Around Roma

Roma is the major hub in the gas and oil mining area of southern Queensland.  There's plenty to keep us busy for a few days and the Information Centre at the Big Rig has plenty of ideas.  We picked up a town map with the highlights and set off for a drive around town.  It's still quite hot so the air-conditioning in the car was welcome.  We haven't needed to use the air con in the caravan for a while now.

We called into the Council building to see the 3D clay sculpture and listen to a narrative about the history and industry of the Maranoa as depicted in the sculpture.  Another stop was the huge Southern Cross windmill - an Australian icon and then it was on to Roma's largest bottle tree, with a girth of 8.9m - that's one fat tree!

It was only mid-morning so we decided to drive to Mitchell, about 85km west, for lunch and to have a look around.  Mitchell is still recovering from devastating floods in 2012 when the whole town was under water so most of the tourist attractions were closed or in need of love and attention.  We did get to see the Kenniff Monument a few kms south of town.  This marks the spot where the Kenniff Brothers, local bushrangers, were captured at Arrest Creek.  There's also a monument there erected in memory of police who died throughout Australia fighting bushrangers.  We had heard about the Kenniffs when we were at Cunamulla.

One of Roma's main attractions is The Big Rig which showcases the oil and gas industry of the area.  Unfortunately the night-time sound and light show was "broken" and the "man from Brisbane" hadn't been out to fix it, so we could only walk around the day-time exhibits, many of which are interactive.  We saw plenty of machinery and heard many stories about mining.  There were some short films in the theatrette, one was a Santos recruitment film depicting life in the mining camps.  Outside the complex is a statue to the miners and an old slab hut museum.

We've decided to head off to Chinchilla, about 240km east,  where we will stay for a few days to experience the Melon Festival before making our way to the Sunshine Coast.