A Day Around Cunnamulla

Sunday, September 09, 2018
Cunnamulla, Queensland, Australia
After breakfast we sat outside and enjoyed the warmth of the Sun, something we've craved for during Victoria's cold Winter. And we were entertained by several colourful birds feeding on the seedpods of a tree dividing our site from our neighbour's.
Later in the morning we headed back into Cunnamulla to take in a couple more tourist attractions. First stop was the Cunnamulla Fella statue. The Cunnamulla Fella is a song written by Stan Coster and sung by Slim Dusty, and the town of Cunnamulla erected the statue in 2005 as a tribute to Stan, Slim and to the 'ringers' of the bush. It was created by sculptor Archie Sinclair from a drawing by Mike Nicholas.
Adjacent to the statue is the Cunnamulla Fella Centre which houses a museum and art gallery. Built in 1885, the building was the first secondary school in Western Queensland. Here we watched a video which took us through the history and significance of the Great Artesian Basin, while the Artesian Time Tunnel provided further insight.
The art gallery was closed due to renovations, but the museum was well presented, covering various aspects of life in the area. Of particular interest was the impact of James Tyson (1819-1898), an Australian born, self-made ‘millionaire’ who came to own a string of properties around Australia. His fame as a pastoral tycoon was immortalised by Banjo Paterson in the Poem T.Y.S.O.N.
After a nice lunch at the Gidgee Bean Cafe we drove the 67km out the Adventure Way to Eulo. Apart from being known for its honey products, Eulo has several other claims to fame. In 2011 megafauna fossils were discovered near Eulo and included a Diprotodon, nicknamed 'Kenny'. A life sized model is on display at Eulo. Just near the model of 'Kenny' is the World Champion Lizard Racing Track where racing was first held in 1967.
Across the road is the Queen of Eulo Hotel named after Isabel Gray, a thrice-married pub owner, sly-grog dealer, storekeeper, gambler and opal trader of a century ago who was and still is known as the Queen of Eulo.
A few doors down from the Queen of Eulo Hotel is the remains of a WWII air raid shelter. Eulo was chosen as a site for a safety shelter during WWII due to it being in the direct flight path from Darwin to Melbourne and it was also a communication link used to wire info between the major centres. The shelter is built of heavy-gauge corrugated steel curved over a trench and when built it could hold 50 people standing up.
It had been a pretty full day and so we decided not to attend 'happy hour' tonight, but begin preparation of our pizza for dinner - after all it is Sunday! But we could still hear a busker singing to entertain other campers who braved the smoke from the campfire. A cup of tea and a piece of slice rounded out dinner. Tomorrow we move on to Charleville. 
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