Holidays -to Longreach QLD and home again

25 July 2011

Yep.....we have been away for a couple of weeks.
Hence why its been a little quieter here at my blog.

This was a low key type of holiday.....
Just Ian and I.....and our camper
plus.....kilometre after kilometre of nothing'ness.... salad sandwiches..... freezing mornings.......bad coffees (and the odd great one)..... fuel stations....talk back radio......camp kitchens....kangaroos....goats.....wild pigs....national parks.... the odd tourist attraction.....the 'Harp in the South' DVD series......
and total relaxation.

Heres a super quick run down....mainly for my benefit....seeing as my memory is like a sieve.

July 8th...
Typically... as usual.....all plans to leave early went out the window....it was 4pm before we were packed and ready.....we even considered staying home and leaving the following morning.
Eventually we just left home....and set off....
We travelled to just the other side of Wentworth.....then camped for the night.

July 9th....
Wentworth to Broken Hill....
For so long I'd wanted to visit here.....and I wasn't disappointed.
in fact I cant wait to head back there one day.
We headed out to Silverton to see Mad Max country.....and took a mine tour at the historic Day dream mine.



July 10th
Broken Hill to Cobar
After a last look around..we headed off toward Cobar....a lot of miles of nothing today.....
other than a little look at Wilcannia on our way through....
 ......and hundreds and hundreds of goats.....
and this grass that grew right up to the edge of the roadside.....

We stayed overnight in the mining town of Cobar.


July 11th
Cobar to Charleville
This was a loooong day....
We were up early and back on the road...... we stopped for a few hours in Bourke....
admired the wharf......and visited the 'Back of Bourke' centre.


Then on toward Cunnamulla.....
knowing what we do now....we should have stayed here the night....but at the time....we thought there was still too much day left for travelling.....so we pushed on...
Frustratingly.....there were no suitable camp spots......and the kangaroos got thicker and thicker....
the speed we could travel at got slower and slower....
and we were well and truly ready for bed when we arrived in Charleville around 2am.

July 12th...
Charleville to Barcaldine
While in Charleville....
 we stopped to check out these Steiger Vortex rainmaking guns....these were used during the drought in 1902....it was hoped by firing these guns that rain could be produced.....but sadly they didn't work.

then it was onwards....Augathello.....Tambo.......Blackall...
and then overnight at Barcaldine in the most wonderful park.

13th July
Barcaldine to Longreach
We really loved the Caravan park in Barcaldine.....and were sad to pack up and leave......but it was time to move on.
(I can only imagine this sight....... this morning I woke and headed through the park to the amenities block for my shower.....now my hair is a fine texture....and it gets 'bed head' very easily....especially when its just washed. So I smoothed it down as best I could and because I didn't have a mirror I relied on Ian for reassurance that I was decent. 
I headed off...."Good morning"....." Lovely day" blah blah to everyone I passed along the way.....all chirpy.....
Then...
I arrived on the shower block.....and took one look at my hair.....and realised I had the most enormous matted birds nest you have ever seen!!
Thanks Ian.....lol)

Anyway....once I was all neat and tidy....and we were packed up.....
 we stopped in Barcaldine to see the 'tree of knowledge' and the 'Australian Workers Heritage Centre'
Then it was off to Longreach....where we squeezed in a trip to the Qantas Founders museum....including a tour of the 747 .

14th July
Longreach and back to Barcaldine.
This morning we headed back to the Qantas Founders museum to see the last of the exhibits we had missed the day before. Luckily we had a pass out....which enabled us to come back in for free.
We then headed to the Stockmans Hall of fame.....
 we were just in time to see the daily show.....it was very entertaining...

After a great day in Longreach.....we headed back to our favourite park in Barcaldine.

15th July
Barcaldine to Emerald
Today was cold.....wet and miserable....
We spent the day travelling .... including a few stops in the gem fields.
I'm sure the little towns of Sapphire....Rubyvale would be wonderful little spots to visit....but because the weather was so lousy.....I didn't even get out to take a photo...let alone fossick for any gems.
Maybe one day we will get back there.....and get a chance to look around a little more.
Emerald was much larger than I had expected.....and we were glad to arrive and settle in for the night.

16th July
Today we set off for Carnarvon Gorge.....we arrived mid afternoon.....and took a short walk...
We luckily conserved our energy.....

17th July
We were all excited this morning....and looking forward to the Gorge.
We set out....our first aim was to walk to the 'amphitheatre'...then someone on the track said the 'art gallery' with its aboriginal art work was not to be missed....and the moss gardens......and wards canyon....
so....we walked....and walked.....and weren't disappointed....it was simply beautiful.....
I just wish we had longer.....and could have taken even more of the walks.
There were countless steps.....slopes....creek crossings.....and we had a ball.
My photos really do it no justice......I didn't even take many.....I was just soaking it in.



This afternoon we made accommodation mistake number two... we should have stayed another night at Carnarvon.....but we didn't...we headed off....not realising that we were heading into mining country.....and even an unpowered site.....which is all we required this trip.....was totally unavailable.
The first available site was in a little place called Dingo....one of our more memorable nights.

18th July
Dingo to Rockhampton

Mmm....nice start to the day when I realise not only had we camped near a stinky drain all night.....but Id also stepped in dog shit.....I tried cleaning my shoes...and in the end just threw them out...
We left and headed to Rockhampton.....arriving around lunch time.
We spent the afternoon catching up on washing.....charging batteries.....and went for a long walk.

19th July
Rockhampton to Bundaberg
Today we headed to Bundy.....stopping to visit a few spots along the way....we were so excited to arrive in time for Shauns 21st birthday dinner that evening.
It was great to be with our dear mates the Stallans for a couple of nights.

20th July
Today was the only day we didn't travel.....
We were thrilled to catch up with Kerry and Brett for lunch.

21st July
Bundaberg to Goondiwindi
travel....travel.....travel.....

22nd July
Goondiwind to Parkes
travel....travel.....travel...with a stop at Mount Kaputar National Park.....to see Sawn rocks..



23rd July
Parkes to Barmera
travel....travel....home....phew...Yay!

So there is is......
two jam packed weeks.....and another piece of Australia we can add to our list of places we have been.
We loved it...and feel so fortunate that we could take this trip away...

12 comments

  1. Sounds like an aweom trip and one I'd love to o one day......good on you guys!!

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  2. Sounds fabulous Mardi... love all the pics... you made me giggle with the bed hair... could imagine that could easily happen to me and my hubby saying... no, it's fine...lol
    What a fun two weeks...

    Jenny x

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  3. Mardi, I can't believe that you didn't call in and say HELLO whilst you were in Gundy ... you certainly travelled some miles, glad you survived the frosty mornings ... Pip

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  4. Fantastic pics and what a wonderful holiday. Love the gorge pics beautiful and the yellow building, packs a punch against the landscape. Stunning.

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  5. Amazing photos Mardi, some wonderful memories there! Hmmm not many ops shops around I am guessing?

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  6. Anonymous6:31 pm

    What a great trip Mardi...some of your trip is very familiar to me from our trip a couple of years ago. Some great photos of some lovely places to travel to in the future too.

    Lorraine V

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  7. Love your photos Mardi, wasnt Silverton amazing. We were there in June and we also did the mine tour. We ran out of time to explore Broken Hill on the way to Alice Springs and had to do it on the way back home. I was just trying to finish up my holiday posts on my blog and I have an awful feeling that I have deleted my Broken Hill photos I know I accidently deleted the day before photo's Im hoping I put them somewhere funny. You made me laugh we are as bad as you for getting away on our holidays on our last trip we wanted to leave about 2pm and didnt leave until 10 pm lol . It's the same everytrip.

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  8. What an amazing trip you have had Mardi...your photos make me want to go and visit all those places...it made me smile to think that you visted the town I live in...Emerald...hard to believe that just 7 months ago, over 80% of the town was flooded. Hope you get to come again when the weather is a little nicer :))xx

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  9. Wow, you guys sure did cover some miles! Loved reading about your daily travels & adventures....makes me want to hit the road :))

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  10. Mardi it sounds like you both had such a great adventure! LOL about the bed hair. :) Your photos are awesome!

    Sheree xx

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  11. Sounds and looks like your had a great trip Mardi!! sooo many beautiful places to visit in this wonderful country of ours!!

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  12. Love seeing all of your travel pics Mardi. We went out to Bourke to visit friends a couple of years ago soon after the Back of Bourke centre opened - loved it! My parents have recently been out that way too. And the sawn rocks at Mt Kaputar are just amazing aren't they!!

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