Cunnamulla, Charleville and Slim Dusty

On Wednesday morning before leaving the Bourke Kidman Camp we took a walk down to the Darling River. Back in 2013 on our ‘First Big Trip’ we took a ride on the Jandra Paddlesteamer from this location. It was a great little cruise but the walk down to the river was all we wanted this time.

So off we went and crossed over into QLD. At Cunnamulla we stopped for lunch and to check out the town, but mainly to take in the Cunnamulla Fella story. The Cunnamulla Fella was imortalised in song by the author/singer, Stan Coster, and the singer of the song who made it famous, Slim Dusty. Back in the 50s snd 60s when Australia was still riding on the sheep’s back to a large degree, there were many young men who worked on the numerous sheep stations. They would work from sun up to sundown, many of them as young as 15 and 16, chasing scrubbers and breaking in horses. At the end of the day they would sit around campfires on their saddles or swags yarning about the days events. The towns were booming as the large properties employed so many men. When they came to town the pubs would overflow and these young fellas could be seen squatting around the streets in the classical pose.

It was around this time that Stan Coster wrote the song later immortalized by Slim Dusty. The lines from the song that refer to the Cunnamulla Fella are:

                ‘Well I’m a scrubber runner and a breaker too; I live on damper and wallaby stew;

I’ve got a big cattle dog with a staghound cross; I never saw a scrubber he couldn’t toss;

Cause I’m the fella from Cunnamulla; Yes I’m the Cunnamulla Fella.’

As a tribute to all these young fellas who worked the land and the late Slim Dusty a project by the Paroo Shire Council, which took two years to bring to completion, came to an end as the Cunnamulla Fella was unveiled to the public in November 2005. (Some of this narrative was borrowed from the Information Centre flyers).

Being a Slim Dusty lover I enjoyed taking this all in and had to get photos of course.

Our destination for the day though was Charleville (another town featuring in a Slim Dusty song, but more of that later). The previous week I had a Lovell’s Springs Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) upgrade on the Land Cruiser. After a thousand kilometres a check was needed to be done on the nuts and bolts and make sure the tyres were not wearing in any particular way. Charleville was about 1200km from Sydney so I chose there as the place to get the work done. I had previously spoken to the recommended mechanic and rang him as we got into town. He could fit us in first thing the next morning. So we checked in at the Charleville Bush Camp which was only about three kilometres out of town.

I had seen this camp on ‘Wikicamps’ and it was a good choice. Every evening the camp hosts cook up three big dampers in camp ovens around a big campfire.  Large numbers of campers form a big circle around the campfire for a great happy hour +. After that they put a big bar-b-que plat and grill over the coals and you can cook your meal on it or use a camp oven to cook a meal. It is very handy as it saves you pulling out your own Barbie and you get to meet a lot of people. It is a great time. I'm sorry I didn't take any photos of the camp.

Our neighbours, Greg and Sue, were really nice people. Greg is a QLD copper having joined the same time as me. We met a few other nice people that night as well.

Next morning I took the Land Cruiser to get the check over done. All good, only a quick and therefore, cheap job was all that was needed.

We decided to stay an extra night so we could check the place out. Up till this time we had done a lot of kilometres to get into new territory for us. So now it was time to slow down. We had a walk around town and visited the ‘Historic House’ and Museum. Had coffee and did some shopping.

This old cash register in the museum is a beautiful piece of work.

Any Slim Dusty fan will know that he sung a song about Charleville. The opening line goes, ‘Well I met her in a disco in the School of Arts Hotel’, and goes on to say, ‘In Charleville, there’s a pretty little woman says she’ll say I will’. So I was thrilled of course to see the School of Arts Hotel but disappointed that it was no longer operating as a hotel.

We also had a look, and a beer, in the magnificent Corones Hotel. It was finished in 1929. It was really a splendid building for it’s time and location. It says something about the affluence of the pastoralist region at the time.

That afternoon we did the ‘Bilby Experience’. Bilby’s are an extremely endangered species due to rabbits, foxes and cats. We got to see three of these cute little critters running around in their darkened environment and learn about the efforts to protect them and replenish their numbers. Because their environment is dark the photos and video will not be great but hopefully worth including.

Then it was back to camp for more happy hour, damper and bar-b-que and chatting to other campers. Finally we are starting to really relax and get back into the caravanning lifestyle.