The shake down Trip - Part Four

Hey it’s Tuesday and the sun is shining, Woo Hoo!! Time to hit the road and have a look around. We headed north from Roma to Injune where, following a coffee break we headed off in a westerly direction along a track to a place called Womblebank (just a couple of farms really) before heading south to Mitchell. What a great drive! From Injune to Mitchell we saw the grand total of 3 cars, not bad for a distance of 170km. What we did see were emus, wallabies, kangaroos, cattle, bottle trees and even an echidna and all this in the most beautiful wide open space.

The visibility was amazing, and the only sounds were from the birds. After a spot of very late lunch in Mitchell we headed east 90km back along the main highway to Roma, getting in around 1630 just in time for a couple of coldies to wet the whistle. All in the entire total trip was 340km. After all the fresh air (not to mention the beers) we didn’t take a lot of rocking to get to sleep.

Wednesday saw another fine day and we opted for the healthy option. So after breakfast we headed out on foot to trek some of the published walks around/through Roma. First we did the Adungadoo Pathway which is a walkway created by local indigenous people in co-operation with the local council and runs nearly the length of the town to the north. Some of the pathway was flooded by the recent rains and impassable but we were able to detour round the worse bits. We saw a cormorant catching and feeding on fish at a spot called “Shady’s Lagoon, named after a local worthy.

The pathway ended at “The Big Rig” museum. Roma is reckoned to be the birthplace of the Australian oil & gas industry. However, it is not the birthplace of milkshakes as the adjoining cafe couldn’t produce on due to a lack of ice-cream. Coffee and scones had to suffice! Next we attempted the Roma Bush Gardens Walk around Railway Dam but were again thwarted halfway round by flood waters. We did however see our first brown snake crossing the path as we entered the shaded area. He was moving rather rapidly, thankfully away from us!! Then it was back to the van park for a well earned sit down.