The famous 'Paroo Track' which is where the world lizard racing championships are held each year.

Eulo (including Yowah)
Fascinating outback township where, each year, they hold the world lizard racing championships.
Located 64 km west of Cunnamulla and 887 km west of Brisbane, Eulo is basically little more than a one-pub, one-general store town and yet it has a charm which makes it something more than just another outback Queensland town.

As you enter Eulo, on the right, before the Eulo Queen pub, is the famous 'Paroo Track' which is where the world lizard racing championships are held each August. At the left-hand side of the track is a piece of granite with a plaque which reads: 'Cunnamulla-Eulo Festival of Opals. 'Destructo', champion racing cockroach accidentally killed at this track (24.8.1980) after winning the challange (sic) stakes against 'Wooden Head' champion racing lizard 1980. Unveiled 23.8.81'. Somehow the spelling mistake, the absurdity of a cockroach racing a lizard, the circumstances under which the cockroach was trodden underfoot (by a drunken and enthusiastic punter, perhaps?), all lend an immediate charm to the town.

Like Yowah, Eulo has seasonal variations in its population. In winter some dozen beekeepers bring their bees from the south to feed on the eucalypts in the area. The honey, a distinctive Warrego variety, is dark and delicious.

Things to see:  

The Eulo Queen Hotel
The centrepiece of the town is the Eulo Queen Hotel in the main street. It was named after Isabel MacIntosh who became known as the Opal Queen of Eulo. She had arrived in Australia in 1876, worked as a governess on a station near Bourke, and married a man called MacIntosh who, at the time, was the overseer on the station. The couple later ran the store near Cunnamulla where the Cobb & Co. coaches stopped. With the profits from this venture they bought the hotel at Eulo. It was here that the opal miners came to drink and it was through this connection that Isabel accumulated a collection of opals which were reputedly worth over £4000. Throughout the far west of Queensland she became known as the 'Eulo Queen'.

Mud Springs
8 km out of Eulo on the road to Thargomindah is a sign which reads: 'Mud Springs. Built up over centuries these springs and others like them were the original release valves for the Great Artesian Basin. The tops are soft and jelly like and are the release valves. Occasionally they do explode with a loud report audible for miles.'

If you cross the stile and walk about 100 metres you will see a large mound. Climb to the top and there is a stick which, when pushed into the mound, sinks into a bed of soft clay. In spite of its hard exterior the mound is obviously a thick, glutinous clay.

Yowah's Museum

Yowah
Ironically, although it is nothing more than a series of rather haphazardous buildings ranging from caravans to lean-tos, Yowah is the second-largest town in the Paroo Shire.

Yowah has been an opal field for nearly a century. In the 1890s its population grew to 400 or 500 but today it ranges from about 50 in summer to around 100 in winter. The variation is produced by people, mostly Victorians, who seek the Queensland warmth in wintertime.

The main attraction of the area are the valuable opal deposits known as 'Yowah Nuts'. To the uninitiated they look like rocks but when split open they sometimes contain a centre of pure opal.

Visitors to this lonely settlement should make the trip up to 'The Bluff' which is where the large radio transmitter is located. The Bluff offers excellent views over the whole area. Also a trip to the golf course, with its open-air clubhouse, large 'dunny' and sandy greens and fairways is interesting. A few hundred metres beyond the clubhouse are the mines where the locals dig for opals. Such has been the success of this isolated town that it now has electricity, tarred roads and a Rural Centre with a library and internet/computer room.

	Hotels
	Eulo Queen Hotel Leo St Eulo QLD 4491 Telephone: (07) 4655 4867
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Carpet Springs Tourist Retreat Carpet Springs via Eulo Eulo QLD 4491 Telephone: (07) 4655 4064 Rating: **
	Caravan Parks
	Eulo Caravan Park Eulo St Eulo QLD 4491 Telephone: (07) 4655 4867 Rating: *