Cattle, coal, crops and culture sum up this vibrant town in the Central Highlands of Queensland.
Story By Chris Pritchard
Most conversations in Dooley’s Tavern in Capella seem to be about coal and cattle. But occasionally something different tickles the ear, such as a difference of opinion about strategies and players for the Capella Cattledogs, the local rugby union team.
Capella sits 300 kilometres west of Rockhampton, scenically positioned against the Peak Range in Queensland’s Central Highlands. Coalmining may completely dominate discussion in nearby Blackwater and Clermont, but Capella strikes a balance, relishing its role of providing services to pastoralists and crop-growers of wheat and sorghum, as well as miners. “We’re not totally about coal here,” says an elderly woman on her way into the newsagency one morning, as a couple of abattoir-bound trucks laden with cattle pass down Peak Downs Street.
This Story is from Issue #97
Outback Magazine: Oct/Nov 2014
