Saturday, July 9, 2011

Bourke to Charleville

Our first task this morning was to ensure that we had checked both the map and the GPS and followed the road signs to Cunnamulla then on to Charleville. We were not going to make the same mistake twice! We again supported the local community by filling up with diesel (cost $1.59 litre) and headed out of town. As we turned on to the Cunnamulla road the signs reminded us that there was no fuel or food for a further 250 kms - we are getting the impression that we really are in the outback. The terrain is pretty boring after a while but there are still signs of livestock - kangaroos, ostrichs and I saw my first wild dingo. There are plenty of blackbirds living off the road kill. The roadside is unfenced and there are some cattle and sheep. Every few kms we see a residential mail box but only occasionally was the house visible from the road.
Soon after we crossed the border into Queensland we were stopped at roadworks near Barringun for about 10-15 minutes. There are a lot of road gangs working on the roads. The main roads are all tarsealed and for the majority of our travels have been sign posted @ 110kms but we normally sit at around 90 kms.
We travelled on to Charleville - these towns just seem to pop out of nowhere. The hotels were obviously very popular in the early years and each town has at least 2-3 or more. They have been beautiful buildings, although now could do with some tidy up. Most of them are still functioning.
We stayed the night at a cattle station that back in 2006 were looking for ways to diversify and increase their income during the drought. They opened up one of the paddocks for camping and provided facilities. There are only 44 camp sites and we took the last for the day, and couldn't book for a second night as they were booked out! The facilities are great, there was music entertainment being provided when we arrived at 4.30 pm and the large camp fire was lit. It was very impressive and we were disappointed we couldn't stay a second night, if for no other reason than to look at the sky. The stars were amazing. This camp is 8 kms out of town on a side road but easily found by the well painted caravan at the entrance.

1 comment:

  1. We have Emu's in oz. Any new stickers yet seeing you have gone through so many interesting places?

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