It’s been awhile since the last blog entry. Part of the
reason has been the lack of reliable and fast enough internet and the second
reason is… we’ve been so busy enjoying ourselves there has not been the time!
Since we left Tambo… we have literally driven past the black
stump in Blackall, paid respects at the now deceased but very well preserved Tree
of Knowledge in Barcaldine, visited the Tropic of Capricorn down a dusty road
near Ilfracombe, explored the history of Qantas at Longreach, been on a
dinosaur hunt around Winton, dodged magpies and brolgas at the Blue Heeler
Hotel, visited the pub made famous in Crocodile Dundee, free camped by a
beautiful oasis between Cloncurry and Mt Isa, before crossing the border into
the Northern Territory ready to head south again.
Blackall... just a morning coffee stop this time:
Back in 2004 we saw the Tree of Knowledge alive and well. A
couple of years after that somebody poisoned it. A lot of money has been spent
on digging out the roots, building a very large roof and canopy over the top to
preserve the remnants. Why? Because this is the famous tree where a bunch of
workers met to complain about working conditions, which led to the forming of
the Labour party and the eight hour working day.
Although this history was interesting, the boys were more
excited when the Spirit of the Outback train pulled into the station next to
where we were reading about the tree.
We had lunch, before moving on to Ilfracombe. We over took
the train again just before Ilfracombe. We booked into the caravan park there
for two nights.
Thanks to a geocache we then found ourselves a few minutes
out of town along a lonely, dusty track which had a very unceremonious sign
declaring the Tropic of Capricorn passed through there. I know there is
something more noteworthy in places like Rockhampton, Alice Springs and even
Longreach, but this was more interesting in my mind!
The ‘main street’ of Ilfracombe is known as Machinery Mile –
it contains the remnants of many trucks, tractors and less identifiable pieces
of machinery from the days gone by. Many are brightly coloured, and the kids
enjoyed exploring them.
The next day after a nice sunrise we did a day trip into Longreach (only 27 km’s
away).
We took a ‘Captain’s Tour’ and got up close underneath them
though and enjoyed a morning exploring the museum.
After lunch we looked around town before having an easy
afternoon back at Ilfracombe.
Leaving Ilfracombe we headed towards Winton. Again, there
are multiple options of things to do in Winton. We decided to skip the Waltzing
Matilda Centre as we’d done that a number of years ago, and instead focus on
the dinosaurs.
The first afternoon we visited the ‘Age of Dinosaurs’ –
about 24 km’s from town at the top of a ‘jump up’ (what they refer to as a
mesa, or flat topped hill). We signed up for all three tours that they offer.
The first was in the laboratory where we heard about how
they dig and discover dinosaur bones, then how they are safely removed and
brought in for closer examination. We saw some of the workers using intricate
drills (sounded like a cross between a drone and a dentist’s drill) breaking
millions of years of dirt from the fossilised bones. Very interesting!
Next we got to see some of the prized discoveries of the
site in a climate controlled room. One they call Banjo, the larger is Matilda.
We heard about how they have put a bit of a picture together of how these two
might have lived.
The third tour had us riding an electric buggy across a
couple of kilometres of dusty road to a canyon that has been set up with
concrete ramps and ‘gallerys’ to display different types of dinosaur models,
recreating some of the plants that might have been found in the area when the
dinosaurs roamed. It was fascinating – the guides, especially on this third
tour really knew their stuff.
We also say a nesting corella and a willy wag tail sitting
on a nest on this walk.
It was later in the afternoon when we finished the drive
into Winton and found a camping spot in town – the place was quite busy. I
think we got one of the last three sites.
The following day involved a 220 km round trip out to Lark’s
Quarry, the site of the famous dinosaur stampede. About a third of the trip was
on gravel but still only took just over an hour. We paused and admired some
wedge tailed eagles on the way out... and met some wandering cattle.
Once at the quarry, the terrain was beautiful – more mesas,
colourful spinifex, red rocks, blue sky. We joined the tour and saw a couple of
videos to set the scene for visiting the actual dinosaur foot prints. It was
explained very well, including how this stampede possibly came about –
including conclusions about who ran where and why based on the types of
footprints!
Amazing to think that we were looking at the world’s only
evidence of a dinosaur stampede!
We enjoyed a short walk around the area before having a
picnic lunch.
Back in Winton we visited the North Gregory Hotel – where it
is believed Banjo Patterson wrote the poem ‘Waltzing Matilda’. The hotel has
burnt down several times and today’s incarnation is an ugly orange brick 1950’s
affair. But at 4:30 pm we got to go to the beer garden and hear a presentation
that included the life story of Banjo Patterson and the recital of some of his
poems. It was very good.
The following day it was time to pack up and move on again. Our
first stop was at Kyuna and the classic old outback pub the Blue Heeler. We
were greeted by 3 friendly brolgas out the front, but were soon given our
marching orders by a particularly aggressive swooping magpie. We took refuge in
the bar and enjoyed fantastic hot chips and gravy to prepare us for the rapid
exit back to the car.
A few more km’s up the road we came upon the town of
McKinlay – home of the ‘Walkabout Creek’ hotel which was used as the setting
for the pub in the original Crocodile Dundee movie. We stopped and had a look
around, including some movie memorabilia.
The scenery changed from very flat to quite hilly (by
outback standards) after McKinlay.
Fifty five kay’s past Cloncurry we turned
off the highway and negotiated some quite rough tracks that took us down to the
Corella River – a popular free camping place. It was worth the effort. We
scored a river side spot, despite the popularity of the place.
The evening had us exploring the area, building a small camp
fire which we then used to cook dinner on. It really was an oasis.
J got experimental with some more star photography which was effective:
The next morning it got even better, as the sun rose, the
trees and red rocks cast a beautiful mirrored reflection on the still waters.
It is a bird paradise. We saw and heard all manner of birds,
many we could not identify, but included a couple of pelicans, a white egret,
various parrots and lorikeets, budgies, king fishers, and kites – two of them
had a next across the river from us.
Mt Isa was just a place to drive through on this trip – but we
did stop briefly for supplies. After all these little outback towns and our
perfect paradise of last night it was a rude shock finding ourselves in a
shopping mall and having to remember what to do when faced with traffic lights
at intersections!
Clear of the metropolis that is Mt Isa we had lunch and
scrambled a rocky hill to get some great views of the area.
Next stop was overnight at Camooweal – the first or the last
pub of Queensland, depending which way you travel.
This morning we reached the border. The excitement of entering
the NT was stifled by the lack lustre signage that greeted us. Vandalised and covered
in stickers it was not the warm welcome we might have expected!
Lunch on a lush well-watered lawn at Barkly Roadhouse – the only
civilisation between Camooweal and Three Ways.
Today saw us drive 471 km’s but it was a great drive in that we had a
tail wind for most of it. So even with the van on, we were able to get up to
105 km’s per hour – although I did not fancy towing at the NT’s speed limit of
130!
Turning left at Three Ways onto the Stuart Hwy was a
significant moment – for the first time on this trip, which has been 4 weeks
now, we begin to drive towards home and not away from it!
We called in and had a look around the old Tennant Creek
Telegraph Station on the way to finding a spot to stay the night.
Next we head to the Devil’s Marbles, Alice Springs and
Uluru. Stay tuned.
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