Ayrshire Hills in Queensland is a locality about 1220km west-northwest of Brisbane. Ayrshire Hills is about 243m above sea level. The nearest sea is the Coral Sea which is part of the South Pacific Ocean about 510km northeast of Ayrshire Hills.

The nearest more populous place is the town of Winton which is 63km away with a population of around 900 people.

Source: Bonzle.

Tags:   mesa mesas horizon plain plains field fields nature natural sky skies tree trees plant plants rock rocks arid terrain deserted desert isolated isolation desolate peaceful quiet geology history historic aborignal indigenous outback winton kynuna ayrshire hills north west queensland australia

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The Koa and Wannamara Aboriginal tribes frequently used and shared this waterhole long before European settlement - - their presence dating back thousands of years.

First came the Diamantina River - - a web of life that traverses the land in braided channels. The Aboriginal people pioneered paths of trade and travel with an innate connection to this land. European explorers followed, then settlers brought sheep and cattle, and established a stock route. Cobb and Co. coaches trotted close behind. Seven skillfully-constructed overshot, or stone-faced walls, built here around 1890, continue to provide a reliable water source in this arid environment.

Combo Waterhole, dammed for Dagworth Station, provided reliable water for a drover's camp on a major stock route. One-mile wide stock routes crisscross Australia. Initially driving followed rivers after rain, then in the early 1900s enough bored were sunk to provide year round water on stock routes, tapped from the vast Artesian Basin, about 1.5km below ground.

Road trains transport most stock now, making roadhouses in towns like Kynuna and Winton the watering holes of the new highway and stock routes.

Source: Queensland Government.

Tags:   water waterhole waterway river rivers creek creeks rock rocks stones field fields sky skies tree trees bird birds bug bugs fish fishes mud muddy breeze wind plain plains desert arid nature natural native wilderness wild wildlife aboriginal indigenous koa wannamara european europeans history historic heritage outback kynuna central west queensland australia

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The Koa and Wannamara Aboriginal tribes frequently used and shared this waterhole long before European settlement - - their presence dating back thousands of years.

First came the Diamantina River - - a web of life that traverses the land in braided channels. The Aboriginal people pioneered paths of trade and travel with an innate connection to this land. European explorers followed, then settlers brought sheep and cattle, and established a stock route. Cobb and Co. coaches trotted close behind. Seven skillfully-constructed overshot, or stone-faced walls, built here around 1890, continue to provide a reliable water source in this arid environment.

Combo Waterhole, dammed for Dagworth Station, provided reliable water for a drover's camp on a major stock route. One-mile wide stock routes crisscross Australia. Initially driving followed rivers after rain, then in the early 1900s enough bored were sunk to provide year round water on stock routes, tapped from the vast Artesian Basin, about 1.5km below ground.

Road trains transport most stock now, making roadhouses in towns like Kynuna and Winton the watering holes of the new highway and stock routes.

Source: Queensland Government.

Tags:   water waterhole waterway river rivers creek creeks rock rocks stones field fields sky skies tree trees bird birds bug bugs fish fishes mud muddy breeze wind plain plains desert arid nature natural native wilderness wild wildlife aboriginal indigenous outback history historic heritage kynuna central west queensland australia

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The small settlement of Kynuna is at the heart of Waltzing Matilda Country. It was in the Kynuna region, just over a century ago that Banjo Paterson wrote the words to Australia’s most famous and well-loved folk song.

Kynuna was first established on the Diamantina River at the junction of five roads as a teamsters camp and supply point for Kynuna Station and other properties on the western routes. It was gazetted as a town in 1894 and within a few years had a substantial population of up to 700 people and several hotels. At the time of writing, Kynuna has a population of 10 people.

Today only one hotel remains, the Blue Heeler Hotel and it is the last remaining building with any association with the first days of the song Waltzing Matilda. Built in 1889 as the Kynuna Hotel, it is believed that the squatter, Bob MacPherson and the swagman, Samuel Hoffmeister, drank their last drinks at the bar of the Blue Heeler Hotel. Banjo Paterson also drank at the hotel and it was where the song Waltzing Matilda was first performed.

The Blue Heeler Hotel truly sits at the heart of Australian folklore. It was here that Banjo Paterson, a Sydney Lawyer, brokered a truce with the shearers who had burnt the Dagworth woolshed and 143 jumbucks. The battle of Dagworth was to be the last armed conflict between Australians. It was here that they decided that rather than shoot each other in civil war, they would have a drink together. They sang a song they all understood and they went back to work. Both ‘swagman’ and ‘squatter’ sank their last drinks at the bar. Stranger, go in peace from here as a friend – ‘Waltzing Matilda’.

Source: Outback Queensland (www.outbackqueensland.com.au/town/kynuna/), McKinlay Shire Council (www.mckinlay.qld.gov.au/visitors/our-towns/kynuna)

Tags:   school schoolyard education educational remote regional aussie australiana outback history historic heritage culture cultural kynuna mckinlay north west queensland australia

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The small settlement of Kynuna is at the heart of Waltzing Matilda Country. It was in the Kynuna region, just over a century ago that Banjo Paterson wrote the words to Australia’s most famous and well-loved folk song.

Kynuna was first established on the Diamantina River at the junction of five roads as a teamsters camp and supply point for Kynuna Station and other properties on the western routes. It was gazetted as a town in 1894 and within a few years had a substantial population of up to 700 people and several hotels.

Today only one hotel remains, the Blue Heeler Hotel and it is the last remaining building with any association with the first days of the song Waltzing Matilda. Built in 1889 as the Kynuna Hotel, it is believed that the squatter, Bob MacPherson and the swagman, Samuel Hoffmeister, drank their last drinks at the bar of the Blue Heeler Hotel. Banjo Paterson also drank at the hotel and it was where the song Waltzing Matilda was first performed.

The Blue Heeler Hotel truly sits at the heart of Australian folklore. It was here that Banjo Paterson, a Sydney Lawyer, brokered a truce with the shearers who had burnt the Dagworth woolshed and 143 jumbucks. The battle of Dagworth was to be the last armed conflict between Australians. It was here that they decided that rather than shoot each other in civil war, they would have a drink together. They sang a song they all understood and they went back to work. Both ‘swagman’ and ‘squatter’ sank their last drinks at the bar. Stranger, go in peace from here as a friend – ‘Waltzing Matilda’.

Source: Outback Queensland (www.outbackqueensland.com.au/town/kynuna/), McKinlay Shire Council (www.mckinlay.qld.gov.au/visitors/our-towns/kynuna)

Tags:   hotel motel pub bar tavern drink drinks beer beers building history historic heritage vintage antique icon iconic landmark culture cultural waltzing matilda waltzing matilda aussie australiana outback kynuna mckinlay north west queensland australia

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