Fair Dinkum

Roma certainly partied well into the night, after the ‘Roma Cup’. Me- I was tucked up in bed by 9pm. The following morn as I proceeded to shower I was amused by the sights- girls with obvious hangovers and some arriving ‘home’ still in their cup finery at 8am. I think a fair few ‘got lucky’, perhaps we will see a population increase in 9 months time.........
Dave and I giggled at the sights around us as we packed up and headed for Chinchilla. The road out of Roma was a steady stream of utes, with cops at the ready to breath test ‘the morning after’.
As with many a small town, tourism brings dollars. There are usually free camping sites, some with basic amenities. Here at Chinchilla, down by the weir, the free camping comes complete with a toilet block and power- such luxury! We were only to stop one night, but our ‘free camp’ is so tranquil and the outlook so ‘pretty’ we have decided to stay for two. We are positioned on a grassy bank, which is dotted with blue gums.

View across the weir, Chinchilla

The water has a slow, smooth rhythm as it gently laps at a little grass island, which is home to many variety of birds. We are not alone at our campsite, our neighbours having checked us out to ensure we are trustworthy or in need of anything. By law you can camp here for 2 nights. Pete- ‘our one legged neighbour’ has been here for a few weeks.

Pete the bushie, oven he made me in foreground

This is OK with the local council though, as he is here for some R&R after heart surgery. A real ‘bushie’ he did not want to stay in town. Pete has also taken a shine to me, and has taken it upon himself to make ‘the Mrs’ into a ‘real little bushie’.
As we mostly cook outside, Pete decided to make me a firewood ‘cooker’ from an old LPG bottle. It actually is an ingenious idea, and can be used with a camp oven, grill rack, wok, frypan or as a heater. After cutting, welding and much chinwag between all the ‘blokes’ camping here, my cooker was ready. I was summoned to see if it met with my approval. I made all the right ohhh and ahhhhs and proceeded to make a celebratory cup of tea.
I think ‘our weir’, is the best attraction of Chinchilla. We did explore the area and embarked on the Barakula Forest Drive. This ‘tourist drive’ is basically a poor road in the scrub. Full stop.


Deep into the forest we came across a local, who had been collecting honey (boy can country folk talk). I don’t think many tourists, ‘do’ this drive and he stopped us to see if we were OK. We showed him our tourist drive brochure, but he said ‘what a joke’- nothing to really see. Phew- glad it wasn’t just us who thought it was lame. Even the local wildlife seemed to want

Cows wanting to escape the boredom of Barakula Forest Drive

to leave. A young kangaroo tried to commit suicide by jumping into our car- luckily no real damage done to the car or kanga- he may have a headache though. As we then approached a cattle grid, we were greeted with a herd lined up, seeming to wish they had the gall to step over and escape.
Leaving the forest behind, we drove over a grid at the dingo fence. This fence also has a sonic deterrent, which with the windows down you can very easily hear.
Tomorrow we leave our oasis (complete with green frog in the ladies) and head for Toowoomba- a big town. Should be no frogs in the loos there!