Moree to Roma

Victoria Hotel, Goondawindi

Today I drove from Moree to Goondawindi, The Gums, Surat and Roma, through towns I have not seen before. What surprised me most were the old buildings, which indicated the prosperity of this region in times gone by.

Cotton, on the roadsides, floated up whenever a car passed on the road between Moree and Goondawindi. Dust from a vast area of ploughed ground was visible from miles away. Goondawindi is a thriving cotton town on the border of NSW and Queensland. I visited the Goondawindi Cotton Shop but I was unable to buy anything because everything was made in China (see blog 29 April – My Protest to the Death Penalty).

Moree Bore Bath

After an exhausting couple of days I drove only as far as Moree today. I booked into a reasonably priced, clean motel close to the Moree Artesian Aquatic Centre and caught up on emails etc before heading to the baths.

I changed into a costume that hasn’t seen water for many years, then surreptitiously slid into the cooler of the two heated pools. The temperature, 38 degrees, was just right and my skin felt smooth and soft. My body slowly adjusted to the temperature, then I moved into the hotter pool, 40 degrees. When it became too hot, I returned to the cooler, more crowded pool. Groups of elderly tourists stood or sat around the perimeter of the pool, chatting and very few spoke English. Later, young people arrived at the complex. Some did laps in the Olympic size pool where the temperature was 26 degrees, then jumped in the spa pool to warm up between sessions with their trainers.

The Pilliga

Kill area in The Pilliga

This morning I met Tony Pickard for a tour of the Pilliga Forest. He showed me coal seam gas wells and what he calls ‘kill areas’, where water has escaped and killed the vegetation. Most of the spills happened when Eastern Star Gas held the licence and Santos, the current licencee has covered the spill areas with woodchip but evidence of salt can still be seen. In an attempt to dilute the salts thick irrigation pipes lie on the ground but some believe this just spreads the ‘kill area’. Trees in the area continue to die and the cypress pine and bull oaks are not coming back but some iron barks and gums remain. Noxious weeds, such as galvanised burr flourish in some of these areas.

Alone on the Road

Bulga Bridge

Denise woke up with a very sore throat this morning so she was made to stay in bed. I decided to go anyway as we didn’t think she would be better for at least a week. I had set up meetings with people who I knew would not be as readily available then. I decided to see what was happening in the Pilliga and then make up my mind about going further north to Queensland.

Gift of the GAB Tour Starts

Denise and Kathy - their first selfie

We are two women in our sixties, Denise and Kathy. Tomorrow we set off on a road trip to rural areas in NSW and Queensland, which rely on water from the GAB.

Many people believe that this water, the ‘Gift of the GAB’, may be under threat from pollution caused by mining. While governments say we need coal and coal seam gas (CSG), communities say they don’t want it.