Well, we've made it to Longreach! We had a nice stay at Charters Towers, the park was really quite good and there was lots to have a look at. Here are some pics from our stay there:
You can't not swim if there is a pool, and of course out little fish jumped right in!
Pheobe enjoying herself.
Pheobe, Maurice and Trent enjoying the pool at Charters Towers.
A road train that we managed to get a pic of going through Charters Towers.
Pheobe, Felicity & Maurice in front of the 'Buckin Bull' in Charters Towers.
Trent & his mate.
The next four pics are from the lookout at Charters Towers.
These are taken from an old mine site up about the town. The town was big on Gold Mining in it's day. Now days, its more farming however there is still some mining around too.
Pheobe on the jumping pillow at the caravan park!
The next day we headed for Hughenden! It was a long drive, but we got there by lunch time. We went into the information centre & they couldn't tell me where 'Farmer Frank' was (he comes from here and is from the current season of Farmer Wants a Wife!), so we had some lunch at a cafe and then kept going after fueling up!
We finally arrived in Winton! It was about 3.30pm, so we decided to find a caravan park, there is only two to choose from in the town. Once check in, we got out of the car and it was HOT! We closed all the blinds in the van, cranked up the air con, got our bathers on and jumped in the pool. It was cold, but it was nice to feel that way instead of Hot!!! There was also a funny smell about the place, we kept asking if someone had popped and I was checking Flick's nappy. Anyway, we came to discover that in Winton they get their water from the Artesian Basin. This is a pic below:
What happens is the water is underground by about 1000 meters, it's temperature is 80 degrees c. As it is pumped up to the surface it is cooled to about 50 degrees c before being pumped into the drinking pipelines. As you get it into say your, glass, its at the right temp but the sulphur is still letting it's gas go, that's what makes the smell! You can wait until the water is clear or just simply boil it before drinking, they say it's the nicest water you will ever taste, we didn't try it! Too hard if anyone gets sick when your on the road, esp. with little people! If anyone has been to Rotorua in NZ you will know the smell I am talking about! It was hard enough to have a shower with the smell, let alone try and drink it!
Just a quick pic of Trent and Felicity in the pool at Winton!
We had dinner that night at a local pub, there were about 4 to choose from. We decided to go to the one with the most cars out the front! It paid off, had a nice meal and I didn't have to cook in the van in the hot weather!
Now we get to Today!
We decided not to leave Winton too early and headed to the Waltzing Matilda Centre, This is because Winton is here Banjo Paterson wrote this very famous song! It was a great place to visit, full of history about the song, but also the Winton Area. The art gallery had some magic photo's, all the displays were FULL of great information and props taken from their time. Trent and I could have spent hours there if we didn't have the kids, although I think they did enjoy it! Afterwards we had coffee, hot choc, juice and a scone before making our way back to the van and hitting the road, headed for Longreach.
Maurice, Pheobe and Felicity in front of the Banjo Paterson statue at the Waltzing Matilda Centre at Winton.
This is the plaque they were standing in front of!
This is a pic of the Billabong room that you go into and there is a show that runs for about 20 minutes. The show is all related to the Waltzing Matilda song and how it has been in Australia's hearts and souls since it was written and performed for the first time in Winton.
So, onto Longreach. It was a rather LONG drive, or at least it seemed that way. Only about 2 and a half to 3 hours, but I think because the scenery doesn't change all that much we were all looking for something else to be doing. We did see a goana walk across the road, not sure if we actually hit him with the van wheels or not. Trent at first thought it was a snake until we got closer and we could see his legs! We have also seen some dead cows on the side of the road, some roos of course and some pigs! We had a Helicopter at one point right over the top of us, almost in arms reach! Maurice thought that was great! There are soooooo many stations out this way, some with great names. We saw a 'Rodney Downs' and an 'Alice Downs', two names we are very familiar with! And, we also had some Lee Kernaghan played today to break the drive, thank god for the iPhone!!! We played some songs of this that related to many thing in these parts that we are travelling in. It's actually nice for me in particular to see the places that I hear many for my favourite singers sing about!
Finally, we rolled into Longreach. Again, 2 parks to choose from. Both dry, no green grass to be seen! Anyway, we are staying at the Discovery Holidays Park, it is also part of the Top Tourist Parks. We have an en suite site and a concrete slab to roll the awning over. It's warm here but not as hot as Winton. Once we unpacked and had a late lunch, we had a look around the main street and to the information centre. From there we went to the QANTAS Founders Outback Museum and the Stockmans Hall of Fame. We wanted to familiarise ourselves for our adventures tomorrow. Back into the main street for a look, I of course went into the RM Williams store! We also had a look at a few other shops, one called the station store. Here we ended up booking ourselves in for a Horse and Cart ride tomorrow afternoon, it will take us on a journey of one of the old mail runs through the bush. Kids thought it would be fun, so why not!!! Will let you know how we get on.
Back to the park and of course there is a pool. And, what do you do if there is a pool? You have a swim of course!!!!! Trent, Pheobe, Maurice and even Felicity all got in, too cold for me! I also went along to watch. And, you think you are somewhere that no one you know will be and of course I run into some patients from work. Julie, Molly and Ben, I forget their surnames. I knew it was Julie when they first came into the pool area, but I didn't really say anything except Hello! Then all of a sudden she came over and asked me if I came from Geelong. I told her is was EGMC that she knew me from and it was all conversation from there! Our kids and her kids had a fun time in the pool together, so it was nice. They didn't get out until about 6pm! Her husband was fixing something on their van so I didn't get to speak to him. Shame they are leaving tomorrow, it would have been good to have other Geelong people to cheer with on Saturday! Have seen one CW flag flying from a van here already!
Pheobe in the pool at Longreach.
Miss Felicity in the pool at Longreach. She is becoming more confident now and wanting to go in the water just like her big sister and big brother!
Maurice getting ready to dive into the water. He won't stay still long enough for a photo, so I just have to get him in action.
Well there you have it folks! We are all up to date on our adventures! I think we have a full day planned here for tomorrow, so I will be sure to let you know how we get on.
Take care everyone,
Love the Guye Gang! xo
PS. GO CATS!!!!
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