At first glance there's not much to Tambo, but like so many of these small country towns, it tends to punch above its weight as far as the tourist scene is concerned. Visitors are very well catered for. Apart from the excellent caravan park in which we were staying, coupled with the adjoining motel complex, there is another park at the far end of town, a little tired looking, but apparently quite functional (we did note it is on the market!)
Like Ilfracombe, the Landsborough Highway forms Tambo's main street, but here the carriageway is divided to allow for centre parking.
As I mentioned in my previous, the highway closure south of the town had rendered this normally quite busy thoroughfare strangely quiet. Just the shot for those of us wanting to wander around the town like Browns' Cows!
Any visiting Tambo need never go hungry or thirsty. The relatively small Tambo CBD, which like most of these towns, is clustered along the main drag, houses two pubs, two cafes, another in the service station at the end of the street, a butcher and a very well stocked Foodworks store.
with its rather incongruously modern front verandah stands almost directly opposite the park. This proved to be too much of a temptation by Sunday evening.
After cowering in our vans for most of the day sheltering from the incessant rain, we joined our most friendly park neighbours at the Tavern. What began as a displaced happy hour morphed into dinner and ended with us all crammed, Chez Marshies, for nightcaps of my fine single malt. It was a big night, one I was to regret more than usual the following morning for reasons I'll explain later....but hell it was fun!
With our limited time here we did not have the opportunity to visit the 'main' town pub, an imposing building with an equally imposing name. Easy for you to say! Our newly found park friends had done so and we were happy to accept their advice that the Tavern was the better of the two local watering holes.
Tucked in at the end of the pub building, the town butcher plies his wares from a modest shop, but in what we can only assume is a reflection of local demand, his door is only open on limited days of the week, and even then for less than the entire day.
Further along this same side of the road is the rather garish shop front of Fanny Mae's cafe, an establishment of some class. On our observations, this was very popular with both locals and tourists alike, and for good reason.....the quality of the food and service is excellent.
The rival town town coffee shop/cafe, located on the opposite of the road in conjunction with the 'Grasslands' gallery, also seemed to attract its fair share of trade.
One of the real problems for folk who inhabit small towns such as Tambo can be that of 'the weekly shop', but here there is no such difficulty. As we wandered amongst the well stocked shelves of the Tambo Foodworks we were more than impressed by the range of goods presented (apart from the missing Weekend Australian...courtesy of the flooded highway).
Even in a tiny town like Tambo the presence of the pubs, cafes and so on did not come as a surprise, but the last of the retail outlets in the CBD cluster did.....Tambo Teddies? Now I have to say that teddy bears ceased to have any real attraction for me many, many, many years ago, but Liz waxed lyrical about the products on offer here.
Behind this rather modest looking little shop is a real story. From humble beginnings in 1992, when three local women set up this business to help the town survive the deprivations of the drought and the downturn in the wool industry, as well as provide some jobs and encourage tourists to stop in Tambo, this extraordinary enterprise has since turned out over 40,000 bears. Each is made from local wool and is individually named and numbered and they are now sold all over the country. They are not cheap...about $250 each, but they do enjoy something akin to royal patronage. One of the Tambo Teddies, fully kitted out as an Aussie stockman, now graces the bedroom of Prince George, a gift to the Royals from the Australian Government. And it all started here in tiny Tambo!
Apart from its famous teddies, Tambo has another claim to fame. It is the oldest town in western Queensland, established on the banks of the Barcoo River in 1863. Initially not much went on here, but as settlers took up grazing runs, Tambo became the local centre of the burgeoning and very important sheep grazing industry.
Sheep are still important in the region, although today they are rivalled by cattle. For the town's population of about 350 souls, tourism now also provides a critical supplement to the local economy.
The history of Tambo is reflected in many of its buildings such as the original town courthouse which now serves to house the local library
Sheep are still important in the region, although today they are rivalled by cattle. For the town's population of about 350 souls, tourism now also provides a critical supplement to the local economy.
The history of Tambo is reflected in many of its buildings such as the original town courthouse which now serves to house the local library
and the old Post Office, now home to the town museum.
Interestingly, the 'old' PO building looks to be in better nick than the new (but much more imposing) Tambo HQ of Australia Post.
For such a small town, the Tambo Shire Hall is a pretty impressive edifice
which stands in complete contrast to the much more modest St Michael's Anglican Church building.
Similar extremes can be found amongst the town's residential buildings where this rather grand old homestead
is in a different league to its nearby neighbour, where the solar roof panels and the two satellite dishes demonstrate that the age of a building is no impediment to the addition of all mod cons!
In a final snippet of Tambo history let me present Flo,
which is housed now in this rather impressive building in the main street.
And here's her story, another example of the enterprise of the folk of Tambo.
Tambo boasts another truck on public display. 'Wild and Woolly' is completely different
with an equally different story to tell.
Whilst on the subject of local points of interest and history, two more stand out, both with the common theme of tragedy. This is the impressive memorial erected in memory of one Reginald Sylvester Barry, born 31 December 1885...died 17 June 1919.
Why so young? How did he die? And, why this expansive memorial?
Reg Barry was the manager of the large sheep property, the Tambo Station. Like the rest of the country, in 1919 Tambo's population had been struck down by the dreadful Spanish influenza epidemic which was to claim so many lives world wide. The one doctor in Tambo at the time was utterly run off his feet attempting to care for those afflicted. Reg Barry unselfishly came to his aid, ferrying patients from outlying properties to the town and assisting in looking after them. And his reward for this selfless behaviour? Sadly, but almost inevitably, he too contracted pneumonic influenza, with fatal results. But the town did forgot his sacrifice, and this memorial was erected in his honour in 1920.
Not too far from the town centre stands another memorial, not to one, but to three. These days Qantas enjoys an enviable, if not unique, safety record in the aviation world. But it was not always so. During its formative years the fledgling airline sustained a number of fatal crashes. Tambo has the dubious distinction of being the site of the first.
On 24 March, 1927, a Qantas de Havilland DH93 was making a scheduled flight between Charleville and Mount Isa with Tambo as a secondary destination. As the plane came in to land on the saltpan near the township, it was seen to suddenly dive into the ground. The young pilot and his two male passengers did not survive the impact. No cause has ever been established, although the fact that the aircraft had earlier landed at a nearby station for repairs is considered significant.
From these historical events let's return to the present, and the floods with which we were having to deal. As I mentioned earlier, Tambo was established on the banks of the Barcoo River, normally a benign and lifegiving stream which meanders past the town well within the embrace of its constraining banks.
Not so at the moment.....flushed with the recent rains, the Barcoo has spread its watery wings and is wandering wetly wither it pleases.
And this includes well over the normal limits of the road crossing on the secondary unsealed road east out of Tambo to both Alpha and Springsure.
Understandably the local authorities had erected barriers and closed the road, but as you can see here this was no deterrent to some. As we watched, not only did the driver of this motor home ignore the signs (and the application of common sense),
several of whom we assume to be locals did exactly the same. Now admittedly this water was not flowing strongly, nor was it unduly deep, but a closure is a closure.
At least those ignoring all before them had the decency to drive around the barriers, as the wheel tracks showed!
So that completes a quick tour around this very interesting and, for us two passing through, very comfortable historic western Queensland township. Let me close with one last sign.....is this a reminder of a more rugged past? Could Tambo have been Queensland's Dodge City of yesteryear? I have no idea, but for whatever reason this sign has been erected, I am an enthusiastic supporter of its invocation!
After now having spent two days in Tambo, we retired (hurt...well your scribe at least) on Sunday night with one more day to go. We would spend a relaxing recovery day enjoying the benefit of what would be a 'free night' before moving on.........or so we thought!
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