s musical loves come from his guitar playing, so country and pop. My love is rock’n’roll: Crowded House, Paul Kelly, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen.

Together, we realise that there’s always a place for great lyrics and great songs.”

Busby says he would jump at the chance to be on stage with Springsteen, although there are others who’ve made his collaboration list: “I’d love to share a room with Paul Kelly to see if he could teach me a few tricks, lyrically. And Jason Isbell (former Drive-By Truckers), just because he has a great sense of melody and a smooth voice.”

"I DEFINITELY THINK WE’RE LEARNING FROM THE PAST AND CREATING A BETTER PLACE FOR THE FUTURE — YOU CAN FEEL THE MOVEMENT." — THOMAS BUSBY

On saying sorry

On the 10-year anniversary of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd saying sorry to the country’s Stolen Generations (13 February 2018), Busby Marou were scheduled to perform at a commemorative ceremony alongside the likes of Archie Roach. It's to be hours before our interview, and Busby is excited that the event signifies a momentous leap forward in Indigenous relations.

“I definitely think we’re learning from the past and creating a better place for the future — you can feel the movement,” he says. “I think it’s important to embrace that change. I also acknowledge that there is still a lack of resources for our Indigenous world, so we need to work harder and be led by the younger generations, because they’re up there with fingers on the pulse when it comes to change for the right reasons. It’s all about teaching white and black Australians about how awesome and magical our culture is. It’s the oldest in the world, and when you go out to the Sacred Land or into Indigenous communities and watch their way of life, you realise what’s so beautiful about it.”

Improving Indigenous relations and awareness is a cause the band is passionate about. “We go out and play music and sit with kids,” says Busby.

“Jeremy recently had a heart attack [at 34 years of age, in May 2017] and as tragic as it was, we have been using this to get the message out to Aboriginal communities to be aware of heart health, and not be ashamed of it. I love Australian people and our communities, particularly in Outback Queensland. We travel the world and all over Australia, but it’s when we hit the Outback that we have the most fun and feel most at home.

It’s a very beautiful spirit out there.” ’ J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

23

Outback Encounters

Small endangered marsupials, fossilised kangaroos and the largest dinosaurs that roamed Gondwanaland are some of the treasures revealed on an Outback Queensland road trip.

WORDS: Fiona Harper

24

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Culture Vulture

escending towards Charleville, Queensland’s Outback stretches beneath our wings like a Ben Shearer painting from his Cooper’s Creek period. Dirt roads cross the red earth in a mishmash of shortcuts that run hither and thither across paddocks stretching all the way to the horizon. Out here, on the fringes of the Strzelecki Desert, everything is oversized. Stations like Plevna Downs, which at 112,000 hectares is almost twice the size of Singapore, was the former stomping ground for Australia’s largest dinosaurs.

“You don’t have a bulbar,” observes Monique Johnson from the Cosmos Centre & Observatory after I’ve picked up a 4WD from Avis at Charleville Airport.

“Do I need one?” I ask innocently.

“I wouldn’t recommend you drive before 10am or after 4pm,” she says sagely. “That’s when kangaroos are most active.”

After an intriguing insight into astronomy at the Cosmos Centre, I head westbound on the Natural Sciences Loop and the Warrego Way to find roadkill my relentless companion. As distance markers pass rapidly by, I count corpses to pass the time. On one 10 kilometre stretch, the sum reaches 60 before I give it away. Emus aplenty graze roadside on fresh tufts of grass, the result of recent rain. However, their Coat of Arms brothers don’t fare so well. Kangaroo carcasses lay strewn across the asphalt like overimbibed racegoers after Race 7 on Melbourne Cup Day. Opportunistic vultures rise resentfully as I barrel down the bitumen.

They can afford to be picky, so abundant is the feast.

By the time I encounter my first 54-wheeled tripletrailer road train the Diamantina Development Road has whittled down to little more than a single lane of pock-marked tar in places.

I’m bound for Eromanga, 300 kilometres west of Charleville, whose main claim to fame was once as Australia’s furthest town from the sea. That was until Sandy Mackenzie made a discovery that would put Eromanga on the world map, changing his family’s lives forever. Not to mention blowing the minds of scientists across the globe. But more on that later.

First, I’ve a date with three-year-old Sarah, the poster child for the Save the Bilby Fund, newly headquartered at the Charleville Bilby Experience. Bred in captivity and listed as endangered in Queensland and vulnerable nationally, Sarah and her roommate Tonka carry a heavy burden. Their population has been decimated by cats, rabbits and foxes with as few as 500 wild

Meeting bilbies is part of the Charleville Bilby Experience

FACT FILE

• Charleville Cosmos Centre & Observatory cosmoscentre.com • Save the Bilby Fund savethebilbyfund.com • Eromanga Natural History Museum enhm.com.au • Cooper’s Country Lodge enhm.com.au/Stay/On-site_Stays.htm

bilbies estimated to remain in Queensland. The scale of feral cat devastation is staggering: every 24 hours 20 million feral cats kill approximately 75 million native Australian animals. Every single day.

Which is where the Bilby Fence comes in. Camp Bilby takes centre stage in the Currawinya National Park with an electrified predator-proof 25 square kilometre fence erected in 2003 to provide a ‘wild’ enclosure where bilbies can live and breed in safety. A new and improved bilby enclosure will roll out the red carpet for its big-eared residents in 2018.

Thanks to the tireless work of Frank Manthey and Peter McRae, otherwise known as the Bilby Brothers, the bilby is honoured as the only Australian animal with its own national day (the second Sunday in September is National Bilby Day). You can help the bilby assume its rightful place at Easter by purchasing Fyna Foods’ Pink Lady Easter Bilbies, which raised $46,000 last year for the Save the Bilby Fund. Bilby survival relies on a hot dry climate not dependent upon rain – something the Outback has an abundance of. >

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

25

Culture Vulture

Sandy’s ‘rock’ was identified as a 95 million-year-old fossilised Titanosaur bone — the first of its kind discovered in Australia.

Dinosaurs still walk the land at Eromanga Natural History Museum (ENHM)

The same year the first residents were welcomed to Camp Bilby, not far away a curious 14-year-old Sandy Mackenzie was re-writing history books. While mustering sheep on Plevna Downs, a rock caught Sandy’s attention. Later, his parents Robyn and Stuart Mackenzie asked Queensland Museum staff to take a look.

The information that came back was extraordinary: Sandy’s ‘rock’ was identified as a 95 million-yearold fossilised Titanosaur bone — the first of its kind discovered in Australia. Further findings revealed Australia’s largest dinosaur, affectionately named Cooper.

Supported by the not-for-profit Outback Gondwana Foundation and reliant upon funding, the Eromanga Natural History Museum (ENHM) is a working museum that coordinates annual digs on private property west of Eromanga.

Travellers can join archaeologists and paleontologist on a rare adventure, participating in a Dinosaur Dig at a working archaeological site.

Robyn Mackenzie is the museum’s Operations and Collections Manager. Her eyes twinkle as she recalls the mammoth change of direction life took after Sandy’s discovery.

26

O U T B A C K M AT E S

“I knew nothing about running a museum or prepping a dinosaur bone,” she says. “There were moments during the six years when I was on my own with Cooper’s ulna and thinking, ‘I’m not qualified to do this!’”

With no formal training in archaeology, Robyn was mentored by technical experts from Queensland Museum (QM). Though even QM staff have been on a steep learning curve, having never worked on anything as large as Cooper before. There are now 70 dinosaur and megafauna sites coughing up their secrets.

Like 100,000-year-old fossils from three-metre tall Procoptodon goliah, the forerunner to today’s kangaroo, which provide important post-dinosaur extinction data.

“No-one could ever have predicted how our lives would change. Can you imagine the most random thing that could possibly happen, something that would take you down an unknown path? This is quite a rare opportunity that we were given. When we found those first pieces we were so excited!” says Robyn. “These discoveries are of international significance. We’re seriously beginning to rewrite the history books on Australian dinosaur heritage.”

Establishing the foundation, then the museum, which opened in 2017, followed by boutique Cooper’s Country >

Julia Creek Expect the Unexpected�

Come and spend a week in Julia Creek with us. A range of accommodation options, plenty of activities for workers, singles, couples and families. Paying guests of the Julia Creek Caravan Park get free access to the Artesian Bath Houses, Swimming Pool and Water Park as well as free bicycle hire. For all the information on what there is to see and do, check out the contact options below.

Julia Creek Visitor Information Centre | 34 Burke Street | e: tourism@mckinlay.qld.gov.au | www.atthecreek.com.au | p: 07 4746 7690

Culture Vulture

Top 4

places to spot a dinosaur in Outback Queensland Step into Outback Queensland, where your search for dinosaurs will lead you on a trail through the north and south pockets of the outback.

Outback Queensland is home to the Australian Dinosaur Trail, encompassing a triangular trail through the three outback towns of Winton, Richmond and Hughenden.

Along with discoveries in the south-west town of Eromanga, the outback provides plenty of opportunites to sink your claws into fascinating fossil collections.

Pack your bags and set out on the ultimate Jurassic adventure through these outback towns:

WINTON

Admiring a massive dinosaur foot at ENHM

Lodge, has been a rewarding challenge. Though Robyn and Stuart still run their grazing property, Cooper and his ilk dominate their lives.

“One day, Stuart and I were walking down to the shed lab, when I said I want to dedicate the rest of my life to this project,” Robyn reveals. She says that it felt like someone had handed her a really important package, the only one of its kind in the world, that needed to be preserved, protected and treasured.

Fourteen years later does she still feel that way?

Yes, she does. Despite the frustrations that come with being reliant upon funding, Robyn relishes the challenge. She’s like a feisty, protective dog with a bone who understands when to stand firm and when to roll over. In this case the bones in her keeping are of an unfathomable age and are revered for the stories they are revealing.

With the latest exhibit ready to join the Holotype collection, it takes four museum staff to delicately move one half of Cooper’s 95 million-year-old pelvis into place. It’s about the size of a car bonnet. As its protective sheath is removed by those who have spent years prepping the fossil, the emotion in the room is palpable. Cooper lives on.

So too do Procoptodon goliah descendants, despite their propensity to stray too close to moving vehicles.

The writer was a guest of the Outback Queensland Tourism Association and Rex Airlines. ’

28

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Start your dig for dinos with a visit to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, where the world’s largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils is displayed in the Collection Room. Assist with the fossil preparation process in the Dinosaur Laboratory before a trip to the Dinosaur Canyon, where life-size replicas transport you to an ancient world where these animals roamed the land.

HUGHENDEN

Stop by Hughenden and say hi to ‘Hughie’, the seven-metre tall skeletal Muttaburrasaurus that resides at the Flinders Discovery Centre.

Take a stroll through town to spot more dinosaur sculptures that adorn the streets and public buildings.

RICHMOND

Switch from ancient land animals to marine reptiles in Richmond, 115km west of Hughenden. Make Kronosaurus Korner your first stop, where you’ll come across Australia’s best-preserved dinosaur skeleton among the variety of marine fossils on display. While here, unlock your inner-palaeontologist at Richmond’s Free Fossil Hunting Sites just 12km north of the town.

EROMANGA

Head down south to Eromanga, 1,060km east of Brisbane, where you’ll discover Australia’s largest dinosaur. At the ripe old age of 95—98 million-yearsold, titanosaur ‘Cooper’ calls the Eromanga Natural History Museum home. Explore dinosaur fossils as well as a range of mega and micro fauna that was discovered near Eulo, 330km from Eromanga.

FLINDERS DISCOVERY CENTRE, HUGHENDON

S P E T S T S R E D R N O W FI D N ERY A TO DISCOV

Meet ‘Hughie’ – a life-sized skeletal Muttaburrasaurus Porcupine Gorge light and sound show Shearing the Stragglers Exquisite fossil & gem display Kids Corner Excellent souvenir shop Fossicking Tips Local and regional tourist information

fb.com/flindersdiscoverycentre @flindersdiscoverycentre Open 7 days 9.00am - 5.00pm Find us on Tripadvisor!

Closed Christmas and New Year’s Day Closed some public holidays Dec, Jan and Feb – Sat and Sun 9.00am – 1.00pm Nov–March – Sat and Sun 9.00am – 1.00pm 37 Gray Street, Hughenden Qld 4821 P: (07) 4741 2970 F: 4741 1029 E: info@flinders.qld.gov.au www.visithughenden.com.au

30

O U T B A C K M AT E S

All roads lead to Birdsville

Road Trip

A road trip from Windorah to Birdsville reveals unexpected animal encounters, an intriguing ghost town and miles and miles (and miles) of dusty, red landscapes.

WORDS: Jo Stewart

Fast Fact

Native water wells can be found on the road between Windorah and Betoota.

Established by the Indigenous population hundreds of years ago, these wells can be visited but need to be respected.

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

31

Road Trip

I'm

definitely not in Melbourne anymore. Staring out the window of our 4WD, I see a wedge-tailed eagle peck at some roadkill left lying on the roadside. In the distance, dead trees stand like skeletons with their arms outstretched. And in every direction, ochre plains meet the cloudless blue sky.

Trading the traffic, white noise and gleaming skyscrapers of the big smoke for the wide-open roads, starry skies and silence of Outback Queensland, I’m on the road from Quilpie to Windorah with my final destination of Birdsville another full day’s drive away.

While not exactly easy to get to, there are many reasons to be in this remote, flyblown part of Australia.

There are road trippers on epic journeys around the country, adventurers keen on taking on the Simpson Desert’s dunes and big-rig drivers doing supply runs to frontier towns. Me? I’m heading to Birdsville with a group of scientists who plan to complete fieldwork in the Munga-Thirri National Park.

Sure, we could save time, skip it all and fly straight into Birdsville Airport, but where’s the fun in that?

32

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Welcome to Windorah Home to a local population of about 80 or so people, Windorah is found in the heart of Channel Country.

Whether coming in from Longreach or Charleville, this tiny town is a welcome sight. After dodging groups of kamikaze emus that streak across the road, running perilously close to our vehicle, we reach Windorah just in time for a sundowner.

Making a beeline for the pub, we’re not disappointed by the Western Star Hotel. What we find is a pub that distils the very essence of Outback Queensland. With a corrugated iron roof, wood-panelled walls, friendly bartender, well-used dartboard and wraparound veranda, the Western Star Hotel is an instant classic.

Sitting on the verandah with an ice-cold beer while a flock of galahs chatter and screech in the distance, I think to myself, ‘It doesn’t get much more Queensland than this.’

In Australia, the smaller the town, the bigger the characters, and Windorah is no exception. Staying at Cooper Cabins, we meet owners and long term residents ‘Chumpy’ and Di who treat us to homecooked rissoles and answer all our burning questions. >

Road Trip

Who lives in that tiny, rundown shack at the edge of town? An old, camera-shy drover who loves to have a chat. Is the solar farm we passed on the way in worth a look? The jury’s out on whether the solar project generates enough power but it sure catches the eye of tourists.

Opened in 2009, the Windorah Solar Farm may not be open to the public for tours but that hasn’t stopped visitors from turning up to admire the gleaming solar dishes reflecting in the bright Queensland sun. The sight of five solar dishes set against a backdrop of red earth below and blue sky above is a photographer’s dream, and in a one-horse town a welcome oddity to check out the next morning before we continue the journey.

Betoota beckons Hitting the road again with Birdsville in sight, another outback oddity awaits. After a long drive of about six hours with nothing much on the way except for wideopen spaces and the odd kangaroo or herd of feral cattle, we’re glad to see Betoota in all its faded glory.

Betoota (population: zero) is one of those places that I suspected wasn’t actually a real place. Found just off the Birdsville Developmental Road, this famed ghost

34

O U T B A C K M AT E S

town is an essential stopping point for anyone driving from Windorah to Birdsville. Stretching our legs, we take photos of the striking Dreamtime Serpent artwork found on a nearby hill off the highway. Then we explore what’s left of the town, which as a former Cobb & Co changing station once had three pubs, a police station, post office and general store.

What remains today is a ramshackle pub once owned by a polish immigrant called Sigmund ‘Ziggy’ Remienko.

Sigmund lived in Betoota for an impressive 51 years until he died in 2004. As the last remaining resident of Betoota, his death plunged the town’s population to zero.

Walking around the property is like wandering through a museum (albeit a very rundown one). Old bottles of scotch line the dusty bar. Despite being completely deserted it still feels like someone could materialise out of thin air to pour a drink or tell a yarn. It’s spooky — you can almost hear the clinking of glasses and rowdy laughter of patrons of years gone by.

Outside, we wonder how an old yellow double-decker bus with smashed windows came to rest in the middle of nowhere and we try to guess what petrol prices would have been when the old-fashioned petrol pumps were still in use. After an hour wandering around Betoota, not another soul comes through the town, but that may be about to change.

Recently gaining further notoriety thanks to online satirical newspaper The Betoota Advocate, the ghost town’s mythical status has now been cemented among a new generation of Australians thanks to the power of the internet.

Word on the street is that Betoota’s star is once again on the rise, thanks to a new owner’s plan to resurrect the pub and get XXXX flowing through the beer taps once again. True to Australian form, you just can’t keep a good pub down.

Road Trip

Birdsville or bust Just under 170 kilometres away, Birdsville is the Holy Grail so many road trippers quest for. Rattling along sealed and unsealed roads to get there from Windorah, others arrive from all directions to see the little but legendary town.

Groups of weary drivers come in from South Australia via the famous Birdsville Track and tour buses make their way from up north using the Eyre Developmental Road. Birdsville’s unique desert-flanked location and rich history as one of Australia’s most remote townships ensures its popularity with all types of travellers.

The young and old, the well heeled and the rougharound-the edges — all come together in Birdsville.

By day, the Birdsville Bakery is the place to be. From a curried camel pie to a lemon-myrtle tart, elements of the Outback are ever present.

In the afternoon, Birdsville Hotel is a hotspot for a lazy beer. With mobile phones frowned upon in the front bar (get caught and you’ll have to drop a coin into the Royal Flying Doctor Service tin), I sit on the verandah with a tinnie of Queensland’s finest, watching light aircraft land at the airstrip opposite the pub.

Inside, tourists laugh over pub grub and wine in the dining room, drivers talk about tackling Big Red and a group of elderly patrons have a singalong around the piano just like travellers would have done back in 1884 when the hotel opened. Where else in the world would you find such an eclectic bunch of people under one roof? Only in Birdsville, of course. ’

Fast Fact

Birdsville has clocked some of Queensland’s hottest temperatures, with 49.5 degrees Celsius being Birdsville’s record.

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

35

History & Adventure

Under the Isa 36

O U T B A C K M AT E S

You thought Mount Isa was all about mining and the rodeo?

Dig deeper and you'll find a whole lot more.

WORDS: Michelle Hespe PHOTOGRAPY: Ant Ong

“I'M WALKING THROUGH A DIMLY-LIT TUNNEL WITH HOSPITAL BEDS ON EITHER SIDE OF ME. There's an old-fashioned doll with those real-looking bulbous rollaround eyes in a dusty dress and lacy jacket propped up in a baby's hospital cot. Glass cabinets from the 1930s are stocked with all sorts of medicinal concoctions that look as through they were left behind when the nurses had to make a run for it. 'What happened to the patients?'

I silently wonder. No doubt seeing the question coming, Valerie, one of the few women who regularly volunteer at the Mount Isa Underground Hospital and Museum, looks up from where she is tightening up some bedsheets.

"It wasn't ever used as a hospital," she says. "It was built here on the same grounds as the Mount Isa District Hospital by off-duty miners in 1942, in case the Japanese attacked." Ahah, I think, the same year that Darwin was bombed. "Luckily there was no need to use it in that sense," she goes on, "But it was well used by the staff at the hospital on their work breaks, as it is a lovely, cool place to sleep when the temperatures get up to around 50 degrees!" She laughs. I'm not so sure I would use the word lovely, but it's definitely cool. Today it's 45 degrees and I am still sweating after my little walk here.

Above-ground, visitors can enjoy the impressive collection of antiques and paraphernalia in the museum, which includes some utterly baffling medical equipment — until you read the well-detailed descriptions provided by volunteers. There's a meticulously handwritten First Aid Manual, large posters of the human anatomy, a real skeleton that was used for educational purposes, old kid's toys, World War II items, and a range of geological exhibits that lend some clues as to what drew so many people to this wild place so far West, 100 years ago. Everything has been donated by locals, many of them with families still living in Mount Isa. As with many Outback towns and cities of Australia, mining is what attracted men in their droves. Mount Isa was established when lone prospector John Campbell Miles stumbled upon one of the world's richest deposits of copper, silver and zinc during his 1923 expedition into the Northern Territory. It's well known that Indigenous Australians occupied this land before Miles arrived, however what many people don't know is that it was a young Indigenous man named Kabalulumana who led Miles to the deposits. An Indigenous hostel in Mount Isa is named after Kabalulumana. >

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

37

History & Adventure

I continue my exploration by checking out an orignial tent house on the hospital grounds. Once word of Mount Isa's abundance of copper, lead and silver spread, men descended upon the wild western town, often bringing their families with them. The tent houses were built so that occupants could withstand the extremely hot outback temperatures and generally unforgiving conditions. They consist of a narrow timber framed building with canvas walls and roof. Above the roof and separate to it, was an iron roof supported by a light weight timber frame. Solid boards or iron sheeting were often used around the base of the house as a means of handling the endless red dust from entering a home. Before Miles and the many people who arrived in his wake, the fiercely territorial Kalkadoon people (also known as the Kalkatungu) lived in the region for possibly up to 60,000 years, and they were renowned as one of the strongest tribes in all of Queensland. In fact, their forefather tribe has been called 'the elite of the

38

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Aboriginal warriors of Queensland'.

The Kalkatungu are also believed to be Australia's first miners, and one Kalkadoon mining quarry is estimated at being over 6,000 years old. These early miners had an extremely well organised factory-like system where everyone had specific roles. The mines produced hard, black basalt which made excellent spearheads and axes, and these were not just used by the Kalkatungu — they had extensive trade systems spanning hundreds of kilometres around their territory and they were prized by other tribes.

Some axes and spearhead created around Mount Isa have been found as far away as Southern and Western Australia.

Sadly, in 1884 the many of the Kalkatungu were massacred at Battle Mountain by settlers and police. The war was thought to have been triggered six years before when a group of settlers were killed at a watering hole, and this led to an all-out battle against native Indigenous tribes.

The hospital is not the only way to get an underground fix

History & Adventure

“Before Miles arrived in Mount Isa, the fiercely territorial Kalkadoon people lived in the region for possibly up to 60,000 years.”

in 'Isa', as the locals call her. Down the road at Outback at Isa, you'll find the Mount Isa Visitor Information Centre, Hard Times Mine Underground Tour, Isa Experience and Outback Park, the Mount Isa Regional Art Gallery, Riversleigh Fossil Centre, Mount Isa Fish Hatchery Project and the Outback Cafe.

The mine tour is a highlight for many who visit Mount Isa, as not only is it incredibly interactive, here you can gain a grasp on how miners once worked and lived, as the tours are run by guys who have been miners most of their lives.

Everyone dons high-vis bright orange mining overalls and sturdy cap-lamps, and then they descend in a cage to where it all happens.

The guides share rivetting stories of their time spent working in the mines as they lead everyone deep into the tunnels, explaining how they were dug out and shaped with machinary such as boom drills. There are moments in the pitch-black darkness, the earth around rumbling like a giant's belly, where you really do feel as though you're in a working mine.

Back up on the top of the Earth, there's so much to see in Mount Isa, and to get a great understanding of what the city was and now is, spend a few hours in Outback at Isa. For those who want to step 30 million years back in time, to when megafauna was developing, The Riversleigh Fossil Centre has arranged its gloablly celebrated finds in dioramas that depict long-extinct enormous creatures in their former prehistoric habitats. If you want to get more hands-on, fossil enthusiast Alan takes guests on tours through the laboratory, showing how specimens are sorted, cleaned and the fossils extracted.

Outback Queensland is famous for its long stretches of red dirt with bright blue, endless skies above, however its also the billabongs, lakes, dams and unique waterways that make places like Mount Isa so special. And if you like a spot of fishing or camping, don't leave town without visiting beautiful, manmade Lake Moondarra.

Originally called Leichardt Dam, Lake Moondarra was completed in 1958 for Mount Isa Mines, and at the time, it was the largest water scheme in Australia financed by private enterprise. It now has many picturesque picnic areas, pontoons, a ski jump, and water sports facilities. It's a major drawcard for birdwatchers, sailors and anglers.

If you're in the region in October, The Lake Moondarra Fishing Classic is held in late October. The event is hosted by the not-for-profit Mount Isa Fish Stocking Group, which raises money for more barramundi and sooty grunter fingerlings to be stocked in the lake.

Rising before sunrise one day, I made my way out to Lake Moondarra in the dark. Driving through the quiet, wide streets of Mount Isa, and then driving through acres of wild bushland thriving on mineral-filled red dirt, I could only hear birds. I parked in a picnic area and then walked, barefoot, down to the lake's edge. As the sun came up and spilt its warmth across the waters and the vast land, the bird song rose in tempo until it reached a happy, cawwing, cackling, chirruping, bonkers cresendo. They had a lot to talk about. I sat and listened, quietly in awe of how much life there is and was, above and beneath Mount Isa. ’ J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

39

Outback Mates

Fast Fact

Up to 40 per cent of the total weight of wool fleece can be comprised of grease and dirt.

Willow and the Woolscour Thanks to Bob “Willow” Wilson, Australia’s last operable steampowered woolscour stands proudly in Blackall as an enduring reminder of our pioneering history. WORDS: Sarah Hinder History of the scour

In the wool industry’s heyday, the introduction of steampowered woolscours was heralded a miracle of modern technology. An essential step in the manufacturing process, newly shorn wool must be cleaned and scoured to eliminate any impurities, residue, dirt and pesticides.

The traditional process — employed for centuries in Britain — involved washing sheep in local creeks before they were shorn. When this method was adopted in Australia, however, a short supply of clean water coupled with dusty paddocks rendered the process ineffectual.

By the mid-19th century, demand was increasing for a better system and by the 1850s, manual scouring processes were gaining popularity. Initially, shorn wool was scoured by stirring fleeces with sticks in cauldrons filled with hot, soapy water. It was a labour-intensive method that would phase out in the late 1880s when mechanised equipment was developed to use steam-powered machinery for scouring. Still in use today, the steam-driven system not only improved the appearance and purity of the fleece, it markedly reduced the total weight to be shipped, too.

Blackall legend

While a manually operated woolscour was built at Blackall in central Queensland in 1893 using water from a town bore, by the early 1900s a town consortium was formed demanding a mechanised woolscour to improve wool production. In 1908, both the steam-powered woolscour and railway were opened, marking a prosperous time for the residents of Blackall.

Now, the entire process of shearing and scouring operated under one roof, with two boilers burning local timber to power a single-cylinder steam engine of 45 horsepower, which drove all machinery. Sheep were shorn

in a 20-stand shearing shed directly beside the scouring equipment, then fleeces were put into scouring troughs that contained agitating mechanisms that pushed the wool forward with forks. Rollers squeezed the soda ash water out from the wool once scoured, after which fleeces were passed through a dryer, before being pressed into bales and loaded onto trucks or trains.

An enduring success, the Blackall Woolscour performed two 12-hour shifts each day throughout the years following World War I, and it was one of the only woolscours in Australia to continue operation throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s. In fact, the plant was the last Australian woolscour to remain in operation until, in the 1970s, a downturn in demand coupled with governmentimposed rail freight surcharges forced Blackall to close it down in 1978.

Restoration and revival

As the neglected woolscour began to decay in the following decades, the residents of Blackall banded together to preserve it. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, its machinery was restored and an oil-fired boiler was installed to produce steam to drive the original engine.

By 2002, the local community had entirely restored the original plant as a cultural and heritage site.

Today, the fully operable woolscour is a popular attraction headed up by owner and operator Bob “Willow” Wilson, who won 2017’s Vince Evert Award at the Outback Queensland Tourism Awards for his contribution to local tourism. Willow pressed wool for 24 years, using most of the old scouring technology, before ending his career on a power press. Along with his family and community volunteers, Bob now welcomes visitors to tour Blackall Woolscour in an authentic experience reminiscent of Australia’s wool pioneering days. ’

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

41

42

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Outback Mates

The

Cunnamulla Fella Cinematic landscapes, offbeat daytrips and a chequered history make Cunnamulla an intriguing mix WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: Guy Wilkinson

“I’VE HAD A REVOLVER PULLED ON ME THREE TIMES. I’ve broken both legs. Broken me back. But I’ve had a good life, I suppose,” says Les Capewell, staring intently into the camp fire.

Capewell imparts this information with the casual air of someone reciting a shopping list. Now 83, the retired boss drover has spent decades leading cattle through some of the most inhospitable terrain on Earth. Dressed in a sharp, black shirt, he growls rather than talks, wears his white beard long and squints out of his one good eye.

Here in Cunnamulla, 750 kilometres west of Brisbane, people are tough. They’ve had to be. In its heyday of the 1950s and ’60s, this was a thriving wool town; the pubs were packed with rowdy, beer-swilling men, their pockets flush with cash. But times change. >

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

43

Outback Mates

Fast Fact

The township of Cunnamulla was founded in 1879 by Cobb & Co, which drove the first coach through from Bourke.

Excessive stockpiling led to a devastating market crash in 1989; overnight the price of wool became worthless.

People faced a simple choice: skip town or wait it out until the market bounced back. It took two decades for the latter to happen, and though the ramifications remain to this day, all is not lost.

Today, Cunnamulla’s compact town centre is built around a war memorial fountain near the banks of the Warrego River. The 1500-strong population is an even split between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, with the economy revolving around agriculture and tourism.

Peieta Mills is leading the charge for the latter. She runs Club Boutique Hotel—easily the most salubrious digs in town—as well as a tour company. Together we take a drive out to Yowah, Australia’s oldest opal mine, 160 kilometres west of Cunnamulla.

The drive cuts through the heart of Australia’s almost post-apocalyptic outback landscape. Only periodic dense patches of gidgee and mulga trees punctuate the vast scrublands of copper and yellow. Brumbies gallop across the plains while hawks and eagles feast on the flesh of kangaroos, their fate long since sealed by oncoming trucks.

In town we meet Scott Shorten, a miner and resident of Yowah since the 1960s. Dressed in a bulky knitted sweater, his hair tied back in a ponytail, he has a laid-back, goodhumoured air about him.

“Finding opal is 90 per cent luck, 10 per cent skill,”

he says, letting out a tobacco-ravaged laugh. “You can guarantee that where it’s supposed to be, it won’t be.”

This may go some way to explaining why several travellers passing through have hit the jackpot in recent years. A decade ago, for example, a group of four Brisbane uni students uncovered a gem worth more than $2,000 while waiting for their car to be fixed.

With a population of just 60 (that number swells to around 250 in winter), Yowah has only relatively recently obtained basic amenities such as electricity, phone lines and reticulated water.

Consequently, those who live here long term tend to be of an eccentric disposition. Many others come looking to strike it rich, but most only last a season. There’s a persistence to those who remain, and it’s not about the money so much as the enchanting landscape and laid-back lifestyle.

Shorten himself is still searching for the elusive Yowah Nut (the ironstone concretions containing valuable crystal), but in the meantime the freedom he enjoys is worth its weight in opal.

On the way back to Cunnamulla we make an unlikely stop-off. In the tiny settlement of Eulo, Ian and Nan Pike have established a boutique winery and spa facility quite unlike any other.

I’m led to an open-air, thatched, walled enclosure, where four freestanding bathtubs overlook acres of bush. Lanterns hang from trees and a burning log fireplace in the corner > J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

45

Outback Mates

completes the cosy ambience.

Already bemused, I’m further taken aback when my host pours fresh mud from a bucket into one of the tubs. This mud, it turns out, is thought to be more than 20,000 years old and is rich in potassium, magnesium and other health-promoting minerals. It’s far less viscous than you’d expect, and watching the sunset burn amber through the trees, a beer in hand, I’m soon assured this beats any exorbitantly priced five-star spa experience.

Though the baths may seem an extravagance in the Outback, the region is founded on the Great Artesian Basin, an underground freshwater source stretching more than 1.7 million square kilometres—nearly a quarter of the continent.

Without it, life in these remote regions could not be sustained.

I learn more about this at the Cunnamulla Fella Centre, where the Artesian Time Tunnel—the museum’s star attraction—chronicles the basin’s development throughout the past 100 million years.

Right outside the centre is an imposing bronze statue of an archetypal Aussie bush character. Created by sculptor Archie St. Clair and based on a drawing by artist Michael Nicholas, The Cunnamulla Fella is said to personify the larrikin Aussie spirit immortalised in song by Stan Coster and Slim Dusty.

At double life-size, it’s an eye-catching work and the town’s most iconic landmark.

In truth, though, Cunnamulla’s real trump card is its

46

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Outback Mates

Fast Fact

Cunnamulla is an Aboriginal word meaning “long stretch of water”.

proximity to the surrounding region. Nearby Bowra Station is a mecca for bird enthusiasts, containing more than 200 species, many of them threatened. Charlotte Plains offers the chance to tour an authentic sheep and cattle property, bathe in natural bore water and meet people who’ve led the outback life for generations.

If you’re keen to indulge your childhood Temple of Doom fantasies, head to Rocky Station, where a 70-metre swinging footbridge spans the flood plains of another working cattle property.

Back at the Club Boutique Hotel, Capewell is hosting a camp fire dinner. It’s a weekly occurrence here, with the old-timer showcasing his whip-handling skills amid a three-course roast dinner. “Tell you what,” he says, still breathless from having demonstrated he could probably whip a cigarette from my mouth while blindfolded. “I’ll make you a bet. If you can reach that table before my whip hits your backside, I’ll give you 10 dollars. If I catch you, then you owe me 20.”

I barely have time to come up with an excuse when the countdown begins. “One.” “Hang on, hang on!”

“Two.” Fighting the rising tide of panic, I can picture the welts already.

“Three!” ’

Round-up Get there Rex Airlines flies to Cunnamulla from Brisbane and Toowoomba on Wednesdays and Sundays.

13 17 13 rex.com.au

Stay Warrego Hotel Motel 9 Louise Street, Cunnamulla 1300 316 197 warregohotel.com.au

Explore Tours to Charlotte Plains, Artesian Mud Baths, Bowra Station and Rocky Station can be arranged through outthebackaustralia.com. au, (07) 4655 1679.

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

47

Six Outback Queensland Experiences From sensational stargazing to full-tilt stagecoach gallops, Outback Queensland is home to absolutely sterling, and sometimes unexpected, adventures.

WORDS: Sarah Hinder

48

O U T B A C K M AT E S

1

1 2

Outback Experiences

Touch of luxury in Julia Creek Let the calming waters of the Julia Creek Caravan Park Artesian Bath Houses carry your cares away. A total of eight baths are housed in four rainwater tank-style houses so you can either enjoy the experience as a couple or go solo. What better way to say sorry for the last 2000 kilometres together in the car or to celebrate an anniversary or birthday. Cheese platters and pamper packs are also available to add another layer of luxury to the baths with a view. atthecreek.com.au

Step back in time in Longreach Discover the thrills and traditions of pioneer life with the eclectic diversity of True Blue experiences in and around historic Longreach.

With Kinnon & Co’s Outback Pioneers, relax and be taken aboard an entirely organised Longreach Long Weekend, or create your own unique selection of experiences — from an open-top wildlife tour of historic Nogo Station, enjoying bush tucker and poetry under the stars, to a majestic sunset cruise aboard the charming Thomson Princess riverboat.

Truly unmissable is the Cobb & Co Stagecoach Experience, the only stagecoach gallop in Australia to authentically recreate our Aussie

pioneering past. Gallop full-tilt across the old Longreach–Windorah mail route, take a ‘smoko’ tea break), catch a classic bush movie in a retro cinema and experience a traditional tribute to the old travelling shows.

For an authentic experience on a working station, sign yourself up for a Nogo Station experience. Embrace the pioneering spirit on a safari-style, open-top overlander bus, and see where Captain Starlight branded his stolen cattle. Meet an inspiring shearer in the historic shearing sheds and visit the property's typical Queenslander homestead for a delicious homebaked treats. outbackpioneers.com.au

A U T U M N / W I N T E R 2 0 17 J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

49 49

3 Outback Experiences

4

50

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Birdsville Races

On the edge of the ethereal Simpson Desert, the small town of Birdsville comes alive each September with racegoers ready for two days of outback racing, glam and entertainment.

From humble beginnings in 1882, the Annual Birdsville Racing Carnival today encompasses a 13race program, alongside exceptional entertainment in and around the outback town.

Support of the Royal Flying Doctor Service at their annual Fun Run, witness the last boxing tent

Dinosaur Hotspots Outback Queensland is home to Australia’s Dinosaur Trail — a Jurassic adventure encompassing realistic replicas, sculptures and preserved fossils across the triangular trail of Winton, Richmond and Hughenden.

At Winton’s Australian Age of Dinosaurs, discover the world’s largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils and assisting in the fossil preparation process. In Richmond, marvel at Australia’s best-preserved dinosaur skeleton, named Penny, set among marine reptile fossils at Kronosaurus Korner. At Hughenden, quirky dinosaur sculptures adorn historic streets and public buildings, while Hughie, a terrific sevenmetre Muttaburrasaurus, is the star attraction of the extensive Flinders Discovery Centre. 70kms north of Hughenden is Porcupine Gorge National Park, which boasts towering sandstone cliffs and permanent waterholes.

The Australia’s Dinosaur Trail (ADT) Pass includes entry to all three towns’ museums and also gives you a tour of the world’s only recorded evidence of a dinosaur stampede, 110 kilometres south-west of Winton. australiasdinosaurtrail.com

showman in the world at Fred Brophy’s Boxing Troupe, experience the excitement of Fashions on the Field, and dress up to be welcomed in true country style at the Birdsville Races Cocktail Party — the most glamorous event of the week. Not to be missed is Tent City, a lively pop-up community built overnight before the races begin. It’s a popular choice as the races regularly book out all town accommodation a year in advance. birdsvilleraces.com

5

Outback Experiences

Stargazing in Charleville The uninterrupted illuminations of our night sky are something to behold. And with its minimal air and light pollution, flat surroundings for hundreds of kilometres and very few cloudy days, Charleville is a sensationally unique location for exploring our incredible Milky Way. As the roof is rolled back at Charleville Cosmos Centre and Observatory, and the powerful Meade telescopes are focused on what’s above, the night sky and cosmos are revealed, while specially trained guides share their knowledge on star clusters, planets, binary stars, nebulae and the solar system.

During the day, the learning and wonderment continues.

On a visit to the Stargazing Theatre, discover the explanation behind falling stars, the formation of the solar system, its five new dwarf planets, and even hold a meteorite in your hands. cosmoscentre.com

6

Rockin’ Rodeos of Outback Queensland Home to some of the best rodeos in Australia, Outback Queensland offers all the bull riding, steer wrestling, agricultural exhibits and live entertainment that the greatest rodeo buff could ask for.

The rodeo capital of Australia is undoubtedly Mount Isa, home to the biggest rodeo of the Southern Hemisphere. Events range from wild-horse racing and live music to a glitzy Rodeo Ball and Rodeo Queen Quest — all packed into four exciting days every August.

In April 2019, the annual Dirt n Dust festival celebrates 25 years since its inception, and there'll be non-stop dangerous drama on dirt as the PBR’s insanely brave cowboys risk it all against the monstrous bulls that can weigh as much as 1,000kg. ’ isarodeo.com.au, dirtndust.com

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

51

Campfire Cooking

Outback Camping Recipes Creativity goes a long way when planning homely meals for around the campfire.

Australian-style S’mores

A twist on the American classic, these Aussie S’mores are a welcome addition to any outback campfire.

• • •

McVitie’s Digestives biscuits Marshmallows Chocolate blocks (milk or dark)

1 Gather around a campfire.

2 Place Digestives biscuits bottom-side up and two pieces of chocolate on each.

3 Cook marshmallows over the campfire using sticks or skewers.

4 Place the browned marshmallows on top of the chocolate squares.

5 Create a S’mores sandwich by placing another Digestives biscuit on the marshmallows.

6 Squish together a little and wait 30–40 seconds for the warm marshmallows to melt the chocolate.

7 Enjoy immediately!

52

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Campfire Cooking

Breakfast Frittata (Serves 2–3) This easy and versatile recipe is perfect for a hearty breakfast to really fill you up and provide lasting energy for the day ahead.

• • • • • • •

• • • •

Olive oil 1 onion, chopped Garlic 1 potato, chopped Handful mushrooms, chopped 1 tomato, chopped Any other vegetables you’d like to add (optional) Generous handful baby spinach 6 eggs, beaten Grated cheese (optional) Herbs, salt and pepper

Traditional Australian Damper 1 Heat up a medium fry pan with oil.

2 Brown onion and garlic.

3 Add potato and cook until slightly softened.

4 Add mushrooms, tomato and any other vegetables.

Cook for around 5–10 minutes.

5 Add baby spinach.

6 Stir to ensure ingredients are evenly mixed around the pan.

7 Pour beaten eggs into pan and gently mix.

8 Allow to cook until almost hardened, then sprinkle grated cheese over (optional).

9 Cook until desired consistency and cut slices straight from the pan to enjoy.

There’s nothing quite like warm, freshly made bread, and this Aussie favourite, traditionally made by swagmen, drovers and stockmen, is just the recipe for your outback campsite.

• 450g self-raising flour (plus extra for dusting) • Pinch of salt • 1 teaspoon caster sugar • 80 grams butter, chilled • 180ml milk (or water as alternative) • Butter or golden syrup 1 Mix the flour, salt and sugar together into a bowl.

2 Rub butter into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like fine

breadcrumbs.

3 Add milk slowly while mixing to form a soft dough.

4 Knead lightly on a floured board until smooth.

Shape into a round loaf, brush with milk and cut a cross in the top surface of the dough.

5 Grease tin foil and dust with flour. Add bread dough and wrap it.

6 Place on the coals of fire or BBQ and bake for around 30 minutes.

7 Tap on the loaf to test if it’s cooked. When done it should sound hollow.

8 Cut into moderately thick slices and serve warm.

Top with butter or golden syrup.

Savoury French Toast (Serves 4) This simple take on the classic makes for a quick light breakfast, dinner or snack.

• 5 eggs • 3 tablespoons half-andhalf (or milk) • 1 teaspoon salt • 2 teaspoons black pepper • 11/2 tablespoons green onions, finely chopped (optional) • 11/2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped (optional) • Olive oil • 1–2 tablespoons butter (optional) • 8 slices day-old bread or loaf cut diagonally (country or pullman loaf work well) • Tomato or sriracha sauce

1 In a bowl beat together eggs, half-and-half, salt, pepper, green onions and cilantro.

2 Heat oil in a medium pan and add butter for taste.

3 Dip both sides of bread into the egg batter, drain off any excess and place straight into the pan.

Fry for 2–3 minutes each side or until goldenbrown and crispier than traditional French toast.

Place cooked toasts on a paper towel-lined plate.

4 Serve toasts with tomato sauce or sriracha to taste.

AUTUMN /W I NDT E C R 2 0 18 JU LY–

53

Cool Down

Get Wet in Outback Queensland Refreshing swimming spots aren’t the first things to come to mind when you imagine the sweltering outback. And yet, this red, rugged land is scattered with lakes, waterholes and waterfalls worth a stop-by on any visit to Queensland’s backcountry. Here are some of the best spots to cool off in Outback Queensland.

WORDS: Sarah Hinder

Lawn Hill Creek, Boodjamulla National Park A nature lover’s dream, Lawn Hill Creek winds its way through the red sandstone ranges and cliff gorges of Boodjamulla National Park. With cascading waterfalls, including the beautiful Indarri Falls blanketed in vegetation, it’s paradise for kayakers and those wanting to share a dip with turtles, barramundi and archerfish.

Duwadarri Waterhole, shrouded by purple waterlilies, is a favourite spot for campers to set off for the day’s hike or canoe around the gorge. Be sure to keep an eye out for the area’s 140 bird species.

54

O U T B A C K M AT E S

Cool Down

Lake Fred Tritton, Richmond

Purpose-built as a water sports recreational area, Lake Fred Tritton is the perfect destination for a family getaway, with its sandy beaches, playgrounds, barbecue areas, waterpark and camping facilities. As well as swimming, canoeing and waterskiing, the lake is fit for fishing, stocked with more than 18 species, including redclaw yabbies and barramundi.

Birdsville Billabong, Birdsville

A breathtaking spot to view the outback sunset, Birdsville Billabong is a favourite among locals and visitors alike. Right on the edge of town, the river plays host to kayakers, swimmers, fishermen and avid birdwatchers all year round. Across the water is Pelican Point, a popular peninsula with great views of the billabong and its teeming wildlife.

Cooper Creek, Windorah

Steeped in history, Cooper Creek is famous for being the original burial site of Burke and Wills. On the return of their pioneering expedition between Melbourne and the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1861, it was here that the Australian explorers wound up stranded without enough supplies. A reminder of our nation’s pioneering efforts through uncharted land, the area is best experienced through camping. Aside from its rich history, it’s also a great spot for fishing, canoeing and campfires.

Combo Waterhole, Kynuna

The billabong from Australia’s most well-known bush ballad, Banjo Paterson’s Waltzing Matilda, is home to an incredible mix of bird species, including colourful kingfishers, rainbow bee-eaters, longlegged pratincoles and tiny weebills. A self-guided track outlines the billabong so visitors can relive the story of the jolly swagman whose “ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong.” ’

J U LY– D E C 2 0 18

55

Quiz + Did You Know?

1. What is the population of the town of Cheepie? a) 1 b) 20 c) 200 DID YOU KNOW? Cheepie formed when the railway first came through in 1914, and gradually grew to have a railway station, butcher shop, police station, blacksmith and bakery, as well as tent boarding houses and two vegetable gardens.

2. Where did the first flying doctor leave from?

3. In which movie did McKinlay’s Walkabout Creek Hotel star? a) Priscilla Queen of the Desert b) Wolf Creek c) Crocodile Dundee DID YOU KNOW? Last year, the owners of Walkabout Creek Hotel declared their pub a phone-free zone; the only kind of communication permitted is verbal.

4. Cunamulla has the largest population of which animals in Outback Queensland?

QUIZ+ did you know 56

O U T B A C K M AT E S

a) Kangaroos and wallabies b) Koalas and platypus c) Wombats and echidnas DID YOU KNOW? Cunnamulla is one of only four towns in Paroo Shire, which covers more than 47,000 square km — that’s around 11,750 square km per town. The City of Sydney only covers 25 square km.

5. What is Eromanga’s claim to fame? a) It has the longest beach in Queensland b) It is the furthest Australian city from the coast c) It has a red-sand beach DID YOU KNOW? The largest dinosaur fossil in Australia was discovered in Eromanga.

6. Toompine is known as… a) “The town with no pub” b) “The pub with no beer” c) “The pub with no town” DID YOU KNOW? Toompine is in opal country, and you can go fossicking for these gems at nearby mines.

7. What would you find at the Flinders Discovery Centre in Hughenden? a) A seven-centimetre-long fossil believed to be the oldest in Australia b) A seven-metre tall Muttaburrasaurus dinosaur c) A seven-kilogram fossilised wombat DID YOU KNOW? Hughenden is situated on the edge of a prehistoric inland sea and is surrounded by mountainous volcanic basalt country and black soil plains.

8. What type of tree was the original Tree of Knowledge in Barcauldine? a) Acacia Wattle b) Weeping Willow c) Ghost Gum DID YOU KNOW? As well as being the headquarters for the first Australian shearers’ strike in 1891, Barcaldine is home to the Tree of Knowledge and it’s the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party.

Correct answers: 1a, 2b, 3c, 4a, 5b, 6c, 7b, 8c

a) Burpengary b) Cloncurry c) Chinchilla DID YOU KNOW? The first scheduled Qantas mail and passenger flight in 1922 operated between Cloncurry and Charleville.

The Aboriginal Artists Project combines the fashion accessory designs of Catherine Manuell with the artworks of many wonderful women artists from remote Australian communities. Shown here is the Bush Yams artwork by Evelyn Pultara from the Utopia region of Central Australia. A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of these products goes directly to the artists.

Call us on 03 9486 4066 for help or a little personal service, or email: info@catherinemanuelldesign.com

www.catherinemanuelldesign.com

FROM SUNRISE TO SUNSET, EXPLORE THE SUNSHINE STATE WITH

FLYING TO 24 DESTINATIONS THROUGHOUT QUEENSLAND