Chapter 5 - Middle Outback Queensland

Day 21 - Saturday 12^th June 2021 – Blackall to Lara Wetlands

We departed Blackall around 8:45 am and did not take long to reach Lara Wetlands. We found a site and established camp so that the door side of our caravan was facing the door side of Kay and Darryl’s caravan. It was a great spot around 10 metres from the water.

To celebrate the warm weather and the sunny day we had a great anti-pasta lunch with a bottle of pinot gris. Of course we had walked around the one km lake circumference before we ate.

Then we bludged until 3:30 when it was time to light the fire and cook. Darryl cooked the wonderful stew and I cooked the damper (of course).

Great friends - relaxing

The fire was still going as we watched the sun set and the dinner get ready for the table. Over the dinner period we listened to a live singer whose voice carried to us across the water. He was pretty good and sang for maybe three hours. He is a travelling musician and gets free accommodation in whichever park engages his skills.

The stew and damper were washed down with a bottle of Pepperjack shiraz.

We moved inside around 8 pm as the cool night chilled our bones.

Day 22 - Sunday 13^th June 2021 – Lara Wetlands

It was our mildest night for a long time, and that worked fine as we had no 240v power, and hence no heater.

I was up at 6:30 am to get the sunrise.

As it was Sunday (I think) we cooked ourselves bacon and eggs for breakfast, while the local birds pondered the day.

It soon warmed into a lovely day. We decided to check out the hot artesian pool – a great way to have a soak. It was a relaxing afternoon until we had to light the fire for the camp-oven roast-pork.

Readers who have seen my previous blogs and/or know my love of sunsets and sunrises, will know that I love both of those times of day – even if it means being out of bed on a cold day before sunrise.

Today we were blessed with maybe the best sunset that we have ever seen. This is a big statement, so please click on the link below to see the moving sunset over around 40 minutes. The colours are not doctored – they are natural. I have put the photos on another page for those of you who are not into sunsets.

Click here to see the extra photos.

The following great photo was taken by great mate Darryl whose camera (and skill level) is more suited for night duty.

Great night photo (with moon) by Darryl

As the sun set completely and the darkness enveloped us, Darryl and I moved the two camp ovens to the outdoor dining table – one had the pork, the other had the roast vegies. Greens and gravy came from the caravan. We ate like kings and queens.

Moderate temperature, scenery and sunsets to beat all others, food to die for, and a fine bottle of cab sauv, great company. What else could we went?

Day 23 - Monday 14^th June 2021 – Lara Wetlands

It was our warmest night of the trip. The new day started with a lot of cloud and a walk around the lake – for sunrise photos of course. The only sounds came from birds – mainly ducks, but also a few others. Maybe a crow or two, a lone kookaburra, the odd parrot, and so on.

I also took a photo of our camp site from across the lake, and a photo down the lake with the sunrise behind me. We have mentioned between us that we rarely have seen the volume of cameras with large lenses, and tripods. Lara Wetlands seems to be a mecca for bird lovers and camera enthusiasts.

Our caravans from across the water

Our first main (group) activity was another visit to the excellent 38 degree artesian pool.

Artesian Pool

We had lunch of left-over-roast-pork sandwiches. The sun disappeared as the clouds took over. However, a Kookaburra found some tasty morsel on our site and came for a visit.

Kookaburra with lunch

Late in the day a few small showers of rain tried to dampen our spirits. It failed. We still lit the fire and cooked some roast vegies to go with our left-over stew of two nights ago. The new cast iron kettle once again produced boiled water for tea, coffee and washing of dishes.

All my wood from home is now ash in various parts of NSW and Queensland. Wood is gone, water is depleted and the wine is depleted. We should get good fuel consumption tomorrow.

Day 24 - Tuesday 15^th June 2021 – Lara Wetlands to Aramac

We departed Lara around 8:15 and headed into Barcaldine - around 40 km away. Barcaldine is where the Australian Labor Party was formed many years ago.

We stocked up on basics like diesel, bread, gas and fruit, then headed 70 km north to Aramac. Aramac is now known as one of the hubs of the "Lake Dunn Sculpture Trail" - a collection of around 40 sculptures spread over 200 km.

We established camp in Aramac and the four of us drove to Lake Dunn (around 70 km) in one car -stopping at each of the art works on the way.

As is the case with sunsets you may not be into art. I include one example here. Click here to see the rest.

Kay & Shirley with the Stud Ram

Along the way we stopped to look at the "Healing Circle" - a rock formation that apparently is linked to other like sites in Japan, Tibet, USA, Madagascar, Peru and Turkey.

Healing Circle

We enjoyed the views at Lake Dunn before returning to Aramac. It was around 28 degrees C.

Lake Dunn wet lands

Aramac is a town that has a thing about "White Bulls". There are statues of them everywhere - all with different names/captions.

Bull outside petrol station (think about it)

We sat around and chatted over coffee before having a simple dinner, while the sun set in the background.

Aramac Sunset

Day 25 - Wednesday 16^th June 2021 – Aramac to Pentland

It was our warmest night of the trip and we were up and on the road by 8:15 am - even with the ladies washing their hair.

It was 268 km to Torrens Creek and we did not see one house, petrol station, pub or other domestic building. The scenery varied a lot as shown by the following photos:

We had a sandwich in Torrens Creek then pressed on for another 60 km to Pentland where we camped for the night.

Shirley and I went for a walk and were impressed with the mosaic at the 'Returned Soldiers Memorial'.

I was impressed with the following sign outside of the local hotel. It gives a different impression up close and distant................

Left: View from up close

Right: View from 200 metres

It was quite a warm night, with a shower of rain just after dinner. Other areas in mid Queensland had good rainfalls.

Day 26 - Thursday 17^th June 2021 – Charters Towers

It was warm and humid as we hit the road after our laziest start of the trip. Ninety minutes later we were in Charters Towers. It was our best road for some time. Although we were heading due east into the sun, there was enough cloud to take away the glare.

We clocked up 4000 km for the trip on this leg.

We scored an excellent shady camp site.

Charters Towers is a lovely historic town, of around 8000 people, that is proud of its history and architecture and seeks to preserve and promote it. Shirley and I strolled around the town and had a milkshake.

Charters Towers was another Australian gold rush town and for a while it was so important that the price of gold for the world was set here. It also had its own stock exchange for some time and had “a call of the card” three time each day.

On our return to camp Shirley discovered a slithering creature in the form of a baby snake, maybe 25 cm long. I donned gloved and moved the little guy into the scrub away from the caravan.

Small snake

Darryl and I did our best - made the ladies a drink and cooked dinner. Tonight it was grilled steak, onions, potatoes and salad. It was not a late night.

Day 27 - Friday 18^th June 2021 – Charters Towers

A bit of a sleep in and some washing started the day. I had a chat to a couple (grand-parents) who have alternative travel for their round Australia venture. They were lovely people, and also 'COVID refugees' from Victoria. By the way the trailer holds their double bed.

Great rig with which to see Oz

After some shopping and some lunch, Shirley and I went into tourist mode. First we visited 'Tower Hill' that has had two important roles in local history. It was the scene for the early gold rush in this area, then served an important role during WW2.

As usual the Chinese played an important role in the gold fields and, as usual, they were racially vilified in many ways. The Chinese were hard workers, grew most of the vegetables in the region, and provided virtually all of the medicine - via their herbal medicine.

With thousands of service personnel, from USA and Australia, stationed here during the war Tower Hill mine shafts were repurposed as bomb shelters and bomb storage.

Charters Towers township from Tower Hill

Shirley staring down a gold mine shaft that became a bomb storage facility

After Tower Hill we drove out of town to see Burdekin Weir. The Burdekin River is the main water source for the Charters Towers region, and apparently is the second most important river in Australia, after the Murray. Water from the weir is pumped to the blue tank on top of Tower Hill (seen in the above Tower Hill photo).

Burdekin Weir

After some 'chill out' time we wandered over to the kitchen for some entertainment and a $15 pizza - with the campfire behind us. It was a good way to spend two hours.

The warning sign at the front of the fire said
"Please be careful - The fire can be hot". 

Super supreme pizza

Centre: Entertainer

Right: Cooks and Pizza Oven

Behind us: Fire

It was a chilly night after a hot night last night, but that is good for sleeping.

Tomorrow we head into the edges of FNQ - Far North Queensland, and that much closer to Port Douglas. We are looking forward to a few days on a farm stay place.

So far we have spent just over $1000 on diesel and just under that amount on accommodation. 

*** This chapter is complete - Last updated 8:15 pm 18 June ***

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