Day 92 Tuesday 8/8/2023 Surat to Hebel, mostly clear 8 – 24

Gidgee trees, flat grassy plains. Half a dozen kangaroos bound out from a farm driveway. Why the driveway? Because the fences are high and kangaroo-proof. Bottle trees, prickly pear cactus, mulga, red dirt, and tufts of cotton caught in the roadside weeds. Sheep, feral goats, and emus grazing. Yep, it’s sheep country now and there’s a restful feeling that gently envelops you in this part of Queensland. But we must be on KEG Watch now, for Kangaroo, Emu & Goat and any one of them is likely to decide, on a whim, to cross the road.

St. George is a decent-sized town on the banks of the Balonne River (I wish the pre-emptive text would stop changing that to abalone!) anyway, it’s quite wide and languid here. We fuel up without incident before finding an agreeable little cafe for coffee and cake. It’s so much easier to find a good coffee on the road these days.

As we leave town we almost lose Elle, her radio cuts out and she only takes one left turn instead of ‘left and left again’. We’re both heading for Dirranbandi (love that name) but on very different roads. Back on track it’s interesting watching the changing scenery. There is very little traffic this morning and no other towns until Dirranbandi (got it in again).

Nine hundred metres from Hebel the phone signal cuts in again. There’s a spacious caravan parking area with two entrances behind the Hebel Pub and emus are grazing in the paddock behind. In front of us are 6 rather attractive and newly installed cabins. We’ve been through here several times before but it’s always been too early to stop at the pub for a drink. You see, there’s not a lot in Hebel. Apart from a few houses, there’s the pub and the general store opposite. According to the 2021 Census the population then was 62. The town was originally a border post between QLD and NSW. When things were about to go belly up a few years back a local farmer bought the pub and the store to keep the town alive. Hebel was recently featured on the TV show Back Roads. When we ask at the bar about dinner the barmaid explains what they call the Hebel Experience. There’s no point in running two kitchens, and the pub is quite small, so meals are prepared across the road. We pop over to the general store and order our meals for 6:00pm. Woody grabs a pie for lunch just to test the quality, I’m sure.

We have a restful afternoon reading in the sun and I do a little sketching, but not the pub as I’ve drawn it twice before. We have a quiet drink in the outdoor area before moving around to the front veranda where the action is. There’s now a fire going in the pit out front and a few young folks are getting to know each other by the fire, young farmers and a couple of Melbourne girls. Caravanners come and go, and there’s talk of shearing and stuff. The bar walls are adorned with shearer’s singlets and quirky pub signs. The hitching rails bordering the veranda look like they’ve been there since the place opened way back when. It’s a warmish evening, a buzz of conversation, the sky is glowing red and I can’t help but think “How good is this”.

On the dot of 6:00, Woody and Elle cross the highway (there’s only a vehicle about every 15 minutes and it’s either a truck, a caravan, or a Toyota Ute coming to the pub) and they return with 3 hot dinners under cloches. Woody tucks into Crispy Pork Belly and we girls brave the Avo Pig Parmi. We’ve found parmi heaven! Avocado, bacon, and a Hollandaise sauce.

As we walk back to our vans the stars are bright and a satellite is passing the Southern Cross.

Accom: $0 (New Toilets & Showers)

Fuel: $107.38 (2.069c/L)

Towing Kms: 271kms