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Date: May 2005
Location: Western Downs, Queensland Australia
The earth moved for me in Roma, Western
Queensland, and judging by the bull in the cattle yards later that day, it moved
for him too.
While my experience was due to jumping on a seismic shockwave pad at The
Big Rig - a tribute to Roma's gas and oil industry - the bull's shockwave
came from being semen tested by a vet.
My journey begins when a beaut ute, circa 1970, backs up to the Qantas jet to unload the plane baggage.
So when in Roma do as the Romans do - saunter up to the ute, which has been operating since the days when TAA was part of the vernacular, and lift off your own bloody bag.
Welcome to the Western Downs town of Roma. Population 6,500.
Where trademark bottle trees line the streets - yawning wide enough to turn a bullock wagon, the barber shop is still painted with red and white stripes, the Grande Hotel is both in name and nature, and the Tree of Knowledge earned its moniker from the old bush blokes who would weave tall yarns around its trunk.
We're following in the footsteps of Phillip - the Prince, that is, who graced the place in March 2002 on a mission to view Australia's answer to the Eiffel Tower - The Big Rig.
Graham Godde, Bottle Tree Bush Tours Company tour coordinator, runs three and six day tours in conjunction with Westlander Rail Travel.
A place of larrikins and lenient juries, Roma courthouse, which is still is use today, marks where the infamous Harry Redford was tried, and found not guilty, despite overwhelming evidence pointing to him stealing 1,000 head of cattle in north west Queensland and driving them to South Australia.
So unimpressed was the judge with the verdict, that Roma lost its jurisdiction of the criminal court for two years afterwards.
Further up the road, on Hospital Hill - more a mole hill than a mountain, the phrase "strewth it's gas" marked the accidental discovery on gas on October 16, 1900, while drilling for water.
If Roma, according to modern legend, is the cradle of Australia's oil and gas industry then the town's Mayor Bruce Garvie is the hand that rocks the cradle.
"I believe if you are going to do something you do it really well. Country towns have suffered for too long from people just throwing a few things together," he says.
"We had to lift the standard and for a while people thought "what are we doing here?"
"We can do tourism well. We've got all these fantastic things sitting around us and we take it for granted but the tourists driving through find it interesting."
The $7 million Big Rig attraction, part of the Queensland
Heritage Trails Network, features two historic oil rigs, a host of interpretative
displays and a fascinating night show, complete with lights and sounds - and fart
jokes.
At the Roma Cattle Sales, Australia's largest and the region's version of Wall
Street, the language is as colourful as the countryside and akubras almost
dwarf the main event, the auctioneering of prime beef.
Further down the road at Yarrrawonga stud cattle farm, there's $1 million worth of bulls in the back paddock.
But the real tourist attraction, although not part of any official tour, is the testing of bull semen which involves an electrical stimulator and a cup, and if you're lucky, the chance to peer under a microscope to sight the swimmers.
If you think that's crass, consider this, last year the best bull fetched $32,000.
At Romavilla Winery, the corrugated iron roof, rows of ancient barrels and original
floor boards tell the tale of Queensland's
first winery, built in 1878. These days they export some of their best reds
to Hong Kong for sale by the glass in five-star hotels.
At nearby Winnathoola homestead, built in 1904, the Taylor family home was considered so typical of Queensland's architecture in the region, that it had been selected for the Queen's visit which was cancelled due to September 11.
Owner Cherie Taylor, who bought the house with her husband David for just over $200,000, says secret service men scanned the ancient VJ boards to see how quickly they could be demolished in the event of a bomb detection.
"We'd no sooner moved in and they asked if we'd host the Queen," Cherie says.
"I had a nervous breakdown because I didn't even have my curtains up.
"There was nothing growing, no flowers or anything."
These days, if you're lucky enough to be invited to the property, expected to be treated like royalty while dining on stuffed eggs on the generous wraparound veranda.
As for the Queen - she doesn't know what she missed out on.
For more information:
Toowoomba and Golden West Regional Tourist Association
Tel +61 7 4632 1988
Bottle Tree Bush Tours
Tel +61 7 4622 1525
- By Christine Retschlag
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