20250625 Following the Mountain Range to the left of us along the A7, Carnarvon Highway towards Rolleston, Rough Surface as the sign says. It fascinates me how the council go to the trouble of driving to these places to put a sign up, don’t kill two birds with one stone and fix it while their, that might make sense. Loosing reception just out of Roma and passing many cattle trucks headed towards Roma Saleyards, the country's largest cattle selling centre and Australia's marketplace of choice with 223,984 cattle sold through the yards in the 2023/24 financial year. We camped at a truck stops and the cattle’s head peaks over the top of the carriage, their big black eyes staring straight at me, let me out of here.🐄. We were woken buy the tucks starting their engines so we continued our journey to Rollestone, it certainly gets a bit creepy as the road trains head towards you on some narrow parts of the road as I squeeze my eyes in anticipation. Getting closer to town the mountains begin to disappear in the distance and once again the scenery changes. Arriving in Rolleston we fuelled up then found the show grounds so Des could wash the van. Look what I found Des, power and showers, well there’s no guessing where we’re staying tonight.
We found this guy training his horse before he road off into the sunset while on his phone.
We sat under the awning watching the sun set and the kids on dirt bikes dropping wheels stands as the passed, no helmets or safety gear, just kids having fun in the bush.
Thurs 2606 Des was keen to stay another day but we’re starting to get sick of travelling over the same route and not really camping, it’s getting boring, so maybe it’s time to head home. Leaving Rolleston travelling along the Dawson Highway towards Moura where the road's are rough, how the hell do truck carrying cattle handle these rough surfaces.
Stopping at Bauhinia, a town that was home to the Indigenous peoples for thousands of years with evidenced of stencil art and sacred sites. Explorer Ludwig Leichhardt passed here in 1844, collecting specimens of the Bauhinia tree, which inspired the town's name. It wasn’t until 1850s and 60s settlement followed but the town wasn't officially gazetted until 1967, after the clearing of brigalow for agriculture.
Bauhinia is known for its rich, fertile soil, which supports both grazing and crop cultivation (particularly sorghum).
We arrived in the town of Bauhinia for a lunch break, there’s not a lot here and the population has declined from 47 in 2016 to only 28 in 2021. There is camping out the back and the price of meals were reasonable.
No lead, No worries
With our bellies full we continued our trip past Moura, turning off to Theodore when I noticed we were following some massive mines . The Dawson Mine Coking, soft coking and thermal coal have all been produced at the mine. Anglo American has owned the mine since mid-2002. Mining in the area began in 1961 in what was known as the Moura Mine, the first to export a shipment of Queensland's coking coal to Japan.
Definitely a mining town check out how good the road is, as smooth as a babies bum.
A fly by photo of the mines, where in August 1994, an explosion occurred and a total of 21 people were working in the mine. Ten escaped while the remaining 11 failed to return to the surface. A secondary explosion on 9 August hindered any rescue attempts and the mine was subsequently sealed and closed.
I found out after we passed it that there’s a viewing platform that we could’ve visited, but I guess we’ve seen a lot of mine so one less is not going to matter.
A field full of Hay Bales ready for collection.
Arriving in Theodore and right in front of us in Neville Hewitt Park stands a mural of a water tank of a boy fishing on the Dawson River.
Another Mural in Theodore, depicting a black cockatoo and various native Australian plants, with the text "THE TOWN THAT WATER BUILT" highlights the significance of water in the development and prosperity of Theodore, which was established as an irrigation settlement.
The people you run into on the road, the first time we meet Phil was at the Nindigully in 2012 along with other campers and we all had an awesome time. Then Kyabram also in 2012, Tassie in 2016 and here we are again in 2025 and he’s still travelling, but there was talk of finding a new home in the Philippines so his travelling days in Australia maybe coming to an end. Good Luck for the future Phil🍻
With ever flood, the levels rise on the the Dawson River at Theodore, best we put it down to the climate change.🤷♀️
The Dawson River drops around 587m over its 735km length and has 64 creeks and rivers flow into her.
Here we enter the tunnel of love and come out the other side with a noose around someones neck, I’m kidding.😏
I love the cotton fields and there’s about 80% of the Shire's cotton is grown in the Dawson Valley area, which includes Theodore.
Cracow Next
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