Guide to Kynuna Queensland Australia

Kynuna is a town of about 20 people on the Landsborough Highway, 165 kilometres north-west of Winton. It stands beside the Diamantina River in the heart of the country that produced Waltzing Matilda.

Known For

• The Blue Heeler Hotel
• Combo Waterhole
• Waltzing Matilda country

Things To Do in Kynuna

Blue Heeler Hotel

The pub dates from 1889 and has a neon blue heeler on its roof. Banjo Paterson is said to have drunk here, and the squatter and the striking shearers whose dispute lay behind the song are supposed to have made their peace in the bar. Walls and ceilings are covered with visitors’ signatures.

Combo Waterhole

About 20 kilometres south-east, at Combo Waterhole, a short walk across stone causeways built by Chinese labourers in the 1880s leads to the waterhole on the Diamantina that is widely believed to be the billabong of the song.

Where To Stay

The hotel has rooms and van sites, and there is a roadhouse with a caravan park.

Eat & Drink

The Blue Heeler and the roadhouse both serve meals.

History

This is the country of the Wanamara and Koa peoples. Kynuna was a staging post from the 1860s and had three hotels in its heyday. In 1894 a shearer named Samuel Hoffmeister, wanted over the burning of the Dagworth woolshed, died at a waterhole near here; Paterson heard the story a few months later.

Getting to Kynuna

Kynuna is on the sealed Landsborough Highway, with McKinlay 75 kilometres further north-west.