Surat   QLD  4417
	Population: 400,   Height above sea level: 246m Latitude: 27.09.00 Longitude: 149.04.00 Location:   480km west of Brisbane Highway: Off Carnarvon Hwy  Nearest Major Town: St George Nearest Airport: St George Touring Area: Toowoomba & Golden West
The Cobb & Co Store Museum has a documented history of this historic town which was an important staging point for the Cobb & Co service with the last coach travelling between Surat and Yuleba in 1924. A 14 seat coach is the centrepiece of the museum. On the Balonne River, many species of freshwater fish are caught including Yellowbelly, and Murray Cod and the 25,000 litre Balonne Aquarium in the Cobb & Co station displays many of the local species. Free camping is available on the banks of the river. The Beranga Creek, 3.5km from Surat has a display of waterlilies between January and May and was also the haunt of the 'Beranga Ghost'. This apparition was a frequent sighting on the river and mystified all until an elaborate network of wires in a gum tree was discovered supporting a ghostly puppet. Also near Surat you will see a section of Cobb & Co 'Corduroy Road', consisting of stretches of cypress pine saplings laid across gullies and ruts or 'black soil' sections to shore up the road so the coaches could negotiate them. There is also an aboriginal 'bush' garden featuring a range of native plants used by aboriginals for food and medicine.

Surat Visitor Centre

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© Copyright Peter W. Wilkins