Winton

Similar to Longreach, Winton has been a town we only stopped at for meal breaks or fuel stops. This trip was to be different, we stayed over for three nights. Winton proudly hosts "The Waltzing Matilda Museum". This centre commemorates the first public performance of the song, 'Waltzing Matilda', that was to be embraced by the population of Australia at large, as depicting the soul of the country, the outback in particular.


Bladenburg National Park is only 17 km from town, so we took a drive out one afternoon to check it out. Bladenburg NP would normally be inaccessible by car after rain but we were OK as there had been several warm days to dry the tracks out. Even so, we had to drive through several water holes and a wet creek crossing, no real problems or dangers though. For more information http://queenslandholidays.com.au/things-to-see-and-do/bladensburg-national-park/index.cfm


While in town one afternoon, taking some photos, we called into the North Gregory Hotel for a couple of cooling ales. Here we met Thelma, the licensee and a couple of locals. We stayed longer than intended and learnt some local knowledge of the town.


When we were camped at Tinnaburra, in the Atherton Tablelands, we met Brett Gillespie, he was having a short break away from Winton. The busy Winton Spar Supermarket is owned by the Gillespie family so we called in to see Brett while we were in town.


We met a family, at the Winton CP, who had left Townsville in June 2010 for a two year trip around Australia. I don't know how they'll go, as they've only reached Winton in five months, maybe they'll take longer than planned to achieve their aim. If you are interested you can follow their experiences at http://www.expeditionaustralia.com.au/cruisindownunder/

We had just finished setting up our camp site when this dragon came along to check us out. They have discovered that it is easier to walk on their two hind legs.

Didn't like the look of us much, so climbed a nearby tree.

Jude on the drum set at the Musical Fence.

Noel having a bash at the Hub Caps.

Noel knocking out a tune (?) on the Musical Fence.

An overview of the Musical Fence.

Under the windmill at The Waltzing Matilda Museum.

The entrance to The Waltzing Matilda Museum.

This is the wagon that carried the last load transported by a horse drawn wagon.

The National Heritage listed general store is now a museum.

The imposing building of The North Gregory Hotel. The beer is good too.

When it was first settled, Winton was known as Pelican Waterhole because there was a natural waterhole and I guess pelicans were known to visit.

Behind The North Gregory Hotel is the oddity known as Arno's Fence. The concrete fence is about 70 metres in length and has a vast array of objects imbedded into it.

Including a kitchen range.

Several motorbikes.

A concrete mixer.

The side gate is covered in hubcaps.

Air compressor here too.

The track into Bladensburg NP. It is OK now that the mud has dried out.

The natural feature that we drove up to.

Remaining water from the last downpour. The run-off flows from this direction to the Skull Hole.

The run-off then flows over this flat rocky area towards the Skull Hole.

The run-off then takes a 9 metre drop down to this water hole. This is the view to the right of the waterhole.

This is the view to the left side of the waterhole and where the run-off escapes downstream.

This is an adjacent waterhole, right side view again. The run-off escapes at the rear of this photo.

Left side of the same waterhole.

Longreach

We've reached the town of Longreach OK, with no hold-ups on the highway, although the road crews are going to be very busy for quite a while repairing all the water affected sections of the road. As a driver you need to be on the defensive the whole time, especially when you see oncoming traffic. On more than one occasion we had to come to a complete standstill and wait for oncoming traffic to pass as our side of the road was totally broken up.


Our first night at Longreach we experienced a storm that dumped several inches of rain and caused the whole van park to go under water. We had planned on going to the night market in town but the deluge put that idea to rest. At least the frogs loved it, they serenaded us all night with their 'rip' 'rip' 'rip' calls. All the rain bought an unwelcome visit from the 'gidgee bugs' as well, millions of them, the whole town is over whelmed with them. They don't bite or cause any harm other than the sheer number of them is over whelming. They get into everything, even our bed. On our last night when I was heading to the showers I came across an enormous toad, it would have been at least 25 cm stretched out.


Longreach is a tired town, it needs a new council or some locals to revive some interest, Barcaldine with one third less population is a far more vibrant community.


We did the 'touristy' things in town, visited 'The Stockmans' Hall of Fame' and 'The Qantas Founders' Museum'. Each of these places took nearly five hours to look over, some people say it takes two days for each of them, but we saw what we needed to see.

The entrance to The Stockmans' Hall of Fame is impressive.

A typical bullock wagon that was the only way to transport goods before roads were formed or rail tracks were laid, just one of the static exhibits that took my eye.

Much of the total display is made up of these panels detailing mini biographies of the lives of many of the early pioneers. How long you spend in 'The Hall' depends on how many of these panels you actually read.

All the outside of the walls and all the plants in the gardens are literally covered with 'gidgee bugs', unfortunately the inside of the amenities block is over-run as well. It certainly pays to have a shower before sundown.

The rubbish bin and the plants around it are also covered, you can't see them in the photo but the air is full of flying bugs as well. I didn't stand here very long I can assure you.

Jude and I doing the classic pose in the engine of a 747 jumbo jet. This is one big aeroplane.

Under the wing behind engine #4

Jude is trying to start the engines on this 1945 Douglas DC3. One of Qantas's early work horses.

Travelling Through Lush Country.

G'day to All, we are on the road again with Mt Isa as our destination. We left home during a period of higher than normal rainfall not knowing if we could get through on the rain affected highways. We arrived at Barcaldine two days later, this is speedy, long distance travelling for us, having stopped over at Duaringa the first night. Each evening is ushered in with a brief tropical like storm, but here it is thunder and lightning with no rain. There are few travellers on the road at present, maybe they have been put off with the reports of flooded rivers and towns that fill all the news broadcasts. But we did meet a couple in a motorhome at Duaringa, we will remember them because they had an eight week old lorikeet that that they had reared from a very early age after it had fallen from it's nest. The lorikeet happily thought of them as mum and dad. The next day we travelled on towards Barcaldine passing through Emerald where the Nogoa River was running a banker, putting the camp site of our previous visit under about 3 metres of water. Our first night in 'Barcy' we camped at the Rest Area 2km east of town. It was quiet beside the highway as there were no heavy transports, the highway is closed to vehicles over 5 tonne. We were not held up with water over the road but we could see where the road had been cut and left the surface badly damaged in many places. The worst of these places was at Comet, signage indicated that we might have delays of up to 30 minutes but we got through after waiting only about 10 minutes. Our second night at 'Barcy' we moved to the showgrounds, the amenities there are quite good and it is an easy walk into town. We met Tony from Aramac while having morning tea in town and talked for about 3 hours, we had a late lunch that day.

The only two camps in the extensive Rest Area at Duaringa. The motorhome in the background is the home of the hand reared lorikeet chick. Our new vehicle is proving very able at towing the Cruiseliner, much more steady and comfortable than was the Forester.

The main street of Alpha, we stopped here for lunch and bought some goodies from the bakery. This must be the cheapest bakery in Australia and we can recommend the apple turnovers. We called into this bakery following the recommendation of Graeme, a fellow traveller that we met along the way.

The Barcaldine Rest Area, complete with electric BBQ. The only problem is because the area is so wet the site is over-run with midgies.

Sunset at the Rest Area under the build up to the evening storm.

This sculpture in the road side gardens at Barcaldine is also a musical instrument.

The Tree of Knowledge at Barcaldine with two of the six pubs in the back ground.

This wind mill with a 9 metre fan pumps water from the Artesian Basin to feed the adjoining water feature. The entire town gains it's water supply from the Artesian Basin and has been since the late 1800's.

This shot was taken near Ilfracombe, on our way to Longreach. Under more stormy skies, you can see how green and lush the country side is. We have not passed any areas that are dry, it is like this the whole distance.

Lynd Junction, Fletcher Creek, Belyando Crossing

By the time you read this posting we may well be home. Since leaving Ravenshoe and the 'Tablelands' behind we have been using camp sites like stepping stones, one nighters, then on the road again. We decided to be a little bit adventurous and take the inland route home by travelling down the Gregory Development Road. The DMR has improved this route dramatically over the past couple of years, where it once was single lane bitumen all the way it is now probably about 80% dual lane and in very good condition. We have not been able to update our posts to the blog because we have been in the 'electronic wilderness' out there. No mobile, no internet, no radio, not even any newspapers. Our first stop-over was Lynd Junction, commonly known as 'The Lynd'. The roadhouse is called The Oasis, this title is a stretch of the imagination. At $25 for a site that's not level, with no drainage, the amenities need major maintenance and are never cleaned, this place is a rip-off. We would suggest stopping at Greenvale 52km to the south. We stopped at Greenvale for a cuppa and to have a quick look around. While sitting under a tree and enjoying my cuppa a magpie 'dumped' right on my skull. I thought this might have been good luck with my Lotto tickets but to no avail.

Lunch stop on The Gregory Development Road at the entrance to Meadowbank Station. It was very noisy with the buzz of Cicadas.

Looking south down the Gregory Development Road from Meadowbank Station. It looked similar to this the whole way down to Charters Towers.

This looks like we are pulled up on the roadside but this is our camp site at Lynd Junction. Our neighbour here was John from Brisbane, he only stayed one night also.

They have this pony at Lynd Junction Road House and Judy fed him a carrot, he was going to follow her into the van for seconds.

He even wanted to check-out the rubbish bag.

The Oasis Roadhouse at Lynd Junction. Fuel here is $1.43 per litre, no premium.

The next night we set up at Fletcher Creek, a free bush camp where you can stay for up to a month. We were told that some people have camped here for 10 years, I don't think anyone would take much notice. The Police even came out from 'Charters' and checked out the long term tenants without any incidents. There are cold showers here but with the ambient temperatures, if you shower in the afternoon the water is quite warm from the tanks. The creek is a great swimming hole as well, fed from a fast flowing spring from about 90 km upstream.

This is Fletcher Creek, looking upstream. There are actually three separate camp areas here, travelling south two areas are on the left of the road, one either side of the creek. There is another area on right of the road on the southern bank, I believe this can be difficult to exit after rain.

It is quite peaceful and picturesque here.

The remains of an old bridge.

Telstra have erected a Commemorative Plaque to the installation of the first telegraph line in the area.

This Fletcher Creek bush camp area was first used as a private boys' school during WW11. The school had buildings in 'Charters' but these were taken over by the government during the war and converted into rehabilitation centre for troops returning from the Pacific Front.

We made the short drive down to 'Charters', about 50 km to refuel and continue on our way south. We discovered on refueling that we only had 4.5 litres left in the tank, that was a bit too close for comfort. The fuel gauge was showing empty for the last 15 km. Happily refueled, we continued onto Belyando Crossing to our next stop-over.

It is a very good little park behind the Belyando Crossing Roadhouse. We chose to stay on an unpowered site here for $15 per night. We had numerous visits to our van from the resident labradors. Jude was able to collect several almost ripe mangos off the trees here.

An old piece of equipment in the day traveller park.

The fuel stop and Roadhouse. Fuel here is $1.63, no premium. I thought Lynd Junction was expensive?

Many trucks stop here including this multi axled heavy hauler. The food must be good.

The Belyando river is only a mud hole compared to Fletcher Creek.

The old and the new river crossings.

From Belyando Crossing we travelled onto Emerald where we camped under the railway line beside the Nogoa River. We had a long chat here with Daryl and Judy from Gympie. We were going home but they were just starting out. Next stop was at Calliope River Rest Area, here we had a long chat with Alan and Lynn from Brisbane. They had visited many of the same areas as us, they too were travelling home. We will be able to meet up with them again in the new year as they will be holidaying in Hervey Bay. I am writing this last post of this trip at the Gin Gin Rest Area then we will be making the final 129 km drive to home.

Look out for future postings as we will be on the road again in December.