Roma Qld July 15, 2015

Roma Qld July 15, 2015

Drove a leisurely 200 km up to Roma today, stopping at a lovely little town called Surat for a coffee and wander about. Its claim to fame is that it is where the last ever Cobb & Co coach went from, in 1926, and that very coaching change station became a store and various others things before being rescued and turned into the delightful Cobb & Co museum. They have a fully restored C&C 14 person coach, which is much bigger than others that we have seen in other places. Apart from it’s size, it was pulled by 7 horses, in two rows of 3 & 4. The run from Surat to Yaleba about 75km, required 40 horses and 5 grooms and the driver for the one way run. No wonder they caved in to the new wonder of the century, the motor omnibus. Another building of interest is this rather unique looking town hall:

Town Hall. Surat Qld

Surat Qld

Cobb & Co 14 person coack. Surat Qld

Ferrier Wool Press. Surat Qld 

Surat Qld

Cobb & Co museum, on the corner of Carnarvon Highway. Surat Qld

Anyhow, we rolled into Roma after a trouble free run to find that its a big sprawling kind of place, the major industry is Coal Seam Gas exploration and exploitation, along with the biggest cattle saleyard in Australia.

We only get to stay in Roma due to Judy’s foresight in booking well ahead: the van park hung out the ‘Full’ sign just as we pulled up, just as they did in St George the other day. We would have liked to visit Carnarvon Gorge, but it's full as well. Must be all us sun & warmth seeking travellers from down south. Not that it’s warm yet, today has been overcast all day, and any hint of warmth was stamped out as soon as dusk rolled in.

Roma kept ringing a bell deep in my childhood thoughts: it was a subject covered at school in social studies and had something to do with oil and gas. At the Big Rig, the information centre just over the road from the van park, they had an informative display about the town's origins and also had a night show on offer for just $8 (senior concession!). So, at the allotted time we went to the open air theatre, and with the help of gas heaters and blankets managed to sit through a very entertaining 45 minute video presentation, with special effects, of those early days and the initial search for artesian water that became the search for gas and oil. As a bonus to my more recent interest in history, Ludwig Leichhardt; was last seen on the Mt Abundance station just west of Roma before he disappeared on his ill fated attempt in 1848 to cross Australia and come out at the Swan River in WA 

One last snap, it's rubbish but the best I could do given the ambient light and lack of tripod (why did i leave it at home?). It's one of the original well-heads that they saved and brought into the info centre so that they could call it .... 'The Big Rig'

The Big Rig. Roma Qld