Fast Facts about Charleville

Today we leave Charleville and head home. We’ve had an awesome few days here so we thought we’d share a few fast facts about this generous outback town.

Fast Facts about Charleville

The wide streets of Charleville allowed for a full turning circle of a bullock team. Imagine 12 bullocks and one long dray doing a ‘uey’.

There were between 500 and 600 bullock teams registered with the Charleville Carrying Association in 1903.

From Dalby to Charleville, goods went by bullock wagon, taking six months if the roads were dry or twelve if wet. Sometimes graziers were shearing again before their previous wool clip had reached the market.

The first school in Charleville was a private school and the pupils were charged one shilling a week, a lot of money in the 1800’s. The school closed when the state school opened in 1884. The School of the Air commenced in Charleville in 1966.

Charleville water comes from the Great Artesian Basin. Five bores pump more than three mega litres per day. The first bore was completed in 1890. This bore was drilled to a depth of 1,371 feet, with a flow of three million gallons a day at a temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit at the bore head.

Charleville was named in 1868 by surveyor W.A. Tully after his hometown in Ireland.

Charleville is 298m above sea level and the Murweh Shire covers 43,905 square kilometres.

Charleville once had 10 hotels. Many were grand timber structures and sadly many burnt down due to the drying out of the timber on the hot dry climate. Many publicans in the early days were women.

 The Corones Hotel

In 1896 Garry Owen was prosecuted for selling ice-creams on Sunday!

Warrego is an Aboriginal word for ‘River of Sand’. The Warrego River runs for 900km from its source in the Carnarvon Range and is the most northerly point of the Murray-Darling Basin. The catchment covers a total area of some 78,400 square kilometres of which 84% lies in Queensland.

Native yabbies are known as ‘blue claw’ and introduced yabbies as ‘red claw’....both are delicious.

Did you know there are 88 official constellations in the sky?

Rain comes across the Mulga.

Snippets from the local newspapers over the years:

1874: BABY BOOM – Nearly every married woman, including Mrs. Parry Okeden was expecting a baby.

1870: A maid in a railway pub was given a room without a bedroom door.

A wife sale at Adavale was alleged.

A squatter dismissed a parlour maid who wanted to practice the piano.

 

Around the camp fire at Evening Star

Country hospitality overflows in Charleville. We have been fed the best homemade goodies, taking home a beanie for our fire burning activities and made some wonderful new friends. Thank you Charleville!

 Miss Anita checks out the wide roads. What is that in her hands?

More:

www.murweh.qld.gov.au

The Bilby fund

www.savetheblilbyfund.org

Cosmos Centre

www.cosmoscentre.com

We stay at either:
Evening Star Tourist Park

www.eveningstar.com.au

Mulga Country Motor Inn

Tel: 07 4654 3255

The Meeting of Beers and Books

Words and Images by Danielle Lancaster

“Men are just like Woolies specials, we all think we have got to have them.” This was one of the first lines uttered to us by Margaret as she walked behind the bar at the Mungallala Hotel this morning.  Did we agree – well more on that later.

“I see you girls have a sense of humour, so what brings you here?” she asked looking over her glasses and eyeing us inquisitively. After a few quick introductions we were drawn away from the bar inspecting the walls graffitied with black pen from the many who had set foot through the doors before us.

Scattered amongst the signings, verses and doodles are memorabilia from days long past. Stirrups, water bags, old hats, basins, even a string of surveyor chain, all meticulously de-cobwebbed forming more of a museum in tribute to earlier life on the land in this part of western Queensland. Some more modern pieces such as the toilet signs are more humours and add additional character to this outback pub.

Many pass this pub standing idle on the corner on their journey west. From the outside you maybe could understand why. The shady verandas don’t lend a hint to the treasures inside.

Of the many items adorning the walls and scattered around the pub, the most precious thing in this pub has to be Margaret. 

Margaret came to Mungallala as a teacher from Ipswich. “I’m an import as I’ve only been here 45 years. It was a bit of a culture shock I can tell you. There was no electricity, running water and of course with no power, no sewage. Electricity finally came in 1971 and then within 18 months we had sewage. We didn’t know ourselves.”

“I retired in 1998 and my husband decided I needed something to do with my Superannuation so we bought the pub. Grand plans were for one of our sons to run it but they had a couple of kids in a couple of years and the two don’t go well together so now I’m here,” she laughs.

I’ve visited a lot of pubs (those of you that know me well can keep your chuckles to yourselves and comments for that matter) but I think I’ve never seen one with such a collection of books. In fact, there is a whole section devoted to second hand books. A new box has arrived today and Margaret is busily going through it as she tells us they don’t get them unless I’ve read them. There’s even a collection of the old cowboy paperbacks where the rough cowboy is pictured with a luscious looking lady busting from her low cut laced up blouse.

We say our goodbyes and exchange business cards – Margaret’s is a bar coaster with her email address neatly written on the back.

Next time you are down this road, don’t drive past and say one day I must stop, simply do it. Be greeted by Margaret a lady of the outback, divine in her nature and a tribute to the women of this wonderful region.

More:

The original Mungallala Hotel burnt down in 1917 and the present hotel was built in 1918. There is a photograph of the original hotel on the wall above the juke box.

Mungallala, originated as a railway town and the name is said to mean 'food and water'. It is located about half way between Mitchell and Morven where the Warrego Highway crosses the Mungallala Creek. At the pub there is free camping; meals all day and hours may vary.

12 Redford St
Mungallala
Queensland 4467
Phone:  07 46236192      

The pub without a town

Words and Images by Danielle Lancaster

I’m back out in Mulga country and it’s a good feeling.

For those that may not know for the next few days my home away from home is Charleville, approximate 744 kilometres west of Brisbane. It’s not the first time I have been here.

My main focus for coming to Charleville is for a two day Bluedog Photography Workshop we are running over the weekend. The workshops were fully booked out in less than two days of places being opened and there is a long wait list so we could be back. I can tell you it would not take much to get me back out here.

Over my years as a photo journalist I have worked with many in and around this vibrant outback community and made some great friends. I have watched as attractions have been opened and developed and now form part of a pulsating and educational experience for those that visit the region.

To name a few as examples would include the Bilby Experience of which my children and I became very involved in and we still support The Bilby Fund today. For those looking at accommodation, Evening Star Tourist Park where you can park the van, pitch the tent or rent a cabin on the historic Thurlby Station, a 33,000 acre cattle property only a few kilometres out of town is well worth looking at. While the School of Distance Education Tour (for the costly sum of $2.00) allows you to be part of the largest school room in the world.

However my day today was filled with a little drive to visit a little pub and photograph it for one of our upcoming books. I hit the road nice and early with another keen local photographer and yes she is a Nikon girl.

With the early morning sun rising behind us we headed straight west through Cooladi and onto Quilpie where we made a left turn to Toompine. Never heard of it? That’s Ok as Toompine is often more referred to as ‘the pub without a town’.

 The Toompine Hotel

Located between Quilpie and Yowah, it was once a larger town than the one you see today. The wheels of Cobb and Co coaches once stopped here when the track was much shoddier than the one we drove along today. And I must say it’s incredibly improved since the last time I drove this road – our wheels glided over bitumen all the way and any conventional vehicle could make this journey in dry weather with only a few flood causeways that may cause a problem in the wet.

Back to the pub and the designated township that boasts a population of two. The pub, built in 1893 has a very unique atmosphere and call in when any of the locals are at the bar and you are in for a yarn and plenty of stories to take home with you.

Jonesy who runs the pub tells us she’s been here for six and a half years and after a cold water to quench our thirst we hear her saying ‘you get out.’ Thankfully her eye contact was not with us and on turning we see a sheep at the front door that apologetically bahs back at her and lies down. Yes right at the front door. Jonesy’s attention comes back to us, ‘She’s one struck up bloody sheep but I have another 2000 normal ones out the back’.

So what’s there to do other than have a coldie and a chat? For the children there is a menagerie of animals. Along with the 2001 sheep there’s a pig, chickens, donkeys, alpacas, birds, 101 goats (not 100 or 102), lots and lots of dogs and a very cheeky cockatoo that loves to dance and utter words we can’t publish here.
 

Across the road from the pub there’s a tennis court, basketball and cricket pitch set on the red sandy soil. There’s excellent fishing and yabbying not far from the pub; the local 'cemetery' (check out the sign) is just one kilometre down the road and where unfortunatly more children are buried than adults; boulder opal fossicking at Duck Creek and Sheep Creek Station Opal Mines – perfect for the ‘rock hounds’ but don’t forget you will need a permit.

The pub has meals available day and night – we treated ourselves to a homemade chicken pie and it was very good. Free camping and a shower and cheap rooms are available.

Good on you Jonesy, you have one of the best taxis I’ve had a ride in for a while – glad the bowser was close by and we look forward to calling in again very soon. 

 Jonesy and toompine Taxi.

As we are leaving the mailman calls in - a very welcome visitor. He grabs a coldie for the road and pulls up for a chat and then proudly shows me his scarred stomach from being shot (apparently not accidently) and that then explains his tattoo '303'.

So if you are out this way, call on in. It’s worth a tick on the list.

Jonesy, the mailman (centre) - a welcome visitor calls in on his weekly visit and Mary the Italian backpacker.