6 August, Tambo – We drove the 100km south to Tambo. Along the way, we were held up by a group of drovers pushing a large herd of more than a thousand cattle down the road. Traffic stopped in both directions and we were surrounded as they were pushed across the road. It was fantastic watching the skill of the stockmen, rounding up stragglers and nudging those that tried to take advantage of the lush grass on the side of the road. It took around 15 minutes to clear the herd to the point we could proceed but we were almost sorry. The droppings on the road showed the herd had been moved over a kilometre down the road.

We had looked forward to staying in the little town of Tambo ever since we saw an edition of ABCs Back Roads which featured the little community of 300. Besides the friendly and optimistic nature of the residents, the two things that attracted us were the Teddy Bear Shop and the Chook Races.

The Teddy Bear Shop was started up by a group of women at a time when wool prices were really depressed and they felt they needed to bring in some alternative income. Now, their fame has spread afar, and they make and sell a range of pure wool teddies, even receiving orders from overseas on occasion. They conduct teddy making classes where people can make their own. We only looked and admired, having disposed of large numbers of fluffy toys on the move out of Dowerin last year. We haven’t got the time to look after them anymore.

The Chook Races are the brainchild of Ben, the publican of the Royal Carrangarra Hotel. They have run since 2015, and every night between April and October, he does the same thing. He draws a good crowd every night, amazing since there are two hotels in such a small town. He runs 10 chooks, each a different colour (courtesy of food dye). Each one is auctioned off to the highest bidder. Ben has a wonderful spiel and is an entertaining auctioneer. At the end of the race, the owner of the winning chook receives half the total pot, the other half going to “Little Windmills”, a hospital based charity for children. The chooks are encouraged to do four laps of the circuit by chasing a remote control car carrying a pot of worms and mince. Some lose interest, some sit and wait for the last lap, run the wrong way and are disqualified. It is a real hoot. One guy bid successfully on three chooks, outlaying around $600, and not winning. The winner picked up over $700. Since its inception, the races have raised over $100,000 for charity.

Of course, after the races, most people stay on for a meal, so the hotel cashes in, We had barramundi, chips and salad and shared a good night with a couple from Brisbane. We even managed to walk back the kilometre to our free camp spot down by the river and find our van.

7 August, Augathella – Every day we seem to find a destination roughly 100km down the road. That is far enough for a day, conserving fuel and ensuring that we don’t get too far south into the rain belt too quickly. Augathella was listed as a town on the banks of the Warrego River with good fishing. Alas, that proved seasonal, with only a couple of small puddles left in the river bed. However, camping opportunities along the banks were numerous and we could easily walk into the little town.

The 1950s story “Smiley” was written in Augathella and apparently based on real people. They make much of the Chips Rafferty film and the library runs showings. It was closed when we were there so we had to miss out. So sad! We stopped at the butcher, and read that the same family had run the business continuously since the 1950s. We bought some chops.

The town’s motto is “Meat Ant Country”, a reference to the name of the local football team. It has gained traction, with a giant meat ant sculpture dominating a park. Other than that, Augathella proved an excellent place for an afternoon sleep.

8,9 August, Charleville – After the last couple of tiny towns, Charleville represents a regional centre, with a population of around 3000. We booked in to a caravan park, after an extended time off-grid camping. The Bailey Bar Caravan Park offered a camp oven stew with pudding and damper on Sunday nights so we settled for that. It proved to be an older park, in need of a revamp, but clean and functional.

The tourist guides sing the praises of the local bakery, the Heinnemans Bakery, with mouthwatering pies and top bread. We headed there, to have a treat, but were very disappointed to find a big crowd and almost all pies sold, and it wasn’t even midday. Our diets saved, we returned to the van to watch the football on TV.

 We headed out to the Ward River to try fishing, failing with the first location because there was no water anywhere. This area has not had the rain that the country further north has had and it al has a dry appearance. Eventually, we found a good stretch of water where the Quilpie Road crosses the Ward River and enjoyed some good fishing, not landing anything but getting bites and losing a good fish close in.

The wind came up and blew very hard from the north so it would have been a great day to be driving south. Fortunately, it abated slightly as evening fell and so the camp oven and damper meal was not affected. About a dozen people took part and we enjoyed some really superb rich stewed beef with mashed potato and damper. For sweets, we were served up an amazing apple cake and custard. It was real bush cooking but very well done. The old owners have been doing this several times a week for thirty years and have become a bit of an institution. It was great food, good company and one of the warmer evenings we have experienced for ages.

Charleville is an unexciting place, after some of the town further north. It seems to shut down at noon on Saturday and even some of the tourist things were closed for the weekend. It didn’t worry us too much because we are just about over going to museums and outback displays.

10 August, Warrego River – We spent the day at a small campsite on the Warrego River. The river was low, with some algae outbreaks, and we caught nothing at all. Still, the solitude was great, with no other people camped near us and only a couple of other cars sighted during the day.

11,12 August, Wyandra – After a huge drive of around 60kms, we reached the tiny town of Wyandra, with a reported population of 75. Amazingly, it also has a school, with a listed 4 pupils, and a police station. The Post Office/General Store/ Caravan Park is the quirkiest we have yet struck. We simply had to stay for a couple of days, particularly with the Warrego River offering some bait wasting opportunities.

The check-in to the caravan park took quite a while, because the shop staff were so busy with a big line of travellers who had stopped to sample the famed Devonshire Teas. The poor kitchen staff were going flat out. We were shown our spot in the park. We were between two fenced sites, catering for dogs off leash, a first for us. The ablutions are straight out of an outback movie, corrugated iron with lots of built in air-conditioning. All around the park and out the front of the shop are pieces of bric-a-brac, along with old pieces of machinery, and signs about everything, mostly humorous.

In one corner of the property, there is a wooden structure that serves as a bar area, and a big communal fire pit.  The bar opens at 5pm and the system is simple, write your name and drinks on a slate, serve yourself, and settle up in the morning. The same goes for food. Menus are passed around over drinks and payment is made the next day. It is all like a big honour system. It is a very social place.

We tried fishing on the Warrego River a couple of times, catching a nice Eel Tailed Catfish on one day and nothing but an unlucky turtle the next.

From here, our next stop will be across the border in NSW, marking the end of the Matilda Way. It has been a huge learning experience for us, and, despite teaching kids about the importance of the huge inland river systems and the Great Artesian Basin, it is impossible to fully appreciate the significance of both until you experience it. There is not only a significant population living from the bounties the land offers, there is a distinct culture in outback Queensland, that has much to admire. People are so friendly and so proud of their towns. We will miss it.