This area of Queensland relies on the Great Artesian Basin for its prosperity. The land is remarkably flat in many places and the grasslands stretch for kilometres. We assume the land was clear-felled as there are only a few trees dotting the paddocks. Our next stop was Julia Creek, but before we got there we unhitched the camper to visit a few abandoned mining areas – Mary Kathleen’s open cut uranium quarry with its bright blue lake, and the Ballara Mining Heritage Trail with its three abandoned townships (Bulonga, Ballara and Hightville plus a unique, now-disused rail tunnel) and a dry (but stunning) Fountain Springs waterfall at the end of the track.
The road to Julia Creek is flat and rather uninteresting. Julia Creek on the other hand was interesting and still flat. We borrowed bikes from the campground and pedalled around the town, taking in the heritage sites and enjoying the cycle-friendly topography. That night we enjoyed a catered dinner, courtesy of the RSL, around a roaring campfire in the campground. The council organises the local charities to put on a dinner for the visitors, and 100 guests tuck into a terrific meal while sharing travel tips and stories. We got some great information from fellow travellers and passed on our suggestions and tips.
We doubled back to Cloncurry – which was fun, as we stayed in the Equestrian Centre grounds, sharing the space with campdraft competitors, their horses and the cattle they would cut. We watched the competition, slowing getting the gist of the routines and scoring. We also visited the suggested sites in town and enjoyed sunrise from the lookout, taking our chances to drone before the black kites and goshawks were in the skies. Our plan did not quite pan out, as suddenly there were two very interested kites circling the drone!
On our way to Winton we stopped at Combo Waterhole, proportedly the site where ‘Oh! There once was swagman camped by a billabong, under the shade of a coolabah tree’. Winton is all about that poem, A.B. ‘Banjo’ Patterson, opals and dinosaur fossils. We had a terrific time in the Watlzing Matilda Centre, learning about the history of the area, the history of the poem and enjoying their ‘sound and light’ installation. We were in town for the Opal Festival, which is more of a trade show for collectors and miners. We had a fun time checking out the boulder opals, both raw and polished, talking to the miners and jewellers and buying a few souvenirs.
Dinosaurs fossils feature heavily in Winton’s (and this part of Queensland’s) promotional material. We checked out Lark Quarry’s dinosaur footprint stampede exhibition and walked their Jump-Up Track through spinifex and rock. We visited the Age of Dinosaurs Museum and thoroughly enjoyed the half-day visit to the fossil-preparation laboratory and all the other activities the centre has. We were glad we choose to ignore a fellow travellers rather negative critique of the Centre. We loved the dinosaur sculpture walk and centres architecture. We capped off our Winton visit watching a movie at the Royal Theatre open-air cinema, sitting in deckchairs, eating popcorn, drinking wine and enjoying The Accountant 2.
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