Friday, October 30, 2015

Urangan to Roma

My mother was born in Roma and I lived there when I was less than three years old. It is only in recent years that I have been back there. Marianne has been doing a lot of genealogy research about my side of the family so we decided to go out there so that she could see the town.





From a small bridge over the Mary River about thirty miles from Maryborough. In flood time, the bridge is submerged.


Wondai, a small town in the southeast Queensland hinterland.




The town has a history of timber cutting. If we had more time, we could have gone to the museum that was just opening, but we had a long way to go that day.


Distinguished old bank for such a small town.


Some of my ancestors lived at Jimbour, but there is not much to see there and it is quite small compared to Wondai.



The Jimbour Official Greeter.






Old hall that would be used for any largish gathering.


Out on the road to Roma. The Darling Downs is one of Australia's most fertile growing areas. The locals have considerable concern about the introduction of coal seam gas mining in the area.


We stayed at an Airbnb at Roma. The owner was very welcoming and we enjoyed out stay.


Empty local street. It's all very quiet. Roma experienced a boom when the Coal Seam Gas industry came in and built the wells. Now that the wells are in production, the jobs have dried up and the Airbnb owner told us that over 400 houses were for sale with no prospective buyers.


The next morning, we check out my ancestors' grave. 





They were too poor for gravestones so there are just these steel markers.




These photos help identify the location in case somebody in my family ever travels out here.



Roma is one of those hot, dry places. You either love it or hate it and Marianne found the dry air difficult to cope with. I could get used to it if necessary but I know of other locations that suit me better.

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