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This iconic outback town played an important part in the history of the Quilpie Shire, as it was once the central business center. The town is named after Ada Constance Stevens (wife of Ernest James Stevens). The Stevens family had the Tintinchilla (later Milo) pastoral run in the area. There is a story that the origin of the name is that Ada lost her hat veil (Ada-veil) when the Milo road crosses Blackwater Creek. Town and suburban lots in the town of Adavale were sold on 9 February 1881 at Charleville The town was a thriving center but, in 1917, the Western railway line did not come to the town as expected but passed further to the south where the new town of Quilpie was created along the railway line, and soon became the major town in the region while Adavale diminished. In 1930, it was decided that the seat of local government should move from Adavale to Quilpie and the Shire of Adavale was renamed the Shire of Quilpie. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adavale

Australian camels? You are surprised? Yes, there is a camel history in Australia. The camel story began in the early 1800s. Explorers of Australia's vast inland recognized that horses are not very suitable to explore the harsh unknown inland. In 1840 "Harry", the first camel arrived in Australia. He was the only survivor of a small group of camels imported from the Canary Islands. Harry's life in Australia didn't last too long. During an expedition to the northern parts of the Flinders Ranges Harry accidentally bumped his owner just in the moment as he was loading a gun. The owner died a month later, and Harry was executed afterwards. Despite Harry's bad luck, introduced camels made their way into the Australian Outback. Source: www.ritas-outback-guide.com/AustralianCamels.html

Fortitude Valley Developed to the north-east of Brisbane city, the Valley began life as a separate European settlement. Easily accessible by tram by the 1890s, the Valley, which was not flood-prone, had the largest department stores. These did not survive the rise of the car-based shopping centres, whereas the city proper managed to retain some of its department stores. The Valley experienced an urban renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s, when young people flocked to new night clubs, some in place of the brothels and illegal gambling joints of an earlier era. The first known evidence of civic life was the opening of a church house at the corner of Ann and Ballow Streets in 1856-57. By the early 1860s there were a Primitive Methodist church, a primary school (1861), a free reading room and a locally-supported Alderman on the Brisbane town council. Alderman Warren soon organised a petition for municipal separation which, although refused, led to the creation of a separate Valley Ward (1864). The Valley, as it was becoming known, achieved a measure of commercial importance in 1864 when Thomas Finney bought a drapery business in Ann Street, the beginning of the Finney, Isles and Co department store (later in Queen Street, where David Jones took over the firm). Trams offered the main means of access to the Valley. Horse-drawn services from North Quay to the Exhibition grounds and to Breakfast Creek Road were opened in 1885. Fortitude Valley's rising commercial importance was best signified by the Renaissance style post office built in Ann Street in 1887. Thomas Finney's drapery store had grown and several significant retail establishments congregated around Brunswick and Wickham Streets: Overells in Ann Street (1883), which moved to Brunswick Street in 1899; T.C. Beirne in Brunswick Street (1891); and McWhirter's at the corner of Brunswick and Wickham Streets (1898), crowning the site with a new art deco building in 1930. Completing the group was Foy and Gibsons in Wickham Street (1903). All became department stores. The new shopping area was above the 1890 flood level, in contrast to central and South Brisbane. Source: queenslandplaces.com.au/fortitude-valley