COMET QLD

So we packed up this morning and left Emerald after 4 very busy, but enjoyable days. 
It was great to get behind the wheel again and just drive. I absolutely love driving, and Ed enjoys being the  navigator and finding all these great towns that we get to visit. We make a good team ❤️

So our first coffee spot was a small town called Comet……that Ed had found. 
It’s a historical rich rural town in the Central Highlands region, with a population of 498 people. 

Comet is the oldest town in the Emerald area, situated at the joining of the Comet & Nogoa Rivers. 
The large Ensham Coal Mine is very close by and the Blackwater railway system provides rail services to the mines. 

The Coal trains are very very long…..😊





The old Comet Railway station….






Ed was chuffed….the “Victory Wheel” had landed on 52! His birth year 🤣












These are called Dongas……they are everywhere around this area, and other mining towns. 
They are built especially to accomodate all the mine workers. 


This is the mine that I’ve mentioned before. Whether you support or against coal mining, they do support lots of things in these small towns like the Arts schools…etc. 

And lastly, the free Libraries that pop up in these small towns are just great. 

You can take a book, read it, then place it back into these libraries in the next town. 







So that was our coffee stop. 

Next was lunch….








This is Blackwater. It was a bigger town with a population of nearly 5,000.
This is in a coal mining area, with the name of the town inspired by the dark colour of the local waterholes.

There are six open cut mines and one underground that provide main employment.
Approx 100,000 workers were employed in coal mining at Blackwater over its 59 year history.
The town has provided considerable economic development for QLD and Australia more generally. 

So we had a quick lunch, then drove on to Dingo.
Dingo is another small town with a population of 340 people. 



We are camped here for the night behind the Shell Service Station. 


Over the highway is the small town of Dingo….with a population of 263….



This is the only store in the town…….but it’s closed.



There’s a very small school with about 10 children attending….the children were coming out of school so I couldn’t take any photos of the school…..suffice to say it was very small, but pretty. 



This is someone’s front door….enough to scare anyone away…


And the dingo….Pioneer Moses Wafer named the area after hearing Dingos howling during the night while camped near the present day site of the “town”. 

And this is our camp spot.











We are parked out the back with all the huge trucks, and we can just hear those huge coal trains going through. But it’s just great. 
There are 4 campers here, and the outlook is just stunning. This is what we love to do…..out in the bush with all these different sounds…..away from the crowds. 

Take care 🦋🦋



































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