We
travelled 119km along the Matilda Highway (Landsborough Hwy) to the
secluded banks of the Barcoo River, about 1km from Tambo. This area
was explored by Major Mitchell in 1846. The town has allowed free
camping at Stubby Bend, well away from the highway noise. This is
where we saw our first 'live' Australian animal, a few kangaroos, and
a possum right beside our van. One must be fully self-contained as
there are no toilets or water, other than the brown Barcoo River.
There are a few concrete picnic tables and bins on the way in/out. A
dump point is located next to the petrol station on the highway where
you turn. It is an easy walk into Tambo along the Coolibah Walking
Trail, and the river has yellow-belly river fish. We had a lovely
afternoon chatting to other campers and lit a beautiful campfire to
warm us as the night and the cold set in.
From
Stubby Bend the next morning we drove to the historic Qantas crash
site, where the first Qantas plane crashed, killing three.
We
continued into Tambo, the oldest town in central west Queensland.
There is plenty of parking in the main street for caravans, and we
have stopped here a number of times for Peter to get his coffee fix.
This trip, as we are doing shorter drives, we have more time to spend
walking around towns. Our first stop was the information centre
located in the library, which use to be the court house. Built in
1888, it is famous for housing the 'white bull' involved in the Harry
Redford (bushranger Captain Starlight) cattle duffing case. Harry
Redford was the basis for the Australian book “Robbery Under Arms”.
There is a lot of history about Harry Redford in and around
Charleville.
The
main street of Tambo is called the heritage area, the information
centre has a great booklet about Tambo's Heritage Walk. One of the
buildings, The Royal Carrangarra Hotel, is believed to be the oldest
licensed hotel site in Western Queensland, established about 1863. It
was used as the first post office in Tambo and Cobb and Co. used it
as a stop over, one of the first Cobb and Co stopovers. The name
Carrangarra comes from the original settlement and is an Aboriginal
name meaning feasting and resting place. The hotel was destroyed by
fire three times and each time was rebuilt. I really like the
history displayed on the outside walls of the hotel. One section
showed newspaper articles from around Australia reporting the 1951
fire.
Tambo
is famous for its Teddies. Originally created in the back of the
telegraph and postal museum, and is now located in the old council
chambers. The shop is small and when I was there people were sewing
on industrial machines making bears. The bears are beautiful and
expensive. I liked the teddies and the teddy murals all around town.
When
I think of all the times we have stopped at Tambo briefly, I can't
believe we didn't spend more time there. Coffee is great at Fanny
Mae's as is the menu, especially breakfast. There is another coffee
shop down the road, but Fanny Mae's is the one we have always stopped
at. The information centre is well worth visiting, as is the Post
Office and the museum. An old fire engine is encased in a purpose
built building mid way down the street. Just so much to see. Well
worth a longer stop. A bonus is how friendly everyone is. One expects
people in shops and info centres to be friendly, but locals walking
down the street would smile and say gidday. When walking past the pub
one of the local drinkers (it was 11am) waved and said hello. This
has to be the friendliest town in Australia.
