TOD Tour 2.0 Days 69&70 - Barcaldine to Charleville

Tuesday 1st October

Drove the 400 odd kms to Charleville, with stops at Blackall (for Sue to stretch), Tambo(for coffee) and Augathella (for lunch).

At Tambo, we had the best hot chocolate of the trip so far at Fanny Mae's. An old dwelling, nicely re-purposed and we enjoyed our drinks on the wide verandah. Unfortunately, the actions of a young farming couple with two young boys, gave us a unwanted reminder of the racism that still exists as the default position for some. They had arrived looking forward to the coffee (adults) and milkshakes (boys) but used the toilets and left when they realised that the staff were Sri Lankan. I won't repeat their comments.

At Augathella, we had a similar experience, only this time it was based on "class". Sharing a lunch table with a brother and sister, the conversation soon became difficult to maintain. She made her place of residence - Morningto Peninsular - a clear badge of honour and looked down a long nose at her surroundings and he - a construction supervisor - made it clear how "grey nomads" should be taken off the roads for their incompetence.

Regardless, we continue to think the best of people we haven't met and try and engage them in conversation.

We arrived at our digs mid afternoon. Its a small van park, very old and needing love and attention and surprisingly is still accredited by one of the major organisations. Pound for pound, probably the most expensive park we have stayed in. We have stayed in park where we paid more but then they offered more.

Wednesday 2nd October
Day off.

Disappointing start for Sue as she got the starting time wrong for the Bilby Experience and missed the up close and personal tour which included touching a bilby.

We went for coffee and basically goofed off in the main street. Before heading home, we went out to the Cosmos Centre and booked into the Astronomy session for this evening.

Sue went to the lesser Bilby Experience during the afternoon. She reports they were very cute as they ran around in the dark in their little compound, sitting up occasionally on their large hind legs. From the photos, they are being given the perfect preparation for living and working at battle stations in a submerged submarine.

We didn't complete the Astronomy session in the evening. We got to the venue but I was feeling unwell and then anxious abut being unwell, so we had to cancel. The Cosmos mob handled things brilliantly, being both understanding and generous in refunding our tickets.

Click for today's photos

We are both pretty jaded from the quickness of our return to home, which to date has meant 2800kms in 8 days. Before turning for home in Darwin, we were averaging 105km/day for this tour so the pace and the lack of things to look forward to is taking its toll.

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.

Charleville - Augathella - Tamba - Blackall - Barcaldine - Longreach

Charleville - Augathella - Tambo - Barcaldine - Longreach 516(1901) kms

We had to make a late start this morning owing to my reluctance to adhere to an old adage of my father's - when you replace one part, replace the lot. In particular, whenever you repack the hubs of a trailer, replace the split pins. I discovered considerable movement in the wheel bearing on one side of the trailer yesterday in Morven and had to tighten the castellated nut by a sixth of a turn. Having not replaced the split pins when I repacked the hub with grease before the trip, I shouldn't have been surprised when an old pin fractured. Therefore, we waited for a supplier to open this morning in Charleville so I could make this minor yet vital repair - new pins in both sides and we finally hit the road at 9:00am but not before we returned to town and purchased a new camp stove. The old one - still in our trailer after 32 years service - had too many broken worn out bits to make it worth repairing.

Our morning had the perfect pre-dawn start with a phalanx of kookaburras waking us in song - what a glorious sound it was! If I needed only one excuse to be here, this was it. The other feature of the caravan park was our first sighting of a mob of Grey Nomads. Interesting species. They flock into great herds for safety and the benefit of always talking to someone who is like them. Special gathering times are at dusk, when they wander campsites, have drinks and swap tales of profitable feeding grounds and in the morning when they break off into groups of two and three in order to prepare for their day, often preening their feathers and equipment to make sure it is ready.

Sue had talked up Augathella as a source of bush art, including sculptures and murals, so we naturally turned in with keen anticipation, despite being behind schedule. The artists must have been on holiday or hiding behind a tree.

On to Tambo for lunch by the Tambo Lake and despite an exaggeration - this is a small dam at best - we had a lovely hour with geese and ducks and Willy Wagtails.

At Barcaldine, where I stopped and did some computer banking in order to assist Sam with medical supplies. Whilst I was occupied, Sue was off to buy coffees. We have discovered that things are a little different out here in the outback (we officially passed into the outback today). No decaf, no lattes, no soy. Out here, they make song and dance about selling Nescafe instant!

The last 100km to Longreach helped make the decision to stay an extra night and have a rest from driving (1600kms in three days). We booked into the Gunadoo Caravan Park, which is the biggest we have stayed in. 260 powered sites and an endless panorama of caravans and Winnebagos. We set up quickly and disappeared into the outdoor spa even quicker. Sue cooked tea on the new stove - thumbs up - and then we caught the remains of Brooks & Magee, a country act playing at the park. A few red wines made them sound better than they were. Lots of Johnny Cash, a bit of Slim and two great country classics, "The Gambler" and "Harper Valley PTA". I am ashamed to admit I sang along and knew most of the words.

Stockman's Hall of Fame and the QANTAS base tour tomorrow. This is so much fun!