I was on a quest to drag my family out to one of our Western Queensland towns to witness the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners roll through with their 120 odd trucks carrying over 5000 bales of hay in early January.
We looked at the planned route and decided to head to a town we hadn't been to before...eeny, meeny, miny, mo...and Charleville was to be our destination.
The Lil Princess, Hubby and I booked a room for 2 nights at a Charleville Motel, fuelled up the car and hit the road - really, really early on 6 January 2016. We had also planned to check out the Cosmos Centre and make the trek out to Quilpie while we were in "the neighbourhood".
A lot of rain had fallen in the couple of weeks leading up to our trip. The country between home and Charleville was starting to rejuvenate with tinges of green seen along the roadside and in the paddocks. Puddles on the road and roadside were certainly a welcome sight and I have no doubt some of the farmers out that way were celebrating a small "win".
A flooded creek on the Charleville-Cunnamulla Road
We arrived in Charleville and popped into the Information Centre to book our Cosmos Centre tour for that evening. We asked the locals about whether the road to Quilpie was open after the rain that they had recently received (over 80mm). Apparently it was closed (I tried very hard to hide my disappointment as I really wanted to cross Quilpie off my list of towns to visit but knew that the locals were rejoicing about the rain). They told me to check with the local Council later in the afternoon.
Before we checked into our room we drove out on the Charleville-Cunnamulla Road to check out the rail bridge that was destroyed in September 2014 when a truck crashed into a creek bed and exploded - the explosion which disintegrated a fire truck could be felt all the way back in Charleville. Fortunately all involved survived. The road is fixed but the rail bridge is yet to be repaired. News story here.
I had contacted the Council in Quilpie just before COB to be told that the road to Quilpie may be closed for up to a week as the bridge may need inspecting but to keep an eye on their facebook page as that is where the most up to date info would be.
The rail bridge that got blown to bits
We checked in, grabbed some dinner at the RSL (which was awesome by the way) and toddled off to the Cosmos Centre. This was my husband's "must see" and although it was interesting and he enjoyed it, it wasn't my cup of tea (or the lil' princess' after a long day in the car). We hit the sack and I had made the decision to have a sleep in because we couldn't make the two odd hour trek to Quilpie and there wasn't too much we could see around Charleville due to the recent rain.
My attempt at star trails near the Cosmos Centre
We had a big sleep in (until 8.30am) and when I woke up I thought I would just check the Quilpie Shire Council FB page and much to my surprise (and delight) only a few minutes early they had posted that the road was OPEN - yay!! We were out of bed, dressed and on the road within half an hour, grabbing breakkie at the bakery in the main street as we headed out of town.
Teeny bits of green appearing through the red dirt
The bridge into Quilpie was JUST open
There wasn't a lot to look at on the drive to Quilpie but still a new adventure nonetheless. We checkout the Visitor Information Centre/Museum which was full of interesting historical information and relics. We then drove a short distance out of town to Bald Rock. The view from the top was amazing - the views went on forever.
The view from Bald Rock on the outskirts of Quilpie
A quick bite to eat at Heinemanns Cafe (yum!), then we made the return trip to Charleville.
The green pick was just starting to come through - it had been dry for so long
A set of yards - wide brown land
Dinner of hot chook sandwiches from IGA and then an early night as the trucks were rolling though the following day and we wanted to pack up, grab some breakfast and find a vantage point to see the trucks arrive.
I woke up and went for a drive to take a couple of early morning pics and to see where I wanted to set up to photograph the trucks. We packed the car, checked out and went into town to fuel up the car and ourselves. I called through to Cunnamulla to see if the trucks had left so that I could gauge how much time we had. We had plenty (or so I thought) so I quickly stopped into an store to grab some accessories for the car - it was possibly the slowest (but most delightful) service I had experienced. We jumped in the car and turned the corner to make our way to where I wanted to be and what did we see coming up the road - yep you guessed it 100 odd hay trucks! We screeched to a halt on the side of the road and all jumped out with cameras and phones at the ready to record this momentous occasion.
Burrumbuttock Hay Runners rolling into Charleville
With the Australian Flag being waved by the Lil Princess and my camera clicking away, we waved "Thank You" to all the passing trucks and support vehicles. We caught a glimpse of the man behind the run - Brendan Farrell - what a thrill. Goosebumps and moist eyes were definitely the order of the day. Our hearts were just bursting with "Aussie Pride". All these truck drivers and owners donating their time and vehicles to transport donated hay to Western Queensland communities in the grip of this dreadful drought. They are all "keeping the dream alive" for our farmers.
We waited until the last truck came through then we hit the road back towards Roma where we were stopping overnight. It would have been awesome to follow them all the way to the end but it wasn't in the "plan" so we parted ways with the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners in Charleville and kept on heading east.
The Hayrunners rolling out of Charleville
Just west of Mitchell we came across a drovers mob on the highway. Cattle were everywhere so I talked my driver to pull over so I could grab a few photos. I had a chat with a lovely fellow from down Brisbane way who had bought his 17yo son up to join the drover (something this young man did in regularly in his holidays). As we drove off I grabbed a few shots of the young fella and another young mate on their horses sitting with the cattle. I loved that even though they probably spend half their day waving and smiling to all the "tourists" they still managed a big grin and a "thumbs up" for the camera. I also grabbed a great shot of a mum and daughter "doubling" on their horse with the same mob. These guys made my day and to top it off, through the powers of social media, the young man with the drovers' mob managed to track me down after a friend of his saw one of my images on instagram.....who'd of thought! Needless to say all involved got a copy of their image for being such good sports!
A overnight stay at the rellies in Roma, then back home to the daily grind.....a flying visit out west is better than no visit at all.
Addy style family portrait
I have said it before but it never ceases to amaze me that there are so many people out there that think that an hour outside a major city is "the bush". Get out there people, experience what our beautiful country has to offer. There are so many things to see and do.
Go somewhere you have never been, spend your money in a community that desperately needs it (rent a room in a motel, buy some fuel and snacks at the servo and have a meal at the local pub).
In the words of Daryl Somers - "you'll never ever know if you never ever go"
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