We stopped of at 
No there wasn't a great deal opened in Inglewood today, a pub, cafe - that was about it. The palm trees lined the middle of the street through Inglewood. Another quaint looking little township.
Just a small selection of the numerous fatigue signs along the highways today.
We got to Goondiwindi, nah there is not much open so we had a walk around by the river, went through the old customs house museum and had a look at the Gunsynd museum.
Loved this sign greeting us to Goondiwindi. We presumed that horse racing is big in this district. We soon found out that the owners of legendary race horse Gunsynd, were from these parts, hence the nickname bestowed "Goondiwindi Grey". He is the only horse to win at every track along the eastern seaboard. 
Gunsynd was born of very ordinary stock and cost a meargre $1300. It was thought he wouldn't amount to too much, but went on to prove all the doubters wrong. Gunsynd's racing career spanned only 4 years from 1969 to 1973 and in this time from 54 starts achieved 29 wins, 7 seconds, 8 thirds. Gunsynd was always a favorite with the crowds due to his beautiful grey coat and his tremendous will to win. He would play to the crowd, he loved the applause and waited for it, standing stock still, before proceeding to the track and he would bow to the applause of the crowd at the end of each race when he returned through the gates. This statue erected in Apex Park in his memory and they have a great Memorabillia Tribute for him at the visitor centre across the road.
Historic Border Bridge, spanning the Macintyre River, was built in 1914 and was once the main hub for freight crossing the border between NSW and QLD where duties were collected by Customs. The Macintyre River sits at the headwaters of one of the nations largest catchments, the Murray Darling Basin. Every year hundreds of atheletes compete in the Hell of the West triathlon, the swim leg is held along the town reach of the river.
The Macintyre River is part of the Border Rivers Catchment - it flows into the Barwon, which flows into the Darling which flows into the Murray and eventually reaches the sea south east of Adelaide, in total length of 3,370 kms makes it the longest continual river system in Australia.
The Gundy Customs House - Originally constructed of pit sawn timber, the Customs House was used when customs duties were introduced on trade between the colonies in 1859. Now a museum and stands as a reminder that until 1901, passing between the states was like going into another country. The old love here told us stories of the floods experienced here. Back in 1956 the town was flooded 5 times, 3 times in 28 days. This prompted the building of a levee bank to protect the township. This was well maintained during the many years of drought and effectively saved the town from floodwaters early last year when the water levels rose to 10.64 metres, the levee height is 11 metres. This year she was happy to say that farmers have had a record season with cotton, wheat and sorhum crops.
I said to Darl it would be really good to stop at a powered
site again tonight (and one with internet service) so I can hopefully get the
blog updated – we ended up stopping at Moonie about 3.30pm. Moonie is a small community with a roadhouse
with motel rooms and camping area, a school, church, community centre and a few houses. No phone service and no internet service, ah well
the blog will have to wait as I was starting to get a little nervous out there
on the roads, the shade was coming over the road and it was getting close to
roo target practice time. So we pulled
up with all the other caravan campers, yep we the only tent set up. Also, there were heaps of 4WD’s out there
today on the roads with dogs on the back, obviously hunting dogs. I guess we are back in the outback Darl…….
Here we have a pump and separator used in the operation of oil drilling. Oil was first discovered in Moonie in 1961, making it the first commercial oilfields in Australia history. They continue drilling for oil at this site (not far out of town) however production has decreased from 9,500 barrels per day back in the late 60's to just 200 barrels per day in 2008. Moonie crude oil is transported to the Caltex refinery in Brisbane where it is refined into gas, fuel, oil and grease.
Not the best shot of this mural but it was very clever, a container attached to the road house with a cattle truck mural, a bluey dog statue on top, all the way to the cab with driver and a poem on the side. I got some notes done for the blog anyway and we decided to have a drink at the roadhouse bar and get some hot chips to have with our soup for dinner. Damn I shouldn't have done them notes, they shut at 6 tonight because of public holiday!!
Now we know what those young fellas get up to with their hunting dogs. Not the most attractive of animals are they, this was a whole stuffed pig, sitting pride of place in the roadhouse. You reckon they would do some damage with those there teeth now wouldn't you? 
A trophy wall in the bar, just a couple of the several oinkers "hanging" around....... Beside each head was the story of the guy/s that hunted them. The head on the left "Dressed 50kg" the story headed A Bit too Casual. This one gave the hunters and their trusty kelpie bully hounds, Speed and Lurch, a bit of a run for their money. The crafty boar made it through to the thick treed ridge before they headed it off. The thrill of the chase! They did get it in the end as you can see with trusty 22 magnum.
Several murals adorn the roadhouse and bar areas. This one tells the story of the Moonie Roadhouse once was the Moonie Motel, a centre point for the area, truck drivers, locals and tourists. Back in the day a red light area, potato bar out the back for sly grog, nude snooker, plane landing on road, break-ins and vehicle crashing into building. Ah the good 'ol days! A small place is Moonie, but a colorful place.
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