Days 16 & 17 – Roma

Sunday

Another cold, but not freezing, morning and again it turned into a nice sunny day.

It’s been great to stop for a few days and just relax and catch up on a few things. As a result the van has been cleaned inside and outside, washing and ironing done and all the bills are up-to-date, etc.

Seeing that it was nice weather, we went on a long walk from the caravan park over the creek and into parkland around the Big Rig centre. There were plenty of families enjoying BBQs and picnics as well as just having fun in the sun.

We spied a bridge across the creek to another parkland area and headed towards it, only to find that it was a railway bridge for The Roma Express miniature train.

The Roma Express at the Big Rig centre

As we returned to the Big Rig centre we checked out the Beam Pump Unit on display. According to the interpretive plaque, oil in the Roma district is at a considerable depth. Pumping is achieved using a beam pump unit which in turn operates a down-hole pump and the oil flows to the surface via tubing from the down-hole pump.

Beam Pump Unit

Monday (Queens Birthday Public Holiday)

Yet another beautiful day in Roma.

I had a couple of handyman type tasks to finish around the caravan and we basically took it very easy all day and enjoyed some reading.

This caravan park has evolved to service the mining and oil industry in the Roma area and the fly in fly out workforce. Ann couldn’t resist taking some photos of some of the workers’ accommodation units which are unfortunately replacing caravan sites. They are not particularly attractive but are very clean and functional. Each unit basically contains a single bed, a small ensuite bathroom, a bar fridge, a small bench and chair, a TV and a microwave. Blocks of units share an outdoor cooking and sitting area.

Workers’ Units at Big Rig Caravan Park

Workers’ Units Shared Area

Workers’ Units at Big Rig Caravan Park

After talking to a very nice and knowledgeable lady at the information centre, from Roma we are heading off to the Takarakka Bush Resort at Carnarvon Gorge for a few days. We suspect that we will be without mobile and internet coverage while we are there.