14 November 2016 - Quilpie to Adavale and return

It was a sunny but cool day today, again, with a fairly constant breeze, perfect for the 105km trip to Adavale, north of Quilpie.

141116 John Waugh Bridge over Bulloo River at Quilpie

We did a round trip, to Adavale via Black Road, returning via Red Road.  

141116 Our route for today

Black Road was gravel all the way but good enough to travel at 80km/h.  There were plenty of dips, creek crossings and grids, all of which demanded a slowdown to navigate through them.  We crossed the Bulloo River twice.  It was muddy and not flowing.

Red Road was a mixture of bitumen and gravel, but was mostly gravel.  Again, 80km/h on the gravel.

141116 The gravel Black Road

The country today was mostly flat with broad expanses of grass and wildflowers, interspersed with mulga trees, low growing shrubs and river gums along the river and creek banks.

141116 Bridge on Black Road over the Bulloo River

141116 Bulloo River from the bridge

This was perfect country for cattle and we came across several of them by the roadside. They, like elsewhere, were in excellent condition.

Our first stop was at Lake Houdraman, 6km from Quilpie.  It is a long stretch of water with its banks lined with greenery, which is the source of water lilies and would be an impressive sight in the flowering season.  It is a swimming spot for the locals.

141116 Lake Houdraman near Quilpie

141116 Lake Houdraman near Quilpie

141116 Lake Houdraman

Further up the road, we had morning tea at the turnoff to Alaric, which is a Veteran' and Ex-Servicemens' Retreat.  It is a welfare and non-profit project of the Sunshine Coast Branch of the Vietnam Veterans' Association of Australia in Maroochydore. It also happens to be a working cattle station.  Time did not permit a visit to Alaric.

Adavale is a small town with considerable history.  Opals brought settlers to Adavale back in the 1880's and eight pubs were operating.  Only one hotel exists today.  There is a recently upgraded community hall, which has a good selection of historical photographs.

141116 Approaching Adavale

141116 The Community Hall at Adavale

141116 One of many historical photographs
at the Community Hall

141116 Police Museum at Adavale

141116 The Adavale Hotel

141116 The Hut

141116 Plaque at The Hut

An air crash occurred near Quilpie.  A memorial has been established at the site.

141116 Memorial on the site of the plane crash 

141116 Personal memories on the obelisk

141116 Poem on the obelisk

We lunched under a river gum tree on our way back to Quilpie.

Below are some photographs of flowers seen today.  Close ups of the two trees are provided.  At one stop today, we counted sixteen different small plants, only a couple of which were flowering.

Our car has become embarrassingly dirty so we took advantage of the hot, high pressure bore water cleaning station, provided free by the Shire Council.  All one can say is, after the wash, the car does not look quite as dirty as before.