This drive would be another long-ish one at 350kms. We know by looking at the map, there is not a lot of towns along this route, but there is always something interesting to see.
As we had the hotplates, were able to cook ourselves eggs for breakfast. Not knowing we had cooking facilities, we thought we would have to have only tea and toast for breakfast, so a “proper” breakfast was a bonus.
A lazy start meant we were on the road at around 9:45am
There are not a lot of stops between Moree and Toowoomba, but we had planned on stopping at Goondiwindi for lunch. We only one tiny issue.. we had forgotten that we would be crossing the border back into Queensland and in doing so, winding the clock back an hour… Moree to Goondiwindi is roughly halfway to Toowoomba at 125km, but in reality, with the highway being a speed limit of 110kmh it is just over an hour away. So instead of arriving in Goondiwindi at close to midday, it was not even 11:00am.
Just before entering Goondiwindi we passed the signs that welcomed us back to Queensland ?
We did stop at the Information Centre and then found our way to the “Gunsynd” Memorial Park for the obligatory photo of the statue of this famous horse. The park is lovely and sits beside the Macintyre River. It has big shady trees and BBQ’s and Picnic tables.
As it was too early for lunch, we decided to keep travelling toward to Millmerran to stop for lunch. Again the countryside is so dry. We noticed that even the prickly pear shrubs, which were obviously very old by the size of their “trunks” were shrivelled and many looked totally dead 🙁
We did not have a lot of mobile phone reception on the Gore Highway, but I did manage to find a website listing for the Mill Inn Tavern in Millmerran. We found the address and made it just before their lunch service of midday. The tavern is quite a new establishment and we were more than happy to wait 15-20 minutes to be able to place our order. I chose to have “Chicken Wellington” and hubby chose the Rissoles and Vegetables. Sadly the Chicken was sold out, so I chose to have the Rissoles as well.
While we were waiting for our meals we thought we would waste a few minutes (and a few dollars) in the Pokies Room.. We put $1 into a 1c machine and played a few spins. A couple of spins later we won a nice prize of $10 !!! That made the total credit of $10.50 we cashed out and let the machine swallow up the last 50c
Our poker machine winnings offset the cost of our lunch, so even though our meals and drinks were $30.80, I have only accounted $20.80 on our costings sheets. ?
After lunch we were back onto the highway toward Toowoomba and our accommodation for the night
We have stayed here before and it was a simple choice to stay here again. We know it has everything we need for a comfortable nights stay.
We cooked a dinner using the other steak we had bought yesterday and used up the last of our veges.
After dinner, we took a bit of time to repack our luggage as, for the next week, we will be staying at the Mantra in South Bank Brisbane and will not need to be self-catering, as the packaged I bought is for the room and buffet breakfast each day, and our car will be parked in the basement of the hotel with limited access.
Much of we have previously had packed will no longer be needed. Eg: our “kitchen bag” which has contained condiments, utensils, sharp knives, bread and vegetables. Also not needed will be food stuffs we have had in the Engel..(eggs, meat, cheese, milk) Over the past few days we have made sure that all our perishable items have been used up.
We sat up a bit watching TV knowing that Brisbane is only 120kms away and we cannot check in to the Mantra until 2:00pm
