Leaving 1770 we passed through Bundaberg, another sugar town famous for it Bundy Rum and Bundaberg Ginger Beer - also as the birthplace of Bert Hinkler, the aviator whose house was relocated stone by stone from England.

 

 

Great to see rivers with water in them again

We stopped briefly in Childers.  Below is The Palace, the former back-packer hostel where sadly many young back-packers lost their lives a few years ago in a devestating fire.  It is now a monument to their memory.

The Palace

Well now we are back at Cooroy.  We have travelled 5,818km (3615 miles) in the past month.  We have seen very contrasting scenery from the tropics of Cairns & Karumba to the red dust of The Outback.  Daily high temperatures varied from approx 28C (82F) on the coast to 44C (111F) out west.  We had a great time and particularly enjoyed talking to the locals and discovering more about the facinating history of the various areas.

This trip was a trial run for the next one.  We are now planning a 3 - 4 month excursion to Western Australia across the Nullabor to Perth and then up to Broome and across to Katherine, Darwin and back across Queensland again.

We ended up spending our last 5 nights at 1770.  Weather was perfect - around 30C.  Sea was warm and great for swimming.  Lovely walks.  Agnes Waters which is a 5mins drive away has a small supermarket, cafes, take-aways and some shops, tavern etc.

The caravan park was busy with families settling in for Christmas.  Lots of kids but all well-behaved and having great fun.  (They have broken up from school for the 6 week summer holidays).  Boats, campers, tents etc everywhere.  Even Santa turned up every afternoon in a motor bike and sidecar with lots of lollies (that's sweets in Pommy) for the kids.  He rang a bell as he drove in & the kids swarmed like ants to surround him.

1770 camp site

Walking up to Bustard Head

 

Bustard Head is a headland overlooking 1770 and the surrounding area.   You can walk up to the top.  It has magnificent views.

Monument to Captain Cook's Landing 

Captain Cook's Monument

Jacqui and Steve caught up with us for the last day that we were there.  We all enjoyed a swim and a walk up to Bustard Head.

Jacqui at Bustard Head



 

 

We stayed overnight at Emerald - a busy town with lots happening.  It is in the centre of the gem fields area.  Jacqui & Steve decided to try their hand at fossicking at Sapphire and Terry & I headed for the coast for a bit of beach-time at 1770 before we have to travel south.

Emerald

 

Emerald Railway Station

 

Jacqui



Emerald to 1770 via Rockhampton    - 490km   Temps in the mid to high 30'sC



At Blackwater we saw evidence of coal mining which is extensive in this area. We passed very long coal trains. I counted a train with 98 coal trucks with 2 engines pulling it and 2 engines in the middle of the train. They would be hauling the coal to Gladstone from where it would be exported all over the world.

 

 Blackwater

 

A Coal Train

Water in the Rivers & Creeks

 

 Lots of roadworks on the road south from Rocky to 1770 which made the trip slower but we finally arrived and booked into the 1770 Caravan Park which is right on the beach.  The Town of 1770 is where Captain Cook landed in the year 1770 - his second landing in Australia (his first landing was Botany Bay in Sydney) - the town was named accordingly.

1770

Kookaburra sitting on Electric post
in caravan park

Terry working hard

There are few places on the east coast of Australia where you can see the sun go down over the ocean.  1770 is one of these.  The sunsets are fantastic.

Sunset

Sunset through the trees

Linnie at 1770

It is beautiful here - the weather is perfect - sunny every day and not too hot - just right about 33C

Longreach to Emerald  - 410km  Cooler this morning 33C

Stopped at Barcaldine for morning tea.  This is the home of The Tree of Knowlege.

This was where all the shearers gathered in protest at their poor working conditions.  It was at this meeting that they formed the union which later became The Australian Labour Party.  The tree is covered by a huge roof of wind-chimes which are shaped as the branches of the original tree which was burnt by an unknown arsonist.

The Tree of Knowlege

Windchimes shaped like the branches

A local Pub

Tezza has sorely missed his newspapers during this trip.  When in Karumba he found an Australian newspaper only to discover that although being the current copy in town, it was 4 days old! So on arrival in Barcaldine, he made straight for the newsagents, only to be confronted with the following sign.........

We were having coffee in a local café and a couple at the next table overheard us talking about our travels and wished us a safe journey.  We chatted and they turned out to be locals with  a cattle property living 100km out of town. They come in once a week to pick up mail and supplies.  Tezza loves to talk about cattle and he told them how he looks after Droughtmaster cattle on 100acres on the Sunshine Coast.  I asked them how much land they had………  32,000 acres!  We had a good laugh about that – a 100acres is a vegie patch to them!  It turned out they are graziers with 2,500 breeding cows and they do their own mustering – he, in a helicopter and she, on a bike.  (I don’t think they meant a push-bike!!!!!)  Quite remarkable really.  Friendly people who like to have a yarn. 

There is a heritage walk through Barcaldine and I took the following photos with info on the various buildings….  The dry old timber buildings were often subject to fire especially in this very hot, dry climate.  Obviously 1909 was a bad year.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the late 1800's and early 1900's, living out in this vast land must have been a very hard life.

  

Jacqui & Steve at Barcaldine Railway Station

 

As we travelled towards Emerald the landscape began to change from the flat, dusty plains to rocky hills with more trees and the creeks actually had some water in them!

 

 

 

  

We were happy to reach Emerald after a long hot drive.  An ice cream at McDonalds made us realise that we were almost back to the coast again!





 Longreach - a main centre in The Outback. Only 180km today but still hot - 44C -(111F) with a hot, dry wind.

This friendly Brolga came right up to our van door
looking for brekky

Later we were surprised to see an emu walk into the caravan park! 

An Emu with the friendly Brolga

One of the main attractions of Longreach is The Stockman's Hall of Fame.  A facinating insight into life on the vast cattle and sheep stations of The Outback.

The other main centre is The Qantas Museum as Longreach is where the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services was conceived.  It is also closely linked to The Flying Doctor Service which was started as soon as the planes were able to carry doctors & patients ie enclosed and big enough.

The first Boeing 707 to be sold outside the USA

During a guided tour we were shown round a couple of planes including the one above.  I also stood inside one of the engines which is much bigger than it appears from the ground,



"Captain" Austin??

The Catalina



Cloncurry to Winton - 439km        Temp in Winton - 44C (111F) with a hot wind!

Winton is the home of Walzing Matilda written by Banjo Patterson.  The Walzing Matilda Centre is a great place to visit with many displays, exhibits and heaps of information about the history of the area.

Banjo Patterson

A Swagman

 

 

 

A Swagman's Swag

Winton is also the main centre for research into dinosaurs.  Dinosaur footprints were discovered which indicated a stampede.  There is a big research centre (Lark Quarry - Dinosaur Trackways) where you can go to learn more and also take part in the diggings.




Main Street of Winton
with a billabong

Interesting fact: - The Winton Shire is bigger than Belgium - approx 55,000 acres.

A Cob & Co Stage Coach

The transport of the past was by Cob & Co Coach.  They covered extraordinary distances and delivered both passengers and mail etc.


Green Tree Frogs sheltering from the heat
in an electric box at the caravan park

As we left Winton, there was a sign which said:  No petrol for the next 176km.  A long way to walk if you run out!