Getting to know Emerald

---

What a pretty, not so little
town. The Botanical Gardens were like
walking through Eden
after the parched outback. Straddling
the banks of the Nogoa River, the gardens cover 42 hectares and are the only
botanic gardens in the central west of Queensland.

There are around 6kms of walking
track taking you through areas that have been replanted with over 100 different
species of flora. Sculptures and play
areas to keep little ones amused are dotted around a central billabong. One particular piece caught our eye depicting
John Williamson’s “Old Man Emu”



“we can’t fly, but we’re telling
you …… we can run the pants off a kangaroo!”



The main streets of Emerald have
pretty central plantations and there are a lot of green belts scattered around
the town. One park behind the Tourist
Info Centre had a pathway meandering through with mosaic interpretations of
Emerald’s history, once famous for being a major producer of sunflowers.



It was appropriate, therefore,
that the pathway led us to a giant easel on which sat the world’s biggest
Vincent van Gogh “Sunflower” painting.
The easel stands 25m high and was made from approx 14 tonnes of
steel. The “painting” was comprised of
24 sheets of plywood forming 4x 7x10m panels – each one coated in fibreglass
and then sealed with clear gel. The
giant artwork weights in excess of 4 tonnes.
It was stunning!



The railway station is heritage
listed and looked very elegant with its wrought iron lacework, fretwork and
pillared portico. Whilst a working
station, (Spirit of the Outback travels through) it is not always open for the
public to look through – the main entrance gates to the ticket office and
platform were firmly shut.



We went out to Fairdinkum Meats
and bought some crocodile sausages and tail steaks, kangaroo fillet, wagyu
steak and fillipino sausages for our freezer.
Tea tonight, however, is going to be a lot simpler – fish n chips. On site at the RV camp is “The Yabby Trap”
reputably the “best fish & chips in the west”. We have pre-ordered what they call a Pensioner
Pack – 4x flathead fillets, 8x pieces of s&p squid and 2x servings of
chips. At $20 it was a very tasty meal!

---