LAUREL Seymour-Smith just loves her life. She and her partner Coyote took over the Cooladdi Fox Trap last year and she reckons they’re in seventh heaven.

“We were ready for a new adventure. It was either something like this or go even further bush and manage a property,” she said.

It’s pretty far west as it is. Cooladdi is 88km past Charleville on the Quilpie Road.

A lady coal miner in Moura for two decades then the owner of a taxi business for another 10 years, Laurel says that “heading a little further west to Cooladdi” was the best thing they’d ever done.
“It’s so peaceful out here and the people are absolutely beautiful,” she said.

It might be quiet, but it’s never boring. The business combines a general store, fuel and food, gift shop, air-conditioned motel and post office. It has a liquor licence as well. It’s a popular stopping spot for the truckies, which means that the meals are tops!

While there, you’ll probably meet most of the town’s population. Laurel said her son and daughter-in-law, plus three grandchildren, also call the Fox Trap home.

Wander around the memorabilia display while you’re there. There’s an old telephone exchange and the phones that went with it. See pieces of opal, Mrs Potts irons, shearing handpieces and even some of the coal from the last steam train that ever went through the area.

Souvenirs and gift lines are also available. A popular line features rural scenes painted on tools.

A tennis court right next door is available for hire. The court is run by the Cooladdi Recreation Association, a group also responsible for organising an annual gymkhana in October. It’s a boots and all, dust and all, bush event. In the morning, it’s a traditional horse gymkhana and in the afternoon the motorbikes come out! If that sounds like fun, make it a date to come and watch the action.

If you’re keen to wet a line, amble down to the waterhole. People who like camping can choose a spot down near the creek. Free showers and toilets are available at the Fox Trap.

And how did it get the name, Fox Trap? According to legend, local identities from Charleville dropped in for a drink there back in the days when Bob Fox used to run the show. When they arrived home - two days later! - their excuse was that they’d been “trapped at Foxies”. It’s had the moniker “the Fox Trap” ever since.
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