Eromanga & Outback Queensland – St George, Dirranbandi, Goondawindi – the trip ends

4X4, desert, Eromanga, Landscape, macro, Plant, Qld

The Doc drove straight from Stanthorpe to Eromanga, with an overnight stay at Cunnamulla. The return trip was over a week, starting with an alternate route out of Eromanga. Two nights were spent at St George where The Doc went exploring especially around Dirranbandi, which a mate raves about. Driving down the Castlereagh Highway south out of St George was nice but terrifying anytime a roadtrain came the other way on this narrow road. Dirranbandi is a road hub with heavy roadtrain traffic. Uninspiring so far.

The Doc refueled, took a rest, visited the bakery, and headed back a different way using the Whyenbah Road. A road that services stations and farms. Suddenly the mood changed and became a magical road trip, almost no traffic, beautiful afternoon light, storm clouds and great scenery. The road is not fully sealed, but is slowly being sealed. You rejoin the Balonne Highway just west of the St George Township. The Doc needs to get the exact location of the riverside stop his mate uses and drive on the Whyenbah Road, not the Castlereagh Highway, when heading to Dirranbandi.

Next stop Goondawindi and Boggabilla. There was some local exploring but the main purpose was to visit the Goondawindi Botanic Gardens (Botanic Gardens of the Western Woodlands). A few nights there and then back to Ballina. More time is needed to cover the extensive Botanic Gardens grounds but here are images from the visit:

Most topics are now done. My favourite image of the trip? Peglers Pond at sunrise.

Priestly Spiny Orbweaver – Outback Queensland

4X4, Australia, Eromanga, insects, Landscape, macro, Qld, States, Wildlife

After leaving Eromanga the first overnight stop was St George at the Balonne Inn. The Doc stayed there two nights and went to visit Alton National Park for a day visit. While there he photographed an unknown spider. The Doc has finally identified it as a Priestly Spiny Orbweaver (Gasteracantha sacerdotalis). This sighting is over 400 kilometers west of any other sighting of this species, as most sightings are along the Queensland Coast.

Leaving Eromanga – alternate routes

4X4, Australia, desert, Eromanga, Landscape, Qld, Quilpie,

Leaving Eromanga around 4am The Doc headed towards Quilpie; on the western side of Quilpie he turned right onto the Quilpie-Thargomindah Road and headed south towards Toompine. South of Toompine he turned left on the Eulo-Toompine Road and headed towards the Adventure Way and Eulo (he also had morning tea at this road junction). It was a really nice drive along both htese roads. The route is on the linked map here. The pictures are from this small part of the trip.

While driving along Eulo-Toompine Road The Doc saw three caravans just off the road, one was being towed by an Eldoret Blue Grenadier (there was no time to stop and talk as there was a long drive ahead). When the Doc reached the corner of the Eulo-Toompine Road and the Adventure Way two large SLRV vehicles (MAN Commanders) were traveling west were talking about the baby SLRV on the UHF (The Doc’s Grenadier). Both events happened in about 30 minutes in the middle of nowhere.

The rest of the trip to Goondiwindi (actually nearby Bogabilla) was the same route as the trip in.

Shakedown lessons
Cunnamulla would be the refueling stop, but the grey nomads were everywhere, especially lined up for fuel. There was still fuel in the Grenadier’s mounted fuel containers. The Doc pulled out the fuel pump to find out the diameter of the tank opening did not let the pump be inserted. The Doc decided to refuel at Bollom instead and arrived on fuel vapors (with one or two litres left in the car).

The fuel tank was fixed at Expedition HQ during the next service, by reboring the opening. It turns out when the tanks were purchased, The Doc was given the wrong set of fuel tanks. This is why The Doc does shake down trips to find things like this out without creating major dramas.

The Doc also found out on the trip he could not sleep in the Grenadier due to his ongoing injuries from the car accident and instead had to stay in a motel. Before setting out The Doc thought he could sleep in the car, but he got a reality check instead! It became obvious on this trip The Doc needed extensive rehab and he started heading back home for treatment. The car was not only being tested but also the driver under field conditions. It was a wake up – and the intense rehab is still ongoing.

The Lightforce Viper lightbar also prove itself in the dark and rain driving out of Eromanga.

Cunnamulla, Eulo, Thargomindah – Outback Queensland

4X4, Australia, desert, Eromanga, flowers, Plant, Qld, , , , ,

After leaving Stanthorpe, The Doc travelled along the Stanthorpe-Texas Road. Then through Texas and heading northward to Inglewood (along the Inglewood-Texas Road), which was a great drive early in the morning. Time to visit the local bakery and get some warm bacon and cheese topped rolls, which was the food for the day (nice rolls they were). The last roll later in the day was warmed up in the Travel Buddy Oven.

The Doc drove all day and stayed overnight at Cunnamulla. It was a long day’s driving. On the way The Doc fueled at a Roadhouse outside Goondawindi. From memory, it was time for a Magnum ice cream.

Leaving Cunnamulla early the next morning The Doc travelled west out of Cunnamulla via Eulo (Eu-lo) and Thargomindah (Thar-go-min-dah) along the Bulloo Developmental Road. Here is an interactive map of the trip from Ballina to Eromanga.

Eulo is a place where many of the Australian Megafauna, like the Diprotodon, are found.

Previously The Doc had always travelled north out of Cunnamulla along the Mitchell Highway, but a change was in order.

The Doc visited Noccundra and then turned northwards onto the Cooper Developmental Road and up into Eromanga the back way.

The traffic was light all the way. It turns out had The Doc gone the normal way (Cunnamulla, Charleville, Quilpie and then Eromanga) he would have run into many cars heading to the Big Red Bash at Birdsville.

On a back road, The Doc came across a little oasis in the in the middle of nowhere in this semi arid landscape. Enjoy.

Stanthorpe – start of the Outback Queensland trip

4X4, Australia, bark, cityscape, Landscape, moss & lichen, mosses/lichens, Plant, rock, Textures, trees, ,

At the beginning of the Eromanga trip The Doc drove from Ballina to his mate’s place at Stanthorpe. He stayed two nights and got to ride in Tony’s Ford 350 – wow what a great tow vehicle!

The next morning The Doc was just touring around Stanthorpe and found the Mt Marlay Lookout. Just a few images from the Lookout. Click on that first panorama, because at full size it has amazing details.

The Doc really liked Stanthorpe and for the first time since switching to part time work, thought about moving out of Sydney.

We had lunch at the Jam Factory and later that day Tony took The Doc to Donnellys Castle Recreations Reserve. Plus a few textures from the reserve.

Tony made a great choice to live in Stanthorpe, part of the Granite Belt. The Doc will be back.

Interactive map from Ballina to Eromanga here. Enjoy.

Yelarbon Silos – Outback Queensland

4X4, Australia, Landscape, Qld, Uncategorised, , , , ,

On the first day heading back to home, The Doc passed through Yelarbon located on the Cunningham Highway heading towards Goondiwindi on the New South Wales and Queensland borders. The Doc was actually staying on the NSW side at Bogabilla. The Doc stayed a few nights at Bogabilla visiting the Goondiwindi Botanic Gardens, showcasing the plant communities of the Upper Darling Basin

Yelarbon is a rail terminal with grain silos, which are all gussied up. It was a quick break to take a few images. Looking back The Doc should have used a tilt shift lens to capture the silos.

The Yelarbon Silos are part of the extraordinary Australian Silo Art Trail.

Roadtrains – Outback Queensland

4X4, Australia, desert, Eromanga, Qld,

When you are this far from the Big Smoke, you see Roadtrains every day. The Roadtrains can be configured differently, the main ones The Doc saw on this trip were carrying fuel, cattle/sheep or general cargo. Most were three trailers in length but some can be bigger (four and rarely five).

The general cargo Roadtrains were doing a few runs each week, through Eromanga, from Brisbane to Darwin and back. The fuel Roadtrains were in an out every day from the Inland Oil Refinery (iOR) across the road from where The Doc was staying. iOR also had fuel pumps out front of the refinery.

One morning The Doc was drinking tea on the veranda and those two cattle Roadtrains you see below turned up. Ten minutes later three more Roadtrains turned up plus caravans. It took about 30 minutes to fill the cattle Roadtrains using high speed diesel pumps. Highly entertaining for the next 45 minutes with Roadtrain roulette. Roadtrains are big boy toys.

On single lane or narrow bitumen roads, Roadtrains have the right of way. Cars must get off the road. You do not want a Roadtrain to drop a wheel off a single lane – as the dust and rocks fly everywhere. Plus, you do not want the driver to lose control and crash. Recently a local tried to race a Roadtrain to a narrow floodway crossing in this area. He miscalculated and lost his life.

The Doc was talking to a Roadtrain driver in the Kimberley some years ago and he was pulling three trailers of LPG from Perth to Darwin. The combined rig and load weighed over 135 metric tonnes. Most Roadtrains use an extension bar and hook to join the trailers. When they drive down the road you can see all the trailers moving ‘Higgledy-piggledy’ – The Doc gets off the road even when it is a dual lane. It is unnerving to see the trailers move around like that.

Enjoy. Click on an image to see a slideshow of full size images.

Ky-ab-ra waterhole – Outback Queensland

4X4, Australia, desert, Eromanga, Landscape, Qld, Quilpie,

Heading north out of Eromanga along the Kyabra Road, traveling through Kyabra Station, you come across Kyabra Waterhole (pronounced Ky-ab-ra). It is a permanent waterhole fed by surrounding floodways. The Station owners kindly make it available, free of charge, as an overnight stop for travelers.

The Doc stayed for about an hour, as the main objective that day was the nearby red sand hills – being the most eastwards of any of red sand hills from the Simpson Desert.

If you keep traveling north you reach the Diamantina Developmental Road, turning right you head to Quilpie, turning left you go to Windorah and on to Birdville. Enjoy.

Buckaroola Station – Outback Queensland

4X4, Australia, desert, Eromanga, landscape, Landscape, Plant, Qld, rock, Textures, trees, Uncategorised, , , , ,

The Doc’s friend Steve Young got special permission to visit Buckaroola Station. These images are from the second visit, as The Doc forgot to put his memory card into his camera during the first visit! Buckaroola Station is westward out of Eromanga along the Cooper Developmental Road and is not open to the public.