July 10

We had a good run to Cunnamulla and arrived here at mid-day. Along the way we had a stop at Barringun (right on the border) to photograph the pub which was the Cobb & Co changeover in the old days. We also paid a visit to the Bush Tucker Inn – walked in and asked for a coffee only to be told, “Help yourself! Unless you want cappuccino.” So we did – to repay ‘mine host’ we bought some carrot cake to go with the coffee. The Bush Tucker Inn was one of those typical outback places with lots of character and was also a hit with the truckies, going by the photos of the drivers and their rigs on the wall.

There was lots of road-hill on the way up – apart from the usual kangaroos we spotted a couple of cattle and even a wild pig. Some serious damage would have been done to those vehicles, although in all probability the culprit was a truck.

The road on the Queensland side of the border must have been built by dole-workers. Instead of the pipes going under the road, the road goes over the pipes! As a result sections of the highway are like travelling on a roller coaster – you certainly need to make sure everything is securely packed. The van did a lot of bouncing around!

The caravan park in Cunnamulla is quite OK – we were told by a traveller in Bourke, “I wouldn’t stay in Cunnamulla if you paid me – everything’s behind bars.” I really don’t know what town she was thinking of as the shops here are nowhere near as protected as in Bourke. No roller shutters at all! Cunnamulla is only a small town (about 1 500 people) but the visitors centre is excellent. They’ve just installed an Artesian Time Tunnel to inform people about the artesian basin. They also have a terrific model of a shearing shed and shearers’ quarters made by a local retiree. For a small town I’ve seen 3 pubs so far!

The park looks like being FULL, so again we’re pleased we got here early. The proprietor was only too happy to take some of our frozen stuff and put in her freezer as I want to use the car fridge as a fridge tomorrow when we go down to Currawinya National Park and Hungerford. We still have a few things which won’t fit in the freezer in the van.

I’ve got to say I admire the people who live in these outback places – even with modern communication it would still get to be pretty isolated and lonely. Some of the properties are huge and a long way apart. The other really noticeable thing is the openness and friendliness of the locals you meet. While waiting to fill up with petrol a young bloke ahead of me had a 200 L drum on a trailer being filled and quite happily told me almost his life story while we waited. The people are just so different from those you meet in the city, it’s a real pleasure to be here!