Camooweal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids CamoowealQueensland |
|||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Post Office Hotel, 2019
|
|||||||||||||||
Population | 208 (2016 census) | ||||||||||||||
• Density | 0.02181/km2 (0.0565/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Established | 1884 | ||||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 4828 | ||||||||||||||
Elevation | 231.2 m (759 ft) | ||||||||||||||
Area | 9,537.0 km2 (3,682.3 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Time zone | AEST (UTC+10:00) | ||||||||||||||
LGA(s) | City of Mount Isa | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Traeger | ||||||||||||||
Federal Division(s) | Kennedy | ||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Camooweal is an outback town and locality in the City of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. The locality is on the Queensland border with the Northern Territory. In the 2016 census, the locality of Camooweal had a population of 208 people.
Contents
Geography
Camooweal is in north-western Queensland, Australia, located 169 kilometres (105 mi) north-west of the city of Mount Isa and 12 km (7.5 mi) east of the Northern Territory border. The town lies on the Barkly Highway, and is adjacent to the Georgina River.
History
The area was originally inhabited by the Indjilandji Indigenous Australians. The town is said to take its name from surveyor Mr GT Weale, who was apparently the first person to bring camels into the area, although this has been questioned.
William Landsborough in 1861 named the Barkly Tablelands after the Governor of Victoria, His Excellency, Sir Henry Barkly. The first settler to the area was John Sutherland, who took up the Rocklands lease in 1865. Stock losses to the local dingos and wedge-tailed eagles; lack of water and isolation soon forced him to abandon his lease. The Englishmen Benjamin Crosthwaite and William Tetley, who were marginally more successful, took up the lease again in 1876.
The initial town was gazetted in 1884 to be built on a 4-square-mile (10 km2) plot by Lake Francis. A year later the present site was re-gazetted and Camooweal Post Office opened on 27 April 1885. Other milestones for the town were the addition of a police station in 1886, opening of a provisional school in 1893, drilling of the town bore in 1897 and the arrival of electricity in 1952.
On January 2nd, 1931, a Qantas Air Ambulance from the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia flown by E.G. Donaldson rescued a man in Camooweal and delivered him to Brisbane.
The road through Camooweal to the Northern Territory was the inland defence route for World War II. This road was built by army engineers and carried over 1000 vehicles a day and there are numerous historical sites marked along the road.
Heritage listings
Camooweal has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- Barkly Highway: Community Hall
- Barkly Highway: Tree of Knowledge
- Barkly Street: Freckleton's Stores
- Rocklands Station: Hodgkinson's Marked Tree
Amenities
Along the main road (the Barkly Highway) there are several caravan stops or van parks which will take mobile homes and tents. There is an airstrip that is used by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to bring medical services to the town.
Australian country musician Slim Dusty recorded a song written by David Kirkpatrick and Alex "Mack" Cormack entitled simply Camooweal which features this town.
Climate
Climate data for Camooweal (Camooweal Township 1891-2016) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 46.0 (114.8) |
45.5 (113.9) |
42.8 (109) |
40.0 (104) |
38.4 (101.1) |
35.6 (96.1) |
35.7 (96.3) |
37.3 (99.1) |
41.0 (105.8) |
44.0 (111.2) |
44.5 (112.1) |
46.6 (115.9) |
46.6 (115.9) |
Average high °C (°F) | 37.3 (99.1) |
36.3 (97.3) |
35.3 (95.5) |
33.0 (91.4) |
29.0 (84.2) |
26.0 (78.8) |
25.8 (78.4) |
28.4 (83.1) |
32.4 (90.3) |
35.8 (96.4) |
37.6 (99.7) |
38.0 (100.4) |
32.9 (91.2) |
Average low °C (°F) | 24.3 (75.7) |
23.7 (74.7) |
21.8 (71.2) |
18.0 (64.4) |
13.5 (56.3) |
9.9 (49.8) |
8.8 (47.8) |
10.9 (51.6) |
15.2 (59.4) |
19.5 (67.1) |
22.4 (72.3) |
23.8 (74.8) |
17.7 (63.9) |
Record low °C (°F) | 13.5 (56.3) |
12.8 (55) |
10.0 (50) |
4.4 (39.9) |
2.4 (36.3) |
−2.2 (28) |
−0.3 (31.5) |
0.0 (32) |
3.9 (39) |
5.7 (42.3) |
11.4 (52.5) |
14.4 (57.9) |
−2.2 (28) |
Rainfall mm (inches) | 98.8 (3.89) |
93.0 (3.661) |
55.5 (2.185) |
14.2 (0.559) |
10.9 (0.429) |
10.0 (0.394) |
5.5 (0.217) |
3.0 (0.118) |
6.5 (0.256) |
13.7 (0.539) |
29.3 (1.154) |
62.9 (2.476) |
403.3 (15.878) |
Avg. rainy days | 8.4 | 8.2 | 5.4 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 6.4 | 42 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology |
Economy
There are a number of homesteads in the locality, including:
- Don (20°06′49″S 138°07′23″E / 20.1137°S 138.1230°E)
- Morstone (19°31′34″S 138°21′56″E / 19.5261°S 138.3655°E)
- No 3 Outstation (19°21′23″S 138°04′30″E / 19.3563°S 138.0750°E)
- Old Morstone (19°26′14″S 138°30′06″E / 19.4372°S 138.5017°E)
- Rocklands (19°51′40″S 138°06′08″E / 19.8611°S 138.1021°E)
- Split Rock (19°54′09″S 138°39′06″E / 19.9024°S 138.6518°E)
- Thorntonia (19°30′10″S 138°56′40″E / 19.5027°S 138.9444°E)
- Undilla (19°37′27″S 138°38′18″E / 19.6242°S 138.6384°E)
Education
Camooweal State School is a government primary (Early Childhood-6) school for boys and girls at Nowranie Street (19°55′08″S 138°07′13″E / 19.9188°S 138.1203°E). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 31 students with 3 teachers and 5 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent).
There are no secondary schools within reach of the locality (the nearest is Spinifex State College in Mount Isa). The options are distance education and boarding school. Spinifex State College has boarding facilities.
Transport
Camooweal Airport serves the town and is just to the north-east of the town (19°54′53″S 138°07′31″E / 19.9146°S 138.1252°E).
There are numerous airstrips in the locality including:
- Camooweal Caves NP airstrip (19°59′25″S 138°10′26″E / 19.9902°S 138.1739°E)
- Herbert Vale airstrip (also known as No 3 Outstation) (19°21′37″S 138°04′30″E / 19.3602°S 138.0751°E)
- Morstone airstrip (19°30′36″S 138°22′04″E / 19.5100°S 138.3677°E)
- Rocklands airstrip #1 (19°52′13″S 138°06′16″E / 19.8703°S 138.1045°E)
- Rocklands airstrip #2 (19°53′00″S 138°23′43″E / 19.8833°S 138.3953°E)
- Rocklands airstrip #3 (19°44′46″S 138°02′06″E / 19.7462°S 138.0351°E)
- Rocklands airstrip #4 (19°47′02″S 138°13′54″E / 19.7839°S 138.2317°E) near Chester Creek bore
- Rocklands airstrip #5 (19°49′13″S 138°21′06″E / 19.8204°S 138.3516°E) near Coolibah Dam
- Rocklands airstrip #6 (also known as Darien Gate) (19°16′23″S 138°03′23″E / 19.2731°S 138.0565°E)
- Thorntonia airstrip (19°30′37″S 138°56′31″E / 19.5102°S 138.9419°E)
- Undilla airstrip (also known as Promised Land) (19°37′17″S 138°37′57″E / 19.6215°S 138.6325°E)