across the border into Queensland

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It didn’t take too long to reach the border and by 11am we were in the Sunshine State. No need to have our permits at the ready as there was no-one around. Given the number of caravans from both Victoria and NSW travelling just now we were surprised there was no police presence.



We stopped for lunch and a stretch of our legs at Cunnamulla before continuing on to our free camp for the night at Wyandra. The camp is located behind the primary school – it’s a big grassed area and it would seem a popular place for nomads. Wyandra is a very small locality so we think we will pop into the pub for a drink tonight and grab a coffee tomorrow from the little general store – a little bit of money into small towns will hopefully see them able to maintain these camps for future travellers.



Grabbing our “itinerary” we tried to book ahead to a couple of caravan parks, but even into mid-July they are all fully booked. Free camping suits us, but every now and again it is nice to have the added comfort of power. We have managed to secure a booking at Mt Isa but that is a few weeks away yet – until then it looks like it is camp sites such as Wyandra.



Wyandra – well who would have thought such a little town with only a few residents could be so big on personality!



We called into the Wyandra Pub and enjoyed an early evening bevy with Matt, the young publican of only 3 weeks. His family have a long pub history in Rockhampton but now he and his partner have moved to the Qld outback to establish themselves in their own right. He certainly had the patter.



“Rumour Has It” is a quirky tea room cum bric-a-brac store run by the eccentric Helen. We easily spent an hour there browsing through the rooms of “all sorts” and then wandering into her back garden to have a look at an old hut with all its rudimentary fittings including the strangest store we have ever come across. Helen has been in Wyandra for just 18months but because of Covid has only just started to trade in the last 3 months. Her grand plan is to have more huts moved onto the property and when she gets her OH&S certificate to serve small meals.



Around the communal campfire last night we met a few travellers from around regional Victoria but one couple in particular caught our attention. They were in their late 80’s and every winter for the past 50 years have been towing their van from Echuca on the Murray River to Karumba in the Gulf of Carpentaria. He was as deaf as a post and she had to keep repeating everything that was said, but they were a lovely couple who had plenty of stories to tell.

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