Qld Outback Tour - Combo Waterhole - McKinley Pub

Whose that there with Sue?

After packing up and driving all around Winton looking for a petrol bowser which either a) worked or b) had unleaded fuel, we were forced by stress to find a coffee shop. The one thing which has changed dramatically since our last trip into the outback ten years ago, is the availability of pretty reasonable coffee places. We had little trouble finding one in the main street - Spun Yarn Cafe - and not only enjoyed a good hot chocolate but also an interesting conversation with a young man intent on getting things moving in Winton, especially in live entertainment.

We left him to it, after passing on the name of Fanny Lumsden, who is already touring in outback Qld.

It was another easy morning drive, with one stop beside some mesas which rose suddenly from a dead flat landscape. Lunch was at Combo Waterhole ... well, in the carpark from which the walking track goes to Combo. We were unable to do the walk as a big mob of cattle entirely filled the area of the first finger of the Diamantina River, through which the track passed. The horsemen had so much trouble settling them there, we weren't game to disturb them. We had seen it 23 years ago with the kids and from the sign boards not much had changed.

Now that's a knife

We arrived at McKinley mid afternoon and booked into the caravan park which is part of the Walkabout Creek Hotel, famed for its part in Crocodile Dundee. The hotel has been moved since the kids saw it in 1995 and since it was used in the film. It was discovered in 1998 that it needed restumping, so the owner took the opportunity of moving it from its original location down a sidestreet, to a prominent spot on the highway.

The new owners of four years - Frank and Deb - are reviving the place and every Saturday night they have a pizza night and award a free beer to anyone who wears a Hawaiian shirt. Frank had bought the business when passing through on holiday and was annoyed at how long it took to get a drink. With a long flowing white beard, a disarming smile and a sense of humour as dry as the surrounding plains, he's almost a natural as a publican, yet Walkabout Creek is his first.

We spent an hour or so chatting with them and getting in some practice before the evening and soaking up the atmosphere. My fame had spread before me and as each family member walked into the bar, I was introduced as the bloke with all of the Hawaiian shirts. A bus load of oldies arrived about 4pm and within fifteen minutes, Frank had told most of them and they were coming up for a chat!

The memorabilia on the walls - including a signed self portrait by Rolf Harris penned in 1988 and now hung in a frame with bars across the face - always reminds you that you are in "that"pub but it takes more than that to make a successful business in the middle of nowhere and that's what they've done.

Click for today's photos

The evening itself was a bit of a fizzer. Despite having a full caravan park (about 25 vans), only a few of the visitors came into the pub, which soon filled up with locals. Apart from Frank and his daughter, I was the only one in a Hawaiian shirt. Just like home really but I did get my free beer. Sue entered the pool competition, loosing in the first round to Deb. Tiring and after enough beer, I was not disappointed. The place, however, was full of locals, a good thing to see on a Saturday night.

Cloncurry or The Curry (according to locals) tomorrow.

AUC 1995 - Cloncurry

Combo Waterhole, Kynuna, McKinley, Cloncurry (Qld)
(Landsborough Highway) 336 kms

Up at sunrise, it was no surprise this particular morning proceeded quickly and our pack up was smooth and untroubled by any argument Our road work was largely done by morning tea time, when we reached the Combo Waterhole - sight of the supposed death of "the jolly swagman" just south of Kynuna. The drive to there had been uneventful and basically pretty boring. Again, the road kills were the most staggering thing on show.

The road into the Combo Waterhole is dirt, but in pretty good condition and it leads to a point just over a kilometre from the waterhole. The original road led all the way to the spot which became famous for the words of AB Paterson, but the land owner made the decision to close it to the public, owing to misuse of the track. The result, is an easy walking track, clearly marked and punctuated by interesting signs which explain elements of the walk in.

Perhaps the most intriguing fact to come from our mid-morning walk, was the construction of the stone crossings which allow access across the channels that are ultimately part of the head waters of the Diamantina River. The stone was quarried locally, but has been laid on its edge, rather than flat and in closely packed rows. The work was carried out by a local contractor, using Chinese workmen and an old Chinese technique. The fact these crossings are still intact, after more than 100 years of floods, is testament to the work of the builders and the method.

The legend of "Waltzing Matilda" has grown as the centenary (to be celebrated in the months after our visit) of its writing has approached. The fact which remain undisputed, are that the words were written by Banjo Paterson on Dagworth Station in 1895, when the bush bard was making his first visit to the Queensland outback. The Combo Waterhole marks the northern boundary of Dagworth Station and it is suggested Paterson visited the spot during his stay. The tune is an old Scottish one and was suggested by Christina Macpherson of Dagworth. She is said to have played the autoharp whilst he sang the words.

The parts which have become cloudy relate to the inspiration for me tale.

One school of thought, is it relates to a swagman who drowned at Combo, but greater credence is given to the death of Samuel "Frenchy" Hoffmeister - a shearer who, it is said, shot himself by the waterhole (a painful spot to be sure), in remorse for his role in the destruction of the shearing shed on Dagworth during the shearing strikes of 1891-4.

Whatever the actual fact, it is enough to say Paterson was inspired to write the poem/song and that, in the end, it may just represent poetic licence. Regardless, it was exhilarating to stand in such a historic spot, under the shade of the coolibah trees. From what we had seen in driving here, we had a better understanding of the term "oasis".

After a cup of tea, it was on to Kynuna, the residents of whom - all 22 of them - have been doggedly fighting Winton for the honour and glory associated with Paterson's great Aussie icon. Chief agitator, Don McGoughin, has a display set up under canvas, across the road from the Blue Heeler Hotel.
All literature and road signage kept telling us this was the "Famous Blue Heeler Hotel", but the actual
reason for this fame never became obvious to any of us. The only claim to fame it would appear to have, is it is the only remaining hotel - still standing - to have any connection to the Waltzing Matilda story. Any man and his dog - obviously a Blue Heeler, in this case - appear to have performed the song /poem, once the ale flowed.

Kynuna itself, was established in the 1860's as a staging point for Cobb & Co. coaches.

Mick Dundee's pub

From here, our trek took us further north west and to a lunch time destination with the pub at McKinley, otherwise known as the Walkabout Creek Hotel - home watering hole of the fictitious Mick "Crocodile" Dundee. This is a very plain timber building and would make as much money from sales of tourist items - T Shirts, stickers, beer holders, caps, key rings etc. - as from beer sales. The interior is as it was in the movie, with the exception of the paper money which had been attached to the ceiling in the movie. One wall has a collection of photographs taken when the movie was being filmed and signed mementos; whilst another features a group of nude shearers, busily pursuing their work in the shed ! We pondered on the accuracy of their cuts and the potential for accidental circumcision.

I had a beer and a meat pie: it seemed the least I could do !

The village of McKinley is nothing but a small number of ramshackle wooden residences and a roadside cafe/petrol stop.

The final leg of the day -106 kms - was again taken by Sue, who had restrained herself at the Walkabout Creek Hotel.

Cloncurry was reached at about 14:30, but before we could erect the tent a tarpaulin shade had to be
erected against the sun. The heat was taking its toll on our crew, with none of us used to these temperatures in winter. The locals assured us the current hot spell was unusual, but most of them were huddling in jumpers by nightfall, whilst we were still parading in shorts and T shirts. Interestingly and perhaps giving truth to their assertions, the water in the swimming pools of the various places we had stayed in had been icy.

TODAY'S PHOTOS

The following day we were to part company with Gog and Pa, as we headed for the Gulf of Carpentaria and an appointment with some prawns at Karumba. The big question tomorrow would provide an answer for, is whether we would carry on and stay at Karumba or settle for our booking at Normanton. The lure of sunset over the Gulf was very powerful. We were scheduled to rejoin the grandparents at Mt Isa in four days time, prior to their departure for Lawn Hill NP.