Goin’ to the Garradunga

Her doors are all open to the warm breeze in true Queensland fashion. There’s a pair of crossed cane knives etched into her doorstep. She’s been around a while and she’s seen the cane grow higher than high, year after year. This is sugar country and she’s a sugar pub. And inside it’s as dark as molasses. The publican’s missus moves easily behind the bar pulling beers and quickly shoving the glasses into stubby holders to keep them cold. She’s cooking chips for a road worker, “the bridge is out you know”. And lunch for an old geezer at the … Continue reading Goin’ to the Garradunga

The Coorong

The drive through the Coorong is fascinating. For 140Kms there are salt pans on one side of us and the bird filled waters of the Coorong waterway on the other, a backdrop of dunes holds the sea at bay in the distance. Ti Tree lines the road and Norfolk pines shelter small settlements. Fishing shacks are almost hidden by scrub. I can’t believe that I once thought this drive was boring with nothing to see. Now I wish that we had a camper trailer so that we could explore the narrow limestone tracks that head towards the sea. Continue reading The Coorong

A load of old stuff

Winter 2014 The Herberton (Qld) Historic Village has an exhausting and extensive collection of paraphernalia from the Atherton Tableland’s early days. The most fascinating is the fact that most of the buildings in the village are original and have been trucked in from all over the district. It was effort enough towing the caravan through those hills let alone a shop or a school. As we leave the museum some poor woman almost chokes as Woody says “don’t they ever have anything new in these places?” Well I knew what he meant. Continue reading A load of old stuff