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.