Longreach

Wednesday 18^th May

We packed up the van and drove to the BLACKALL Wool Scour.  On the way we passed the BLACKALL Sale Yards which held a few Brahman Cattle.  We called in and had a look, before continuing on to the Scour. 

The Scour was built in 1908 and operated until 1978.  It is all still operational, but no longer used.  We had a very interesting tour through the entire plant, and learnt heaps about the process wool went through from the sheep’s back to the final product.  Alongside the Scour is an Artesian Bore whose water they used in the scour, both for their steam power as well as for washing the wool.

We then headed for ILFRACOMBE, on the way to LONGREACH, to visit their Machinery Display which is spread out along the side of the main road for about a kilometre.  On the way, because the scenery was pretty boring, we decided to count the road kill to help relieve the monotony.  Over 200 km we counted 190 dead kangaroos.  We only counted the fresher looking ones, ones we thought we probably no longer than a fortnight old.  So that works out at just under one dead kangaroo per kilometre per fortnight, or, 26 per km, per year.  Multiply that by the thousands of kilometres of main roads around Aussie, and the figures soon add up.  Again, surprisingly we only saw one dead Emu.

We stopped at ILFRACOMBE for lunch and a look at the Machinery Display.  A fascinating collection including a 1948 Fergie Tractor, which I think is the model Dad had on the farm, and on which I learnt to drive.  A bit of a trip down memory lane for me.

We got to LONGREACH at about 4.00pm.  We knew we were getting close because we could see the tail of the Boeing 747 they have at the QANTAS Museum, sticking up above the horizon ahead of us. 

This very quickly caused Cameron to turn off his DVD Player and catch some of the scenery.

Because we were so late getting to town, getting a campsite was a bit of a struggle.  One Camp ground finally squeezed us in between a clothesline and the roadway.  We only intended to stay there one night, so it was OK. 

After tea I worked on the blog site while Christel and Cameron played Euchre.  Guess who cleaned up his mother in only about his fifth game.

Thursday 19^th May

First thing this morning we moved to a free camp site beside the Thompson River about 4km north of town.  We had shot out last night to check it out, and found about 50 vans there with almost all the spaces taken up.  We decided if we got there at the right time in the morning we should be able to get a good site.  This proved to be correct and we were soon set up.

Then it was back in to town, first of all to try and find an electrician to fix the caravan water heater and also to buy a battery for our computer.  We had no luck on either front.  Then it was off to the QANTAS Museum.

The museum is based at the LONGREACH Airport.  Part of the museum is indoors, and then outdoors they have a DC 3,

and of course the Boeing 747.

Alongside the 747 is a 707.  The size comparison is amazing. 

We had been told by other travellers to make sure we did the wing walk on the 747, but found out there was a restriction of no children under 12 years of age, so that put a stop to that.  The price was pretty bloody ridiculous anyhow.  Instead we opted for the conducted tour around and through the plane, which was excellent.  Inside Cameron and Christel got to sit in the Pilot and Co- Pilot seats, which was pretty awesome.

We then spent a couple of hours going through the rest of the museum which gave an excellent display of the history of QANTAS.

Back at camp we decided to throw the yabbie net in the river, but when we pulled it out of the car found it had been rubbing on something and worn some holes in the net.  No fishing today.

Friday 20^th May.

This morning we headed off to see the Stockman’s Hall Of Fame, which is probably a bigger tourist attraction for LONGREACH than even the QANTAS Museum.  They had advertised a live show which we booked in for.  It was great entertainment with horses performing and demonstrating their work skills, a ‘Talking Camel’, which had us all in hysterics, a sheep dog doing his thing with half a dozen sheep, and then the best part of all, 8 bullocks were bought in, harnessed up, and then taken to a log which they then pulled to a cart, and then up onto the cart. 

A brilliant demonstration of just how valuable these animals were to the early settlers.

After that we went into the museum and spent two or three hours looking at the various exhibits of the stockmen’s lives, and the lives of the early outback settlers. 

LONGREACH is built right on the Tropic Of Capricorn, and beside the Water Tower in town is a signpost indicating where the Tropic of Capricorn lies. We paid a visit and got some photos posing beside it.

Back at camp we set about repairing the yabbie net, and then took it down to the river and threw it in.  Just beside where we threw it in we could see what appeared to be part of another net sticking out of the water.  It had obviously been there a long time, and after a bit of effort, dragged it out.  It turned out to be very similar to ours, but had quite a few holes and other damage.  We decided it could be fixed, and after about an hour’s repairs we now have two yabbie nets.  Unfortunately the yabbies weren’t biting, and we only caught one big one which we threw back.

Saturday 21^st May

This morning we travelled from LONGREACH to WINTON, a distance of only 180 or so km.  We had decided to stop at WINTON for a couple of nights as we wanted to see their Waltzing Matilda Centre, and to also go on their Dinosaur Footprints Trail.

The road from LONGREACH to WINTON was again long flat straights through mostly open grassland.  Nothing to see or do except sit back and watch the country side slide by.  Most of the straights were between 10 and 30 km long so as you can imagine there wasn’t much to do but sit back and wait for the next corner to arrive.

We got to WINTON at about 12.30 and checked in to our motor camp.  Then after lunch we visited the Waltzing Matilda Centre, which is basically a museum dedicated to the origin and subsequent use of the song Waltzing Matilda. 

Sounds boring I know, but the song is a very big part of Australian History, and they had done a great job of telling the story.  Of course there were the usual early settlers’ displays as well.  I would say after visiting the Qantas Museum, The Stockman’s Hall of Fame, and now the Waltzing Matilda Centre, we will have very little left to learn about the Australian Outback.

After the Waltzing Matilda Centre, we visited a Truck Museum which had about 30 trucks of various ages on display

and then dropped into one of the local pubs for a beer before going back to camp for tea. Tomorrow we will head out to the Dinosaur Tracks, which are fossilised Dinosaur footprints found about 110 km southwest of Winton.



Charleville and Blackall

Sunday 15^th May

The road from QUILPIE to CHARLEVILLE was pretty good and we could see a gradual improvement as we headed east.   An estimation of the road kill was about 30 kangaroos, 3 pigs, and one emu.  Perhaps Emus don’t come out at night.  For most of the time we drove through heavy Mulga Scrub but we could see quite a few head of cattle grazing amongst it. We were also starting to get more traffic.  Once we get to CHARLEVILLE we will head north again, after our detour from BOURKE east to BRISBANE, than west out to CAMERON CORNER , then back east again to the road north at CHARLEVILLE.

We got to CHARLEVILLE, and Nancy took us straight to our motor camp.  Christel went and checked in and then, guess what?  Out comes the owner and says, “OK just follow me and I’ll show you where we want you”.  ‘Oh No’, here we go again.  But, Allah Be Praised, this guy knew his onions.  Right hand down hard, bring her back, that’s good, straighten up, keep coming, left hand down a little, keep her coming, OK that’ll do you.  I jumped out and kissed him.

After setting up camp we watched as both the owner and his wife repeated the same performance with every other van that arrived, and they had them backed in to some very tight places.  These guys were good.

When we booked in, they told us they were doing a camp oven dinner that night consisting of Camp Oven Stew, Mashed Spuds and Damper, followed by Apple Pie and Custard, and rounded off with Billy Tea, and for $15 each we could join them. It sounded good so we signed up. What a great night. We joined about 20 other campers around the campfire watching our tea cooking in big Camp Ovens, and sipping on a few beers. 

When they pulled the damper out it looked to be cooked to perfection. It was about 40cm in diameter and about 150cm high.  Unfortunately it didn’t taste as good as it looked and certainly wasn’t a patch on the damper that Christel makes.

Never mind the stew and spuds and pudding were excellent.  Our first real Camp Oven Meal and we are now looking forward to more in the future.

Monday 16^th May

This morning at 9.15am we presented ourselves at the CHARLEVILLE Branch of the SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION.  In other words the School of the Air.  Part of the introduction included showing us a map with pins locating the various cattle stations where the students were.  The CHARLEVILLE branch covers an area of 400,000 sq km, that’s nearly twice the size of New Zealand, and has 185 students, who are serviced by 25 teaching staff.  The students all get together three or four times a year for sporting and cultural activities, and an annual school camp.  Some students have to travel two or three days each way, to attend these events.

After the introduction we went into one of the teacher’s studios which is just like a radio station studio, and sat in on a lesson for about half an hour.  The lesson we caught was a maths lesson for year one kids.  It was fascinating watching the extra lengths the teacher had to go to, to communicate with 6 and 7 year old children she could hear but not see. Her class consisted of 5 or 6 kids who were all on the air at the same time.  Whenever she asked a question each child had to identify themselves by their name before they could answer, and when she asked them to do a particular task they would come in with, Amy’s done it, Stewart’s done it, etc,  We all found this a particularly well worth visit.

We also visited the Royal Flying Doctors Base, drove out to the airport, and had a wander through a park that displayed Australian Native Scrub Trees, which Cameron found to be Very Boring.

Tuesday 17^th May

Last night we discovered the electric water heater for the caravan wasn’t working, and it appears we may have a burnt out switch, which doesn’t sound much except that this switch is part of a console that includes the gas heating and water supply for the heater, so replacing it is going to be a major exercise.  I spent an hour running around CHARLEVILLE this morning looking for an electrician who may have been able to help, without any luck.  We’ll have to try again when we get to LONGREACH in a couple of days time.

Our destination today is BLACKALL, 314 km north, where we intend to spend one night before travelling on to LONGREACH.  The road was now 2 lane but with a very bumpy surface.  We started meeting lots of cattle truck Road Trains, but because we were on a 2 lane road they were no problem. 

We stopped for lunch at a road side rest area just south of TAMBO.   This rest area was also used by Road Trains and Cameron went over and spoke to the driver of one who was also having his lunch.  Next thing he was sitting in the cab and was allowed to give a short blast on the air horn.  He came back beaming from ear to ear and full of enthusiasm about the sleeping cab, the chilly bin and DVD beside the driver, how far they could go on one tank full, how many litres of fuel they can carry etc.  He also told us that when he grows up he is going to buy one and fit it out just like that one.

 We got to BLACKALL at about 1.30pm and set up camp.  From pamphlets we obtained, we knew BLACKALL was famous for its Steam Driven Wool Scour, its Jackie Howe Statue, and for being the town that has the ‘Black Stump’.  Hands up all of you who don’t know what the Black Stump is.  Yes I thought so, most of you.  Here’s a history lesson for you then. 

For generations, people have referred to anyone living somewhere in the outback, as ‘living out beyond the Black Stump’.  Or in general when referring to the outback it was described as ‘out past the Black Stump’.  I had always thought the term Black Stump was just a figure of speech.  I too was enlightened.  The Black Stump actually exists, or to be more accurate, did exist, and BLACKALL is the place where it was. Here’s how it came about.

When the early surveyors got to BLACKALL after surveying their way across country from BRISBANE, they needed to accurately fix their position using the stars.  To do this they had a special, extremely accurate theodolite, which was quite heavy and needed to be mounted on a very solid base.  They decided that a large nearby tree stump which happened to be black, would make the ideal base for their theodolite so they could do their observations.

Once they had accurately fixed their position using the stars, they could guarantee all their survey work between BRISBANE and BLACKALL.  Beyond BLACKALL, or ‘Beyond the Black Stump’, the country was unknown. Hence the term, and hear endeth the lesson. 

 

To find out the ‘Black Stump’ actually existed was news to me, and naturally I was anxious to see it.  We drove out to the site only to find the ‘Black Stump’ was not longer black, but just an ordinary looking tree stump.  From the information board we discovered the original ‘Black Stump’ had been burnt down many years ago, but the existing stump had been placed in exactly the same spot.  So there we are.  Although it no longer exists, it apparently once did.  Interesting isn’t it.

After our visit to the black now brown Black Stump we visited the Jackie Howe Memorial Statue. 

Howe was a shearer during the 1880’s and 1890’s.  In 1892 using blade shears he sheared a World Record 321 sheep during a normal working day.  This record for blade shearing still stands today.  Later the same year he also set a World Record for machine shearing.  Unusually, his tally for machine shearing was actually lower than his blade tally.  Beat that Sid.

We were too late to catch a tour of the Wool Scour, so decided to do that in the morning before we headed off for LONGREACH.  After that it was back to camp.  We have been spending a lot of our evenings playing cards.  First of all it was Stop the Bus.  Then we taught Cameron Coon Can, which he cottoned on to very quickly, and for the last couple of weeks, that’s all we have played.  We were starting to get sick of endless games of Coon Can, so decided to see if he could pick up Euchre. Again he was very quick to pick it up, so now we have three games to play.

Tomorrow we will drive the 230 odd km to LONGREACH, stopping off at the small town of ILFRACOMBE on the way to view their Machinery Display.

Quilpie

Thursday 12^th May.

So with our hearts in our mouths we took one last look at CAMERON CORNER and headed back towards NOCCUNDRA, 250 km of dirt tracks and metal roads away, with a 9 year old boy at the wheel.

We had decided to let Cameron drive for maybe a couple of kilometres and then I would take over, but by the time we had done a couple of kilometres he was up to about 50 kph and doing such a great job we decided to let him do a couple more.  Before we knew it we were zooming along at between 70 and 75 kph and he was handling it no trouble.  So we left him to it and in this fashion we travelled for the first half an hour, and travelled 25 km. 

His only bad trait was his fascination with how much dust he was making, and to this end spent a bit too much time gazing into the rear view mirrors admiring his dust. Finally at our suggestion he reluctantly pulled to a stop and I took over.   We complimented him on how well he had done, and needless to say, for the remainder of the journey, we had the company of a very proud boy who wasn’t backward about coming forward to give me a few tips on how to best handle the road conditions. I was happy to accept the advice of this ‘Veteran of the road’.

Somewhere along the way we could see a huge cloud of dust ahead of us which we guessed would probably be a Road Train, but as we got closer realised it was in fact a sizable mob of cattle being driven along the road.  When we got closer, we stopped to let them drift past us.  They were mostly huge Brahman bulls with a few other unknown breeds thrown in. We asked one of the stockmen how many head were in the mob and he said about 900.

After that we had the road to ourselves again until we got within about 50 km of NOCCUNDRA, when we met two utes heading out to the Oil Rigs.  Back at the NOCCUNDRA Water Hole there was a whole new set off campers who quickly made themselves known and wanted to know where we had been.  They were a group of six vans travelling together, and when they heard we had just returned from CAMERON CORNER they became very interested, as they were planning to go there themselves the next day.  We were able to fill them in on road conditions and times etc.  Made us feel like seasoned travellers.

We quickly unpacked the car and then chucked the yabbie net in the creek.  When we lifted it about 2 hours later we had about 20 good sized yabbies.  We chucked about 6 of the smaller ones back and reset the net for the night.  We were looking forward to our first real feed of this delicacy.  Shortly after, another camper came over with about another 20 yabbies.  He said they were getting sick of eating them and did we want them.  Our feed was rapidly turning into a feast, and our net was still in the creek.  We decided not to cook them until we had lifted the net in the morning.

After dinner we joined the group of caravanners and sat around their camp fire swapping travelling stories and learning about places to see and go. 

Friday 13^th May

First thing on the agenda this morning was to lift the yabbie net.  Only about 5 or 6 smaller ones this time.  We had been told that daytime was the best time to catch them, and also our bait was probably getting a bit stale. Never mind we still had a huge feed to look forward to for tea tonight.

We packed up the van, drove up to the pub and fuelled up before heading off towards QUILPIE, our next overnight stop, about 250 km north east.  The roads were more of the same, one sealed lane down the middle with miles of room either side to pull off for oncoming traffic.  Long flat straights and a surprisingly good surface.  Again we had the road to ourselves and for the first 160 km to EROMANGA we were the only ones on the road.

As we entered EROMANGA, we saw a Road Train pulling out from a fuelling station.

It was a great opportunity for a photo.   EROMANGA is basically a service centre for the surrounding Oil Fields.   Its main claim to fame is that it is the Furthest Town From The Sea In Australia.  Let’s face it, it would need something to skite about.

From EROMANGA the road improved considerably, probably due to the amount of traffic related to the Oil Industry that was using it.  We set the Cruise Control to 100kph and sat back and enjoyed the ride, arriving in QUILPIE at about 2.30.  We soon found our motor camp and booked in for two nights.

There was a guy at the Office helping the owners, and it was obviously his job to guide new arrivals to their site.  First of all he took us to one site then decided we should move to another.  Heaven knows why, they were all the same.  Then he decided he would give us directions on exactly where he wanted the van positioned on the site, and I mean exactly.   Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, except I don’t think this guy had ever driven a car, let alone backed a caravan in his life. 

For ten minutes, well ... probably only five, but let’s not let a few technicalities ruin a good story, he had me going backwards and forwards, over to the left a bit, forward a bit, over to the right a bit, back a bit, right a bit, no, too far, back a bit, Ok that’s good, come forward and over to the left, no, back a bit, etc.  By this time we had gathered quite a crowd of bemused onlookers.  My only comfort was they had probably suffered the same fate themselves when they arrived and had come out to enjoy the show.  It slowly dawned on me that this idiot had no bloody idea what he was doing, and I could see Christel starting to chomp at the bit as well. 

Finally I got out and asked him exactly what he was trying to achieve.  “I’m trying to get you as close to the concrete slab as I can, and parallel with it”, he replied.  I looked and saw we were about 2 inches from the slab and maybe 2mm out of parallel, but obviously this wasn’t good enough for Mr Bloody Perfect. “I reckon that’s near enough mate” I offered. “Awe I don’t know” he says, “You could straighten her up a bit; you’re not quite parallel you know”.  “I think we can live with it mate, she looks pretty good to me”.  Christel must have felt the same, because by now she had the van open and was unhitching from the car.

Mr Bloody Perfect must have decided he was fighting a lost cause at this stage, and he rather dejectedly walked off casting many a worried backward glance at our ‘not exactly In Position’ Caravan.  We half expected him to come back with a tape measure, but thankfully he never showed up.  We set up camp, had a cuppa, and then went and made use of the camp ground’s Artesian Spa Baths.  Lovely. Then it was back to the van to prepare the yabbies for tea.  Boiled for 5 minutes, and then fried in garlic butter.  Beautiful.

Saturday 14^th May

Today was spent with washing, school work, groceries, and other odds and ends that needed doing.  QUILPIE is in the middle of another Opal Mining area, and the camp ground had an area set aside where you could fossick. Most of the rock there had tiny flecks of Opal in it, and Cameron became very excited every time he picked some up.  In his mind he was on to a gold mine, and was finding millions of dollars worth of Opal.  It took some time before we could convince him that the great pile of rocks he had accumulated were actually worthless.  He couldn’t understand it.  He knew Opal was valuable, and he knew he had some, so how come it wasn’t worth heaps of money.  Needless to say we are now carrying around about half a ton of rock with tiny flecks of Opal in it which Cameron intends cashing in on one day.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we will continue on east to CHARLEVILLE and from there head north towards LONGREACH, and hopefully no more caravan parking assistants.



Cameron Corner - Mission Accomplished!

Wednesday the 11^th May

This is it. Today’s the day. CAMERON CORNER or bust.

We were all packed and ready to go by 9.00.  We drove up to the NOCCUNDRA Pub and used their showers and toilets, before fuelling up.  The price for diesel was $2.12 per litre.  Dearest we’ve paid so far, but no complaints. They’ve got to get the stuff carted out here. Then we were on the road by 9.30.

13 km out of town the sealed road finished and then we were in for about 230 km of metals roads and dirt tracks. Most of the time the road was about 50 m wide, and of course, flat and straight.  Once we got used to the corrugations and travelling on the metal surface, we were able to get along at an average speed of 75 to 80 kph.

Poor old ‘Know All Nancy’.  Boy, did she fly into a panic.  We had turned her on just to see if she would know where we were.  We soon found out.  “Perform a U-turn and return to the nearest Road” she repeatedly told us.  When we continued to ignore her she went into a sulk, and left us to our own devices.  We just used her for a compass and to show our speed from there on.

For the first 120 odd km we were on a metal surface.  This part of the road was used by Oil Rig Traffic, and in the first 50km we met three Road Trains, all loaded with oil rig equipment. 

We pulled well off the road and waited until they had passed and their dust had blown away, before moving on again.  After about the first 50 km we saw no other traffic. We had the road to ourselves.

After that it was dirt road, and surprisingly this was smoother than the metal, and we were able to continue at the same speed.  What showed on the map as a light dotted line, suggesting a fairly rough track, was in reality almost a superhighway.  We slowed occasionally for patches of Bull Dust, but soon found it was better to maintain the same speed, and charge across the top of them not giving ourselves time enough to sink in.

There would be several kilometres of good surface and then a kilometre or so of ruts and soft sand, then a few low sand hills, and long dead flat areas that had obviously recently been underwater.  In places a new road had been graded around some of these areas, obviously they had become very soft and unsafe to travel over after all the flooding.

There was no sign of any kind of animal life until about 50kms from CAMERON CORNER when we started to see a few Brahman Cattle, and then evidence of cattle having been driven along the road.  We soon came to a bunch of cattle standing at the side of the road, with a few drovers and their horses nearby, having a cup of tea.

We finally got to the CAMERON CORNER Store at about 1.30pm.  It had taken us 4 hours to do the 250km trip, far quicker than we had imagined.  Cameron had been given the honour of sitting in the front passenger’s seat for the entire trip, and as we pulled up in front of the store I looked over at him to see what his reaction would be.  His face was lit up like a kid seeing all the presents under a Christmas tree for the first time, and he had a grin from ear to ear.

Needless to say he was first in the door, and before very long the four customers at the bar, and the owners of the store were fully acquainted with the reason for our visit. From then on whenever a new customer came into the pub the owners would introduce Cameron by saying, “And this is Cameron, the guy that the Store was named after’.  Cameron was lapping it up, and before long everybody was referring to him as ‘Cameron the guy the store was named after’.  I should point out that although it is called the Cameron Corner Store, it would be more accurate to describe it as a pub that sells a few groceries.

We had a few beers, and asked where we could put our tent up for the night.  They told us there were a couple of areas over the sound hills about half a kilometre away, available for camping, and we could pitch our tent anywhere we liked.  Just follow the Dingo fence and you will be right. We were also told there were toilets and showers available by the pub. $3.00 for a shower.  We arranged to come back for dinner later, then went off to pitch camp.

Before going to the camp area we went and had a look at the survey marker which is actually the point the Store is named after.  The Survey  Marker is a round concrete post which marks the intersections of the boundaries of the three states of New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia. 

This point was established in the early 1800’s by the Surveyor John CAMERON.  Hence the name of CAMERON CORNER.  The boundary marker itself is about 150m away from the pub.  The dingo Fence, which is the longest fence in the world, follows the state boundaries, and runs close by the marker.

After checking out the boundary marker, we drove down alongside the Dingo Fence

and over the first sand dune to find a huge wide flat valley, probably about 100 acres in size that was to be our camp ground for the night.  We followed the track for a bit and found a nice flat sandy area and pitched the tent. 

Cameron had occasionally asked if he could drive the car when we had been on dirt tracks, and as a special treat we decided he could drive us from our tent site back to the pub for tea.

Well, talk about being confident, we hardly had to say anything. Seat belt on, start the car, hand brake off, into gear and away we go.  He could hardly see over the dash board, but could obviously see enough.  Along the track, up over the sand dune, across the carpark and up to the front door of the pub.  No problems.  Another huge smile on his face, and of course: “Can I drive us back to our tent after tea?”  At long last, our dream come true, a sober driver for us.

A few more beers, and another lot of customers being introduced to, ‘the guy who the store was named after’.  Then it was into the dining room for tea.  A lot of the talk at the bar was about the current mice plague the whole of the south west corner of Queensland was experiencing.  And there was plenty of evidence.  They were everywhere.  While waiting for our dinner to arrive we were entertained by their antics, scurrying around where ever you looked.

Never the less the food was great, and very reasonably priced.  After dinner our chauffeur very ably drove us back to camp in the dark.  Before going to bed, we took time out to stare in wonder at the huge night sky sparkling above us.  Absolutely breathtaking stuff.  Money just can’t buy this sort of thing.   

We had no sooner settled in to bed when the mice started exploring our tent. Scratching and slithering up and over it as well as trying to chew their way in.  We finally gave up and went to sleep wondering how much damage we would find in the morning.

We all woke with a start when the pub generator fired up with a hiss and a roar at 6.30am.  Even though we were nearly a kilometre away and hidden by a sand dune, it sounded as though it was just outside the tent.  They hadn’t warned us about that.  We lay in bed watching the silhouettes of the last of the mice scurrying over the tent, then crawled out to a brilliantly crisp, clear, outback early morning, and watched in awe as the sun rose over the sand dunes. Again the sort of thing that money just can’t buy.

While we were cooking breakfast two emus came over the sand dunes alongside the Dingo Fence.  When they saw our car and tent they flew into a panic and started dashing backwards and forwards along the fence trying to find a way through.  We were all in hysterics watching them.  Our estimations of their intelligence going to an even greater low.  Cameron wandered down towards them to try and get some photos, and they finally took off back in the direction they had come.

Cameron came back some time later greatly excited.  He had been standing down beside the Dingo Fence when a kangaroo came bounding up towards him from the other side.  It finally stopped just on the other side of the fence, and he was able to get some great photos of it.  He said he got a hell of a fright when he first saw it, because he thought it was a dingo coming for him.  Luckily he had the presence of mind to stand still and as a result got these photos.

After breakfast we packed up the tent and went back to the pub, Cameron driving of course.  We signed their visitors book and bought a few souvenirs, including two hat pins this time.  Then it was time to start the return journey.  Cameron wanted to drive again, and seeing as this was a special treat, we decided he could drive for the first kilometre or two.  We felt it was pretty safe as there was of course absolutely no other traffic about, and the track literally ran through a huge flat paddock with no fences ditches or anything else that could be a hazard.  So we piled a couple of towels on the seat to give him better vision, and set off. 

Had we made an error of judgement? Will we meet an unexpected fate?  Will we all die at the hands of a maniac 9 year old power crazy racing driver?  Will a huge Road Train roar around the corner on the wrong side of the road and wipe us out?  Will ‘Know All Nancy’ finally get her revenge and send us all off into the desert to be lost forever?  Only time will tell.  Be sure to tune in for the next episode.



To Noccundra

Tuesday 10^th May

We were away from CUNNAMULLA by about 9.30 am.  The road from CUNNAMULLA to EULO, about 66 km, was basically the same as what we had travelled the last couple of days.  After EULO it narrowed down to a single lane of seal running down the middle of the road with wide metal verges. 

We realised that if we met any oncoming traffic, we would be best to pull over and stop.  We only had to do this three times between EULO and NOCCUNDRA, a distance of about 290 km.  That’ll give you an idea of how little traffic we saw. One of these times was for a Road Train. Meeting them can be a danger, because if they have to move over onto the metal verge, they can shower you with rocks as they roar past.  Luckily, we were so far off the road he didn’t have to get onto the gravel, so there was no problem.

Most of the way we were driving through very scrubby waste land. We saw heaps of Emu’s close to the road, and on one occasion had a firsthand view of just how stupid these birds can be. 

We had just entered a straight of about 5 km long and saw a truck entering it from the other end.  As we drew closer to each other, I saw an Emu close to our side of the road.  He was quietly picking at grass or whatever, and seemed completely unconcerned about the vehicles approaching from either side.  It was obvious the truck was going to pass him first, and just as the truck got to him, the stupid bloody Emu decided it would be an ideal time to run across the road.  We were about 200 m from him at this stage, and it looked for certain that he would become another road kill, but somehow he made it across.  I’ll bet he was minus a few tail feathers though.

We also saw our first two wild pigs today, both close beside the road.  The further west we travelled the drier the land got and the scrub started to give way to bare land and rough grass.  We got to THARGOMINDAH at about 12.00 and fuelled up before heading on to NOCCUNDRA, about 145 km away. It was from THARGOMINDRA that we had originally planned to go down through the BULLOO STATION to CAMERON CORNER but the floods had well and truly put paid to this.  The lady at the THARGOMINDAH Petrol Station told us that they didn’t expect that track to be open for about another 12 to 15 months. While we were getting petrol, Christel also grabbed a 2L bottle of milk out of the fridge.  When the lady rang it up on the till we saw it had cost us $10.00.  That’s a rough NZ equivalent of $13.50. Ouch.  

Soon after leaving THARGOMINDAH we started getting into hilly rocky country, and stopped on one rise with a great view of the surrounding countryside to have lunch. We could see for miles in every direction, and tried taking pictures to capture the scene, but they didn’t do it justice. It was quite eerie stopped on the side of the road with the only sound being the wind whistling through the grass and few scrubby trees.  One car went past while we were stopped, the only thing to disturb the peace. 

Between THARGOMINDAH and NOCCUNDRA we literally had the road to ourselves.  By looking at the map we could see we were going through one of the least populated areas we had travelled through so far, with only one cattle station for the entire 120 km. The landscape gradually got more and more desolate, and we could see why no one lived out there. 

Even the stupid Emus apparently had enough brains to keep away from it, as we suddenly stopped seeing them. We were absolutely fascinated by the stark harshness of the place.  This was more like the Australia we had come to see.

We pulled up outside the NOCCUNDRA Pub at about 3.30 pm, and wandered in for a beer or two.   NOCCUNDRA is shown in the statistics as having a population of 4.  It comprises of two main buildings, the pub and a hall.  Clustered around the pub are the usual outbuildings, comprising a shed with fuel pumps, and a couple of other sheds, one housing their generator.  An airstrip ran along the back of the pub and the hall, with a small Cessna parked out of the wind beside the hall.

The pub is built out of sandstone and looks every bit as old as it is.  Again, great back country pub atmosphere.  We knew there was a free camping area beside the NOCCUNDRA waterhole and checked with the publican about using it.  No problems just drive down and find yourself a posse.  There are showers and toilets beside the pub for campers to use, for the price of a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

 We also asked about storing the caravan while we went out to CAMERON CORNER.  The publican told us it would be quite safe down at the waterhole, as only travellers like ourselves ever came near the place.  We are too far away for the bad guys to bother us, he said.

We were soon set up beside the waterhole. Very similar to the NINDIGULLY camp, but not as picturesque, and quite a bit further away from the pub.  Never mind, I think we will be able to survive.  We had no sooner set up camp and other campers came over to make themselves known, and to let us know there were yabbies as big as crayfish in the waterhole, and they were catching them by the bucket full. 

Unfortunately we weren’t able to chuck our net in because we had to pack the car ready for our trip to CAMERON CORNER.  Never mind we would try our luck when we got back. The rest of the afternoon was spent packing ready for CAMERON CORNER.  Two other lots of campers were also heading that way tomorrow, one towing a van, and the other in a house bus.  We began to wander if we should be taking our van down as well, but decided to stick with our original plan of taking the tent.

The bird life around the waterhole was amazing, with Pelicans, Herons, Cranes, several varieties  of ducks, Bitterns, several kinds of hawks,  and numerous other unknown species all making their home there.  The Cranes and Herons looked especially graceful gliding across the water, and we spent some time just on dusk quietly watching them saw backwards and forwards.  Lying in bed that night we heard a Barking Owl doing his thing.  Instead of hooting like a normal owl, this guy goes woof woof, and sounds just like a small dog barking.