Week 1 18-24 May
After an uneventful departure we managed to get away around 10am. We were well prepared and didn’t really have to do much before leaving. Stopped in Strathmerton for lunch then meandered onto Finley where we stayed in the Finley Lakeside Caravan Park, it’s way to cold to stay anywhere without power for the heater yet. A bonus on booking in at the office when we were handed 4 fresh eggs for our brekkie. A quick walk around the lake before drinks at the roaring camp fire which was so hot we had to sit back so as not to get fried. Met a couple from Eltham, nurses, who have been in Qld for 6 weeks. Warned us about the number of vans on the road which we had already been aware of anyway. It did however make us consider booking ahead for the next few days to be on the safe side.
A early morning, is 10am early??? visit to the bakery for some bread, pies and the obligatory vanilla slice then we were on our way to Hillston. We had noticed that our phones weren’t working when we got up but thought it was flaky reception., however the efpos machine at the bakery was not working and we became suspicious that all was not well with Telstra. With limited cash on board we were a little concerned. Remember cash, that’s the stuff we use to use before Covid. We rely far to much on our phones these days and that was about to bite us on the bum. Thanks to the mouse plague in the Riverina those pesky mice had eaten through the telecommunication wires and the whole network was down ...... ALL DAY. Thank goodness we have sat nav so finding our way was a okay. The drive was a bit boring with nothing but scrub, scrub, lunch at Griffith, scrub, scrub. I managed to read a whole book. We arrived at Hillston at around 3pm and got the ..... last site. OMG 😳. We paid cash, of course, but I did notice that the receptionist’s phone was ringing! She had Optus, who would have ever thought that was a good thing. I asked her if she could ring ahead to book at Bourke for us and she kindly handed over her phone for me to ring. See, there are nice people out there. Another lakeside walk then a sit in the ☀️. It is definitely warming up already, not super warm but no jumper in the car. It cools down as soon as the sun disappears, but hey, there is sun. Cold nights and mornings but that will probably change in a matter of days. At 7pm our phones jumped to life and we were once again back in ‘touch’ with the world. Naughty mice 🐁
The drive to Bourke was a little more interesting with changes of scenery throughout the day. The distance travelled was slightly longer than previous days so we had an extended lunch with a walk around Cobar 🥱. Arrived around 4pm at the Kidman Camp (no, not Nicole). We have stayed here before and it’s a lovely grassy park. Nowhere near as cold overnight and a sleep in as we are staying here for the day. We were disappointed to find that there was no Poets Night around the camp fire anymore. They no longer have the Outback Show at the Cultural Centre either. Covid seems to be robbing us of fun on this trip. We did manage a walk around the township of Bourke and a trip on the paddle boat PV Jandra, along the Darling River. Caravans started arriving around 2pm so people are definitely leaving early to get to their next destination. Obviously a 10am start is not going to get us a site so we might have to lift our game. Beautiful day ☀️ and a warmer evening. Shorts and T-shirts the clothing of choice now.
Left Bourke nice and early (set the alarm) and on the road by 8.30. The drive was very boring and bumpy and I wasn’t able to read. We arrived in Cunnamulla and went the the Cunnamulla Fella Centre to watch a 25 min movie on the Great Artisan Basin. Fascinating history and this basin covers 1/3 of the Australian continent. If Stephen was writing this he’d give you all the facts and figures. Had lunch then continued on the crappy road until we arrived in Wyandra. We parked at the park behind the very colourful and interesting Post Office owned by Glen who was also very colourful. Set up then walked down to the pub for a drink and a chat with the locals. This place is very small only a handful of locals. Wandered back to the PO for happy hour around the fire pit with Glen, Pete and Wendy (locals) and an obnoxious couple from NSW. After drinks we were treated to 30 min of black and white newsreels. While we were watching this Glen was making our dinner of hamburgers which were delivered to us. A fun night.
From Wyandra the drive was a bit more interesting with emus crossing the road and goats and other livestock along the road. A short stop for lunch at Augathella arriving at Tambo around 2.30pm.. We chose a park a kilometre out of town because they had happy hour and a fire pit. Sat in the sun for a while reading then watched a little bit of the poor old Magpies. Around 4 we walked into town to the pub for a drink and ‘the chook races’. They auction off the Chooks that do 4 laps around a short circuit following a feed bucket. The money raised is donated to the Flying Doctors. They raised $650 for the 7 ladies. It was a hoot or a cluck. Walked home on dusk still in our shorts and T-shirt . The fire was roaring and I heated up some stew and rice and ate it around the fire. Had an interesting chat to the owner who has 1000 acres out of town that he plans to turn into a tourist attraction with $5 camping and camel rides. He is raising goats and camels on the land.
The drive to Barcaldine was bumpy. We are now travelling along the Matilda Way and it is a very remote landscape. We passed through Blackall, no stopping and arrived in Barci around noon. A walk to the bakery for some bread for lunch and to check into the “i” to see what was happenen’, but it was lunchtime so they were shut! Some other campers told us that the Country and Western Opera was on at the Showgrounds tonight so we booked tickets and await with anticipation for the event. At 4pm our eardrums were assaulted with Ken and Annie singing at the common area at the caravan park happy hour. Unfortunately it was right next to our van and as it was a balmy 26 degrees we couldn’t close the windows to stop the noise. Two hours of really bad C&W music later they finally stopped. Thank goodness for alcohol. A quick dinner and off to the Opera and a night of CULTURE. The performance was by 3 extremely talented young singers from Opera Queensland. They are doing a rural tour, Are You Lonesome Tonight, and we were just lucky enough to arrive for their performance. A really great night’s entertainment. We caught up with Julian’s uncle Lionel and Aunty Margie at the opera. Julian’s mum grew up in Barcaldine.
Our first week comes to an end and has been filled with rich experiences.
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