We Cardinals have had our little excursion to the town of Emerald, in Central Queensland,
about 240km west of Rockhampton and an area I have never previously visited.
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Like many regional towns, life has centred around the Railway, and in this case a beautiful, heritage-listed, Railway Station building.
In between business meetings, we wandered around and found a few oddities:
In 'Discovery Park', a 25 metre high easel with Van Gogh 'Sunflowers'!!
Why???? Because they grow sunflowers in this agricultural region.
(Also cotton, and mandarins, we were told).
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Outside City Hall, pieces of a fossilised tree, 250 million years old.
It was unearthed in 1979 when a new railway bridge was being built across the local river.
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A Bush Chapel, serene and quietly contemplative, in the local Botanic Gardens.
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A mosaic pathway depicting the history of the area, beginning with the indigenous Dreamtime...you know the story:
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While agriculture continues, there are now many coal mines surrounding the town, and the population has exploded in recent times.
But country hospitality is as good as always, and a lot like that of the Southern USA.
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Did a little detour to the nearby gemfields, and the towns of Rubyvale and Sapphire...
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I found it hilarious, and just like driving through a town in the old Wild West..
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No time for fossicking, but perhaps we will return another year.
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Fairbairn Dam, which provides the water supply for town, agriculture and mining..
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It was fun, and I enjoyed the change of scene.
Before I pop off, I must apologise to those fellow bloggers whose blogs have disappeared recently from the blog list on my side bar.
At least, I hope it was only recently, when Google put us all in a spin of confusion.
It slipped by me because everyone has remained on my Dashboard.
I'll never get a grip on the background region of Blogland, but there you go.
I was never at all technically minded.
Have done my best to replace all missing blogs, and promise to be more attentive in the future!
Happy Friday Everybody XXXX
What an interesting trip you must be having; so much to see and enjoy. Australia has so much to offer and I hope one day I shall be able to visit it! Enjoy your time away from home
ReplyDeleteWe are back home already! It was just a quick one-hour flight from Brisbane, then pick up a hire car. There is a lot to see in Queensland, and I hope to do more of these quick trips around our state.
DeleteIt all looks so lovely Patricia.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have visited Queensland.
Australia is a wonderful country.
glad you are having a good time.
I can imagine some of those out of the way towns..looking like the wild west.
Enjoy the rest of your trip.
val xx
That wild west town was really funny, like the old gold-rush places. Lots of tents, huts, and rusty vehicles. We have been too busy flying overseas in recent years, and need to explore our own State a bit more. xx
DeleteThat's a very impressive station and as for that tree fossil, it's hard to imagine that something like that can be 250 million years old, amazing! x
ReplyDeleteLoved that station building.. and yes, it is hard to imagine the log is that old, and that it can be scientifically dated! x
DeleteWhat a lovely name for a town - Emerald - I wonder how it came about.
ReplyDeleteIt is great that they have retained their railway station just as it was first erected - they have so much more character than contemporary ones.
See you have been at the scones too - we have the restrict ourselves to half a scone each per afternoon with my apricot jam otherwise we will balloon.
I was rather hoping to see a shop selling emeralds, Rosemary, but alas not... We saw sapphires in many colours found in the gem fields, including orange, but not emerald green!
DeleteLast January I gave up baking scones because we were having them every day, and I have lost weight. That was my first scone in months, and very delicious it was. Half a scone per day sounds most sensible.
How exciting pictures from down under. The sky is ever so blue and the picture of the dam is quite special.
ReplyDeleteImpressive.
You know, I had not even noticed the sky, Mette! So bad that we tend to take it for granted, though I do miss it when it disappears under rain clouds for a few weeks ..
DeleteIt looks like a nice place with a good sense of its own identity. It's always a good sign when people take the trouble to do public art work. And there is an air of the wild west around the mining towns! A great glimpse into a little unknown corner of Australia.
ReplyDeleteJenny, I think that sense of identity you notice comes from being long distances from any other towns or cities. It was quite noticeable, and I also gained the impression they have to 'make their own fun', and not depend on the outside world so much. Loved that crazy mining town!
DeleteGosh, the Emerald City! Did you catch a glimpse of the Wizard of Oz, Patricia? ;-) it looks a fascinating place and I love the glimpses of history, ancient and more recent. I'm starting to understand why my father, who spent 8 years in Australia as a young man, always wanted to go back there.
ReplyDeleteMmm, well, there was something of the Yellow Brick Path in the park leading up to the sunflower painting...
DeleteYour father was quite the adventurer, coming over here for 8 years back in the day. Many of us are descended from just such Englishmen!