We then went up Southern Cross Opals where the home is dug into the side of the hill. The bloke here was very informative & helpful, we then went next door to the Cathedral which was also an opal shop. We then had a look around before heading back for drinks. The night sky was an almost full moon...and it was amazing, the stars were so bright & look to be sooo close.
FRI 6 APR....Good .Friday. This morning we went for a 50km drive out to the Paroo N.P. and see the Peery Lake, a huge body of water in the middle of the outback. There is a big flock of Pelicans here along with other bird species. This area has just opened to the public, so not very exciting but maybe in years to come it will be a great place to stay.
This is the home of one old, eccentric man....Jock. Well he speaks loud, tells you how opal mining is not worth it, that everyone else in town is mad, that he has spent time in the looney bin for alcoholism and if you didn't know better he might just be a brick short of a load. After talking to us 4 for 20min he says you can have a look through his place for $5 each. There were a number of tunnels so we thought... & others had said check it, baby prams, bottles,etc etc etc it went for metres upon metres in about 6-7 diff tunnels. There even was a small brown snake there and few lizards.
We stopped at the free camp spot 60kms outside Cobar and set up. It turned out to be a very cold night. SUN 8 APR......We headed into Cobar for Fuel before heading to Bourke. The info centre has moved to the outskirts of town and is new, big and has a exhibition centre. We arrived at the park, a nice place with grassed sites. After lunch we went for a drive down to the river near the park to see the Paddle boat PV Jandra.(not in service until May ...too much water in the river ! Although the road was blocked we drove around & down with the ground a bit muddy but you could see where the floods had been.
We headed off heading towards Charleville and setting up at the van park where we did our washing .WE MUST SAY THE ROADS HAVE BEEN VERY BUMPY PROBABLY THE WORSE SO FAR & THE VEGETATION ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD IS SO GREEN AND TALL & AS A RESULT THERE IS A HUGE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF DEAD ROO'S BOTH ON THE ROAD & BESIDE THE ROAD, SO WE DON'T HEAD OFF BEFORE 8.30AM & DON'T TRAVEL AFTER 3PM. After lunch we went for a drive out to the Info Centre & into town, you can see where the flood shave been but they have a big levee bank around the town plus a number of drains etc for water to disperse.
THURS 12 APR....Rans goes for a walk, It is a real country town with the noise of Horses Hooves down the street, geese & Roosters to wake up to.Today is mostly a cleaning day so pretty quiet, but we do get Rans's computer working again. Yeh Hah... FRI 13 APR....Today we head off Nth with us having do do a detour just out of town due to the recent floods. We stopped at Agathella a small town off the Hwy where the girls took some photos. We then continued on with the road even more bumpy than the past few days & as a result Rans is having prob's with his neck & back, with him in some pain. They are also doing roadworks & we are held up for 5-10min. We continue on & don't stop at Tambo which appears to be a nice town. We then drive into Blackall & set up at the local van park as it was getting late and we wished to see a number of things around town. So we go for a drive to the Qld Black Stump, then headed out to the Old Shearing shed which is home to the only Wool scourer (where they shear, wash, Bundle & bale the wool in Aus) There is a guided tour which shows the machinery in action. There are a number of old steam engines and some great memorabilia here.
The tour is well worth visiting. There is also a bore which was drilled down 2500ft and has 59deg water emitting. Back in the old days they had 200,000 gallons a week coming out of it. We also saw our new caravans here in the paddock !!! We then went for a drive around town seeing some different statues etc. A very nice town. Then back for drinks & watch footy. SAT 15 APR....Up & head off wondering if the road would be as bumpy....well the first 2minutes out of town gave us the indication, as the back of the car and the whole van lifted 2ft off the ground !! Continue to swerve and evade the dead roo's as well. We stopped at Barcaldine, a nice town with probably the cheapest fuel in Qld & possibly Australia at the present time. Then onto Longreach where we set up in a huge van park. The weather is getting warm again 30-32deg so we find a couple trees to park beside. After lunch we head into town with most things closed. We go for a drive to the local lillypond, which was still wet under foot & tracks, the water is still high here.
We checked out the free camp spot near the Thomson River nice but damp & no shade. we then had a look at the sale yards which were huge here & have that great cowy , sheepy, horsey smell! The girls had a look in at a local gallery & the local IGA was almost empty of fruit & veg....wheres Mano when you need him ??? After dinner Rans & I went to the local RSL to watch Manly....we shouldn't have :( SUN 16 APR...........Rans went for a walk down to the Heritage Exhibit & walks around the back ( staff only area !!) for a couple of photo's of windmills etc, but he doesn't see 2 guard dogs till he's almost on them.... Well he sh..s himself & gets out of there as quickly as Usain BOLT. After a big breakie with the Bewells we all walked down to the Stockman Hall of Fame Heritage Centre & watch the 11am show which was so so. A couple of good things but not spectacular, (whilst the show was on Sandra lost her Diamond out of her ring but luckily she saw it on the step below her, next to a man's foot) we then have a walk around the centre which was good, also an art gallery & a video on Longreach, we didn't see all and will return tomorrow. We then head back to catch up on computer stuff, do some checking on our vans etc. Prawns & Calamari tonight which was yummy..We sat outside & watched The Voice through the Bewells window & listened to it through our window. A nice night. MON 17 APR......Today we head down to the Qantas Exhibit with the Museum a great walk around with so much interesting information it is well done. We then attended the 707 tour which was very poor.
The plane has had many different owners & passengers, EG The Jackson 5, John Travolta & some rich Sheik, but the plane now is run down inside & the tour was over within 20min, not worth the money & possibly our worse tour so far. The 747 plane was inaccessible due to the nose sinking due to the rains
. We then returned to the Museum for more walking around. Then we returned for lunch after which we returned to the Stockman Hall of Fame and read & walked around as there is so much to see. Another nice day..So bye to all until our next blog, Only 13 more days before we see our son Brett & family Yee Haa looking so foward to seeing them all. Everyone take care & we miss you's heaps.
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