Centre Stage

Cunnamulla, Charleville, Barcaldine, 

Hughenden, Charters Towers

Queensland

June 25 - July 6, 2016

We left western NSW and  cut through central Queensland, dissecting the track we followed almost a year ago. It was a cold start but finally, in Barcaldine, the temperatures moved into the 20s and our pace steadied. 

First stop across the border was Cunnamulla, a small town with a big history as the gateway to remote western Queensland.

Cunnamulla turned on a beautiful sunset as we set up camp.

Skippy came out to enjoy it also.

During the 1950s and '60s, Australia's sheep industry was booming and stockmen flocked to the west to work.
The statue "Cunnamulla Fella" represents a young stockman squatting after a hard days work in the Queensland Outback. 

A couple of pics as we passed through an overcast south-western Queensland. Note the plentiful pastures. 

Bottle trees: Two of a kind. 

A family of brolgas. Papa/Muma brolga getting a bit protective as I approached.

Happily moving on under the watchful eye of moos.

While we're in a flighty mood, we saw several bustards but they are very shy birds. I managed to sneak up on this one.

The highlight of our stay at Charleville was the Bilby Experience. Bilbies were once widespread in the semi-arid parts of Australia but their numbers have declined dramatically with the introduction of cats, foxes and rabbits. The Save the Bilby Fund at Charleville has developed a successful breeding program and the fund is now releasing these endearing marsupials into protected areas. We're sold, and will only be buying chocolate bilbies at Easter (money goes to the Fund). No more bunnies! 

They are very coy but this cutie stopped for a quick breather in his nocturnal enclosure.

On the way to Barcaldine we stopped in at the Woolscour in Blackall, a fascinating part of our "riding-the-sheeps-back" history. The scour operated between 1908 and 1978 and was lovingly restored in 2002. It is the only surviving steam-driven scour with a shearing shed in Australia and in its hey-day was an engineering marvel. Well worth a visit.

It was our second visit to Barcaldine, a charming town and regarded as the home of the Labor Party.  It was here in 1891 that shearers went on strike seeking higher wages and better conditions. They gathered under the Tree of Knowledge - a mature ghost gum - in the the centre of town and planned tactics. In 1892, the manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party - the foundation document of the Australian Labor Party - was read out beneath the tree. Sadly, the tree was poisoned in 2006. It was preserved and a beautiful wooden memorial built to encase it.

Barcaldine's main street with the wooden memorial encasing the preserved tree on the right.

The Tree of Knowledge at night. Spectacular.

A clone of the original tree is now growing in the Australian Workers Heritage Centre. The centre celebrates the contribution of  Australia's working men and women to our history, heritage and economy. Fascinating.

Barcaldine is also renowned for its pubs, five in a row. Garry decided to do a pub crawl - not a particularly edifying experience as they are rundown and badly managed. I joined him in the final hotel - the owner/manger had forgotten to order the wood (no fire), cats and dogs were roaming everywhere and climbing on couches, there was a restricted range of alcohol and soft drinks, and my sav blanc was delivered in a midi glass ("I forgot to order wine glasses")! 

Plus lots of local characters.  It was a bit of fun.

Barcaldine's pubs line up.

Great characters.

A pretty sunset shot from our Barcaldine campsite.

On to Hughenden, part of the Dinosaur Trail and home to a replica of the Muttaburrasaurus whose bones were found at Muttaburra, 220km south of Hughenden.

Garry with "Mutt", above, and a sculpture made from spare parts, below.

Yay. Back to gorge country. We didn't realise it was school holidays - we didn't even know it was the weekend Australia went to the polls! - so missed out on a camp site at Porcupine Gorge National Park. Grrrr. But we had a delightful day trip. What a beautiful spot.  

Looking across Porcupine Gorge to the Pyramid at the top,  a cross section of 280m years of geology.

The Pyramid up close ... 

... and closer. Where's Wally?

Taking a dip in the beautiful clear waters of Porcupine Creek which flows into the Flinders River. When there is sufficient water, the Flinders flows all the way to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the west. Incredible.

A pool teeming with fish, frogs and critters.

Charters Towers was once a hugely wealthy gold mining town, the second largest settlement in Queensland. As we have found in other gold regions, the buildings reflect the fortunes. 

Beautifully restored City Hall.

The even more beautifully restored Stock Exchange, front above, back below.

The Stock Exchange was established to set the price of gold and tap into world trade markets ... and halt the unscrupulous behaviour of many prospectors. 

Burdekin River Weir provides the water supply for Charters Towers and surrounds. We were intrigued to discover that the 200km Burdekin River is second in economic importance to the Murray River.  Wow. 

We've seen the names of many stations along the way but this one was quite unique.

I had to include this photo. Not only is it cute but there is a funny story to go with it. While on the road, Garry and I play a game called "White Horse Last Touch" which has its genesis in Fiji. It requires participants to call out the magic words when they spot a white horse and swipe their opponent. It's my game and I was getting very annoyed because Garry was winning all the time. He stuffed up when he declared these white brahmans were horses. Big penalties were applied. I won. Ha ha.   

Oh, I do love getting off the beaten track. We decided to go cross country from Charters Towers to Mount Surprise and camp on the Einasleigh River. A beautiful spot. 

Back off the road: Deflating the tyres.

Picturesque Einasleigh River.

Myrtle and Pedro tucked up on the river bank.

Garry broke out the fishing rod. He tells me he caught a good-sized grunter but threw it back. The next two got away - just when I happened to be close by to capture the evidence.

He took comfort in a roaring fire.

Evening lakeside.

Copperfield Gorge, close to the junction of the Einasleigh and Copperfield rivers, was created when the river cut a channel through a sheet of basalt laid down as lava 190,000 years ago. 

A pretty lily pond on our way to Mount Surprise.

We were on our way to Undara Volcanic National Park and the lava tubes but we had to pull up for a week due to some family issues. I'll know more about these amazing lava formations when we get back there. For now, toodle pip.