Update on my Trip
I am back home in Brisbane after a long and eventful trip from home to Adelaide. I’ve not yet calculated the number of kilometres I drove (will do shortly) but I am pleased to be home safe. Not that I worried about it – but at one stage I felt overwhelmed by the number of people wishing me “safe travels”. If I thought about all the risks on the long drive, I would be concerned. Not only was I driving on unfamiliar roads (many of which were badly damaged by the recent rains), there was wildlife to look out for (kangaroos,), goats and other stock, copious dead bodies of animals hit by traffic on the roads, crazy drivers and more.
I recall about day two, when I was following a road train (yes, another risk on the roads) when it veered suddenly onto the wrong side of the road. Immediately I thought the driver had lost control, but seconds later I saw why he (I assume it was a “he”), took the action he did. There was a huge dead kangaroo on the road. I too had to swerve suddenly to avoid it!
St George to Cobar
I stayed overnight in the Balonne River Motel and had a good sleep. In the morning I was up early and wandered down to the river to take a few photos. I set off around 8 am, heading south. Dirranbandi is about an hour from St George, and as I drove in, I saw the park on the left-hand side of the road, so I stopped to take the following pics.
Welcome to Dirranbandi
Welcome to the tiny town of Dirranbandi
Dirranbandi Bakery
It is certainly a tiny town. The population of Dirranbandi was 640 in the 2016 Census, and they don’t all live in town. It is in this area that the biggest cotton farm, Cubbie Station, can be found. As I got back in the car after taking the above photos and drove through the town I noticed that there was no one at the Bakery, so I dropped in to get a coffee.
The Great Dirranbandi Bakery
I won’t go into detail about my visit to the Bakery, as I will write about it elsewhere, but it was an event that I will not forget for a long while! I met the wonderful lady who runs the bakery!
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
The Grand Hebel Hotel
After my short stop in Dirranbandi, I was back in the car and on the road again. I had nearly 600 km to drive, so there wasn’t time to stop and really enjoy the experiences along the way. The next town on the route was Hebel, and as I stopped to photograph the famous Hebel Hotel, raindrops fell, and I knew I was in for some bad weather!
Outback History
The listed population of Hebel is 67 folk, and they have a wonderful history.
The dark skies ahead, seen from Hebel.
I kept on driving, hoping that the weather was not too bad. Rain was intermittent, sometimes a little heavy, but mostly it didn’t impact my drive. I just hoped it would not get worse. The roads were damaged from previous rain/flooding. There were many stops along the way, and I watched the dark skies for a long time. Would it get worse? Fortunately, it was not too bad, and I was able to continue.
Rain and Roadworks
There were may stops where roadworks were in progress along the way. Somewhat annoying, but necessary as so much damage was done along the way.
Anyone else been to Hebel?
