Boulia
Part of Australian mythology - the home of the mysterious Min Min lights.
Located 1719 km from Brisbane, 305 km south of Mt Isa and 364 km west of Winton, Boulia is a small settlement of approximately 300 people. It is the administrative centre for an area covering 61,176 sq. km which boasts a total shire population of less than 600.
No-one is quite sure what the name Boulia means but the most popular explanations include 'waterhole' and 'clear water', from the language of the local Aborigines.
The first Europeans to pass through the area were the ill-fated Burke and Wills. Burke gave his name to the river upon which the town is located and the Wills river is only 14 km away.
The town was first settled in 1876. The push for pastoral land had reached its limits in the west. Only the lands in the north-west gulf area were unoccupied by the end of the 1870s and Boulia was a kind of last outpost before the deserts.
The town's fame rests largely on its association with the mysterious Min Min lights. No-one seems to know just exactly what the phenomenon is but there have been sightings now for nearly a century and even sceptics are convinced that the phenomenon really exists.
The Min Min lights first appeared near the site of the old Min Min Hotel which is located 73 km east of the town at the junction of the roads from McKinlay and Winton. The old hotel is now little more than a ruin although the bottles and the nearby graveyard are a reminder that it obviously had a colourful past.
The hotel burned down in 1918 and shortly after that a stockman was followed by a light on his journey to Boulia. It often appears just after dark and is said to be similar to a car headlight except that it manifests itself as a small ball and often follows a traveller for some kilometres before disappearing into the darkness. Among the many rumours associated with the light is the suggestion that anyone who chases it and catches it will disappear.
Boulia gained publicity in October 1990 when an elusive night parrot was found dead beside the road about 35 km north of the township. It was first sighted by Europeans in 1845 when John Harris Browne, a member of Charles Sturt's expedition into central Australia, reported and recorded its existence. Long thought to be extinct, the dead bird (hardly something to catch the eye of the average traveller) was miraculously spotted by Walter Boles from the Australian Museum. In total only 23 of the birds have ever been captured or collected. The first was shot by John McDouall Stuart during Sturt's 1844-46 expedition.
Things to see:
The Min Min Lights and the Min Min Hotel
Boulia's fame rests largely on its association with the mysterious Min Min lights. No-one seems to know just exactly what the phenomenon is but there have been sightings now for nearly a century and even sceptics are convinced that the phenomenon really exists.
The Min Min lights first appeared near the site of the old Min Min Hotel which is located 73 km east of the town at the junction of the roads from McKinlay and Winton. The old hotel is now little more than a ruin although the bottles and the nearby graveyard are a reminder that it obviously had a colourful past.
The hotel burned down in 1918 and shortly after that a stockman was followed by a light on his journey to Boulia. It often appears just after dark and is said to be similar to a car headlight except that it manifests itself as a small ball and often follows a traveller for some kilometres before disappearing into the darkness. Among the many rumours associated with the light is the suggestion that anyone who chases it and catches it will disappear.
The Old Stone House Museum
The Old Stone House on the corner of Pituri and Hamilton Streets has been listed by the National Trust as a building of great interest not only because it is one of the earliest buildings in Western Queensland (it was completed in 1884) but because it has been designed in an attempt to keep out the harsh heat of summer. It was built out of local stone which was bonded together with a mortar made from a mixture of limestone, gidyea ash and sand. The iron for the roof was brought from Hughenden and the timber for the floor was brought from the Diamantina River over 200 km away. Now a museum it has some particularly interesting Aboriginal artefacts including a very unusual headpiece which was worn by Aboriginal women in mourning. If the museum is unattended contact the Council Offices. The neat modern council offices stand in sharp contrast to the Stone House with its harsh irregularities. For more information check out: http://www.boulia.qld.gov.au/tourism/StonehouseMuseum.shtml
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