Outback Queensland road trip Day 17 Barcaldine to Springsure

 

 

By the numbers

 

4 hours driving

377 kms

10.70kms walking

13,610 steps

 

The day started with the sounds of a windmill that was creaking in the wind all night, but then again that’s what they do. For what we paid we had a room for the night and that is all we can ask for in the long run. We found some food and decided to head off without a coffee. That will become important later on. We were heading on a 4 hour drive towards Springsure, but we put the first stop as Jericho as they would have a rest stop and coffee.

On the drive to Jericho, we avoided running over a living snake that in length covered pretty much the whole lane from white paint to the middle markers. The vehicle behind us avoided the snake too. We didn’t check to see what sort it was. While we made it to Jericho without any issues, I went for a wander while mum checked out the loos. The Post office and the Information centre were really the same building with a partition for the office. I bought the coffees and it was self serve machine as you just hit the button and the one you want comes out. I give the driver her flat white before I hit the button for my long black and the machine rumbles and them switches off. One of the ladies tries to fix the machine as it does a self clean and then tries again. It turns off, I decide to have a coke instead and find a coffee later on. I decide to have a quick look around town and find some murals including a free book library and outdoor cinema. We needed fuel so got service from one of the guys and I cleaned the windscreen of little splatters that came off a cattle truck. It looked better than it did before.

 

Then came another problem, the GPS wanted to send us to different routes other than the direct route to Emerald, and it even did the same with Alpha as it tried to send us back the way we had come. Neither of us could work out why the GPS was doing this. Eventually it worked itself out and we made the drive out to Alpha on the main road. We were wanting to go through Emerald as I wanted to see the Big Easel in the town. Between Alpha and Emerald there were Anti fatigue trivia signs that we had not seen elsewhere. When we got into Emerald, we stopped at the Easel and then headed into town to find a coffee shop. We are in luck as its nearly time for them to close and we get a toasted sanga and a coffee. A short break from the drive before we head off into Springsure. We had stopped near a pub and went for a wander down near the library to find a coffee shop so it was worth it.

 

The drive into Springsure was interesting as we came across hills and they were interesting. The one closest to town has the name of Virgin Rock. The pub we are staying at tonight was actually open so we didn’t need to phone around to see what was happening. We were able to check in and get into our motel room without a problem. We dropped the stuff off and I then went off for a walk. There was a little historic village I wanted to see. I passed something that was similar, but I later realised I had walked past it as the map wasn’t showing its true location. I seen a sign for something else interesting and realise it was 10kms away. Too far and not doing that walk. I had to stop off at the supermarket for some supplies before heading back. We have three more days left of driving to get home. Tomorrow its Miles and then on Friday it is Goondiwindi before making the trek back home. At least we have the afternoons to go for a walk to look around the area.

Outback Queensland road trip Day 16 Barcaldine here we come

 

 

By the numbers

286 kms driving

3 hours driving

8.09 kms walking

 

The day started with a visit to the bakery and finding they have toasted sandwiches and I grabbed that and a sausage roll. I found the sandwich was bacon and egg cut into quarters. A worthy breakfast before leaving Winton. It has been a nice journey so far, but it is now time to head towards home as there are other commitments awaiting us both. Today the drive will take us to the town of Barcaldine.

 

The road towards Longreach as we found was pretty guys with caravans heading towards Winton or further on, although there is an opal festival on later in the week. That is kinda funny as last week the town had a film festival so it seems to be a busy time in the area. It wasn’t just one or two caravans that we were being passed by it was groups in a conga line. It was interesting watching as there had been few vehicles when we were coming in, although that could be due to the roads we were travelling on. Maybe people had better ideas than us? By the time we went past Ilfracombe, I was on roads that we had not been on before and it wasn’t that long before we arrived at Barcaldine. I had hit phone service and there had been no message about where we were staying in the town so it was leaning either way.

 

We had to stop anyway in town to use the loo and then get some lunch. For something to do and fill in time before going to check in, both mum and I went for a wander through a museum by the name of the Australian Workers Heritage centre. This place was interesting as it had the clone of the Tree of Knowledge that died after being poisoned in the early 2000s. This tree is known as the Young ‘un. The museum starts with the story of the 1891 shearers strike and the 15 people who were arrested in the aftermath of the strike. Near all of them were sent to St Helena Island for around 2 years. That is located in Moreton Bay. The group also inspired a Henry Lawson song. I found it interesting that Brisbane was where the lotto balls were once made and had some of the machines on display. The big tend seemed to also have tourist information about some of the towns like Winton, Rockhampton and Longreach. While it was interesting that there was plenty about the Labor politicians as it focused mainly on Queensland since it was the state we were in. There were even a little about the voting boxes that were used in the past. The time was slowly ticking away and the museum closes around 3pm and we wandered out before that time even though we hadn’t seen everything, but it was interesting especially when there were different mailboxes with Australia Post.

 

We arrived at our accommodation and the doors were shut. We were staying in a pub and it wasn’t open. I was getting worried that the booking hadn’t gone through. I basically looked around and then rang the number that I got from Google as the number outside the building wasn’t connected. We were let into the building once the owner came out to see us. We were asked if we had booked with Booking or direct and I said direct with them. I much prefer booking direct as the business gets 100% of the money. We were given the key and we had shared bathroom and toilets, which was suitable for tonight. We had basic rooms without a fridge so it could have been worse and no booking. We were upstairs and the hotel was a heritage type one with a little bit of history.

 

Once I had settled in I went for a walk around town. I would be back by the time it was ready for food to be ordered, though that seemed to be between 6pm and 730pm so it could either become busy like in Winton or be quiet. I followed some of the heritage signs and came across the old court house that was still being used as a court house, a Queensland government building now being used by the SES, a radio station that is now the movie theatre, although there were a few buildings that had burnt down several times and replaced. The Tree of Knowledge location in front of the train station was fenced off as they are apparently doing some work there and there is also some info panels about the Labor party movement, the shearers strike and the aftermath. Further along the street there was a Barcaldine mural that had been painted and a monument of a working windmill to a bore. The windmill works when the wind blows it moves and you can hear the creaking as it does.

 

I went back for a meal and I was early for once as I was going to visit the cemetery and decided against doing that. I should relax and not go rushing off. Tomorrow our next destination is the town of Springsure. That is something like a 4 hour drive and we might have quick stops in towns like Emerald.

Outback Queensland road trip Day 15 Winton dinosaurs

 

 

By the numbers

7.75kms walking

9,671 steps

Dinosaur Triangle complete – Trifecta

 

During the night we had heard it rain and I was hoping that it would not stop us from getting into the Australian Age of Dinosaurs outside of Winton. I had read a while ago that the road was unsealed and I thought that would make everything soft and we would get stuck on our way there. The rain had mostly gone when we went to leave, but it felt a little chilly. I was wearing a long sleeve shirt so thought I would be alright. We had jumpers in the car where we had put them.

 

The drive out to the museum did seem to be really long even though it was around 20kms from Winton. To my surprise the road was sealed the entire way and the views from the actual museum were spectacular as you could see the bush from on top of the hill and into the distance. The whole complex I realised was well spaced out as you need a vehicle to get to the other parts especially the Dinosaur canyon. We had specific times where we are meant to be for the next part. We started off at the laboratory where they prepared and uncovered the pieces of the bone they had gotten in the field and a few were waiting in their jackets, which is what covers them until they are worked on. We are told we could walk or drive there. Mum and I chose to walk and it was some good bush walking and being a cold day it felt good. At least the flies were not bothersome yet.

 

The tour around the lab was a group tour and there were a few others including kids along for the ride. We got to see some of the specimens they had found including a crocodile that even had a piece of dinosaur so it was labelled as a dino killer. There were other examples of animals that were found and how much they know about them. We got to see the fossils being worked on, which was interesting as one of the ladies explained that she works for long hours while chipping away. The tour guide was actually a kiwi who is a palaeontologist and came here to do some work. They still have heaps of work to do. The next part of our tour is back at the reception area and they are going over some of the fossils they had found like Banjo, Matilda and Sue. From little bits they can tell if the animal is something new or similar to one of the other dinosaurs in the world. Depending on where the dinosaurs have died that are times when only the legs and little parts like ribs remain as they had been eaten by scavengers, which was a theory. It was incredible what they had in the room to show the people who had come along.

 

The last part was on the other side of the complex and they take you there in a regular bus service to Dinosaur canyon. Its something like a 5 min ride and we thought it was at 1130, but we had to get the bus at 1115, which we were confused about at first until we pulled out the itinerary and it was written on there. Luckily the bus hadn’t left or else we would have been stuck. We had coffee too that we were drinking along the way. What I wasn’t expecting when we were guided to Dinosaur Canyon was that there would be a guided tour of the March of the Titanosaurs where there was dinosaur tracks. Turns out this had been relocated from a farm around 50 kms away as it was on a creek and slowly eroding over time. It had been removed and put back together to be preserved from the elements. Footprints of sauropods that is long neck dinosaurs, prints from smaller dinosaurs, crocodile prints, turtle prints and even a lungfish. The other type of footprints like that is in Broome and in a tidal area. The story goes that the farmer sees palaeontologists on another property and lures one with the promise of something pretty cool. The rest is history. The next part is unguided and at our own pace is a walk along the canyon along a boardwalk. I find this to be impressive as it had views of the whole area with a scattering of dinosaurs and information about them. The crowds had dispersed by the time I had gotten to the end and the next tour group hadn’t come through yet. By the time I wandered back to the beginning they were starting to drift to the walkway. I did see that they are looking at making additions in the future to house more, although that is apparently along time away.

 

I only had a little bit of a wait before I could catch the next bus back to the main reception area and I ended up going through the gift shop and ended up with a few things that will hold my interest. By that time it was time to head back to town and see the views from the top of the hill. There were still a few cars making their way to the museum. On the way back we stopped at the Willie Mars historic fruit and vege market to see what it was about. I knew as I had been there, but mum hadn’t. We then ended up at the open air picture theatre where we had a little tour of that. It was showing the different projectors that were used through time and what they were currently using to play films. They are still playing films throughout the week. We ended up back at the room to relax and were second in line for ordering food as we knew how long the lines got the day before and slow. This was our last day in Winton before we start heading back towards the coast and home.