Back to the Red Dirt

We're back in the red dirt of Queensland's outback.  From Bourke we made our way to Cunnamulla where we reacquainted ourselves with the "Cunnamulla Fella".  The it was onwards and upwards to Charleville.











We've been in Charleville for 5 days.  We were last here in November 2012.







The Parks and Wildlife staff conduct a number of activities centred on the bilby, a type of bandicoot.  We saw the bibles last time we were here so this time we made some purchases to support the Save the Bilby Fund.  We walked around the reserve and saw some endangered bridal tail rock wallabies.

This time the one thing on our list was to spend some time at the Cosmos Centre and Observatory.  Last time our tour was cancelled due to the weather so we were looking forward to our visit this time.  We booked in to the Introduction to the Night Sky tour where we learned to read star charts and how to apply them to the stars up above.  This was followed by the Cosmos Observatory - At Night where we looked through telescopes and had several constellations, stellar bodies and planets explained.  An excellent time had on a cold cloudless night.  A couple of nights later we were back again to hear some Aboriginal Night Sky Stories.  The aboriginal stories are based on the dark spaces in the skies rather than the bright stars.  We've often seen the Emu in the Sky and The Warrior, both can be found close to the Southern Cross.  We also had plenty of time to look around and experience the excellent interactive displays.







Today is ANZAC Day, 100 years since our soldiers landed in Turkey.  There have been several commemorative services in Charleville.  We visited the War Memorial to pay our respects.







Last night there was a parade of lanterns and a fireshow and fireworks to mark the devastating floods here in 1990.  25 years ago the Warrego River burst its banks and inundated the town.  The high levee banks provided a natural stage for last night's show - just about everybody in town attended.

Bourke, Gateway to the Real Outback

We've often travelled to Back O' Bourke so thought we should check out Bourke on this journey northwards.  Bourke bills itself as the Gateway to the Real Outback.  It's in the Western District of New South Wales on the Darling River.  We booked into Kidman's Camp which had been recommended as a great place to stay - a grassy green oasis with lovely gardens.










There's plenty to keep us busy here and we'll have to come back to see more of the sights.  Bourke was once a major riverboat port with many bales of wool sent along the Darling and Murray Rivers to Morgan in South Australia en route to Adelaide.  The Crossley Engine is still in working condition and is started and run on a regular basis.





The Back O' Bourke Exhibition at the Information Centre provides plenty of information about the Bourke town and surrounding areas.  There are many audio visual presentations in the associated buildings.  We listened to stories told by the war correspondent Charles Bean.  Poet Henry Lawson lived in the area for a period and some of his best works were inspired by the Bourke district.  As we walked along the paths we saw several granite sculptures.

Professor Fred Hollows, the ophthalmologist who pioneered sight saving and restoring surgery to the outback, is buried in the Bourke Cemetery.  His grave is ringed by stones and is symbolic of an eye.

We had planned to travel on the P.V.Jandra on the Darling River but we were thwarted by the weather so we'll have to come back for that experience.







Several times a week in the cooler months, Kidman Camp is host to "Poetry on a Plate" and we had an evening of bush stories and poetry while we enjoyed a delicious meal accompanied by a glass of wine.  We were grateful for the campfire as the cooler autumn weather has arrived.

Tomorrow we're heading into Queensland.

Heading Bush Again

We're on our way back into the outback.  We've often been "Back of Bourke" so now we're on our way to Bourke in outback New South Wales.  We've had a very restful couple of days at Trangie which is about halfway between Canowindra and Bourke, staying at the Trangie Caravan Park.  This has to be one of the friendliest parks we've stayed in.  Deb and Andrew are the new owners and they've really done a lot of work in a short time.  Large, grassy sites, happy hour every afternoon and pizza night on Thursday.  Trangie is in the Macquarie Valley and is home to "The Big Billy".  A local park has plenty of information about the area.

Fossil Fish and Hot Air Balloons at Canowindra

Where can you see 165million year old fish and hot air balloons at the same time?

We planned our stop over at Canowindra (pronounced Canowndra) so we could visit the Age of Fishes Museum and then discovered that the Balloon Challenge - hot air balloon competition - would be on at the same time.  Canowindra is about 200km north of Canberra between Cowra and Dubbo.  It has many fine examples of art deco architecture.

The Age of Fishes Museum is well worth a visit.  In the Devonian Age (165m years ago) this area was covered in water.  When the water dried up, fish were stranded in the mud.  Why did the water dry up?  No one knows.  It could have been a catastrophic event or maybe a long period of drought.  As with many fossil sites, this one was found accidentally.





The museum has casts of many fossils including the only known example of Canowindra Grossi.  We were the first members of the public to see the new AV display with a 3D model of the Canowindra Grossi swimming.  As well as the fish there are many other fossils including an archaeopteryx.  The entry fee includes an excellent audio tour.

There were about 14 balloons in town for the competition and we were treated to seeing them while we were there.

Autumn in the Capital

Autumn in Canberra is full of colour.  Canberra is lucky enough to have four distinct seasons and as the cooler winds of autumn start to blow the deciduous trees start to show off their colours.

The National Museum is one of our favourite Canberra attractions with its ever changing exhibits.  This time there's a focus on World War I and the commemoration of the centenary of the Gallipoli landing on 25 April 1915 with a special exhibition about life on the home front and the opportunity for visitors to record their own stories.






This tinker/saw sharpener's cart shows the innovations of the early 1900s.

Where the Dog Sits on the Tuckerbox ......

About 100km from Canberra, where the Hume Highway crosses the Murrumbidgee River, Gundagai nestles in the valley.  We decided to stop over for a couple of nights in a free camp at Mosleys Creek in walking distance from the town.

There's plenty to see here.  The Niagara Cafe, in the main street, has been operating since 1916, originally as an Oyster Saloon and refurbished in 1938 as a cafe.  It's decor is still the original Greek milk bar/cafe style.  Many celebrities and politicians have stopped off for refreshments here.  This is just one of the many historic buildings in the town.  Upstairs in the hardware shop is an exhibition of photos taken by Doctor Gabriel who was the town doctor from 1887.  Some of his photos are also in the Museum.

The Museum is very comprehensive.  Wall murals done in coloured wool illustrate the towns pastoral history.

Outside the Museum is the original "5 mile" milepost which marked the home of the Dog on the Tuckerbox until miles were replaced by kilometres.  Somehow "8 kilometres from Gundagai" doesn't have the same romantic ring to it as "5 miles from Gundagai".  We've seen the Dog many times so didn't make the detour this time.  Just across the road from the Dog is "Snake Gully", home to Dad, Dave, Mum and Mabel, the main characters in Steele Rudd's book about life in a small country town.  They are immortalised in statue form in a Gundagai park.