Wire and wetlands

We did a little more waltzing along the Matilda Way, stopping at Longreach for the Stockman’s Hall of Fame experience. There was a bit of a mad dash to get to the show, as our visit to the Tourist Information Centre was pretty much as they opened and the show started less than half-an-hour later. We still had to get to the building, find a spot for car and camper and get inside. We made it on time and particularly loved the Stockman’s Show, which was well scripted, full of humour and pathos, very clever horses and lots of whip cracking. The exhibition hall is amazing too and the whole operation is very slick. Our short stroll around Longreach was pleasant, but Queensland country towns are quiet after midday on a Saturday and almost silent on a Sunday.

Next was the Ifracombe Picnic Races, and that was an experience. We were very underdressed – the locals dug out their glad rags and frocked up big time; the Fashions on the Field events were hotly contested. We placed our bets, cheered on our horses and lost our stakes. In fact, one of them might still be running to the finishing post. We couldn’t stay for the whole race card but enjoyed the time we had at the event.

Lara Wetlands was our overnight destination. We scored a waterside spot and had an artesian bore swim, at a toasty 40ºC temperature, which was a welcome relax at the end of the day. Getting the camp hosts to cook for us was another plus, as we sat around a table, met new people, shared traveller’s tips and ate a camp-oven stew with damper and potatoes. There was even a pudding-and-custard dessert. A sunrise dip in the swimming hole was an unusual way to start the day.

Barcaldine was our next stop. We have been practising our pronunciation (“It’s BarCALLdin, not BARcalDEEN”), and as we were visiting on a Sunday there were two café/bakeries and not much more open. Barcaldine has five pubs (all closed, some long-term) on its main street, is home to the Tree of Knowledge outside the railway station, with a great structure over the dead tree (poisoned in 2006) that was the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party and Australian Workers Union in the 1890s during the Shearers’ Strike. We had a bit of a hiccough here, as on our drive into town we copped a stone to the windscreen from a passing road train, resulting in an ever-growing crack across the shield.

We left Barcaldine, were amused by the punning bull statues of Aramac and took our time getting to Lake Dunn, stopping at the wire sculptures along the route. Delighted to find we had signal by the lake, we suffered a ridiculously long call to NRMA Insurance (though it was great they were available on a Sunday).  A replacement screen is available in Emerald, phew, and we have an appointment in a few days’ time. That has given us a day to relax, birdwatch, wash clothes, chill in the sun. It was a slow drive on corrugated dirt roads, stopping at more sculptures, to Emerald.