Western Queensland Road Trip #4 Mitchell
There must have been good rainfall in western Queensland in the first half of 1846.
When the explorer Thomas Mitchell passed through that autumn on his fourth expedition, he found lush green pastures and bushland filled with wild life. The river flowing through the area was teeming with fish while birds were plentiful in the trees on its banks.
Mitchell named the river Maranoa, an aboriginal word meaning “duck egg”. His journal entries made much of the abundance of fresh food, which was a welcome addition to his expedition party’s diet.
When we visited Mitchell’s campsite on the Maranoa River 173 years later, the scene was very different. After six months with no rain, the bush was tinder dry and the river’s course was only recognisable by the wide expanse of water worn pebbles between the tree-lined banks.
The town of Mitchell, named after the explorer, is located downstream from where he set up camp. Where the bridge into town passed over the river, pools of water reflecting the bright blue sky were all that remained of the Maranoa.
The Neil Turner Weir, on the northern side of Mitchell, was built on the river in 1984 to store water for irrigation, aquatic sports and fishing.
With not a drop of water to be seen, there was no chance of a swim let alone a risk of flash flooding.
A local farmer we met summed it up in typically succinct outback style. “We’ve had no rain since November. It’s diabolical.”
Since our visit rain has fallen, but not enough to break the drought. Thomas Mitchell would not find fish on his dinner plate if he came to western Queensland now.
I hated to hit ‘like’ on no rain since November. The history is very interesting, but the drought is extremely distressing. The next time we get rain, I’ll be thinking of this post and wishing we could share. I wonder what future generations in 173 years will say about where we both live now.
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I suspect things won’t have changed much in Mitchell. 🙂 This drought actually started in 2017 and although there has been rain in that time it’s been patchy and light so it makes hardly any difference.
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Carol I recently read a novel called ‘The Dry’ by an Australian author whose name escapes me just now – but it had evocative descriptions of the before and after effects of long drought on a small outback town. (Incidentally it is a really good who-dunnit and she is a really good writer and I don’t usually read who-dunnits 🙂 )
This post moves my recently gained knowledge of Australian drought from fiction to fact. It seems incredible that within just six months an entire river can disappear – but I live in a land where rain is a constant companion……. I want to hope that rain comes soon, but not in a huge downpour that would cause the flash flooding the sign warns about.
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Yes, Jane Harper is the author. I’ve read “The Dry” too and her descriptions of the town are spot on. I recommend her other two novels which are also good murder mysteries. The drought has been going on since 2017 and many rivers are non-existent, dams are almost empty and some towns have run out of water and have to truck it in. It’s very sad.
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I heard that about the other books – I’ve put them on various wish lists 🙂 The drought situation sounds just awful.
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It is terrible.
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I have read all three books and they are brilliant!
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I agree. Well worth reading.
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How awful – it looks so desolate.
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It’s always desolate out there, but much worse when it’s all brown and withered.
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Good article, snd so sad. I wonder how these towns and farms will survive into the future. I’m about to take a road trip north and west. I’ll see some sad sights.
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Rose, thank you for this wonderful compliment. I suspect you will see similar landscapes. The hardest thing to see is the poor emaciated cattle.
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Isn’t that typically Australian though, one day it can be lush and green and then droughts hit and nothing but dust. So sad and frustrating though for the poor people trying to farm our food.
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Absolutely. Next thing we know a massive cyclone will hit the North QLD coast and cause devastation and terrible floods.
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What astounded us was where the water level could potentially go during the “wet” season. Devastating for the farmers and eventually the small towns which are slowly disappearing.
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If there is a lot of rain in a short time it will definitely flood, but often that water runs away instead of soaking in. Hopefully things improve over the summer, with some good seasonal rainfalls.
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My friend has a property in the country and her dam hardly has any water in it because they have been in drought for so long. It must be so difficult to cope with.
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Our tank is empty and Mr ET is bucketing water to his vegie garden.
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We have a drought since April 2018, there is sometimes a little bit of rain but really not enough. Now many, many trees begin to die in vast areas of Germany, very disturbing. So waiting also for some real and continuously falling rain here in Berlin. Cheers @ Ulli
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I hope you get the rain you need too Ulli. These conditions are quite worrying.
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Wow, those photos are depressing!
I can’t understand why the thousands of photos circulating the internet these days, especially about Australia in drought doesn’t make our politicians wake up – it’s tragic.
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Yes, money could be well spent here instead of being wasted on other things.
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Wow that looks so dry, it’s not a river at all now is it? And Duck Egg River? Ha, very interesting. Love the history behind the naming of the place.
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Not a river right now. There are several in this state across the eastern part of the country.
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I have always wondered why anyone would want to farm in the outback. It must be impossible when drought hits unless they have decent boreholes. I hope the situation eases soon and also that you do not have any nasty cyclones!
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The trouble with bores is that if they are overused or mismanaged it affects the Great Artesian Basin and that is another big problem. There’s no good rain forecast for the rest of the year.
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😨 I guess people are going to have to adapt to the changing climate, though since most Australians already live around the coast there’s not many places you can escape to!
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What a very sad sight. 😦 😦
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It really is and it’s not just there. Much of the country is like this and it’s devastating.
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😦
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So sad without rain. Water is so necessary. I’m so impressed with the farmer you spoke with. Such determination to still keep going and farming in those conditions. Such admiration and well wishes for all living there.
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Many of these outback properties have been in the family for several generations so there’s no question of giving up. Life must be hard at times though.
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It’s been an awful drought, and it’s going to herald an horrendous fire season.
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I think you’re right. It’s very worrying.
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The place looks really sad. Hope the rains come soon. It’s hard to imagine that river in full spate. 😰
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There’s no good rain forecast before the end of the year, so things will continue to become more dire. Some towns have run out of drinking water and have it trucked in.
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😱
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So sad to hear about the drought and I assume this would have been the rainy season as compared to what’s coming?
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Our rainy season is usually spring and summer so they missed that, then had a dry winter and now we’re into another dry spring.
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Oh dear not good news at all.
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No, the immediate future is bleak.
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It’s such a sad state of affairs, these water shortages, and I see them getting even worse as time goes by. It really is frightening to think that places will become uninhabitable, if they aren’t already. I worry about that in the U.S. West and Southwest as well. Interesting post, Carol. 🙂
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The big worry here is that it’s not just isolated communities running out of water. Small towns close to the coast are also in trouble. It’s very concerning.
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I’m sure it is a very big worry. Eventually we’re all going to have to contend with mass migrations.
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