Hughenden is not large. Population? About 1,500 on a good day! Built on the banks of the Flinders River, this town is the hub of the local sheep and cattle grazing industry, although as we have already discovered, things are grim for both at the moment. Rainfall in the area is notoriously fickle. Despite the fact that when it flows, the Flinders is a pretty big stream, it is not a viable source of irrigation. You will see why shortly (unlike the Gascoyne in WA it does not flow underground!)
One of the town's greatest draw cards is the beautiful Porcupine Gorge, known widely as 'Australia's Little Grand Canyon'. Only a short 60 kms drive north of Hughenden, the scenery here is stunning, as this shot courtesy of 'about-australia' shows. We did not have time on this trip to include a sortie to this area on our agenda, but we visited friends in Brisbane who have 'done' the gorge....it is now firmly on our 'to do' list.
Of course, as becomes inescapably obvious as one drives into town, Hughenden is the third of the triumvirate of Queensland outback towns which form the so-called 'dinosaur trail'. The fossilised bones of the largest of Australia's prehistoric lizards, the muttaburrasaurus, were first discovered near the tiny town of Muttaburra (how odd), some 200 kms from Hughenden. I find it a little quaint that towns like Hughenden claim 'the Mutt' as their own......Muttaburra is actually much closer to Longreach!
But I suppose when the tourist dollar is of increasing importance to the local economies in these small outback towns, every bit of publicity helps.
We had had our fill of old bones in our previous visits to Winton and Richmond, so for us it was a tour of the town only, which we began by parking at the northern end of Gray Street near the Flinders River where the huge landmark old Comet windmill stands as a reminder of days past.
This very large wind harness (11 metres high) is not quite as old as I first suspected. It was actually erected here in 1933 and is one of only eleven of its type to have been built. Its performance was as impressive as its appearance. In an average wind, this monster could pump out a staggering 11 million litres of water per day.
As we wandered down to and across the river bridge, two things became immediately apparent.....firstly this is a wide river (when it flows) and at the moment it was bone dry.
But we could see some signs of green on the far bank,
the fine lawns of the Robert Gray Park, named, as could be expected, after a local luminary from the days of yore.
This is a linear park which assumes even more significance in these dry times. We were curious about the large red rocks which are an obvious feature. They can be found in groups
and standing individually.
A closer look revealed that the small brass plaques on each commemorate the lives of past members of the Hughenden community, ranging from prominent citizens to local larrikins. Naturally I chose this one as an example! What a lovely environment in which to present some of the town's history.
But the park has a practical side to it as well. Along this walking/jogging track
are numerous 'work out' stations which provide practical advice to those on the mission of improved physical fitness. We did ramble along the path for some distance, but I have to say our encounters with the various exercise stations evoked nothing but curiosity!
Our exercise for the day was confined to a good walk and we were soon making our way back across the Flinders bridge to the main CBD .
At the town end of the bridge, opposite the windmill, are the modern Shire offices.
Directly across the road, in complete contrast, the impressive but sadly dowdy Masons Hall seemed to be crying out for a makeover.
A short walk north along Gray Street brought us to the intersection of Brodie Street, where, on one corner we found the Hughenden Post Office.
Liz had a need for the services therein, so in we went. Now it's not often I scramble for the camera inside an Australia Post premises, but these chairs did take my attention. They are certainly different. Just the thing to make a visiting stockman feel at home whilst waiting!
From post office steps we had a good view along Brodie Street which is really the hub of the Hughenden CBD.
As we wandered over we came across a further reminder that we were in dinosaur country....another of these street bins. We had first seen these in Winton three years or so ago and had spotted other versions in Richmond. There must have been a 'job lot' on the market at some stage!
It is actually difficult to get away from reminders of the pre-historic past in the Hughenden CBD. The wall on the local library building
is decorated with this skeletal art
which, on closer inspection proved to be very cleverly done. If you look carefully you will see that all the individual pieces are items which once had another use. The shovel and pulley stand out.
And if this were not enough, right next door is 'Mutt's' winged cousin, again constructed entirely of old bits and pieces. With all these reminders, and the exhibits and information to be found at the Flinders Discovery Centre (which we didn't visit), the good burghers of Hughenden are certainly doing all they can to encourage visitors to make the most of the area's dinosaur links.
But we only had time to see the town and move on. At the far end of Brodie Street, we did come across an operational pub (which had little external appeal for us)
which, on closer inspection proved to be very cleverly done. If you look carefully you will see that all the individual pieces are items which once had another use. The shovel and pulley stand out.
And if this were not enough, right next door is 'Mutt's' winged cousin, again constructed entirely of old bits and pieces. With all these reminders, and the exhibits and information to be found at the Flinders Discovery Centre (which we didn't visit), the good burghers of Hughenden are certainly doing all they can to encourage visitors to make the most of the area's dinosaur links.
But we only had time to see the town and move on. At the far end of Brodie Street, we did come across an operational pub (which had little external appeal for us)
and the local RSL right across the road.
In this same area stands the impressive Hughenden Entertainment Centre
and that's the limit of the CBD in this part of town. We did continue on to the end of the road
where we found the Hughenden show grounds, a patch of green at the far side of a dry Flinders River annabranch flood plain.
This was of some interest to us because this is an alternative camp ground in the town, but as you can see, it is completely devoid of any shade and totally exposed. Admittedly it is far cheaper, and there were a few vans here, but we decided we had made the right decision.
It was time to mosey back along the other side of Brodie Street
where the covered walkway in the centre of the road has been designed to cleverly incorporate the 'fan' of an old windmill.
As we walked back along this side of the street, this shop-front poster caught our eye. It provided some insight into the state of the local economy and the fact that the business folk of Hughenden were not going to capitulate without a fight.
On this same side of the street stands a Hughenden landmark.......The FJ Holden Cafe. We have yet to see a travel show or read an article about Hughenden in which this doesn't feature.
As expected, the interior is a hotchpotch of 50's and 60's memorabilia. An old jukebox, seventy-eight inch 'platters', a myriad of photos and the piece-de-resistance (which you can hopefully make out on the far wall....it's blue) the chopped off front end of an FJ Holden. We did not sample the wares on offer, but have been told they are up to scratch. Much as I hate to admit it, I felt completely at home in here....there was nothing on show I didn't immediately recognise!
By this stage we were happy that we had seen enough of this end of town so we stretched our legs again along Gray Street, past the local Lions club contribution to the street scape, and on back to 'Mutt's' corner.
Here, looking at the back end of the building, we confirmed that our first impressions of the state of the Grand Hotel had been correct. It is such a shame that this fine example of a large country hotel has been allowed to deteriorate to the extent it has. This is just the sort of place where we would have had breasted the bar with verve.
As we walked back to the other end of town to reclaim the Cruiser, I came across something I just had to share. It may not be immediately apparent, but I invite you to take a close look at the state of the fence just above the top right corner of this advertising sign......inspiring??? We liked to think that this had been the work of a jealous competitor , but we doubt it!
Far more impressive were the clipped hedges which line the footpath of the Flinders Highway (the western end of Gray Street) near the local Foodworks shop where we stopped for a small re-supply en route back to the park.
Before returning to camp we did also stop for a quick look at the Hughenden railway station which is right across the road from the caravan park.
Given the proximity we were more than relieved that the cattle trucks lined up in the siding remained empty for the period of our stay. We have yet to come across a loaded one which presents a perfume one would want to bottle, quite aside from the racket of stamping hooves and bellows of indignant bovine protest.
Adjacent to the caravan park is the 'fun' end of town. A covered skate park,
the local swimming pool, annoyingly empty and ergo closed (it was hot),
and a basketball hoop are hard to miss.
I never could determine if this wall had another purpose or whether it was pure advertising, but it was certainly striking.
Let me end our whistle-stop ramble around Hughenden with the entrance to the town pool where I was struck by two things. Firstly, it did seem an odd place to have erected the local 'Roll of Honour' memorial, standing in stark and somewhat incongruous isolation as it does (these are universally to be found in parks or garden surrounds or near the local RSL buildings).
The other thing which caught my eye was a notice near the pool entrance relating to the contact details of those from who enquiries about opening hours could be made.....who else but 'Rocket' and 'Sheep'......"Good on ya, cobber...no worries, mate". Only in Oz?
where we found the Hughenden show grounds, a patch of green at the far side of a dry Flinders River annabranch flood plain.
This was of some interest to us because this is an alternative camp ground in the town, but as you can see, it is completely devoid of any shade and totally exposed. Admittedly it is far cheaper, and there were a few vans here, but we decided we had made the right decision.
It was time to mosey back along the other side of Brodie Street
where the covered walkway in the centre of the road has been designed to cleverly incorporate the 'fan' of an old windmill.
As we walked back along this side of the street, this shop-front poster caught our eye. It provided some insight into the state of the local economy and the fact that the business folk of Hughenden were not going to capitulate without a fight.
On this same side of the street stands a Hughenden landmark.......The FJ Holden Cafe. We have yet to see a travel show or read an article about Hughenden in which this doesn't feature.
By this stage we were happy that we had seen enough of this end of town so we stretched our legs again along Gray Street, past the local Lions club contribution to the street scape, and on back to 'Mutt's' corner.
Here, looking at the back end of the building, we confirmed that our first impressions of the state of the Grand Hotel had been correct. It is such a shame that this fine example of a large country hotel has been allowed to deteriorate to the extent it has. This is just the sort of place where we would have had breasted the bar with verve.
As we walked back to the other end of town to reclaim the Cruiser, I came across something I just had to share. It may not be immediately apparent, but I invite you to take a close look at the state of the fence just above the top right corner of this advertising sign......inspiring??? We liked to think that this had been the work of a jealous competitor , but we doubt it!
Far more impressive were the clipped hedges which line the footpath of the Flinders Highway (the western end of Gray Street) near the local Foodworks shop where we stopped for a small re-supply en route back to the park.
Before returning to camp we did also stop for a quick look at the Hughenden railway station which is right across the road from the caravan park.
Given the proximity we were more than relieved that the cattle trucks lined up in the siding remained empty for the period of our stay. We have yet to come across a loaded one which presents a perfume one would want to bottle, quite aside from the racket of stamping hooves and bellows of indignant bovine protest.
Adjacent to the caravan park is the 'fun' end of town. A covered skate park,
the local swimming pool, annoyingly empty and ergo closed (it was hot),
and a basketball hoop are hard to miss.
I never could determine if this wall had another purpose or whether it was pure advertising, but it was certainly striking.
Let me end our whistle-stop ramble around Hughenden with the entrance to the town pool where I was struck by two things. Firstly, it did seem an odd place to have erected the local 'Roll of Honour' memorial, standing in stark and somewhat incongruous isolation as it does (these are universally to be found in parks or garden surrounds or near the local RSL buildings).
The other thing which caught my eye was a notice near the pool entrance relating to the contact details of those from who enquiries about opening hours could be made.....who else but 'Rocket' and 'Sheep'......"Good on ya, cobber...no worries, mate". Only in Oz?
So on that decidedly locally rustic note, we leave Hughenden, glad that we had taken the time to look around the town, impressed with most of what we had seen and keen to return to see more of the surrounds, particularly Porcupine Gorge. The two night rest had been most welcome, but it was now time to press on. The coast beckoned with increasing intensity.
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