Quilpie, the world's largest producer of boulder opal, is situated on the Bulloo river. When I arrived it was stinking hot, and while my plan had been to free camp beside the river, when I checked it out l just didn't feel comfortable....no other campers, lots of wind and dust, and close to the Diamantina Development Road which was bound to be noisy. The easiest option was the caravan park in town. For $30 I got myself a drive-through site with power. Yay - air conditioning! At dusk James and I wandered across to the nearby bowling club where a tournament was being conducted, plonked ourselves in the midst of the merry drinkers and enjoyed a Pinot Gris. Next morning we had a long walk around town. Unlike some towns I had visited in the previous few weeks, it seemed to me that the residents of Quilpie had a strong sense of pride. Houses and gardens were obviously cared for, despite the dust and drought, and the sports precinct was green and lush. A lot of effort had also gone into the main street to make it attractive. I liked the place.
It was Sunday, NRL grand final day. Not my game - being a Victorian AFL is my footy code, but a grand final needs to be watched in company and the logical place for that to occur is a pub. Eulo, me thinks! It's where I'm heading and I can camp at the back of the pub. The 233 km drive was easy at 80 kmph, even though the road was remote and narrow. I didn't see a single other vehicle in nearly four hours. We arrived at Eulo late Sunday afternoon and despite the temperature hovering a tad below forty degrees I opted for the $10 unpowered site. I figured I would be in the pub for the evening so wouldn't use power anyway.
And that's how it played out. James ingratiated himself to Col, the publican (along with every other person who came into the bar) and I settled into a cold glass of bubbles. The bar filled up towards 6pm and I had a bloody good night with staff, locals and other visitors.
While I was originally planning just one night at Eulo, bar conversations (and subsequent research) led to me to take a 500 metre walk next morning to the Artesian Mud Baths. Ian, the owner, gave me the grand tour accompanied by his patter, and I was sold. I booked in at 4pm that afternoon. It would not have been nice driving anyway, a crosswind forecast of 50 kmph. And man did it blow! I had been hoping to do a couple of loads of washing given my pile of 25 undies was down to just 3, but the red dust in the air would have made the drying process a counterproductive exercise. After lunch in the pub and a tour of the town with Col in his truck, James and I were dropped at the Artesian Mud Baths where I enjoyed a couple of hours in a cool bath sipping on a beer (it was over 40 degrees). It was delightful, relaxing, rejuvenating and well worth $70. By the time I got back to the pub the wind had dropped so I did two loads of washing and it was dry by the time I went to bed.
EULO PUB is a good stopover with powered ($30) and unpowered sites ($10). There's plenty of room and drive through sites with concrete pads in the gravel area at the back of the pub. The amenities are nice and clean, there's a dump point nearby, the pub meals are excellent, Col and his staff very welcoming and, of course, you can have a mud bath! There's a big airstrip so you could fly in and stay in one of the cabins I rate it 4.5
My plan for the previous couple of weeks had been to head to Lightning Ridge. It's amazing however, how conversations with locals and fellow travelers often result in a change. In this case I made a decision to back track a bit and go west instead of east. Lightning Ridge could wait a week or two. Tuesday morning we headed down the Adventure Way to the very outback town of Thargomindah in the southwest corner of Queensland. That 127 km was the easy bit. From there it was a left turn to head south for close to 90 km along the mostly unsealed and pretty rough Dowling Track. No other cars, no phone signal, ruts, rocks and dust. Mmmm, I thought, is this a good idea? I crawled along and hours later arrived at Kilcowera Station.
Kilcowera Station is a very popular station-stay property and an organic working cattle station although at the moment it has one bull and thirty-five cows. The drought has reduced the normal 2000 head to bugger all, and without rain the future looks bleak. Owner Toni Sherwin greeted me at her house and guided me to one of the camping areas, the grassy area around the old shearer's quarters. It was like a private oasis in the desert - acres of artesian-watered green grass - and I was the only visitor!
I spent three nights at Kilcowera. It was an amazing experience. Toni's husband, Greg, was away for a few days so it was just the two of us. We spent a lot of time together and I had the opportunity to experience life on a 200,000 acre drought stricken remote outback property first hand. James and I did a 60 km, six hour circuit drive to one boundary taking in the rough and varied terrain, views, mostly empty water courses, bores, caves, struggling mulga scrub and wildlife. I also checked out one of the two airstrips and Toni's Gazelle aircraft that she uses for mustering. Lots of groups fly in and are accommodated in the shearer's quarters.
KILCOWERA STATION is not a free camp. There are a variety of tariffs. I paid $30 per night for unpowered. I would highly recommend it. It would be a stunning place to stay a while when there is water cos there are lots and lots of streams, lagoons and dams. It would be great to camp at the lagoon when its full.
Toni invited me to go out with her to check the water for the remaining cattle next morning. They were on her adjacent property, Zenoni. It was fantastic. Toni used her ute to round up the bull and drive it into another paddock, she fed the yabbies in one of the remaining dams chicken pellets and she showed me the Dog Fence . That fence is a continuous structure of 5,614 km stretching from the Eyre Peninsula on the South Australian coast to Jimbour, near Dalby in Queensland. A staff of 21 employees inspect and maintain it. It's really solid and taller than I expected.
Friday morning James and I said our goodbyes to Toni and after backtracking on the dirt road we headed further West into greater remoteness. Our destination for the weekend was Noccundra. The annual Noccundra Campdraft and Rodeo was being held a couple of hundred kilometers away and I thought it might be fun. I expected Noccundra to be a town, but it's actually just a pub, a waterhole and down the road in a vast expanse of flat red dirt absolutely covered in burrs, a showground. No phone coverage either, bugger. I'd had very sporadic reception at Kilcowera so hadn't checked in with family assuming I could do so at Noccundra. Luckily there was a phone box so I was able to make contact. I drove straight to the showground but decided the waterhole was a better overnight option. It was actually really nice and there were a hand full of other campers there as well. Late in the afternoon James and I wandered over to the pub where surprisingly I was able to buy a piccolo of Henkel Trocken - nice - and make my calls.
NOCCUNDRA WATERHOLE is an excellent free camp. Even in this drought there is plenty of water and apparently lots of Yellow Belly! It has many, many flat, shady spots along the bank and is very pretty. It's a short walk to the pub and toilets. I rate it 4
Saturday we went out to the rodeo. James refused to get out of the car. There were horses galloping all around us in preparation for their events, dogs barking (scary for James) and, of course, the burrs. They stuck to absolutely everything. I did enjoy the rodeo and we did stay the night out there, but given James refused to even have a wee I left at first light on Sunday and went back to the waterhole. James was very keen to get out of the car then!
It was Sunday, NRL grand final day. Not my game - being a Victorian AFL is my footy code, but a grand final needs to be watched in company and the logical place for that to occur is a pub. Eulo, me thinks! It's where I'm heading and I can camp at the back of the pub. The 233 km drive was easy at 80 kmph, even though the road was remote and narrow. I didn't see a single other vehicle in nearly four hours. We arrived at Eulo late Sunday afternoon and despite the temperature hovering a tad below forty degrees I opted for the $10 unpowered site. I figured I would be in the pub for the evening so wouldn't use power anyway.
And that's how it played out. James ingratiated himself to Col, the publican (along with every other person who came into the bar) and I settled into a cold glass of bubbles. The bar filled up towards 6pm and I had a bloody good night with staff, locals and other visitors.
While I was originally planning just one night at Eulo, bar conversations (and subsequent research) led to me to take a 500 metre walk next morning to the Artesian Mud Baths. Ian, the owner, gave me the grand tour accompanied by his patter, and I was sold. I booked in at 4pm that afternoon. It would not have been nice driving anyway, a crosswind forecast of 50 kmph. And man did it blow! I had been hoping to do a couple of loads of washing given my pile of 25 undies was down to just 3, but the red dust in the air would have made the drying process a counterproductive exercise. After lunch in the pub and a tour of the town with Col in his truck, James and I were dropped at the Artesian Mud Baths where I enjoyed a couple of hours in a cool bath sipping on a beer (it was over 40 degrees). It was delightful, relaxing, rejuvenating and well worth $70. By the time I got back to the pub the wind had dropped so I did two loads of washing and it was dry by the time I went to bed.
EULO PUB is a good stopover with powered ($30) and unpowered sites ($10). There's plenty of room and drive through sites with concrete pads in the gravel area at the back of the pub. The amenities are nice and clean, there's a dump point nearby, the pub meals are excellent, Col and his staff very welcoming and, of course, you can have a mud bath! There's a big airstrip so you could fly in and stay in one of the cabins I rate it 4.5
My plan for the previous couple of weeks had been to head to Lightning Ridge. It's amazing however, how conversations with locals and fellow travelers often result in a change. In this case I made a decision to back track a bit and go west instead of east. Lightning Ridge could wait a week or two. Tuesday morning we headed down the Adventure Way to the very outback town of Thargomindah in the southwest corner of Queensland. That 127 km was the easy bit. From there it was a left turn to head south for close to 90 km along the mostly unsealed and pretty rough Dowling Track. No other cars, no phone signal, ruts, rocks and dust. Mmmm, I thought, is this a good idea? I crawled along and hours later arrived at Kilcowera Station.
Kilcowera Station is a very popular station-stay property and an organic working cattle station although at the moment it has one bull and thirty-five cows. The drought has reduced the normal 2000 head to bugger all, and without rain the future looks bleak. Owner Toni Sherwin greeted me at her house and guided me to one of the camping areas, the grassy area around the old shearer's quarters. It was like a private oasis in the desert - acres of artesian-watered green grass - and I was the only visitor!
I spent three nights at Kilcowera. It was an amazing experience. Toni's husband, Greg, was away for a few days so it was just the two of us. We spent a lot of time together and I had the opportunity to experience life on a 200,000 acre drought stricken remote outback property first hand. James and I did a 60 km, six hour circuit drive to one boundary taking in the rough and varied terrain, views, mostly empty water courses, bores, caves, struggling mulga scrub and wildlife. I also checked out one of the two airstrips and Toni's Gazelle aircraft that she uses for mustering. Lots of groups fly in and are accommodated in the shearer's quarters.
KILCOWERA STATION is not a free camp. There are a variety of tariffs. I paid $30 per night for unpowered. I would highly recommend it. It would be a stunning place to stay a while when there is water cos there are lots and lots of streams, lagoons and dams. It would be great to camp at the lagoon when its full.
Toni invited me to go out with her to check the water for the remaining cattle next morning. They were on her adjacent property, Zenoni. It was fantastic. Toni used her ute to round up the bull and drive it into another paddock, she fed the yabbies in one of the remaining dams chicken pellets and she showed me the Dog Fence . That fence is a continuous structure of 5,614 km stretching from the Eyre Peninsula on the South Australian coast to Jimbour, near Dalby in Queensland. A staff of 21 employees inspect and maintain it. It's really solid and taller than I expected.
Friday morning James and I said our goodbyes to Toni and after backtracking on the dirt road we headed further West into greater remoteness. Our destination for the weekend was Noccundra. The annual Noccundra Campdraft and Rodeo was being held a couple of hundred kilometers away and I thought it might be fun. I expected Noccundra to be a town, but it's actually just a pub, a waterhole and down the road in a vast expanse of flat red dirt absolutely covered in burrs, a showground. No phone coverage either, bugger. I'd had very sporadic reception at Kilcowera so hadn't checked in with family assuming I could do so at Noccundra. Luckily there was a phone box so I was able to make contact. I drove straight to the showground but decided the waterhole was a better overnight option. It was actually really nice and there were a hand full of other campers there as well. Late in the afternoon James and I wandered over to the pub where surprisingly I was able to buy a piccolo of Henkel Trocken - nice - and make my calls.
NOCCUNDRA WATERHOLE is an excellent free camp. Even in this drought there is plenty of water and apparently lots of Yellow Belly! It has many, many flat, shady spots along the bank and is very pretty. It's a short walk to the pub and toilets. I rate it 4
Saturday we went out to the rodeo. James refused to get out of the car. There were horses galloping all around us in preparation for their events, dogs barking (scary for James) and, of course, the burrs. They stuck to absolutely everything. I did enjoy the rodeo and we did stay the night out there, but given James refused to even have a wee I left at first light on Sunday and went back to the waterhole. James was very keen to get out of the car then!
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