Thursday 31^st – Longreach

The sky is leaking.

Since we couldn’t fix the leak we went off to the Stockman’s Hall of Fame which is conveniently located across the highway from the Qantas Founders Museum which is 200 metres from the caravan park. All this convenience – I’m just not used to it!

The Stockman’s, as it is know locally, is quite a large building and inside there are 4 levels connected by gently sloping ramps. After paying you just wander through.

There are exhibits and photos on the walls everywhere with a potted history of the people who were the legends of the outback. I don’t just mean the stockman but all the early settlers, the store owners and their families. It has a wall just for the unsung local heroes of the early years up to the present time. This was one of the things we enjoyed the most.

I suppose the exhibits are dominated (in size anyway) by a replica of a travelling merchant’s wagon and one of a bullock wagon (the wheels are about 2 metres high). The merchants had the same route each year and they could be away for up to 6 months during the dry. They sold everything imaginable from clothes, house goods, tools et It would not just be the one wagon only as they also took other wagons and spare horses sometimes up to 4 extra wagons and 12 horses. At the end of the trip they would sell absolutely everything except the wagon and the horses they needed to get back home. The route eventually had to change and they had to go further into the outback as the train lines went into the interior of the land.

It was a great display and the potted histories on the wall were fascinating and addictive.

We also saw a mini movie of the outback and we were supposed to have an outback show with bullock teams and the like but because the sky was leaking …! We had the show indoors but obviously the bullocks could not fit. The room for the outback display was the same room as we saw the movie at the start of the day – with a few mats on the floor. The “cowboy” rode his horse into the room, told a few corny jokes (talk about “dad” jokes) sang a song or two then got his horse up on his back legs and left. I felt a bit duded.

Other then that it was a great exhibition. We have seen plenty of displays about early Australia but this was well set out and explained.

Also the first exhibit was about the first Australians, the Aboriginal people. It was beautifully and extensively done. All thru the rest of the exhibits the contribution of the aboriginal people to showing the way for explorers and the farmers was acknowledged. Also acknowledged was mistreatment of the indigenous people and also the totally different philosophy about the land. Many of the explorers ways were the ways the aboriginal people have travelled for thousands of years.

There was also a fabulous exhibition about the flying doctor. Most extensive one we have seen

We changed caravan parks so as to share our money around as this is a little local one and not part of a chain. We are closer to town and also some nature rides but not sure if this will happen with the weather. Amenities clean but not as new. Had a smoko so we chatted to people under cover in pouring rain.

We love listening to the radio. Weather and rain reports are so important here and road closures. These are all broadcast regularly as are funeral notices.

Friday 1^st June Longreach

Just a lay day as there is rain no matter where you want to go. Having said that we did managed to walk around town for a couple of hours this morning with barely a spit all that time. The road to Winton, our next destination, is open but the sides of the road just off the tarred surface will be very soft and that’s where you head when the road trains come along. We will have a slow trip tomorrow but that is all part of our journey.

Wednesday 30.5.12 Longreach

Just a bit to add to yesterday. Tom Lockie, our tour guide, has his own version of Qld history that won’t necessarily be seen in history books. He credits much of the outback and this area particularly to being opened up by a fellow called Nat Buchanan. The stories Tom told are legendary and we have bought a beautiful book all about the area. Also interesting to hear local opinions about issues we hear nation wide. Their water source since 1888, the Artesian Basin, has been declared fit for human consumption with never anything added. The government has decided that soon the water will need to be tested and treated. This is at the same time when the coal seam industry is coning into being. Also government has given approval for 6 billon dollar coal mines locally. This owned by an Indian company and a connection to Gina Reinhardt. Already talk about where labour force will come from.

We are in a huge caravan park of 45 acres right across from Qantas museum and near Stockman’s hall of fame. This has every kind of accommodation imaginable. We can ride our bikes into town.

Yesterday we left Barcaldine and made our way to Longreach. We went thru Ilfracombe, only tiny but has a mile long exhibition of machinery. We went to a free truck wash, they want to stop seeds from spreading, but it wasn’t working. The fellow working it was a lay minister and we had a lovely chat with him.

Even though this is a very big park people are very friendly. There are brolgas wandering thru the park and kangaroos on the grass land.

Thursday 31st Longreach

It was only a ten minute walk to the QANTAS Founders Museum. You can see the tail of the 747 from about 3 km away. We got there 5 minutes early and had to wait for the place to open – right on time at 9am. We decided that it was cheaper for us to become members of the founder’s museum than it was to just visit and pay the normal fee. We can now go as many times as we like for free in the next 2 years!!!! Not too sure if we’ll get back within 2 years but we did save $25.

One of the Model aircraft that circles the museum.

We did an hour tour beginning at the 747. The sad story is that the concrete base that the front wheels rest on sank 30cm overnight a few months ago and they have had to stop people going inside the plane till they fix it. They were only digging the hole for the new reinforced base today. They had to go down about 4 metres to fine rock for the base.

747 in the pits

We got the story of the 747 and how it was just about ready for scrap when Qantas decided to give it to Longreach. A $5 million dollar donation, as that is what the aircraft would bring on the scrap market.

They also had a Catalina (PB5Y) which saw service during the Second World War doing the “2 Sunrise Flights” to Sri Lanka. They plane would depart Perth in the morning and fly 24 to 32 hours non-stop and arrive in Sri Lanka after the passengers had experienced 2 sunrises. The Japanese and Germans never knew that the aircrafts were flying throughout the war. Mainly military people or politicians made the daunting flights as there were no insulation, sound deadening, in-flight service and minimal food and beverages – for 24 hours.To get the aircraft to Longreach (it was bought from Spain where it was used as a firefighting bomber) they had to swap the engines for 2 DC3 engines. They are now back on the DC3 and the old Catalina engines are being restored but only to show what they looked like as the engines will never fly again.

PB5Y Catalina - 2 Sunrise flight express

The next was the 707. This was the first jet aircraft that Qantas ever bought back in the late fifties. It is an unusual 707 in that it is 10 metres shorter than the normal 707s because Qantas wanted to operate it out of Nandi to Honolulu then on to the States. The only problem was that Nandi runway wasn’t all that long and there was a hump in the middle of the runway. This meant that it didn’t matter which direction the aircraft took off in, it was always trying to accelerate UP HILL. The engines were always the draw back in the early 707s. Needless to say the aircraft on the whole was a complete success.

707 cockpit -"enough room for a dance"

The aircraft concerned had been through 8 different owners over the forty or so years it was in operation. In its last life it had been set up as a corporate luxury barge. The funny thing about the initial set up was that the company that converted it from commercial to corporate, made all their very plush armchairs and lounges and leather furniture from pig skin (it WAS done in Texas). All very plush and beautiful looking. The only problem was they were showing the aircraft at air shows and they were targeting the Arab princes, Moslems all and they would never touch a pig, alive or dead. Eventually it sat weathering and rusting away in the south of England, until a newspaper reported about it to the Australian people. Someone saw it and they rushed to buy it the aircraft for a pound (plus tax).

After quite a long period refurbishing it, all by volunteer labour from Australia, the aircraft was flown home through Dublin, Iceland, Miami, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Fiji then Sydney and eventually to here in Longreach. Its identical sister met the 707 at Miami. The sister aircraft is owned and flown by John Travolta. The Qantas one was number 1 to be purchased and Travolta’s aircraft was number 13.

The set up inside was quite luxurious with leather and solid wood everywhere.

Fancy bathroom in the 707

When the tour was finished we went back to the Museum itself and we wandered through that for about 2 hours and that included a walk through a DC3 they had just outside the building. We even had lunch there, and then walked back to the caravan park. We were forced to buy quite a few souvenirs.

the DC3

After lunch we rode our bikes into Longreach to buy something for tea then we rode back and up the road another km or so for a bit of exercise before we went back to Fanda.

We will probably move to the other caravan park closer to town tomorrow and do some riding around the river.

That’s it!

Monday 28^th

We were off early on the tour with a local operator, a 7.30 departure. The flow doing the tour is a local character and a real diamond in through.

We headed for a nearby town called Aramac. During the drive there we were entertained by Tom Lockie, the tour operator, telling stories of the great cattle theft where a bloke stole 1000 head of cattle from around Aramac and drove them all down to Adelaide to be sold. The police caught up with him but he got off on a technicality, as the prize bull, a white one and the prime piece of evidence, was stolen from the police lock up the night before the jury was to retire for a verdict, and another was substituted. He told it so well.

A replica of the white bull is in the main street of Aramac.

We then set off to the outback of the towns and headed for a place called Grey Rock which was and old Cobb and Co station and a pub in the middle of nowhere. The grey rock refers to a large cliff near the place were people have been carving their name in the rock since the 1880s. Ahhh! Time for morning tea – Billy tea out of a really billy , over a roaring fire accompanied by muffins and rock cakes.

On we go. We took off again and eventually entered a cattle station owned by a friend of Tom’s. Tom has exclusive use of this area to show his clients. We drove down fence lines that that were still standing and in good condition since they were first installed in 1886, no rust out here and the fence posts were made from Gidyea trees – very hard wearing and impervious to termite attack.

We eventually arrived at our next port of call. This is a cliff face with rock carvings dated to be 10,000 years old where the carvings would extend over 40 metres.

There were carvings of kangaroo paws, emu Paws, stencils of hands and feet. There were also carvings which have been studied in London and they turn out to be a star map of the Milky Way and a representation of the Big Bang. There was also a very clear representation of the Southern Cross carved into the rock. Absolutely amazing.

Southern Cross

Tom walked back a hundred metres to the bus to get lunch ready while we were left for another 30 minutes or so to wonder about the wall.

A lunch of billy tea, sandwiches and fruit cake with a lot of talk of the carvings and plenty of talk from Tom of the bush and its characters, complete with photos and copies of old letters and telegrams about the people of the times.

Off again in our Toyota Coaster bus. These buses are the best for the country up here and they are regarded as the best vehicle for conversion to motorhomes going around. Tom just belted down red dust roads all day in this thing and it just went were it was supposed to go and still gave a very comfortable ride.

The trip home was via an ochre area where various colours of ochre could easily be gathered. The aborigines used this for their ceremonial occasions but the locals also used this to trade with other tribes to the North for the hard stones to make axe heads and cutting blades and the like. The local area does not have the hard stones found elsewhere, so they traded the ochre which was not found in other areas. Tom said that the use of ochre for ceremonies had only been going on for about 400 years, even though the locals had been here for 50,000 years.

The ochre caves

It was a long day and we didn’t get home till 6.15.

We walked across the road and had tea at a restaurant across the road and collapsed into bed. Tomorrow we will be leaving Barcaldine but it is a beautiful area with lots to see. Tomorrow on the road again.

Tonight we say goodbye to Tony and Clare as we head North and they turn East. We have basically been together since Charleville and that seems a long time ago. We hope they find some big rubies in Rubyvale.

Don't for get to comment on the blog. Just go to the end of the blog day and hit comments.

Sunday 27.5.12

Just returned home from Mass. Still in Barcaldine on this Pentecost Sunday. It was  a farewell mass for the bishop who is retiring. From the brief time we heard and saw him he seemed lovely. Talked about us being the hands and heart of Jesus. It is only a tiny church but the priest has to cover a large area. The church was beautifully decorated with many red poinsetias. They grow to quite large trees up here. We enjoyed the whole liturgy and we knew lots of the hymns. The lady who was the welcomer at chu4ch, was also the lady we had chatted with at the information centre yesterday. It was very ecumenical with representatives from other churches also expressing their thanks to the bishop.

We had a slow start to our day and rode our bikes to a place called Roses and things. It is a little coffee/ gift shop in a small caravan park. They claim to have over 1000 different kinds of roses. The garden was lovely and we were able to sit outside under cover. We had Devonshire tea- bit pricey – but the gift shop had very reasonable prices. Beautiful glass birdbath that I resisted!

Morning Tea

Then we decided to ride around to the cemetery again. On our way we passed some brolgas walking along the street. They are a much bigger bird then what I expected. I spoke to a lady and she leaves out water and food for them. There were a couple more brolgas up the road and the first lot chased them off. The lady said they are very territorial.

Brolgas

It is warmer then yesterday so after our ride we relaxed. We then had another rummicub challenge with Tony and Clare. They bought their tiles with them. Much smaller tiles.

Then it was off to billy tea and damper! As you can see it is all quite tiring and Adrian and I have trouble keeping up with the pace!

We found out that we can do a tour to places we can’t access, so we are going tomorrow. Should be fun . Importantly they provide us with morning and afternoon tea and lunch! More next time.  We will be staying in Barcaldine till Tuesday morning then on to Longreach.

Saturday 26.5.12

Today the sun is shining! It is warmer but still a cold wind. The lady at information said the temperature range is 20 degrees. Much like Canberra. We set off first thing on our bikes to go exploring. We are on the edge of town so we had a ride of about 1 km. Taxing as you would realize. The first thing we stumbled across was a mural done by Darcy Doyle. Apparently he visited and enjoyed the town and painted  a mural as a thank you. Next we came across the c- shaped windmill. We had trouble seeing the c-shape. This was to commemorate all the artesian bores. They were the first town to have the bores sunk. This water is the life blood out here.

The C shaped windmill

Next we visited the information place. The lady was a volunteer and a bit of a wag. She filled us in on the real story about things rather then sanitised version. For example the shearer’s strike (1891) the people would have had secret meetings at rivers rather then under tree of knowledge; also tree of knowledge died a natural death from old age and overwatering. Believe what you will but we enjoyed listening to her. She was cross about the big impressive sculpture over where the tree of knowledge was because what town really needs is facilities for the aged. They have to raise money with cake stalls etc. We found the tree of knowledge over which is a giant wind chime made of 100mm pieces of wood. Took appropriate photos.

The three picture above are the tree of knowledge and the building surrounding it.

Kept cycling to edge of town and found cemetery. No one we knew there. Came back into town and checked out 5 pubs. Most have been burnt down at some stage and rebuilt over their lifespan. Adrian said slabs of beer are expensive($50-55).

We also found the local cinema, all in art deco style. They were showing The Lorax , not something we were remotely interested in. The cinema only opens 3 times a week and is run by the locl dramatic society.

Chatted to some people along the walk who were travelling up from vic and going over to coast. Spoke to an irish man also from vic. He put us onto a good park on the savannah way. He said victorians aren’t liked in Karumba because they don’t contribute to town. Supposedly some that have sold their homes and live on rental assistance from the government. Bought some pies for lunch and headed out to local lagoon for lunch. Two and half inches of rain a couple of days ago meant the track was partly under water. Could not ride all way around so we had lunch where the tables and chairs were. Headed back to the park and meant our new neighbours. Sat in the sun. Tony and Clare joined us and we played rummicub after lunch. There is a nice little lounge here that we can use. Then the highlight of the day!

Billy tea and damper with music at the camp kitchen. Yummy damper. Then a local character chatted about local area, giving the history and told a few jokes. Very entertaining and informative. He runs tours around local area. Depending on the state of the country after the rain we hope to do a day tour Monday. All these towns have a heavy reliance on tourism. Young kids leaving school can earn big money in the mines and don’t stay. They have about 60,000 people drive thru town during 6 months of the tourist season. This area is much sandier then areas north and south. The town actually sits on a huge sand dune. Town sits on sand and then sandstone. Up until sandstone was cut into for sewerage anything would grow anywhere because rain went thru sand and could go no further.

The wild dogs (aka dingoes – but called wild dogs for a reason – shooters get no government rewards unless it’s a wild dog) still are a problem as are feral pigs, cats and kangaroos. In this shire alone, they cull 120,000 kangaroos and they are still a problem. Road kill also accounts for 20,000 feral animals a year just in this shire. Heaven only knows what the numbers are Australia wide.

We hope to get to 5.00pm mass tomorrow. The local bishop is saying mass before he retires. Should be a bit special.

Fay with the local ferals

Friday 25-5-12

Today is cold and freezing!. It rained from lunch yesterday and most of last night. We spent the afternoon in the van. I let Adrian win 2 games of scrabble and I won 2 games of rumicub. Quiet night in the van.

This morning we left the park and headed for the only remaining steam powered wool scouring [wool cleaning] machine left in Australia. It ran from1907 to 1978 thru the golden days of wool to its demise. Was restored with gov money in 90’s. We were shown around by an old drover called Beaver, who didn’t really like opening his mouth to speak but luckily it was only Adrian and I on the tour and we could hear him in a manner. Saw all the shearing sheds with their stands and had explained all the complexities of cleaning and baling the wool. It was worth more cleaned. Uncleaned full of burrs, grass, dirt… They used to waste the lanolin but now of course it is a product in its own right. In those days the wool was worth 1 pound per pound of wool - $2/half kilo.

Dingoes are still are problem locally and the only people licensed to shoot them are the roo shooters.

We saw sheep and goats and have a picture of a goat on its back legs eating from a tree. There were also shearers quarters. The machines used the local gidyea wood pronounced gidgee[ because of yesterday’s rain, the smell from this wood is very strong like the smell of burnt wood smoke] and the ash from the machines was in a big pile. The locals used to collect it for their gardens but are no able to as the whole place is heritage listed. They have mainly tourists and school groups thru. I liked it because of the connection to my dad and his dad who both did some shearing.

Then we headed off to see the Black Stump and then off to Barcaldine. About 100kms from Blackall. Easy trip and different vegetation. Still plenty of grass with scrub and shorter trees. Still fairly undulating and the black soil. The railways were a great boon for Qld because the bullock wagons would get bogged in the black soil.

We checked out the local showground to stay as it has all the amenities. The cost was dearer then the caravan park so we opted for the park. Once again Tony and Clare are here. We were to meet for billy tea and damper for afternoon tea but it was cancelled for today.

We spent the afternoon at the local Heritage Centre. This is an area celebrating all the different working men that have helped to make Australian what it is today. Great exhibits about the cattle and sheep men, the railways, women in Australia, shearers, emergency services. Also exhibits about Golden casket, one teacher schools, Aboriginal history etc.

For those amongst us who are rabid Labor Party supporters there is much about miners strike of 1890’s and how this is where the Labor party came into being under the Tree of Knowledge which is in Barcaldine. My knowledge on this was greatly lacking so I found it all very interesting. More on the tree tomorrow when we visit it.

Also on the same site there is part of the 1988 Bi-centennial travelling exhibition. It is a big tent like a big top from a circus. The whole place reeked of early Australian history with lots of pictures and also audio presentations. We could have spent longer there but I was freezing. Have added extra layers of clothing.

We are very excited back at the park and can access their internet via wireless for free. We are going to watch some ABC thru computer as still no luck with TV. Will have to investigate better aerial. Spoke to a lady today from Adelaide. She said Western states do free camping sites much better then eastern states. Will have to investigate on another trip. Anyone thinking of coming out this way should do it. The country is beautiful and unexpected and people very friendly and helpful. Once again petrol is cheaper here then lots of places we have been.

Thursday 24-5-12

It is raining! Not cold though. We sat in the Prince of Wales pub in Blackall last night to watch the Blues lose. We were deep in Qld territory but survived. They bought around complimentary snacks at half time. Eased the pain a little.

We have run into Tony and Clare again. Shared the evening’s park entertainment with them and dinner. A retired music teacher sang and played guitar. She travels around the parks entertaining people. She has her food and accommodation provided.  She filled us in on the history of all the previous versions of Waltzing Matilda. We didn’t know there were so many. Had a yummy dinner that included damper and cockies delight (Golden Syrup). There is a big artesian aquatic centre in town. Has a spa and Olympic length lanes for swimming. I enjoyed a couple of hours there yesterday afternoon.

This is the town of the Black Stump. Apparently was used as a surveyor’s measure and anything past here was beyond the Black Stump. I think other towns have also claimed that they have the black stump as well-I think it may be like the true cross, as everyone has a piece of it.

Country was different again that we drove thru yesterday. Undulating with fewer trees and in some parts a 360 view all the way to the horizon. Stopped for a cuppa along the way and spoke to people from Tassie. They had 4WD and a big van. Cost them $2000 return to come across from Tassie. They were headed for Darwin to meet up with friends.

Saw some flash motorbikes in town today. One a 3 wheeler. They have been all over the place too.

There are two caravan parks here and hotels and motels. There is also a big area down by the river where people stay overnight and can access toilets and showers provided by town. About 20 vans down there. Plenty of people on the road.

We went to the Australia’s biggest morning tea at the Anglican church this morning with Tony and Clare.

 So much food! They raised about $4000. We will be in the local paper! The man came around taking our pictures and names. Adrian was miffed. He missed out as here was in getting more refreshments. They had raffles as well. We missed out. Lucky really as one was a table and chairs.

We rode around town yesterday which we enjoyed. Did a walk yesterday to find the best pub for the footy and a walk today down to the river.

Monday 21.5.12 Charleville

Firstly we have had a question about the comments you have written. They can be viewed underneath the previous blog (because we are doing the new blog there will be no comments as it is new.

The caravan park is lovely and shady and we are camped near a gully which is dry. It probably gushes with water in the wet. There are no mossies so we are happy. We rode 4 km again out to the info/space place. They have a great observatory, theatres and interactive displays.  We viewed a great show done a la star wars and we were the senators going on a journey. Very well done. A young man gave us an informative talk about meteorites. We got to hold a large piece found locally made of iron and it was extremely heavy. I assumed all were made of rock. Just goes to show what I don’t know really.

There we rode off to the Royal Flying Doctor exhibit. Very interesting and comprehensive. They had examples of past and present medical kits. Previous ones looked very gruesome and would encourage anyone to stay well. Also had one area set up as an old office for the calls to come in. The invention of the pedal radio and an automatic Morse machine were just as important as the planes for the service to operate. People are probably well aware of the pedal radio but the automatic Morse machine is one I had not heard of before. In the early days of the RFDS, all messages were by morse code and NOT voice communications. The people living on the outback stations had to learn morse code if they wanted to contact the RFDS. The auto morse machine was a type of typewriter connected to the morse code lines. When you typed a letter it sent out the correct morse code for that letter. Very ingenious and it cost 10 pounds per machine. Both the morse machine and the pedal radio had to be cheap.

People are not charged for the service but for every dollar raised the qld govt gives them $1.25. Then it was time for lunch back at the van.

As I sit here typing this there are two large kookaburras sitting across from us on a woodpile. One appears to have just found a worm to eat. They are very patient birds and just sit and wait. A huge flock of brightly coloured galahs have just flown out of the gully.

People find different occupations in the parks. Some paint, make jewellery and down the way from here ladies are knitting.

We spoke to a very interesting man. He is 75 years old and very fit looking and still takes 4 wheel drive tours all thru the desert and up to Cape York and anywhere else they want to go. Inexperienced groups he only takes thru knee- high water! Sometimes he sleeps in his vehicle and sometimes he takes a swag.

 We spent a lovely afternoon with Tony and Clare and then had a Chinese meal with them. They headed off before us today but we may cross paths again. Another thing we have noticed is that along the road there are toilets that are set high off the ground. We assume that is so it is harder for snakes and other animals to access them.

22 May 12

Today we went to the school of the air in Charleville. It was fascinating. We sat in the radio studio on a lesson. Fay even got to talk to the students – what a STAR. The teacher had a laptop and radio. All the kids had computers. The teachers and students get together in many more ways then what we expected.

Then we headed off to the local museum. This was set in an old bank building dating back to 1889. It was a bank. It is an old qldlander and they don’t get termites because they are made of cypress. It had a railway ambulance with railway wheels, because when roads impassable they would user the rail and they had a Furphy water cart dating back to WW1. Lots of other stuff too.

We made our way to Tambo going thru Augathela where we stopped for lunch.

Tambo is picture postcard of Queensland buildings and in the main street all the buildings have been refurbished with a coat of paint and they all are wheelchair accessible.

As we have State of Origin tomorrow night it only remains for us to find a safe haven at a pub where we can actually watch the match but we don’t expect to have too much NSW support with us. We have only had one night of TV in QLD. At least the Telstra phones are perfect as we have had coverage almost everywhere we go. Only on the long distances between towns do we lose some coverage. But every town has coverage.

Sunday 20.5.12

Things about Quilpie we forgot to mention. The caravan had beautiful artesian spas. I was in my swimmers out in the open and it is May! I’m excited!  They also had dinner and country music for entertainment but we gave it a miss because we could watch the ABC! We watched the news. We live an exciting life. We haven’t been able to watch telly since we left. There was a huge TV tower in the hamlet of Quilpie.

Adrian and I hopped on our bikes and went for a ride. We went to a huge park. It had a wonderful, covered children’s playground, tennis court, skate park, outdoor gym and hot and cold showers. We had a go at the gym. It was all laid out on pavers and surrounded by a white picket fence. A wonderful addition for the village.

We actually did set off early today and Fay drove the first 100km or so to a place called Cheepie. We HAD to have a look.! A dilapidated railway station and a house across the road which was a post office – that was it. We managed to have a cuppa on the station and we walked around for a little. Then we set off for Charleville.

Today we had a BIG surprise. We booked into Charleville where there are about 6 caravan parks. We gave our name and the lady said another Dixon had booked in. We are now parked beside Adrian’s brother Tony and his wife Clare from Taree. They are on their way to Rubyvale to do their yearly fossick in the ruby tailings. The people you meet.

After lunch we talked with Tony and Clare till about 4 then we set off on the bikes to find the Tourist information centre. It was about a 4km ride on the other side of town near the airport. Lots of stuff to digest but we will probably go to the little celestial observatory they have set up on the top of the information centre and a few other things. We have booked here for two days but we may stay longer.

When we got back from the bike ride, the usual country and western singer was playing. We decided to go and listen for a while so we took our chairs and a drink and wondered up. It’s a bit alarming that I knew a few of the songs – C and W songs always seems to be about divorce, the F100 breaking down, the effects of last night’s chilli or someone’s favourite dog karking it.

Once again there is no TV so it looks like we will be Rummikubing and a DVD till Fay falls asleep. Till tomorrow ……

We decided to make and early departure from Yowah so we were on the road at about 8.30. The drive was another one of those roads where it was single lane tarred road where you would have to move half off the road to pass any opposite direction traffic. Fortunately we didn’t see another car coming towards us for over 100 km – or any cars going the same as us either. The quality of the road was fantastic.

Eventually the road widened out, then narrowed again and it went on like this for most of the trip. Animals were everywhere and we had to stop or slow down for cattle, kangaroos, emus, foxes and birds and once again the trees and browned off knee length grass was everywhere. The roads are pretty good on the whole except for the width. Even the narrow ones are OK till you get to a rise and you don’t know what’s over the hill (move to the left). Numerous, and I mean numerous, signs telling us that there is a floodway ahead, and signs warning us flooding with indicators showing the depth. This is channel country and when it rains the land is so flat that the water just goes everywhere and the numerous rivulets drain across the road. We have seen no water across the roads at all. In saying the land is flat the seems to rise gently and today there were some magnificent views of ridges, stone hills and trees.

About 90KM from Quilpie, where we are for the night, we stopped at a place called Toompine, the only pub in Australia with no town.  On the way in to this town there were signs saying be careful of pets for the next 5 kms.Just down the road (100KM) is Eromanga, the town in Australia the furthest from the sea. Aren’t these facts scintillating!!!!!!!!!!!

Toompine is a pub and a couple of other buildings, 2 toilets/showers, a large refectory (for the bus trade calling in),The idea is the camping is free with free power and hot showers. You might be then inclined to buy a meal from the pub.There is also a large a penned area for the pets. When we pulled up there were 2 donkeys and a horse outside the pen. Inside the penned area there were goats alpacas and birds. goats around a large dam. Apparently they open the pens at night and many animals come in for the night. They are safe here. Apparently five dingos have been killed in the area recently. Some of the goats were a day or two old. We stopped and had a cuppa and talked to some people who were free camping there. They have been on the road for 4 years and have never been to the coast roads. These people have only been to the eastern states and criss- cross so as not to miss anything.

While we were talking to them one of the pet horses wondered up to Fanda and stuck its head in the window to have a look around. Then it and the 2 donkeys keeping it company, wondered up to us again and we had to pat them (again).

One of the signs on the pub fence said, “Angle parking – any angle” see the photos for details.

We eventually arrived in Quilpie, a very clean and tidy town, if very brief. We stopped and did a bit of food shopping then drove a couple of km out of town and down 4km of dirt road to have lunch at a dam.

We thought about free camping there but changed our mind and now we are sitting in the caravan park in Quilpie. Well I’m sitting here and Fay is in the hot springs having a spa.

On our way through town we stopped at St Finbar’s Catholic Church. This is one of the sights you must see in Quilpie. It has an opal encrusted altar, lectionary and baptismal font. There is no mass or communion service this weekend.

Things we forgot to mention previously. Around Cunnamulla Houses are moved from properties into town sometimes. Also at Yowah there are artesian baths planned similar to those at Moree. Amazingly this will be funded by Jupiters casino to the tune of $250,000. Apparently they support rural local things.
We are travelling on the Matilda Highway from bourke to Karumba and the detour we have taken is The Channel country.

All is going well and will probably be off to Charleville tomorrow – horses and goats permitting.

17.5.12
Today I am very clean. After bacon and eggs breakfast I had my normal shower. Then we set sail for Eulo about 60kms west of Cullamulla. There we discovered the date farm and artesian mud bath. The date farm people were always local farmers in sheep and cattle and about 30 years decided to try dates. This is normally a very dry area of 10 inches of rain a year, no humidity and very suitable for dates. The last three years have had 34 inches, 24 inches and 17 so far this year. They can’t sell the dates as fruit but can be sold to make products such as wine, liquor, health creams. They also grow figs. Because artesian water is the lifeblood of the outback they also offered mud baths. There is locally an area of natural pools but not appealing and also like quicksand. So I had a mudbath at the date farm. It is outdoors [enclosed] with lovely old deep baths with claw feet. I also had refreshments. So I am very clean which is positive because the Artesian Waters Caravan park in Yowah does not have an attractive ameneties block. The caravan park is a vivid cerise colour with its own baths also.

Once again it is hard to believe we are in the outback with the lush grass growth and trees. There have been beautiful bougainvilleas all the way up from Bourke in the towns. They are beautiful. When we were in Cunnamulla we saw a great presentation about the Great Artesian Basin. We thought we knew heaps but we didn’t. Also they have a time tunnel of the Artesian basin,

When we have been at the caravan park the last couple of days there has been quite a strong smell. Apparently this is from the gidgee trees. These trees are a hard wood and used for building. There are massive amounts of mulga trees and this apparently was a life saver for the cattle during the drought.

We are meeting lots of friendly people who give us tips on places to visit and not visit. We enjoy talking to the locals where possible and listening to their stories. The caravan place today is very casual and we haven’t paid yet. There is a three course meal tonight around a campfire for $15. We take our cutlery and crockery etc Should be fun.

It is now Fri lunch time. We did have a lovely evening, good food, company and music. Our musician was a Texan with an Irish heritage wearing a kilt. Not what we expected. The couple we chatted with have been on the road for four years. They sold everything in Lismore and hit the road. They have no permanent home but some stuff in storage. They have a Motorhome about our size and a very big trailer with a car and washing machine amongst other things.They had lots of stories and are big fans of freecamping as are many we have spoken to.

The village here is lovely. We went up to the bluff at sunset last night and had an amazing 360 view of the area. On one side everything was owned by one person. Once again we looked down on a forest of trees and grass. The grass is testament to the floods. The floods came thru and the village was cut off for three weeks but they had no rain! They keep an eye on each other to check all are okay. Up at the bluff we met the local teacher. The school has 2 students at present but the numbers will rise in winter with itinerant workers. One teacher comes from Eulo 70 kms away for Thurs and Fri. The other three days she teaches in Eulo. They often have functions up on the bluff. We managed to collect quite a bit of mud on Fanda on the way down so spent a little time clearing it off.

This area is famous for opals and bird watching [feathered kind.] People come from all over the world for the birds . Not sure where they stay! The opals are sold overseas and are very popular with Germans and Swiss. We wet for a ride on our bikes around the village and stopped in at one of many opal galleries. Lots of info and beautiful opals. The area has serious miners and a big area for fossickers. The weather is glorious - we are in t-shirts and shorts (The locals are in long pants and cardgans). The people who live here have been miners and gone away and come back to retire or came as tourists and stayed. We could but a 3 bedroom house for about $60,000. Because of the summer heat some people spend 6 months here and 6 months at the coast.

We have decided to stay another night. We are trying to go slower and not be on the road every day. This afternoon we went to see the nutcracker. Apparently opals come in ironstone in the shape of a nut and a local has devised a special way to open these nuts. We pay$10 and get an opal to the value of $10. We watched the machine for about 2 minutes then they had a bit of trouble with but at least we saw it in action.

We have now had tea outside next to a fire place where we had started a nice little fire. One thing we have noticed as we head out west is that the stars at night are absolutely amazing. You really can see the milky looking clouds of stars of the milky way out here.

Quilpie tomorrow so sayanara from Yowah (not Yehweh)

Hello from Cunnamulla Wed 16.5.2012

We didn’t blog yesterday so will work backwards from today- unless I change my mind!

Actually I will start with yesterday – see I have changed my mind.
Left the caravan park in Bourke bright and early after a cold night. We drove a little north and went on the P.V Jandra paddleboat on the river Darling. This was about an hour’s trip. The number of different species of birds was amazing as was the sheer number of birds. Kites (a type of hawk), darters corellas, cockatoos and galahs to name a few. They were flying all around us as we cruised along the river. We nearly didn’t make it (on the boat that is) as it was cash only and luckily we had some coin for washing at parks and we scraped the money together with 40 cents to spare. The commentary was informative and interesting. We could see how high the floods had been. As we have said previously there is water everywhere. The floods spread out for miles. The river was very muddy. That apparently is a good sign. The commentator blamed a build up of sediment and sand as the problems with the rivers, rather than too much water being taken out. The banks were quite steep and we saw red river gums hundreds of years old. They can survive nine months under water in a flood. When trees and logs fall in the river they are no longer cleared as they form habitats for fish. If you catch a carp it has to be burnt or buried because if birds eat it, the fish eggs end up back in the river. 

Fay and the PV Jandra

We saw houses quite close to the river and new ones have to build their own levee. During the floods these houses would be cut off but not inundated. These people all have boats to cope with floods. We saw lots of boat ramp signs which struck us as funny in the middle of the outback. There were markers in the tops of trees that showed the flood height and where SES people would put there boats. The system of irrigation licences was explained. It is quite complicated and supposedly not as much water is taken from the river as we are led to believe. It is amazing to think that the catchment is way up in north Qld. In its heyday the river was used to transport wool on the paddlesteamers.

We decided to go back to Bourke - only few kms - and top up with fuel as the sign said no fuel for 250kms. We had passed a wetland with a bike path and we decided to explore. It had the name of Poonogum Swamp. This path led to the original bridge over the river that is now a walking bridge. We parked at the exhibition centre and rode to the swamp and ended up at the bridge. About a 20 minute ride on a Canberra quality bike path except for bits affected by the flood. The swamp was pretty with wildflowers. We headed back and Adrian got a puncture again! I rode on and had the cuppa ready for his return. We think the tube may be gone and luckily in Cunnamulla there is a bike shop that helped us.

We headed towards Cunnamulla next. It is about 265 kms between Bourke and Cunnamulla. After about 20 kms the vegetation changed and we were amazed at the amount of knee to waist height grass and the number of trees and plenty of red dirt. We saw emus, cattle and sheep. The closer we got to Cunnamulla the more densely wooded and more cattle. The trees were so thick we couldn’t see through them. We followed the Warrego river for most of the way. Much prettier country that we expected and lush with grass, trees and water. We stopped at Engonia for lunch. Another grey nomad also there. Little tiny one street town with an impressive footy oval. It was a good road all the way and we shared the driving. Had some road trains but they didn’t seem bigger then normal semis we see. Closer to Cunamulla there were some huge paddocks that went as far as the eye could see.

We arrived at 3.30 and went to the information centre (old pub) and signed up for a dinner and a tour. We had booked at a caravan park on the river which is lovely. Only opened for two weeks. We thought there were no parks so this was a pleasant surprise. The dinner was around a fire, soup, roast and pudding. They had an old fellow who had been a drover and he cracked whips and had lots of yarns to tell about being a bushie - very enjoyable. We had had a drink around a campfire at the park before we left. This was down by the river with the sun setting. We had a look around today and went on a guided tour all thru town to places including a cotton farm.

The lake at the cotton farm - to water the crop - 1 of three
There was a giant sand dune but unfortunately no ocean over the other side. They have a catholic school but no priest since Anzac Day. A priest comes thru once a month and he covers a huge area of Qld. The previous priest chose to work in the local IGA simply to get to know people. The tour lasted for 3 hours and we were the only ones on it. It was a great tour. Steak for tea and off to bed.

Sunset over the Warrigo River at happy hour

The hghway we are on is the Matilda Highway that goes from Bourke to Karumba. We may even drive to Karumba.