Part 2 - Matilda Way - Queensland

Our first stop of note (re size) in Queensland was Cunnamulla which was a sad and sorry looking place. The bakery even had burnt pies. The highlight of the visit was just the statue of the Cunnamulla Fella, who was immortalised in song by Slim Dusty. Now that I have had my brush with Slim Dusty we are on the lookout for a “pub with no beer”, and we can become “wine dots”.

Another favourite of Slim’s was Charleville and we duly arrived there about two hours later. We camped the night on a 17,000 acre station (who supplement their meagre income by inviting campers) where we had our second campfire in two nights. The station is about half stocked with a mere 1200 head of cattle. We could not go star gazing at the Cosmos centre as it was too overcast so we gazed into the bottom of a glass or two. It was not a late night.

Next morning (Fri 10^th) the temperature on the car thermometer was -1 at 7am, so I went for a walk – because I could. About 300 metres into the walk I heard footsteps (so I thought) and turned around to see a youngish kangaroo (just above waist height) following me. No, he did not need lessons on lawn bowls. He just wanted a mate for a walk on a very frosty morning. He stayed with me for the 40 minute walk and even posed for photos and let me scratch his head. And yes, I was sober.

We travelled another 300 odd km for the day and arrived at Blackall – one of the many places famed for the source of the saying “beyond the black stump”. So in 8 days we have been “back o Bourke” and “beyond the black stump”. Our dinner was a campfire cooked roast beef (to die for), veges, damper & jam and billy tea. The following day was very leisurely with long walks being followed by a tour over a woolscouring shed – which is where wool is washed and tried before being shipped overseas. The washing is performed with artesian water that comes to the surface about 52 degrees – pretty warm. The shed also includes shearing stands, so in the one location the wool is shorn, washed, dried and baled. By this time we thought that we deserved a soak in a spa fed by the same artesian water, but at a more comfortable 32 degrees.

The day was completed by a visit at the park by Graeme Rodger – a Slim Dusty clone – who provided some great singing while we sipped on a drink before cooking the BBQ. He was very good.

Sunday saw us head off through Barcaldine to Infracombe which is a popular stopping place because of its mile of (old and protected) machinery and a few other attractions – including the pub. As the sun was very close to “over the yard arm” I tested the amber fluid while checking out the many hats, $A notes on the ceiling and the cartoons sketched on the wall. The tasted liquid was cold and exellent. We then drove the 27 km to Longreach which is famous for many things – most of them something Qantas or something stockman.

Our first visit was the Qantas FoundersMuseum and it was everything people have told us it would be. Magnificent. We had a detailed tour over a 747-200 (similar to the one I travelled on to London in 1974) and a 707 – which was the first Qantas owned jet and the first 707 sold to an airline outside the USA. The latter jet had many owners and one of them fitted it out luxuriously so that people like the Beatles, Madonna and Michael Jackson would/could/did use it. Our tour was follow by pre-dinner drinks at the camp bar as we awaited the “bush entertainment”. It was called that as most people went bush when the duo started singing – they were terrible. Not sure of the problem but I think they were a couple of “ringers” off a local cattle station with a lot of bull dust down their throat.

On Monday (Queen’s Birthday) we awaited a phone call about some Australian honours. As non came we went to the Stockman’s Hall of Fame and had a wonderful 4 or 5 hours. There was much sight seeing in the museum, but the highlight was a live show by a horse trainer, etc etc who demonstrated horse breaking/training, sheep mustering with dogs, camel attributes and hitching/working an 8 head bullock team – which constantly cracking jokes and reciting C J Dennis. Did you know that a camel can stand their hair up on end on hot days to make it work like an evaporate air conditioner. Did you also know that when a camel breathes out the breath contains NO moisture – it is retained by the body. And last but not least – camel urine is so concentrated that you could use it for nail polish remover – again to be moisture smart.

Then we headed off to Winton which is well known (by gray Nomads anyway) for its fossils and dinosaurs – as well as the birth place of Waltzing Matilda. We have never seen so many caravans on one stretch of road. Gray nomad caravans must have been over 50% of the traffic between Longreach and Winton. In some places there were convoys of 5 to 8 caravans. We duly visited the Waltzing Matilda exhibition which was another fine outback tourist attraction – brought a tear to the eye. Then the dinosaur hunt was on. Did you know that in the time of the dinosaurs the moon was closer to the earth and each day was only 20 hours long? How on earth could we have done all of our sightseeing with four hours less per day? For a laugh, do a google on “Arno’s Wall Winton”. It is an amazing demonstration of eccentricity.

The highlight was probably Shirley drumming out a tune on the musical fence and a drum kit.  You had to be there.

On Thursday we did a guided tour (read “Chris did not drive”) to Carisbrooke Station and the Dinosaur Stampede.  Our chauffer was the owner of the station and we covered 330 km, 260 on dirt roads.  Charlie quoted facts, figures, ideas, theories and philosophies for probably 8 of the 10 hours we were in his care.  We had lunch about 30 metres from a 1.5 metre rock python and afternoon tea in the middle of the 40,000 acre station  about 200 metres from where LBJ (remember him) crash landed in 1941 (i.e. during WW2).  The commentary and the scenery were both extraordinary – not to mention the scones, jam & cream for afternoon tea. The Anzac biscuits were nearly as good as mine.

***********  End of posting for this part of the journey **********.