Queensland Outback Tour - Charleville to Blackall

Charleville to Blackall, 305kms, via Augathella and Tambo

Sue attacked by the giant
meat ant at Augathella

After such a long stay in Charleville, it was a sparkling day on the road. For a third road day in a row, our fuel consumption was well under previous averages when towing the AVAN. We have a career average of 12.7L/100kms, but today we set a new record with consumption of 10.4. I'm not sure what to put it down to. The road was relatively flat, although we gradually climbed for a lot of the day until the last third of the trip. Perhaps its because we've had to use straight unleaded fuel instead of E10. This morning I added 20kg to the rear of the van by filling a jerry can in order to take some weight off the tow ball. Not sure but happy with the result regardless.

We stopped at Augathella for morning tea, having a cuppa at the Ellangowan Hotel, where our host Steve was not only like an old friend in his greetings but also full of information about his little town. During morning tea, we met two couples from Melbourne who are hoping to be away for five months doing the big loop. Only five days out of Melbourne as of this morning (1500kms), they should have no trouble at that pace! They were a friendly mob, typical of the majority you meet on the road. I also chatted to another couple who said they had seen us at Charleville and it seemed we were heading to similar places.

Augathella is most famous for a small boy called Smiley, the subject of the 1956 film staring the endearing Colin Petersen as the young lad, Chip Raferty and Sir Ralph Richardson (the only overseas actor cast). The film was co written by Moore Raymond, who also wrote the book and the setting is based on Augathella. Its hardly surprising. His father was the local school teacher!

It also home to the giant meat ant, a copper clad construction that sits up a pole in the main park, the work of sculpture Amanda Feher. In the 50's and 60's, the Augathella football team was known as the meat ants for the the way they swarmed over opposition teams.

Tambo Dam

It was on to Tambo and lunch beside Tambo Dam, a delightful spot with ample room for vans to pull in and large areas of grass and water frontage. Sandwiches and a cuppa tea were well received in this very pleasant spot.

The final leg took us into Blackall and on the way we passed through the dog proof fence. We didn't hear any barking. A quick set up once we arrived allowed us to be out to the Blackall Woolscour for the last tour of the day. A unique attraction, it is the only remaining steam powered woolscour left in Australia. For seventy years from 1908, wool was washed (scoured) through an automated process which resulted in clean wool for export and increased Australian wool prices. It also allowed lanolin to be extracted and sold for further profits. It is also one of the very few woolscours to have a shearing shed attached to it.

Blackall Woolscour

Our guide was Willo, a man who had worked in shearing sheds for a large part of his life as a presser. For the past fifteen years he has been a volunteer at the Blackall Woolscour and his passion for the place made the tour very moving, especially as his presentation was delivered to just the two of us. A really fascinating place and a great credit to the people behind restoring it. They are currently seeking world heritage listing and it would appear they deserve it. Several pieces of their equipment are unique in Australia and are still in pristine working condition.

On the way back to camp we dropped in to see a statue of Jackie Howe, the famous Australia shearer who set the world record for number of sheep sheared in a day at a property at Blackall - 321 in 7 hrs, 40mins. Fair effort considering he was using hand shears, those things that look like what you used to trim the edges with! That's about 40 sheep a hour.

We also visited the Black Stump, as in beyond the Black Stump. It was a marker for early surveys, mostly because it had a large top on which they could place the equipment they used for measuring distances and direction.

It was a busy couple of hours and included a beer at one of the local pubs.

Click for today's photos

Tonight we are having the reception for a local wedding inflicted on us, as our van is park about thirty metres from the dance floor. We were supposed to be enjoying a campfire and singalong at the caravan park, but despite advertising the event widely, including on their large board at the front of park, the owners have decided not to start them until late May. Topped off by a lack of hot water in the showers and we are not quite unhappy campers but this is easily the least of our nights since leaving home.