Muttaburra

Monday the 24th of May, we left Blackall and headed toward Muttaburra. At Barcaldine we filled with fuel and had a cuppa and did a bit of shopping. Then headed off to Aramac where we had lunch. We drove the last leg of the trip to Muttaburra and pulled into the caravan park. It is just a council run park with an honesty box or you can go and pay at the Library. $15 per night for power and water and if you pay for two nights you can stay five nights. How good is that? The water is very good bore water and I was happy to put the water in my tanks. There was plenty to see here so we took two nights to stay for three. So after set up we took a walk into the tiny town. Got some info at the Post Office/Information Centre. Then turned into the other main street and could not go past the pub, The Exchange Hotel which was built in 1893. It is the last remaining hotel of the seven hotels that were all operating at one time in this town. This tiny town was not so tiny once.

We were quite dry after travelling for most of the day and we are now in central QLD and we have left the cold weather behind. So it was good to have a cold beer.

Tuesday morning I had time to make some necessary phone calls. We had been on the road and on the go for a week so it was good to slow down and get some things sorted. Then I met up with Jan & Ross at the Library to pay for our stay and then go next door for the 10am tour of the A A Cassimatis General Store. Tony Cassimatas took over an existing business soon after he arrived in Australia from Greece in 1914. He became a successful businessman and when he retired he just walked out the door and locked it. The building, therefore and most everything that is in it is a timewarp. Very interesting indeed. During this tour we found out that Muttaburra was once the biggest centre outside Brisbane back in the day. It is the centre of QLD.

The cash register is the original one used in the store at the time.

These old chain saws are very heavy. Men were strong and tough back in those days.

Ice was made in this led lined cabinet. The museum people have not been able to work out how the ice was made.

Then there is the cottage next door which was the Cassimatis residence.

Stavroola’s glory box which was shipped out from Greece more than a hundred years ago is in amazingly good condition.

From the Cassimatas store the tour moved on to the old Muttaburra Hospital. This hospital was built in 1957 and closed in 1989. It was the site of the Muttaburra Hospital from 1884 to 1989. It is called the Dr Arratta Memorial Museum. This doctor deserves all the accolades given him and the naming of this memorial after him. He worked there for 35 years from the age of 25. I was blown away by what the tour guide explained about him. He realized that because of his isolated practice he did not have the skills as a GP to properly service his community. So he upskilled himself as a surgeon, an obstetrician, a pathologist, a dentist, a radiologist and even a vet. Being so remote the doctor and the patients could not afford the time for their blood samples etc to be sent away and returned so he learnt how to culture the bloods. He had the whole town of about 500 people mapped for blood so that when he had to perform operations he knew who to drag out of the pub or from their home to donate blood. This bloke was truly amazing. He worked with mechanics, plumbers and whoever to improvise medical equipment. I can’t get over how he could have done it all.

There was a bit of history of the area also displayed, some of which my relate to Linda’s ancestory.

We went back to camp after a great morning and had lunch. We then walked up to the Muttaburra Dinosaur display. Not far from Muttaburra the bones of a dinosaur was discovered back in 1964. So hence the display.

Back at camp there was this helpful plaque that explained how Muttaburra was established.

The sunsets are beautiful out here. The surrounding horizon also becomes a light purple colour.

Next morning I went for a walk. On the way took a look at the Post Office which is a lovely building.

We took a drive out to Broadwater which is 10km from town. It is a broader expanse of the Thompson River. You can camp there and it is a nice spot. However, the water is not inviting due to the muddy nature of it. You don’t know how stagnated it is so you would not want to swim and put your head under.

On the way back to town we took a look at the town cemetery. There is so much history to this town. The earliest headstone is 1881 and earliest recorded burial is 1879. So many of the deaths occurred at the farm stations out of town, Bowen Downs and Cornish Station. The stations were big communities as they were labour intensive. Some people's names were not known, but their stone or plaque had a first name at least, such as Billy the Cook, died 1882 Bangall Creek.

Back to camp for lunch. Then headed out to the Union Camp. N QLD there were 60 union camps established during the 1891 shearers strike and for most of the time there were only about 150 men at the Muttaburra camp but at one time it reached 400 members. It seems at one time they were fully armed and threatened farmers who were transporting their wool clip. The military were called in to restore order.

From there we drove to the Pump Hole. I am not sure what the name implies but when we went there it just appears to be a couple of deep holes of the Thompson River. Again due to the muddines of the water it was not inviting to swim. People did camp there. Maybe if you could catch a lot of fish I could understand the attraction of the place. The flies were certainly bad.

That night was the lunar eclipse. We spent an enjoyable time that night looking at the moon and the atmosphere and the lunar eclipse.

That completed our time at Muttaburra. It was out of the way but worth the visit.