It’s All Happening in Yaraka!
As I sit on the front veranda of the hotel this morning, a huge string of Galahs sit along the power lines displaying their colours against a light blue sky flecked with clouds and a hanging full moon. The chatter amongst the Galahs is eye wateringly noisy.
The morning has a slight chill about it indicating that it won’t be long before we have the fireplace in the dining room ablaze pumping out warmth.
This month of April has seen a number of highlights happen. Yaraka now has mobile phone reception which, whilst being a wonderful asset for the area, has resulted in a subtle change with patrons at the hotel where conversations are suddenly interrupted with ‘pings, whistles and rings’ and calls and texts are dealt with on the spot.
And that’s not all! The Yaraka Store is open for business again. The Troika involved with this happening are Mark and Vicki Loman, ex South Australia, and our local grazier Ian Lynch. It really is exciting to watch the mass of activity happening with a huge tidy up of the outside area and a wonderful diverse and interesting line of items filling up the display shelves inside the shop. Not only is the store receiving extensive renovations but the little cottage between the shop and hotel is being completely rebuilt and will become home for Mark and Vicki. Their plans for having areas for tea, coffee and eating will really compliment the town for locals and travellers.
However the big event for the month will be the opening of the Yaraka Railway Museum commemorating the railway line that had its first locomotive roll in to town in 1917. It’s a shame that this celebration will not have a loco rolling in for the occasion as the line was closed in 2005 but the memories will live on as a result of
the old railway station being turned into a trove of memorabilia. The official opening on Saturday, 22nd April is being undertaken by Jim Benstead the CFO of Queensland Rail who has kindly agreed to depart his corporate Brisbane office and ‘cut the ribbon’ and declare it officially ‘open’. Good on you Jim and thanks for making the effort of coming all the way out here.
We encourage you to try and make it to this event where you will be most welcome! But if you can’t make it to the opening we hope that Yaraka might be a destination for you this year where you can enjoy the peace, tranquillity and splendour of this very special place – and wander through the Rail Museum and the shop!