The town is 540 km west of Brisbane by road, and has a population of 1300. Very loyal drinkers here, because 4 of the 5 pubs in town are still trading.
The motel was very comfortable, and had a good dining room attached. As it turned out, it also had a generator -- because the city blacked out at about 8 pm. Was told that this is a common occurrence, causes never revealed. We were only without power at the motel for a couple of minutes: I don't know how long the rest of town was in the dark.
Had a good wander around the town. It is on the banks of the Maranoa River which can flood seriously. There is a weir just out of town with nice parkland and camping reserve.
The little original courthouse is now a memorial to Queensland's last bushrangers: the Kenniff brothers. They were cattle thieves, and were eventually captured on suspicion of murdering a police officer. They were committed to stand trial here in Mitchell, and after a very dodgy trial in Brisbane sentenced to hang. One did, the other eventually received a royal pardon, which casts much suspicion on the fairness of heir trial.
The town's old cinema is a very substantial building that now serves as library and art gallery. They have preserved the projection room as an historical display.
MORVEN
Taking the Warrego Highway west for 90 km brings one to the town of Morven. It is just a whistle stop on the western train route. The highway is in good shape, and mostly 110 kph speed limit. But the level of roadkill is notable: a dead animal of some sort (roos, wild pigs, wombats, birds) every few hundred metres. Night driving out here must be very hazardous. Lots of hawks to be seen. I can only ever remember seeing one or two circling in the sky before. Here there were flocks of them, wheeling above the trees or taking flight from where they had been feeding on roadkill.
I refueled at Morven and was pleased to find that fuel consumption of the Nissan has even improved. Am getting 11km per litre overall.
Morven was originally known as Saddlers Waterhole: and the billabong is still to be seen behind the main street. Complete with a warning sign not to drink or swim. Saw a gaggle of geese on the edge of the waterhole, so stopped and walked over to photograph them. They objected and I had to run for the car with the geese in hot pursuit. Probably the most exciting thing that happened in Morven all week!
AUGATHELLA
Another dog's leg away from the Warrgeo Highway. 90km north-west of Morven is Augathella. A neat little town with a population just under 600. It is on the Landsborough Highway that travels through to Mt Isa. It started out as a bullocky camp.
Another dog's leg away from the Warrgeo Highway. 90km north-west of Morven is Augathella. A neat little town with a population just under 600. It is on the Landsborough Highway that travels through to Mt Isa. It started out as a bullocky camp.
The town is on the banks of the Warrego River that rises near Tambo and flows to join he Darling near Bourke NSW. It picks up 37 tributaries along the way, and so in wet times is prone to flood severely. The town here has a levee along the bank to alleviate danger from flooding. Next to the levee is a nice little park dedicated to the meat ant !! ( and also the local footy team known as the meat-ants).
The original name for the town was Ellangowan, which is still the name of the pub there. The Catholic church has an illuminated cross on it. Interestingly it was donated by the local Junior Rugby League in memory of a priest who did much for the town.
CHARLEVILLE
A drive of 90km south-west brought me to Charleville. This larger town is 720km west of Brisbane by road. But my meanderings have taken me 1217km to get here. I am staying at the Waltzing Matilda Motel in the centre of town for 2 nights: tomorrow (Sunday) will be a lay day, with time for R&R in Charleville.
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