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Emerald Railway Station
Australia is a coastal country, with more than 90 percent of the population living within 100km of the ocean. As soon as you drive inland a short distance, the pace of development and change slows right down. There, you are in farming territory, with small communities, and a lot of empty space.
I do love road trips!
And when I’m on one, other ones I’ve taken come to mind: whether it’s because of comparisons or contrasts. I’ve just spent some time winding up and down through the magnificent mountains of Western Canada – which counter-intuitively made me think of the straight and lonely stretches of highway through Queensland, Australia. I was talking to the Canadian driver of an electric car, and I couldn’t help but remember the number of times I’ve been holding my breath on almost-deserted Australian country roads, feverantly hoping that there’s an open petrol station soon.
This all motivated me to return to a set of photos I took some years ago as I was working my way back south through Queensland canefields, farmlands, and small country communities. The cameras were all packed up, so the pictures are taken with my iPhone12Pro and are more about ‘mood’ than photographic excellence.
It was in 2021. We were still in the grip of Covid19 lockdowns, which meant no overseas travel, and watching local conditions carefully to avoid hot-spots. I had driven up to Port Douglas, in Queensland (see: Travelling North), and was heading back south. With patchy internet, GoogleMaps, and Booking.com, I worked out my stopping points ahead of time – making sure my driving days were kept reasonably short.
My planned route was inland – staying off the busier National A1 Highway, and avoiding the worst of the cyclones ravaging the coast. Just south of Cairns, in Far North Queensland, I turned west, following the lesser-used highways south to the New South Wales border.
Join me for a country drive.
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The Calm Before the Cyclone
At Deeral, Queensland, just south of Cairns, I started hearing the reports of incoming storms. It was time to turn away from the Coral Sea and the stunning coastline before the winds arrived!
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Raptors on the Road
On the Gregory Highway, somewhere in the Charters Towers Region of Queensland, it was just me and the raptors for miles and miles. I saw no other vehicles, and very few dwellings. At one point, I startled a group of birds – mostly hawks, I think – gathered on a road kill.
Above the Lonely Highway
I stopped to watch them for a while, but they were leery of getting close while I was there.
Belyando Crossing
Having seen the warning sign: “Next Petrol 200km”, I’d been watching the fuel gauge and my mileage closely. But, I must have blinked! I passed this, then saw another sign: “Next Petrol 200km”. Needless to say, I made a quick U-turn. I stopped in to fill the tank and grab a snack and a comfort stop before continuing south.
Lattice and Fresh Paint
Emerald is a more substantial town than many along my route, and I was delighted to come across their heritage-listed Railway Station on my morning walk.
The Road Ahead
After a breakfast in Emerald that was worthy of a trendy inner-city cafe, I was back on the almost-empty Gregory Highway in the Central Highlands.
Minerva Hills National Park
The sight of that jagged ridge of volcanic peaks on the horizon grabbed my attention; …
A Little Red Tractor
… and I had to pull off the highway to have a closer look. I have put the Minerva Hills on my ‘to visit one day’ list!
Albert ‘Bert’ Edward Shaw
Apparently, the tiny town of Injune is known for ‘a lively interest in the arts.’ I stopped for lunch and took time admiring a series of rustic metal statues depicting local identities along the main street. What a delightful way to jazz up your town and share some local history!
Queensland Bottle Tree (Brachychiton Rupestris)
Roma, where I stopped for a night, is a rural town in the Maranoa Region, and is home to more bottle trees than I have ever seen in one place!
Queensland Bottle Tree
Tall and leafy, they store water in their trunks, making them drought resistant.
Brachychiton Rupestris
The trees are endemic to Queensland, and are not related to baobabs, which they resemble loosely.
Bottle Tree in the Park
Roma uses the species extensively for street and park plantings, and even has a heritage-listed Avenue of Heroes, with 140 trees standing in tribute to local soldiers fallen in the First World War.
A Fixer-Upper?
The other thing that stood out for me around town was the variety of building styles. Houses on stilts are common to protect against flash-flooding.
A Country Queensland Homestead
A newer, lived-in home, also on stilts – has the necessary rain storage tank in the back, and an Australian flag flying proudly out front.
Weathered and Worn
Paint doesn’t last long in this harsh and changeable climate.
School of Arts Hotel
The pub, of course, is the centre of town. Built in 1918, the rambling hotel includes 44 simple bedrooms upstairs.
Another House on Stilts
It’s hard to know how old some of these cobbled-together houses are!
Wildflowers in the Grass
Mexican sunflowers always make me smile!
Hebel Hotel
This is a typical ‘Queenslander’: a building style developed in the 1840s to help deal with the climate in Australia’s eastern subtropics. The corrugated iron roof and deep, wrap-around, veranda help protect residents from periods of high rainfall alternating with pounding sunlight.
It seems fitting that a ‘Queenslander’ was the last building that grabbed my attention before I slipped over the border into the state of New South Wales.
It always amazes me how much the landscape and architecture change, even within short distances, as one drives.
Safe Travels!
Photos: 27February-02March2021
