Close to home #14 Roma
It’s always lovely to go on a long holiday to a far flung destination. There are times, however, when it’s not convenient or cost effective and a staycation closer to home is the way to go. The destinations in this series of posts are all just a few hours’ drive from our home. They’re easy to get to, there’s plenty to see and do and at the end of the holiday we’re home again in no time.
The western Queensland town of Roma is located more than 500 kilometres from the ocean and the landscape is often parched from lack of rain. But at Bungil Creek and the Railway Dams there are gentle walkways with water views and, after good spring rainfall, the area is beautifully green. In both locations, it’s all about the trees.
A huge bottle tree marks the start of the Adungadoo Pathway, which follows the course of Bungil Creek. Said to be the largest in the district, the tree measures more than nine metres around the trunk and is thought to be at least 100 years old.
Even older are the river red gums on the creek bank. Some have been dated to 400 years and, along with tall coolabah trees, provide shade for walkers and cyclists. In spring, birds are attracted to the golden flowers of the silky oaks.
There are places to rest along the pathway, but there’s also the chance to be more active. The frisbee course, similar to a golf course, has baskets instead of holes and a par for each round. A gym circuit has exercise equipment suitable for all abilities.
In the past, there was also a lot of activity at the Railway Dams. Originally built in the 19th century to supply water for passing steam trains, the dams are now surrounded by the Roma Bush Gardens. Eleven distinct areas are planted with native trees and flowering plants found in the surrounding Maranoa region.
A circular walkway passes through all the gardens, past more river red gums and coolabah, brigalow and belah trees. Bottlebrush shrubs laden with red blossoms grow at the water’s edge.
Walkers aren’t the only ones attracted to Bungil Creek and the Bush Garden. Rainbow lorikeets and kookaburras perch high in the river red gums and blue-faced honeyeaters dart around the flowering bushes. Pacific black ducks and swamp hens forage at water level.
Have always loved the name of kookaburras, but now I have learnt of Rainbow lorikeets I might just have to make that even more of a favourite as it looks gorgeous too!
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Rainbow lorikeets are pretty and very cheeky. We have so many lovely birds and my favourite Australian bird is the galah. I love their colouring. You can see them here. http://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/galah
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What a lovely area. I love the idea of an exercise area coupled with all the beauty of parkland and nature. Yes, Rainbow Lorikeets are gorgeous.
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I reckon that exercise area would be great until magpie season. Then I’d be avoiding it! 🙂
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Yep, me too!
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Goodness, that’s some tree you started out with, Carol! 🙂 🙂 I have a soft spot for the bottle brushes. We have quite a few on our estate in the Algarve. Many thanks for the link up, hon!
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It was hard to show in the photograph just how large that tree really is. I should have taken a tree-hugging shot!
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Glen would have obliged 🙂 🙂
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He would have but he wasn’t with me. I went out there on the bus to visit a friend who moved there last year. We had a lovely week together exploring. We did these walks and, of course, we had to go to all her favourite cafes for cake! 🙂
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How awful! 🙂 🙂
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I know…the things I do in the name of a good story. 🙂
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Love the vibrant colour of the Bottlebrush. 🙂
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Bottlebrush come in several colours and they are all beautiful. We have some growing in our garden.
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Roma looks a very refreshing place. And if I were there I could actually sit “under the shade of the coolabah tree”.
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You sure could! I just hope you wouldn’t do any sheep stealing while you were there. 🙂 It’s a four hour drive from our place to Roma, with only three reasonable sized towns in between, so it’s nice when you finally arrive there.
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Sheep would be safe from me. I would be hopeless at stealing or even catching them!
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And that’s a good thing. If you know the song, you know how that sheep-stealing swagman ended up! 🙂
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Indeed!
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Those bottle trees are wonderful, I didn’t know about them. Your landscape looks different than mine. 🙂 Cheers
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The bottle trees store water in their trunks so they can survive droughts. This one is much larger than the others in this area.
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It is very interesting. I like it
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Beautiful photos!
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Thank you. It was so green, which is not always the case.
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I hate to say it but Waltzing Matilda has a lot to blame for making me an Australiaphile all those years ago – how can one resist words like ‘under the shade of the coolabah tree’? Love all the trees in this post, the bottle tree is superb and I always like a bottlebrush. This looks like a fabulous place for a stroll with all the birds and nature. Nice one Carol. Thank you 🙂
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Also “camped by a billabong” but I hope you wouldn’t be encouraged to do what that jolly swagman did! I love the bottlebrush too. They are such cheery bushes.
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Yup! Those words certainly captured my imagination 🙂
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Ahh for a moment I thought you mean Rome but then I saw the pics. 9 metres around the trunk is amazing!
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I haven’t yet been to Rome but I’m sure it’s nothing like Roma. 🙂
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The bottle tree looks almost unreal – like something that Disney would create. 🙂 What an interesting place for a walk, with so many lovely things to see.
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You can see bottle trees everywhere in western Queensland. They have such interesting shapes.
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I’m looking forward to seeing them in the flesh one day. 🙂
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I’m looking forward to showing you. 🙂
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Gorgeous walk – “Roma” usually conjures up quite a different idea!
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Very different! The town was named in 1867 after the wife of the Governor of Queensland at the time, whose maiden name was di Roma.
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A bottle tree? I’ve never seen one before, and it is quite an amazing specimen. Thank you for sharing its uniqueness. 🙂
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Bottle trees are native to Australia, Judy. You might like to read more here. http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2183287.htm
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Oh, THAT Roma! 🙂
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Tricked you! 🙂
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You sure did!
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