Roma to Home

Roma Courthouse

We left Morven on a cooler day with a gale pushing us eastward.  We passed through the small township named Mitchell, bypassing a chance to swim in the 'hot' artesian waters.  We stopped at Roma for the night.  This town of 8,000 people lies near the flood plain of the Bungil Creek and the Maranoa River, both of which are headwaters of the Murray/Darling River system. 

Bungil Creek

 Roma also has links to the Australian Classic, ‘Robbery Under Arms’.  The theme of this story was based on the exploits of Harry Redford, who in the 1870’s appropriated 1000 head of cattle and with his companions drove them towards South Australia.  After being charged with this crime, Redford was brought to trial in the Roma Courthouse and in controversial circumstances was found ‘Not Guilty’.  The courthouse is still in use today and is a very striking building.

St Paul's Church, Roma

Interior of St Paul's

Two of Windows at St Paul's

While in Roma we also visited St Paul’s Anglican Church.  Dating back to 1876, many of St Paul’s windows were shipped here from England.  The stained glass windows were very impressive and the architecture of the church was very reminiscent of several churches we had seen in England, complete with vaulted ceilings and bell tower.

Bottle Tree

Another noticeable feature of Roma is the bottle trees.  These trees are Australian natives and are not boabs.  These trees line most of the streets and there is also an Avenue of Heroes, which recognises the 140 servicemen from this district who lost their lives in the First World War.  

The Driller

 We also visited The Big Rig which has information and displays about the oil and gas industry in the district.  Did you know that in 1908 there was a huge fire which occurred when they were drilling for water, but found gas instead, which was immediately ignited by a fire from the steam boiler that was driving the drill.  It took a team of experts many months to put out the flames and the railway even ran special trains to the town, so people could view the flames.

The Big Drill

In the grounds outside the rig was the Lenroy Slab Hut which was built from white cypress pine, which grows naturally in the region.  It was found to be ideal for houses because of its high resistance to termites, borers and decay.  Probably one of the reasons that this hut, built in 1893, is still in good condition today.  Once again I had no idea how this three room cottage housed a couple and their nine children!

Interior of Hut

Slab Hut

Rivited Iron "Floodboat"

Mark was also interested in the metal ‘Floodboat’ which were used in the past to ferry towns folk across the many flooded creeks during the wet season.  It was constructed of narrow strips of riveted iron sheeting – light and obviously strong.  The council had a fleet of these boats which ferried humans and animals alike to safety.





From Roma we detoured southwards towards Surat because Mark’s mother’s side of the family came from this area and he has very fond memories and was interested in seeing what has changed over the years.  The countryside is ideal for grazing and we passed many properties carrying cattle and sheep.  This is also a grain growing area and we frequently passed road trains carrying grain or cattle. 

Balonne River

14 Seater Coach

Surat Town Hall

Surat is situated on the Balonne River and it was here that Mark’s mum first started school.  It is also the place from where the last Cobb & Co Coach departed on its journey between Surat and Yuleba.  The Cobb & Co Changing Station and Store now houses displays depicting the lifestyles of yesteryear, including a 14 seater Cobb & Co Coach.  This coach would have been drawn by a team of seven horses – three at the front and four at the rear.  It must have been a very interesting journey in those days, probably nearly as bumpy as the journey today.  Really the roads are terrible!  The good news is that they are doing roadwork on this particular road at present.

'End of the Line' Station

Grevillea 'Robyn Gordon'

We also stopped at Glenmorgan’s historic Railway Siding, aptly named the 'End of the Line'.  The government in their wisdom had once planned and started a railway line from Warwick to Surat, however it only reached Glenmorgan before being discontinued.  This area is where the Robyn Gordon, Sandra Gordon and Merinda Gordon Grevilleas were grafted in the Myall Park Botanic Gardens by its founder David Gordon.  We travelled the 7km to the gardens but it was not fully operational on the day we visited.

Eagle at Myall Park Botanic Gardens

Birdwire Creation at Myall Park Botanic Gardens

Brigalow Creek Meandarra

Canberra Bomber in ANZAC Memorial Museum, Meandarra

 From there we continued to Meandarra, where we camped for the night on the banks of the Brigalow Creek.   Apparently this creek is renowned for its superb fishing, rare waterlilies, koala habitat and sunsets. While in the town we also visited the ANZAC Memorial Museum which houses an impressive collection of military memorabilia, most of which was collected by a local resident over the last 30 years.  Not sure where he would have garaged the Canberra Bomber however?

This is another country region that values tourists.  Our campsite was near the main street and we had access to power and water and toilets & shower facilities are just over the road and the cost is....$5 for three nights.  

In this Western Downs Area there are over 80 places for campers to stay cheaply.  The townsfolk know that money will be spent in the town if they can only find ways to get people to stay long enough.
 

Tara's Main Street

Commercial Hotel

Tara was our first stop the following day.  Mark could picture a lot of the landmarks in this town, even though it has been thirty plus years since he last visited.  His grandparents used to live near the town on a property and Mark, Phil and Trevor attended Tara State School at times when their mum was ill in Brisbane. The school (now a college) is celebrating its centenary next year.  Mark’s aunt and uncle lived just behind the Commercial Hotel for most of their lives, only leaving Tara due to ill health.  While we were wandering around the shops Mark was chatting to a lady who knew them very well.  It really is a small town. 

Water Tower

Tara State School

New brick 4 bedroom houses are selling in Tara for $269 000 if anyone is interested. 

We also had a break at Dalby before heading to Toowoomba for the night.  It will just be a short trip tomorrow and then ....home!

The trip home from Toowoomba was pretty uneventful. It gave us a chance to get used to driving in more built up areas.  When we arrived home we both had a huge smile on our faces.  We’ve had an unforgettable trip.  We’ve seen places that we’ve only read about before and visited sites we’d never even heard of but would like to revisit some time in the future.  But...there’s no place like home!

Caravan, Mark & Donna Safely Home!

Poppy Hugs from Ethan

Hugs for Nan from Jeremy

For those of you interested in statistics.  We travelled 27 121 km and spent an average of $1.58per litre for diesel.  Tom Cruiser averaged 16.07L per 100km which we were very happy with considering that most of the time we used air con when travelling.

Hope you enjoyed following our trip and we look forward to sharing another with you in the future.

Mark & Donna