Goondiwindi QLD

Today we spent the morning In Goondiwindi. We first stopped for water and dumped the toilet just as we came into town. 

Then we had a look at the Border Bridge that crosses the Macintyre River to NSW built in 1914. 

Just next to it is the Tree of Knowledge and memorial of the 8 mile levee bank built in 1958 that has saved the town from major flooding. 

There is also a statue dedicated to Gunsynd the famous Goondiwindi Grey racehorse that won 29 races in the later 1960’s and early 70’s. 

Water tank mural.

We popped in to visit the Customs House Museum for $5 each and spent an hour or so checking out all their exhibits and learning about the local history. 

They used this to mix the clay for making bricks.

The elephant tree…

Hospital carriage powered by a ford engine..

Uniforms donated by local soldier’s families.

The Chinamans Hat flower

Nice looking pub.

We then filled up the fridge at Coles and fuelled up at for $1.75pl and made our way out of town where we saw some interesting sculptures.

We decided not to stop at ‘two beer’…

That’s not rubbish on the side of the road but cotton….there were huge fields of the stuff.

We have way to the truck and waited for the dust to die down before continuing on.

Instead of following the highway west, we deviated in a southerly direction to Thallon, well known for its grain silos that have now been painted with a lovely mural titled The Watering Hole showcasing the area sunsets. 

Someone has also Ben very clever with numerous metal sculptures.

William the Giant Northern Hairy Nosed wombat represents one of the worlds most endangered mammals with only 250 remaining.  

We decided to camp on the banks of the Moonie River just out of town at Barney’s Beach. 

Texas QLD

We enjoyed a couple of days of down time with a day and a 2nd night in Inglewood. Having had previous issues with our dc2dc charger not converting the power from our external solar blanket via the anderson plug, we tested it out again with no success. 

The next day we supported the local bakery, the pies and cream donut were one of the best we have had, before travelling 55km down to Texas in Queensland on the NSW border.
We were early enough to find a good spot in the very popular free camp. 

Although a small community there are a lot of things happening. Unfortunately we are not here at the right time for the music festival, races and show. There is also a bowls and golf club. The heritage and tobacco museum was only open on Saturdays but the Rabbit Works factory opens Tuesday to Saturday. 

Back to the dc2dc charger we were able to call the supplier Enerdrive and they took us through some trouble shooting steps which resulted in to having to send the unit back to them (will do this once we are back home of course). Luckily we have had plenty of sun for our roof top solar panels and as we drive most days the house battery is quickly recharged and we don’t need the solar blanket atm. The rest of the day we chatted to other campers and walked into town (5km return). 

The next morning (Tuesday) we waited until 10am to go the the Rabbit Works museum. It was the last rabbit processing works in Australia, closing its doors in 1992. It told a fascinating history of the rabbit plague that once dominated the area but saved Texas from the grips of the Great Depression. It would employ 33 people, processing 6,000 rabbits in its peak ( before numbers dwindled due to the introduction of poisons and myxomatosis). The rabbits were exported to America and England. The trappers would earn a good living, better than other trades. Mark reminisced about his father that talked about his youth rabbit trapping in Victoria and living in very similar conditions before he joined the army at 16 to participate in WWII. The displays and videos were great and we even got to chat with a gentleman who had worked here. Well worth the $10 each entry fee.

We headed out of town to Yelarbon to have a look at one of the largest silo artworks in Australia at 96m long spanning over 8 silos. The theme is ‘when the rain comes’.

Nearly got him…

It is also here in the town that the famous 8,320km Dingo Barrier Fence terminated and is marked by an old strainer post. 

The day was getting on so we continued to one of the camping reserves along the Border Rivers Tourist Drive on the way to Goondiwindi, stopping at Rainbow Reserve. 

We had front row seats watching the many birds fishing in the river including a large flock of pelicans… a lovely way to end the day.