Not Before Time

We haven’t been doing too much touristy stuff since we’ve been in Roma but we have both been doing lots of walking. I’m trying to remember to take the camera with me more often in an effort to take more photos of things around us, it’s a slow process but I’m getting there .

There’s a duck pond right across the road from the caravan park which is just near the start/finish of the walking track and this is where I often start my walk. There are ducks, geese and ibis around and in the water, and a variety of other birds in the trees. The water birds are quite used to people going up to them (and feeding them) so I got some shots of them ok, but the birds in the trees are a bit more shy and like to hide. So far I’ve seen apostle birds, magpie larks, cockatiels, doves and pigeons, but haven’t been able to get photos of them. I’ll keep trying, but meanwhile are the water birds.

We’ve also managed to check out a couple of the local pubs for dinner and so far they have booth been great. There are quite a few pubs in town, and I’m sure we’ll eventually get around to checking them all out, and I’ll get photos next time!

Surat

We went for a drive to Surat on Saturday. Surat’s about 85km from Roma, about half way between Roma and St George. The town was a changing station for Cobb & Co, and there’s a Cobb & Co Changing Station complex which houses the Visitor Information Centre, the library, the Cobb & Co Store Museum, the Balonne Art Gallery and a 25,000 litre freshwater aquarium stocked with local river fish. If you’re in the area it’s well worth a visit. Entry is by a gold coin donation.

While we were there the art gallery was showcasing the talents of a local family of artists. Various members of the family had paintings displayed, but there were also sketches and some gorgeous jewellery. A very talented family. It has to be something in the genes. I wish I had those genes.

The gallery often displays works by local artists, as well as travelling exhibitions featuring well-known artists.

The museum has displays showing how life was in the days when the Cobb & Co Changing Station was the hub of the town and has artifacts and items from the early days on display. There’s also a 14 seat working Cobb & Co coach on display and lots of historical information about the town and the locals.

Surat is on the banks of the Balonne River and the Surat Fishing and Restocking Club regularly restock the river with Murray Cod and Yellowbelly fingerlings and the fishing is supposed to be good. We checked out one of the fishing spots, but there had been a lot of rain the night before and it was really muddy and boggy so we decided to leave it for another, not so wet, day. I must admit, we’re hanging out to go fishing so hopefully it will be soon.

The township is small and has a nice feel to it. We had lunch at the pub, which while it’s not a pretty pub with old country pub style character on the outside, has a nice atmosphere inside and everyone in there talked to you and were very friendly. The food was excellent too – the usual pub offerings, but cooked extremely well. We really liked this pub and I think we’ll be going back a few times while we’re up here.

If you’re passing through and want to stop for a stretch or to have lunch, there’s a nice park at the back of the town on the banks of the river. Considering it was Saturday and also school holidays, it was really quiet in town and we were the only people at the park and in the gallery. Although there were a few in the pub .

I’ve since found out there is a winery at Surat, so I’ll have to check it out one day soon. Bit of a bugger I didn’t know about it while we were there ‘cause, I’ve run out of wine and I could have stocked up! But I’ll update on that another day. That’ll teach me to research a place before we go visit .

I didn’t get too many photos of the town but here’s a few.