Tramping tales for 10 - 31 August

 

Four nights of power drawn from SKV’s deep cycle batteries proved too much and when George came to connect up Getaway – the batteries were dead!  Fortunately there were numerous campers to call upon and the first readily came with his truck to jump-start SKV. No stopping thereafter and we made our way to Barcaldine. We do not think we have seen as much death and destruction as we saw on the 100km stretch between Longreach and Barcaldine.  George guesstimated between 8-10 corpses for every kilometre covered. Marsupials, black pigs, emus, cats and various birds were all lying on or beside the road. It was very confronting to see all this carnage.  

Homestead Caravan Park- closest to town suited us perfectly. Very reasonable and they gave a senior discount. We stayed for the weekend.  Two loads of washing were put behind us before the day was done and we worked to complete the last blog. Late afternoon, blogging came to a halt when a piano accordion and guitar set up some foot tapping music in the park garden.

 

Halfway through,  Billy tea and Cockies delight was served up by the caravan park.  It went down a treat – so much so we collected their recipe which feeds 30!  Cockies delight? That’s freshly made damper served up with syrup.  YUM! We made pigs of ourselves.

By Sunday evening we needed a good stretch and took a brisk walk through town. We were very taken by Barcaldine. As we have travelled we have noticed a high predominance of hotel fires within the histories of country towns. As we walked part of Oak Street, a most attractive streetscape, we noticed the hotels had all been burnt down in 1909 and rebuilt on the same site. Darkness was falling fast and we decided we needed to see more. Next morning, we upped sticks in the park and left our rig parked out in the wide streets that are so typical of most country towns and hark back to teamster days when wagons, pulled by 14 to 22 bullocks, needed space to turn. We noticed a massive wooden boxlike structure outside the train station and curiously approached it only to be blown away by The Tree of Knowledge.

 

 An exciting memorial, rightfully received heritage honour in 2006 when it was included on the National Heritage List.

In 2006, a historical Ghost Gum was poisoned and never recovered. The lady we spoke to didn’t know if it was deliberate or a toxic build up – sounded very fishy to us. By May Day 2009, the dead tree had been turned into an amazing monument. First the tree had to be carefully excavated and sent for chemical preservation – an Australian first. On its return the full skeletal tree of trunk, branches and root ball became the centrepiece of a mighty wooden structure above the tree from which dangle 3,449 slabs of timber rather like wind chimes creating a low and gently clunking noise. The structure represents the leaves and canopy for the tree gnarled, twisted and full of character. An inspiring story lies behind this self seeded tree in the main street of Barcaldine. Residents first referred to it as the Alleluia Tree, thanks to the Salvation Army gathering in its shade, way back when. But its legacy was to be its involvement with the Shearer’s Strike from 1891 when it came to symbolise an important place and time in shaping Australia’s Political identity and gave voice to the common man. Over years, this Eucalyptus papuana remained steadfast; surviving the harsh weather of the Outback and, with the help of man survived infestations - two from termites and one of insects. In a pamphlet on the Tree that became a Legend the comment is made that “while it was the hands of man that prolonged its life, it was also the hands of man that ended it - an unknown environmental vandal!”  We are very impressed that effort was made to produce something so lasting.

We hurried on to the Australian Workers Heritage Centre which we found sited in an old wooden structured school. This made for a most interesting layout along with other relevant historic buildings especially the one teacher school, the railway station and a Police watch house relocated here. Each and every exhibit within the large complex stood testimony to the workers who helped make and continue to make this country. The massive tent structure (beginning to show wear and tear) we’d noticed standing out amongst the town buildings the previous evening, turned out to be part of the exhibition. We discovered it had originally been used in the Australian Bicentennial celebrations. Inside we learned more of the Shearers Strike and the 15 men taken to court not to mention a recreated section of St Helena Prison and an isolation cell. Thirteen Shearers were sentenced to 3 years at St Helena and IF they had been midgets they’d have been a bit more comfortable! The clock marched on and we had to speed up after two hours – we could easily have spent more time especially in the section where tribute was paid to working women. We also saw the ‘Young Un” – the only direct descendant of The Tree of Knowledge before we departed for Blackall. Once again there was a high percentage of wildlife carnage on a road in desperate need of a complete re-surfacing. We bounced along being thrown left and right along the heavily patched road which was not conducive to speeding and we could only think the high loss of wildlife was due in part to the more palatable grass close to the road.  Even cattle in an overgrazed paddock strained their necks through the fencing to reach the grass outside.  Further on, we came across a mass of cattle well off the road with stockmen resting up beside a ute and a quad bike. We bemoaned the fact that having travelled so far in cattle country this was to be our only encounter with stock movement.

We stopped at the Blackall Caravan Park. We’d seen many Ads for this park. Set back from the main road, we entered looking forward to all it offered. Billy tea and scones all day; damper making demos, whip cracking and a Golden Guitar 2013 country singer for entertainment each evening. Even Camp Oven dinners – if you book! We thoroughly enjoy the winter entertainment laid on in many Outback caravan parks for the passing crowds. Turned out much of the entertainment had ended before time and we soon became very hemmed in plus there were water issues. Yet again, we were reminded of another piece in Tim Winton’s book Dirt Music where grey nomads are called “well heeled refugees”. Further, it says “some of them do the whole trip. North, then across the top of the Territory, Queensland to drive south and come back across the Nullarbor. The big circle. Then they start again. I blame Superannuation. They clog up the road.”  There is a lot of truth in this and we have to smile. Many escape the winters of the south and the northern roads teem with caravans...

Shearer Strike history stretches from Winton to Blackall and yet we have barely seen any sheep. Lea noticed a statue of a shearer and sheep. It was Jackie Howe. She recalled reading about him at the Stockman’s Hall of Fame not only for his record holding shearing feats but notable shirt, fashioned for him by his dressmaking wife that gave rise to a more commercial Jackie Howe singlet!

 

 

Jackie Howe’s ultimate 1892 blade shearing record of 321 sheep shorn in 7 hours 40 minutes has never been broken.            

Howe was also the only shearer to have ever set a blade and machine shearing record in the same year. And, it was the first shed he’d ever had to use the new, hot and difficult to handle machine. When Howe retired from the back breaking job of shearing aged 39, he bought the Universal Hotel in Blackall and very appropriately the Blackall and Howe history and display was on the site of the old hotel behind a replica facade although it is now a garden and Information centre.  We were disappointed to find no lights on and the information man busy on the phone. We didn’t want to hang around and moved on to the Memorial Park. There, we found a most interesting statue to Lt. Edgar Towner a Blackall boy awarded the Victoria Cross for most conspicuous bravery during the Second World War and we thoroughly enjoyed reading his story.

We found road works in progress in many sections between Blackall and Charleville which was most encouraging even though it slowed us down on a hot day.  In Tambo we stopped to see the famous Tambo teddies and then decided to continue on down the road and thank goodness we did. 

 

Two ringers haring up and down the stock track keeping the horde of cattle stretching a good kilometre or more off the road. So obliging too!

Made our day!  Modern stockmen use 4WD, motor bikes and quads. Waiting much further down the track we passed a truck and caravan waiting off the road and the head stockman sat in its shade reading. He gave us a friendly wave as we slowed to inspect! 

In Augathella, the caravan park looked hot and dusty. The price put us right off so we found a pleasant park down the main street of town beside an embankment protecting the town from floodwaters of the Warrego River.  Although we’d liked to have stayed there, in Camps 6 it appeared to be a day area only. We moved on to Charleville virtually following the Warrego River.

 Charleville Bush Camp had caught Paula’s eye way back while browsing through brochures -   No smokers and no children...  We decided to give it a go and we were so glad we did. This new park met all the P’s - price, position and perfect ablution block – very different to the run of the mill; these were like you’d find in a private home!  A central fire-pit encourages guests to gather around even borrow a camp oven (variety of sizes available) and cook ar meal there.  No sooner settled; with our phone booking for Bilbies made for the following night, we dashed off with chairs to hear the 4.30 talk. Graeme (the owner) was speaking about Corners, Deserts and the Eyre Basin. It was very stimulating. Not only did it increase our geography knowledge it developed a new goal for us: Visit State Corners! We found ourselves regretful of bypassing Haddon Corner! As interesting as the talk was, it was basically a promotional talk for Graeme’s Tagalong Tours under the trade name TRAVEL WEST. He does 7 day outings into the Simpson and Channel Country for $2470 per head plus own vehicle and fuel costs; his knowledge on the area incomparable though. Our fuel for that particular leg was $700 and we probably didn’t push as much into a day as he does

The only other thing that caught our eye in Charleville besides wanting to see bilbies was the Charleville “Bugle.” It is well known that “desperate times call for desperate measures” … thus in 1902 a renowned meteorologist by the name of Clement Wragge arrived in Charleville to end what was then the longest running drought in Queensland’s history.  His proposed solution was to use six massive vortex cannons which had been developed by an Austrian scientist, Albert Steiger, to dispel hail bearing clouds in Europe. Wragge intended to await the arrival of suitable clouds then fire rain producing gas into the atmosphere above the town and fully expected the rapidly rising charges from the guns to force the clouds to release their rain.

The experiment failed but at least the guns are on display to amuse!   

 

Charleville Bugles – the Steiger rain making vortex guns.  

Charleville is home to a captive breeding programme of the endangered and genetically distinct Queensland population of Bilby. Only a small pocket is to be found out in the wild of the Diamantina and we hadn’t seen any trace there. That evening we eagerly awaited entry into the Queensland Parks and Wildlife enclosure to learn the Bilby story only to receive a very disappointing presentation. And, the bilbies were most reluctant to come out. Finally one appeared and skittered around under very low and gloomy red light. With so many people pressed around the boundary fence, it was even harder to view and we departed feeling very let down. Four showings a week and bookings are essential. The numbers were there but the passion befitting the two men whose work led to saving Bilby numbers was missing. We’d have done better simply buying the ABC Australian Story video of Peter McRae and Frank Manthey. Together, these two men have worked hard to provide their captive breeding programme with a suitably safe release area in the Currawinga National Park. The Bilby Easter appeal launched in 1999 to raise money to build a predator- proof fence continues to help with necessary funding.  Just as well as we heard floods damaged the fence and cats got in.

Not much to show for the evening but at least our entrance fee supports the cause!

Busy road lay ahead with halts for road workings. All part of the Nation Building Stimulus Package brought in by the Labor Government that gets so little press and yet we see evidence of this positive programme where ever we go. Like anything its the squeaky wheel that gets the most attention! Eventually we arrived on the edge of Mitchell and had lunch at Neil Turner Weir.  A very pleasant stop with plenty of caravans camped along the edge.  George was keen to stay but his wife thought a swim in Mitchell’s Artesian Spa before continuing on to another ticked site in the Camps 6 book – Amby Hotel with power was preferable.

Our quick dip proved expensive as we had to buy a day pass!  Still, it was lovely once you got used to the 40 degree heat and Lea received a good neck massage under this spout of water.

Less than an hour later as we prepared to leave, the pool was filling fast with grey nomads from the caravan park a short walk away. South Australians raved about Major Mitchell Park  but when we took a look, best sites along the banks of Maranoa River were taken and what were available were close to the busy highway and didn’t catch our fancy.  We moved on to Amby only to find it  looked dreadful with a hand written notice saying: No Camping! How the site ever received a tick of approval for any reason, whether appeal, position, vista or facilities above average beats us... We moved on to Muckadilla and parked ourselves beside the little Community Park with a few rigs.  As evening fell, cold air began creeping into the caravan and temperatures dropped fast.  We ended up enduring the coldest night thus far; even the water in Getaway’s tanks froze.  Lea refused to get out of bed until the sun was well up – and once she was all rugged up for next leg to Roma she had to start stripping off layers as it warmed up so fast.

 

 

 

  

Wowee! Horse and motor bike, dust, and cattle – once again we were thrilled by droving.

Roma is considered the ‘Gateway to the Outback’ and virtually pioneered Australian oil and gas explorations resulting in its centrepiece to the tourist industry ‘The Big Rig’. We were more interested in the Cattle Sales as Roma is reputedly the biggest in the country. Having seen the large mob of cattle being driven in its direction we were saddened to learn that sales only take place Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, we did spot a Woolworths and we were delighted to stock up on four seeds bread after enduring such awful bread for a long time. Adding to this pleasure was finding we were in Memorial Avenue with its 93 lovely old bottle trees planted in the 1920’s to the memory of Roma soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War.  Since the town of Blackall we have seen many bottle trees as we passed through these country towns. This line with big memorial stones giving name and dates were particularly striking; although we suspect some have fallen foul over years and been replaced as they didn’t have the girth!

The caravan parks looked crowded out by dongas... We soon learnt that Roma has been overrun by the Gas Industry and prices have risen to meet their demands. We could not wait for Tuesday Stock sales as Lea has a dental appointment in Toowoomba and looking around the busy town with its industry had no appeal.  We moved on to a spot outside Yuleba. 

 Judds Lagoon, now this was a place deserving of a tick of approval and we enjoyed a good night in this tranquil place.

A Friday, so by late evening quite a few campers had arrived and settled in for the weekend. Two geese frequently popped their heads in our doorway. One had a friendly manner the other tried scare tactics in hopes of scraps of food. We obliged, as we enjoy watching any feathered or furred creature on our doorstep. Next day, our 45^th wedding anniversary, we reluctantly left Judd’s Lagoon and moved on to Chinchilla as we needed power to recharge our computers and Lea wanted electricity to cook a celebration dinner. All along the Warrego Highway we spotted Rig Numbers to many side roads and soon realised just how much coal seam gas exploration is taking place out here. The Road was hectic and driving unpleasant.

Chinchilla was far from the little country town of ‘melon’ and Cactoblastis fame that we’d expected to find. Instead it appeared highly industrialised from our moment of entry.  The Information Centre confirmed that Gas fly-in/fly-out employees have changed the face of Chinchilla and many old time residents do not recognise their home town any more. Caravan parks have given priority to the Gas industry and tourists squeeze in for a price. It was suggested we go out to Chinchilla Weir, ten kms west out of town with power available. The power poles were like Maypoles with extension cords running back to caravans creating tight circles. We hummed and hawed looking at possible options before deciding it wasn’t for us.  Looking at the route ahead we decided to take the road less travelled and set off east on the road to Wandai leaving the Western Downs for the Darling Downs once we turned southwards for Jandowae. This little place boasted a peaceful and shady caravan park. Although the road was narrow and uneven in many places it was much quieter with a surprisingly amount of water contained in wetlands on either side amidst large spreads of crop land. Carpets of ground spreading purple flowers grew at the edge of the tar and depressions were filled with fine yellow flowers – the first signs of spring.

Our high hopes for Jandowae were dashed as we drew up outside the caravan park.  It was full! Taken over by the Oil Company and full of new static vans...

We stopped for lunch in the shade of a Grain Storage facility and took another look at the map.  We could only return to the Warrego Highway at Dalby  on we went past green fields of barley and chickpeas as well as old cotton fields with cotton bolls ‘snowed up’ along the roadside. Dalby Caravan Park was overbusy and we had no alternative than stick to the road and reach Jondaryan. That put us well ahead of our schedule as we’d expected to pull in there on the 19^th August- two days later.  After a long day travelling we were only too glad to reach a park we have enjoyed in the past. This is a pretty rural park attached to the historic Jondaryan Woolshed. We took up a good site with a vista of rolling green hills, sheep and horses and plenty of corellas chattering in the trees along the creek. Rain clouds had gathered. Although folk didn’t expect a drop, a good downpour occurred. Next morning a strange sound woke us – sounded like wheels but the thick mist rolling around outside blocked any vision.  

 

The strange early morning sounds belonged to two large Clydesdale horses pulling a creaky wagon load of tourists at regular intervals around the camp ground past our doorway.

Two days left in the long six week plus countdown to reaching a dentist. An appointment made by Les Howman to have the vertical crack in Lea’s front tooth attended to before it broke off. Cousin Tim and Les suggested we park our caravan on their verge and take up one of the bedrooms in their beautiful new home. However, “Pamusoro” sits on atop the steepest of bluffs. We drove into Toowoomba on the Sunday afternoon to check it out and found the 20% incline with sharp bends to the top of their superb lookout too much to contemplate. Very off putting too, is the busy Dalby/Toowoomba road with many ‘black spot’ zones.  Jondaryan is midway which makes us dislike travelling back and forth regularly. We planned to look for a more sociably suitable Caravan Park in another direction, closer to Toowoomba, after the dentist’s verdict.   

All went well at the dentist and the job was done and dusted immediately - a big measure of relief. In a search for other possible sites we took the New England and Gore Highways and after something of a wild goose chase returned across Darling Downs farming back roads  to Jondaryan with a preference to ‘stay put’ until the end of the month. For all the time we have spent in Jondaryan we had the most glorious sunsets every night- each different, thanks to cloud formations. No wonder we spent two weeks here.

Views from Getaway and our surrounds- idyllic, including the farm sounds and smells.

In our caravan we now have a plastic bottle, chopped off towards the top and looking like a fancy cut glass vase holding pincushion proteas. This lovely touch is a warm reminder of Jane and Jonathan Palmer’s visit with their eldest daughter Christine. Jane’s parent’s Frank and Jean Junor were very close friends of ours from Kariba onwards until their passing.  Jean died last year while we were in Mozambique. It was good to catch up on the Junor family news – the four daughters widely spread across the world like our children.    

   

Taking a walk along Oaky Creek with Jonathan, Jane and Christine Palmer.

 With elections coming up on the 7^th September and far from home we needed to get our compulsory vote completed in Toowoomba. This gave us a chance to catch up with Cousin Sarah as we hadn’t seen her in seven years. On the journey into the city we checked out a Rest Area for our last two nights after leaving Jondaryan – despite being in our Camp 6 Book we found it displayed no camping signs.  We have enjoyed walking far and wide in this cattle and sheep farming area and during one regular walk we saw a homestead bedecked with flags and advertising its first ‘on site Cattle Sale’ at noon on the 30 August.  Having missed the largest cattle sale in the country held in Roma, we went on the day. We spent a hot hour waiting for something to happen (caused by two different starting times in adverts)

 

Another hour later, too many bulls had been passed over. Competition for bulls purchased was not existent and the auctioneer’s patter became laborious... Enough for us!

 

 

We returned to out site to see the Clydesdale horses pulling the wagon on down to the creek with a bride and her retinue aboard. A wedding reception to follow in the shearing shed. The life of the champion shearer, Jackie Howe has followed us here - in the coming week this place will crowd out in readiness for the Golden Shears competition in Jackie Howe's memory. 

It is time to move on and we have decided to end August by taking the farming back roads across the Darling Downs until we reached the New England Highway and can find a suitable camp in the direction of Warwick. Not too far, as we have been invited to brunch with the Howman family at ‘Pamusoro’ on the first day of spring.  September is to be full of family time!