By air
Chinchilla does have an air strip, and a modern airport terminal, but currently this is only available to flights such as charter planes, crop sprayers, business or private users, and other services such as the Royal Flying Doctor.
By bus
The bus stop is on the Warrego Highway, a short walk across the railway bridge to Heeney St the main street of Chinchilla.
Greyhound Australia (http://www.greyhound.com.au) has 2-3 daily bus services between Brisbane and Mount Isa via Longreach and Charleville, and 3 buses a week between Toowoomba and Rockhampton, along the Dawson Highway.
History
Chinchilla was first officially recorded by Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt in 1844 during one of his expeditions out west, and there is some debate over where the name âChinchillaâ came from. There is a town named Chinchilla in Spain, or a small rodent called a Chinchilla the fur of which was a valuable commodity - and early settlers in the Chinchilla area trapped possums for their fur. However, most agree that it came from the local Aboriginal word for the Cypress Pine, Jinchilla. Local legend says that when the application for land was made in 1846 by the first white settler, Matthew Goggs, the Sydney Registrations Office changed the name from Jinchilla to Chinchilla.
However, Chinchilla was officially surveyed and established in 1877. Its main industries were agriculture, timber and dairy. Today the main industry is agriculture, and Chinchilla is famous for its melons which are delicious â the town supplies approximately 25% of Australiaâs melons.
In the 1890âs, the prickly pear pandemic arrived in Chinchilla and everything they tried to remove the pear failed. In 1925 the government introduced Cactoblastis cactorum, a moth from South America. It lays its eggs on the plant and when the larva hatches it eats its way through the plant, eventually killing it â it was so effective that it brought the pandemic under control after just one year. The Boonarga Cactoblastis Hall was built, and is the only building in the southern hemisphere to honour an insect.
By train
The Westlander (http://www.traveltrain.co...) train comes through Chinchilla twice a week, on its way between Brisbane and Charleville. The train stop is on Chinchilla St, a quick walk across the railway bridge from the main street of Chinchilla.
Understand
Heeney Street is the main street of Chinchilla, and runs perpendicular to the highway. Most of the shops and pubs can be found along this street, although the main grocery store, and a complex with a few other shops and cafes, is on nearby Middle Street.
The Chinchilla Visitor Information Centre, located on the Warrego Highway, is a good place to make your first stop. The friendly staff can provide you with maps, pretty much any brochure you could wish for, and local knowledge. You can also relax on their lovely verandah with a Devonshire tea with freshly-made scones.
By car
Chinchilla is an easy 300km a four hour drive from Brisbane, straight along the Warrego Highway, and two hours from Toowoomba.