tiabunna's photos

Out in western Queensland, between Boulia and Middleton. Taken at the Cawnpore Lookout, the name presumably from when the stagecoaches (previous image) began travelling here. Another image, with the modern road, in the PiP. Wishing everyone a Happy Fence Friday and a great weekend to follow.

Out at Middleton there isn't just the old stagecoach-base pub, the Hilton Hotel is also to be found there. View large to fully appreciate that this is luxury itself, it even has an ATM machine!

Middleton was the middle one of nine horse changing stations for stagecoaches on the run between Winton and Boulia - a 384 km trip then taking four days. Nothing remains of the other eight coach stations, making this one of the most isolated pubs in Queensland. The coach run here operated until somewhere between 1915 and 1920 and at that time Middleton had a school, police station, store and community hall. Only the pub still operates.

For Macro Mondays group 18/9//2023, topic #327. "Thread". Macro of a section of an unfinished embroidery my late wife had been doing, of a painting . "Under the Jacaranda" The PiP shows the threads at the rear of the canvas.

On the verandah of the Middleton Hotel. Middleton (population 4) was the middle one of nine horse changing stations for stage coaches on the run between Winton and Boulia - a 384 km trip then taking four days. Nothing remains of the other eight coach stations, making this one of the most isolated pubs in Queensland. I wouldn't take the sign out the front (PiP) too seriously in this semi-desert area! Happy Bench Monday and have a good week, everyone.

It was a pleasant surprise to come across a flock of these cockatoos near the road. Thankfully they stayed when we stopped and didn't go far when they took off as I took this image. See PiPs for later images. They have helmet-like crests, males have the red tail panels, the females have small yellow spots and black barred yelllow-orange on the tail feathers.

When I took this, the sign that caught my attention was the one in the middle (to assist the ipernity translator, it reads "ALL DOGS must remain confined to the vehicle".) :-) Wishing everyone a Happy Fence Friday and a great weekend to follow. This PiP with the vintage petrol pumps was taken near the main image. Leaded petrol was stopped in Australia late in the last century.

Many small Eucalypts were growing along the roadside. I'm fairly certain they were one of the Mallee variety, possibly Round-leafed Mallee, which grows in the inland. Either way, it was a bonus to find these flowering and with seed pods .

This fascinating structue is a Termite Mound, essentially a giant ant nest. These are found across Australia, though most are not as big as this one, which is the largest along the Plenty Highway. You can read more about them here. My friend and I were travelling in this vehicle.