CUNNAMULLA
Another cloudless day - picture perfect. After breakfast, I finished off my sightseeing in Cunnamulla. Near the Civic Centre is the Information Centre, which includes an art gallery, and exhibit explaining the Great Artesian Basin, and a large collection of local historic memorabilia. Spent over an hour wandering through it all. Then took a final drive around the town centre, and headed east towards St George.
BOLLON
177km east of Cunnamulla is the little town of Bollon (population 350) that straddles the Balonne Highway. Wallam Creek skirts the town, and they have a nice rest area/park along its banks. As with all these townships, they have a well-kept war memorial that is still sporting the Anzac Day wreaths. A pub, Catholic church, stock agents, garage and cafe just about exhaust the town sights. Had lunch (pie and milk) at Deb's Cafe, an ancient shed that had plenty of space to spare.
Photos here
DIRRANBANDI
A few km out of Bollon, the road to Dirranbandi cuts off to the south. 105km, most of it is red soil gravel. I locked the 4WD in for the first time on the trip, and was able to maintain a comfortable 80-90 kph most of the way. Mercifully I didn't meet a single vehicle coming in the opposite direction, so no problem with dust. Though looking at the car tonight it is obvious I have been off the bitumen.
The town's name means "Frogs Croaking in a Swamp at Night". The population is 750, and the town is just on 600km from Brisbane by road. The Balonne Minor river runs past the town, and there is a very nice park and swimming area next to it. Again, it is a typical small town: pub, local Council Offices, fuel depot, general store, information centre, a couple of other stores, post office and 4 streets of homes. No bank. A nice looking State School, and a Catholic church. There used to be a convent school, but it has been sold and is now used as a hostel and caravan park. Lots of trees in the streets make the place even more attractive.
Photos here
ST GEORGE
The Castlereagh Highway runs north from Dirranbandi to St George, a trip of 97km on sealed road. Along the stretch the countryside began to open out: large tracts of cleared land for grazing cattle and sheep, some cotton farming, and other agriculture gave variety to the scenery. After days of driving through endless scrub with nothing to see but emus and crows, it was a pleasant change. Booked into motel, and headed down to the local RSL for dinner. This is easily the largest RSL clubhouse I have seen on my journey. I am sure it has been added to and modernised since the time when Uncle Doug Risson managed to club. Tomorrow I will see if there are any historic photos there that I can get a look at. For now, a good sleep after 380km driving today.
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