TOD Tour 2.0 Day 13 - Emerald to Barcaldine

Drummond Range Lookout

Emerald to Barcaldine: 357 kms (trip 1974 kms)

A day of heading west started about 9:30 at Lake Maraboon (Emerald) and ended at Barcaldine about 14:30. Mostly easy driving, although we did have to cross the Drummond Range. Our fuel consumption continued to excellent at 11.3L/100km. Compare this to the lifetime average towing with the last Forester of 12.6L/100km.

The Drummond Range intervenes about two thirds of the way to Alpha, heading west on the Capricorn Highway from Emerald. At 528 metres, its a reasonable but slow climb up to the lookout. The view is roughly east, looking back the way we had come and the stratified layers of rock making up the mountains was clear. Below the lookout, the railway line shows the cleverness of engineers who bought the steel tracks through here long before the road. The only downsides to the lookout are the lack of a level parking spot for rigs and importantly, the dangerous turn in. With no turning lane and a reasonably blind turn if trying to take a bigger rig in or out, drivers need to be on sharp lookout.

We dropped off the range quicker than we climbed it and stopped at a roadside rest stop for a cup of tea and a chance to clear a sinus headache.

A stop in Alpha became a quick one when the first few features we looked for proved to have been over enthusiastically written of by tourist information or just written a long time ago.

Sue chatting to the locals in Jericho

Jericho, fifty odd kilometres later, was another matter. A small town which lives mostly along the through street, her is a place that is resisting the death of rural decline. You can see it will happen here but the locals are prolonging it as long as possible. Named by its original white settler - a bloke called Jordan - there are a number things worth seeing, even if they aren't on Trip Advisor. The Crystal Trumpeters is an installation art piece to tell the story of how Joshua bought down the walls of Jericho. A large wire construction near the information centre, depicts Joshua in the act. The information centre (the old railway station) has a clay recreation of the village, complete with patrons hanging over the hitching rail at the pub.

However, the outstanding feature is Australia's smallest, still operating, drive-in theatre. With thirty six car spaces and canvas chairs in the pavilion for the walk-ups and a towering screen, the facility was opened in 1969, just six days after the first moon walk, to the sight and sounds of Julie Andrews and Christopher Plumber and their improbable love affair in "The Sound of Music". Even more astounding was Sue's discovery of the commemorative plaque from the opening in 1969. A council committee which made it happen was headed by Mrs EM Langston and a F Langston was also on the committee. No idea if they are branches of the family tree!

The remaining 90 km to Barcaldine were flat and uneventful and our set up took as about twenty minutes with hardly a word spoken as we worked. It appears we are falling into our rhythm.

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After setting up, we went over to the camp kitchen for a Barcaldine Tourist Park institution: afternoon
damper and billy tea cooked over an open fireplace. A bonus was an older country balladeer, who told yarns and sang songs for and hour or so. Most pleasant and in keeping with how we want to spend this tour.

Winton tomorrow and a chance to finally see those scared dinosaurs.