Quilpie Moments & Charleville Capers

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September 12th 2013

Published: September 27th 2013

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lonierangers

Sunrise from Camp

We camped at Lake Houdraman, just out of town. Extremely dry, dusty and hot with untold insects but beautiful sunrise and sunsets. It pays to focus on the positives. I’ve enjoyed the tracks for walking and bike riding, as long as I’ve done it before the heat.

Quilpie was a much larger town than we’ve been in recently with a population of 650. Quilpie comes from an aboriginal word for Curlew. We were excited to find a supermarket but unfortunately the limited fresh produce still tastes like cardboard. I’m not sure how they’ve perfected cardboard flavoured meat, vegetables and water but they have done it well in the Channel Country.

Although this place has lovely moments, generally I’m fed up with dust up my nose, in my ears and grit on everything. I never really feel clean and I’m annoyed with the heat and insects.

We had a spot of rain to settle the dust and being worried about being stuck in the mud out on the lake tracks we decided to head off to Charleville to a caravan park. It was delightful to arrive in the rain. Such a lovely freshness in the air we’d been missing for so long. It didn’t last long but between the rain and cold water taps that run at above body temperature I did manage to feel clean again. Also the other good news is, we found a fresh produce market stall in Charleville, so the taste buds

Quaint Art

The town’s primary industry is sheep and cattle and I loved their arty sculptures in the main street.

have now been pacified.

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Dave & Grace

lonierangers

Been on the road since 10.11.2010. We still call Newcastle (NSW) home as that's where most of our family and friends are. In reality home is our Opalite caravan 24ft, and our Ford Ranger (hence the name Lonie Rangers). Our car is the Silver Bullet from the Lone Ranger, put this together with Dave's surname being Lonie, and there our title was created. I'd say we travel at a snails pace, there is no rush, we have the rest of our lives. However, going slow allows us to experience each place and move when we're ready for the next adventure. We do a fair bit of independent camping in the bus... full info

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Historical Mural

Also this 45 metre street mural depicts the town’s history. 1907 Post Office & Cob and Co., the sinking of bores in 1933, Amy Johnson’s Landing, the Hotel in 1900.

Amy Johnson

Amy Johnson was the first British woman to have commercial, private and navigator licence and in 1930 decided to fly from England to Australia. She accidentally landed in Quilpie thinking it was Charleville as her map was wrong. This was very exciting for the locals.

Opal Altar

Quilpie is known for its Boulder Opal and to compliment this mining background, a local miner donated the wall of opal to be mounted in the Catholic Church in 1976.

End of the Line

In 1917 the railway was opened to carry passengers, wool, sheep and cattle from Quilpie to Charleville. The line ended here and was never continued due to war scarcities.