by WILL MILLIGAN

AS WE in South East Queensland recover from our major rain event in March 2025, spare a thought for our country folk in Western Queensland, who have never before experienced as much flood devastation.

As we watch the evening news reports on the vast inland sea impacting on the communities and pastoral enterprises, it is heart warming to hear the spirit of the locals just wanting to get on with the recovery effort, showing a true resilience and our well earned Queenslander pride.a

As the days roll on, we are now seeing reports of a very healthy green countryside appearing, igniting a willing passion to rebuild and give it another go.

With all that these folk have gone through, they ought to be admired for their sense of determination and one wonders what we can do to help.

Yet all our country cousins are asking for, is our company by visiting.

When planning your 2025 holidays, entertainment, festivals or long weekends away, forget about Bali, Europe, Canada or Japan, why not try country Queensland?

Our beautiful state has a wealth of interesting destinations, all with their own unique points of interest and claims to fame, but at the end of the day it is the people you meet on the road that you can forge lifelong memories with and can unexpectedly turn out to be some of the most enjoyable and safest getaways you can ever have.

You can make a new mate every day, by simply cooking a meal in a camp oven. Everyone likes a chat over a fire.

My favourite for entertainment is ‘Music in the Mulga’ and on the following weekend is the ‘Shearers Shindig’ both at Thargomindah in the middle of May.

As we all know, this year Thargomindah has been flooded to record depths, as a result the ‘Music in the Mulga’ festival will be held on June 5, 6, 7, and 8 and the ‘Shearers Shindig’ has been moved to the following Friday and Saturday.

There are also the biggest burgers at Nindigully or a sculpture trail, races of every kind, fishing and red claw, music festivals, natural landscapes or you can even have a go in the Fred Brophy Boxing Tent here in Walloon later this month or at the Birdsville Races in September.

If you really want to make someone’s day volunteer for a few days at a festival, on a farm, clean a free camp or just do someone a good turn.

You really don’t need an expensive vehicle and caravan, you can get to all of these places in an ordinary vehicle and take a swag.

Another option is to catch public transport and stay in cabins, or if you don’t feel confident, do a guided bus tour camping in motels.

The only rule is to stay safe in everything you do … when making a new mate, driving, exploring, adventuring, entertaining, camping, cooking or having a beer, consider the consequences and walk away from trouble when you can.

Have fun, be safe, enjoy life.