2021 - CQ Loop

Day 17. 26 June 2021 Biloela - Nagoorin 140 Km  (End of the 1st leg of our QLD trip) With steady rain the previous day and all night, I was glad we decided to stay overnight in Biloela. The QLD Heritage Park has large drive through sites, is close to town, and with free access to the heritage displays, is very reasonably priced, but the facilities although clean could do with some revitalisation. Because of the steady rain, we didn’t see any of Biloela or the surrounding area. We will leave that for another day when passing through again, hopefully in better weather.  We left Biloela at 0900 and after two hours driving through some narrow, winding roads towards Gladstone then down the Boyne Valley, we arrived at my brother’s property at Nagoorin where the rain continued to fall all night. It was great to catch up with family again, sitting undercover near a warm fire well into the night. The following day (Sun 27 Jun), we cleaned the van inside and outside, packed some essenti...

Day 16. 25 June 2021 Miles to Biloela 330 Km We woke to light rain this morning and it continued raining all day, the first full day of rain we have had since day one of our trip. We had planned to stop in Taroom and Theodore for a look around on the way, but there wasn't anything that stood out as being worthwhile getting wet to see, so we continued to Biloela. After 330km driving in the rain with some near misses with kami-kazi kangaroos and lots of oncoming heavy transport on some rough roads, I didn't feel up to driving the extra 140km to my brother's home in Nagoorin - our destination for this leg of our trip. We decided to stay at the Queensland Heritage Park on the outskirts of Biloela which has large drive through caravan sites with power and water, and plenty of open space for a very reasonable $15 per night. After setting up, and a quick wander around another Heritage Park with loads of old stuff, we headed into town for a coffee and to refuel. Tomorrow we aim to ...

Day 15. 24 June 2021 Roma to Miles 145 Km Our warmest start to a day at 10 deg, overcast and reached a comfortable 20 deg. This morning we left Roma for a short drive along the Warego Highway to our next overnight stop at Miles. Roma didn't impress us much to start with, maybe because of our experience at the Big Rig Caravan Park, but after three days Noeleene and I both agree it had grown on us, and we ended up enjoying Roma. This was probably helped by some of the wonderful people we met here. On our way to Miles we stopped at Yuleba, the town at the end of Cobb & Co run from Sur at, t he  last one  being in August  1924.  T here isn't much to see or do in this small town, but if ever passing through, it is worth a stop at least to look at the war memoria l comprising  two black granite blocks with beautiful laser etched artwork and inscriptions. There are also a couple of nice murals in the main street depicting the town's Cobb & Co and farming ties. ...

Day 14. 23 June 2021 Roma I went for an early morning wander back through time along Roma's Historic Walk discovering some lovely old buildings and along the Avenue of Heroes.  After breakfast back at the van, Noeleene and I walked the short distance to the Big Rig Information Centre for a self guided tour to learn about the history of oil and gas exploration in the region. Before we started, we sat and had morning tea in the warm sunshine outside the information centre, and started talking with two elderly locals, one of whom looked very familiar. After chatting for about 20 minutes, I realised it was Jim (without his Akubra), the same man who took me around the Cattle Sales yesterday. Having lived in the area for 80 years, he was keen to chat with us strangers and share more of his experience and knowledge of cattle farming, gas and water in the region. It's been a highlight of our trip meeting and chatting with locals. It's so uplifting.   The afternoon included another ...

Day 13. 22 June 2021 Roma The highlight of the day was an early morning visit to the Roma Cattle Saleyards for a  free guided tour -  Noeleene opted to not to join.  The Saleyard is the largest livestock selling centre in Australia, and  the number of visitors lined up at the entrance highlighted its popularity. Local retired graziers offer their time to take small group tours, passing on their wealth of knowledge and information about the local area and the cattle industry - it was very informative. Watching the auctioneers show their fast-paced skills was also fascinating.  Today there were 4855 cattle booked in for auction, some transported from as far away as the Northern Territory. This is a highly recommended activity if ever in Roma, even if you have no real interest in cattle.   After my visit to the saleyards, I headed to St Paul's Anglican Church to check out its stunning leadlight and stained glass windows. The original church was ...