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Fancy Loos at Augathella

...in Blackall

The change in uniforms for QANTAS

Musical cow bells in Longreach

Shopping...early settler style (the tinker's 'van')

...Under the shade of a coolibah tree in Winton

We have made it home and are gearing up for work again. To finish off our trip info I have added some photos of the journey just to give some extra ideas about where you could possibly go and what to see. We've had a great time and are now planning the next trip away.

To Biloela

 Leaving Emerald (which had 25mm of rain the previous day) the skies predicted more of the same for our trip East along the Capricorn Highway. We drove through Comet (where Leichardt has his own Dig Tree), to Blackwater, where by this time it was pouring rain. Not much use getting out to walk around the Japanese Gardens, though they are well worth the look. Lots of mud where others had been was enough to let us know it wouldn't be a good idea. So onwards through Bluff, Dingo and Duaringa to the turnoff to Biloela not far from Westwood.

This coal train passing beside us was quite lengthy. In the distance are the lead engines, these yellow ones here are the middle 2 engines and there is about as much train behind us as in front! Couldn't count the bins as trees kept jumping between us.





It was still raining by the time we reached Biloela. Our car and van parked in front of my mum's place, gear collected from the van and a quick run inside to warmth. It continued to rain. The afternoon saw the rain ease in patches, but by the evening it was quite heavy rain.Nice to go to sleep to the sound of rain and wake up to a gauge registering 35mm. Add the other 15mm from the day before and the garden's gotta be happy!

Today (Sunday) we visited the Queensland Heritage Park, housed in what once was the Primary Industries Pavilion at Expo 88. The silo shape was brought to Bilo in the years after the event and has displays representing the pioneering spirit of Australia. It also houses farm machinery, photos, travel items, school memorabilia, restored buildings etc and items donated from farming families in the area (including my grandparents who were one of the original selectors  in the district in 1932). John found this old dentist chair and was doing his best impersonation of Mr Bean.

This restored Furphy (left) water cart was one of those used to take water to Australian Army personnel during World War I in Australia, Europe and the Middle East. Apparently the soldiers pulling the carts were renowned for their stories and rumor spreading. Eventually the word Furphy became slang for rumor and gossip. Alongside this water carrier was an old pie van which has not yet been restored, an old ambulance which we saw regularly with its sides open and ambulance men/women selling raffle tickets. If your number matched a number on one of the shelves you could pick one of that shelf's prizes. A bit reminiscent of the sideshow stalls, only you didn't have to shoot at anything to get a prize! Great morning tea and gift shop staffed by volunteers.
Seen today: Clear blue skies; washing on the line drying; bees and butterflies on the lavenders at my mum's place.

To Emerald

 Left a wet Winton this morning hoping the weather would fine up by the time we reached Barcaldine where we planned to stay for a couple of nights. It's great for the farmers and the communities to have this unseasonal rain as it has been particularly dry everywhere we've been since Toowoomba.
Ilfracombe is famous for its roadside machinery museum. There really is an extensive display and under normal circumstances we would have enjoyed an hour or more there. The rain changed those plans.
The Wellshot Hotel has been a district landmark for over 100yrs. It was originally from a small railway siding west of Anakie, called 'Withersfield', and was erected in Barcaldine, where it stood for approximately 10 years. 
As the railway line moved further west, the forward thinking Paddy Finn thought it a good idea to follow, so he dismantled the pub in Barcaldine, carted it to Ilfracombe by bullock and cart, erected it on its current place and called it the 'Wellshot Hotel'.

Next stop, Barcaldine, home to the (ex) Tree of Knowledge. The tree was regarded as the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). This was because the town was the headquarters of the 1891 Australian shearers' strike, where policy and decisions were made. It was a 200-year-old ghost gum which was poisoned in 2006. This new memorial with timber 'branches' hanging from the roof of the structure represents the span of the branches when it was alive.
Chris's smile shows she has enjoyed this 'knowledgeable experience'.

It was still raining as we arrived in Alpha. The Fossilised Forrest of Alpha are sculptures which reflect the history of the area, and the petrified wood that can be found around Alpha. There are murals also in Alpha depicting early town life.

Here we are in Emerald, out of the rain, staying with friends.



Seen today: Termite mounds; goats; water on the road and creeks flowing; rain; not so many kangaroos close to the road as previously.

In Winton

The main highlight today was always going to be the visit to Lark Quarry to see the footprints left following the dinosaur stampede. We tried to book on a tour but it was booked out which left us driving the 110km (50km of very ordinary unsealed road). It was worth the trip.
The countryside was spectacular, as is most of western Qld and we gained a new appreciation of the hardships endured by the early explorers who traveled through this spinifex country. Briefly, the story of the stampede is that a large group of small dinosaurs was hanging around (probably playing cards and drinking beer) when this huge carnivorous fella crashed their party looking for a feed. As expected, the little fellas took off in all directions and miraculously their footprints were preserved in the clay pan and quickly covered with sediment to be preserved for millions of years. (95 to be precise) It was a humbling experience looking down on an event from so long ago given we think our 60 odd years of existence seems a long time. 
To preserve the site this building was constructed over the dig. It is solar powered, thermostatically controlled and is environmentally friendly as you could possible get. They figure the footprints run for 400m in one direction and another couple of hundred in the other, but will not be excavating  any more of the site in the foreseeable 
future.
We talked to a couple from Western Australia at Lark Quarry and they pulled up after us for a cuppa at a rest area on the way back to Winton. They were from Denmark (WA not Europe) so we exchanged stories of last year's western adventure.

Back in Winton we went looking for buildings to show John's Uncle Bob who was posted here in the 1950's to the Bank of New South Wales. As well as some photos to show Bob we saw the Banjo Patterson memorial (check out Banjo Chris in her poet stance) and Arno's wall. What's that you might ask? It is Winton's answer to someone with too much time on their hands and too much concrete to get rid of. This guy, presumably Arno, built a wall about 40m long and 'artistically' placed lots of 'treasures' - motorbikes, farm machinery, household appliances, sewing machines, hub caps etc... Interesting but unlikely to become an international art sensation.

Seen today: A few spits of rain (hopefully the lead in for a downpour tomorrow - smells good though); not seen but smelt - the infamous sulphur smell of the bore water; starry skies (last night); a guy who used to play tennis with John's Uncle Bob in the old days; opals; very expensive fruit and vegetables - white grapes @ $26.00/kg (needless to say the closest thing to grapes we are having tonight is the wine!).

Winton

 After packing up in Longreach this morning we had a fairly leisurely 200km drive to Winton where we quickly settled in at the Matilda Caravan Park. Figuring high on Winton's claims to fame is the fact that Banjo Patterson penned Waltzing Matilda nearby, but more of that tomorrow.
 Today we drove to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum just south of Winton. The tour comprised 2 parts - the first was a talk and dinosaur bones display concerning the local inhabitants of some 95million yrs ago.The picture of the bones is all they have found of 'Banjo', the dinosaur statue in front of the centre. The second part of the tour took us though the laboratory where the specimens are stored until they can be separated from the rocks and dirt that have bound them for millions of years. They have quite a collection awaiting processing as most of this work is done by volunteers who have been trained to do this. Winton is not really 'just around the corner' so time is really the thing that prevents things happening faster. These are the cases on the shelves and the petrified log on the floor on the left is a fossilised branch of a conifer, which proves the area was once a lush rainforest area.
This photo shows what we saw today, coming down from the mesa where the museum is. just goes to show what a difference 95million years makes!  Although it is very dry it is still quite pretty country and must look an absolute treat after rain.

Later this afternoon we visited Winton's musical fence. Yep! That's what we said. By straining the wires to different tensions tunes can be played by hitting the top wire with a pipe. The tune they gave for 'play by numbers' was ..... Waltzing Matilda. Surprise! Surprise! They also had a drum kit and other ingenious percussion instruments made from bits of farm machinery, fuel drums and metal hub caps etc.
Tonight we enjoyed a 3 course dinner in the Banjo Shed here at the park, and hen listened to a bush poet for a bit. Very entertaining.
Seen today: Emus (very close up); more wide open plains and blue skies; real dinosaur bones - not papier mache; flies!

In Longreach

 You wouldn't want to be waiting for this jet to take off as it's fixed securely to the terra firma. This 747 is one of 3 planes on display, the others being a 707 and a Catalina.Our visit to the QANTAS Founders' Museum was very informative with lots of static and interactive displays. From here it was a short stroll across the highway to the Stockman's Hall of Fame. Even though this was John's 3rd visit he enjoyed it as much as I did seeing it for the first time. On my last visit through Longreach the only building on the site was what is now an administration office with the hitching rails outside it.

There is far too much on display to list here and this really should be a 'must see' experience for everyone who loves the bush. The windmill shown here is absolutely huge. It's a Comet with 35' diameter and we believe it is the largest in Australia.


Seen today: Beautiful stone building at the Hall of Fame centre; beautiful clear, blue skies; The original signs from the QANTAS buildings;this amazing building which gave Australians living in the bush a chance to access medical help as well as travel.

We have left the comment section open so if you feel the need to make one, feel free. We've also added the photos for yesterday so you may wish to have a look at them too.

To Longreach

We left Blackall this morning, another beautiful winter's day. Instead of the usual tourist route to Barcaldine we decided to take the 'road less travelled' through Isisford. There is some significance here as John's dad was the local copper in Isisford in the early '50's and John lived there for the first couple of years of his life. The road from Blackall was pretty ordinary, Isisford itself is a lovely little town trying to survive. But the road north to Ilfracombe had us wishing we hadn't chosen this route. Kilometre after kilometre of unsealed detours will in the long run be worth the inconvenience to the locals, but had us one-time travellers cursing!

We've settled in to the caravan park in Longreach and walked to the information centre to plan our visits to the Stockman's Hall of Fame and the QANTAS Centre tomorrow. We can see the tail of the jumbo jet from where we are sitting now. This tree is full of white cockatoos. The noise is deafening and they've almost stripped the tree bare of leaves at the top.




There's a relaxing 2.5km walk beside the Landsborough highway called the Longreach Botanic Walkway. They've gone to a lot of trouble to display a large variety of plants native to the area.




Seen today: Emu with 3 chicks, kangaroo with joey in her pouch and one smart dog - crossing the Landsborough Highway (SOOOOOoooo much traffic) not straight across the road but under the road via a culvert - in one side and out the other!