Day 15 Muttaburra to Kynuna

It was another early start today, we called in at the lovely little cafe for some takeaway coffee and snack then set off to find the road between Muttaburra and Morella Siding. This was a “short cut” to the Landsborough Hwy. The road has been recently closed but was open today, some sections were mucky but none caused any problems. In one spot I think some of the road workers had amused themselves creating a special ram.

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The road is through Pastoral properties so cattle were sometimes on the road and I was keen to see the “Baby Goats” one sign indicated. I think the farmer is either very ignorant about his livestock or he thought there would be more sympathy for baby goats than his white Brahmans. Being on the smaller road meant we were able to see more things like a couple of male Bustards, unlike the females we have only ever seen the males as isolated individuals.

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On the 80 odd kms of road/track we only saw one farm vehicle and some road workers but once we hit the Highway there were countless caravans some travelling in convoy. We were pleased we’d made an early start because so many caravans indicated competition for campsites. We decided we’d stop at Kynuna which isn’t really a town. There is the Blue Heeler Tavern, The Roadhouse and I think another house.

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Nearby is the billabong made famous by Banjo Patterson and we expected to spend some time there but it seems the local council has other ideas. They won’t allow local businesses to maintain the road and have cut down all the Coolibah Trees that were on the island in the middle of the billabong. Instead we went to check out the Combo Waterhole but didn’t get to the actual water hole because the flies around here are WICKED! We saw a few of the “shot overs” created in the 1800s using interlocking stones but no mortar to make water pools. Chinese and Islanders were used as labourers.

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This afternoon we enjoyed a drink at the Tavern and noticed three almost identical vehicles in the carpark lined up as if they were in a dealership except for the big caravans behinds each one. The owners were all travelling together and were as smart as their vehicles. When we went up to the Roadhouse to find out about the billabong a vehicle pulled in their to fuel up. The owner of that was also a perfect match for his vehicle. Now, parked beside the Tavern there are a couple of Road Trains, I didn’t see their drivers so I’m not sure how they compared.

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We went to the Tavern for a meal this evening, luckily it had turned cold and the flies had all disappeared.

Fuel Prices: Aramac $2.52 Muttaburra $2.55, Winton $2.35 which included a floor show as people with enormous rigs tried to manoeuvre into position, complicated by a fuel tanker filling up the tanks. This is the second caravan awning wipe-out incident we’ve witnessed.