24 August 2019
The title of this Log is an oblique reference to our experiences over the past week.
We have left the wide open spaces of the more distant country and are now in what seems to be suburban by comparison. We are still a long way from home but the towns are bigger, the road trains have vanished, the farms are closer and the traffic is heavier. When I say the traffic is heavier I can now see a car way out in front of me and a vehicle might pass me every few minutes. Its practically peak hour out here. The Brahman cattle are no more and the paddocks are more likely stocked with Hereford and Angus animals.
We made a brief stop at the Nindigully Pub. This is Queensland’s oldest licenced pub. It was first licenced in 1864, servicing Cobb and Co stage coaches and accommodating their passengers. The pub has pretty much remained untouched since that time. As you walk along the verandah you can almost hear the conversations of the drovers, shearers, farm workers and station managers that must have enjoyed a cold beer at this pub.
From Nindigully we reached Narrabri and visited the Australian telescope. From pubs that serviced stage coaches we are now looking at radio telescopes that are looking at galaxies on the other side of our own Milky Way some 50,000 light years away. In a 100 years we have gone from stage coaches to radio telescopes analysing the universe. Blows my mind.
After the satellite dishes we explored Mt Kaputar an ancient volcano. Now this volcano was busy for 4 million years but stopped 17 million years ago, well before it was able to interfere with aircraft timetables. Now 17 million years might seem a long time ago but to keep things in perspective the dinosaur footprints we saw in Winton were laid down 74 million years before the volcano even thought of spewing out lava.
We visited the town of Gunnedah which claims to host the biggest agriculture field day in Australia. It is amazing with some 28 km of avenues to explore. Again the technology changes in farming over the past 100 years is staggering. Of course with such a drought I don’t think there were too many sales happening.
Speaking of the drought we discovered that with no rain there are no trains. The railways are empty. A curious relationship but with no rain there is no grain and hence no trains to haul the grain.
Our final excursion before our return home was to the Western Plains Zoo. Who doesn’t enjoy watching meerkats, lions, tigers, rhinos (fat unicorns) and elephants. A great day with lots of walking.
Tomorrow we head home for the obligatory unpacking, repairs (windscreen) and all the jobs that have been on hold for the past 8 weeks. The next travel log will be from more exotic locations in a couple of months time.
A Traveller's Tale 