Black Stump

Town monument to the surveying stump behind the phrase beyond the Black Stump.

The Black Stump is a quick but necessary stop in Blackall. The monument marks the town's claim to the expression "beyond the Black Stump", shorthand for the remote interior and the edge of mapped comfort.

Do not expect grandeur. The value is in the phrase, the distance you have travelled, and the way a small surveying story became part of Australian language.

things to do sight folklore