Day 98 / 2017 - Walkamin to Bourke

We bade farewell to the Tablelands, which has been our home for the past 11 months, and headed south, slowly making our way home in WA.

Leaving Walkamin around 12pm our first destination is Innot Hot Springs, only 100km away. Innot Hot Springs is a caravan park with several hot pools of various temperatures, between 28 and 40 Deg's. There has been two new pools added since we were here last, one includes a waterfall you can sit under. We capitalized by using the pools on the day we arrived, then next morning before we left. We only called into Innot Hots Springs to soak in the pools. 

Next morning we headed south, firstly on the Kennedy Hwy then changed onto the Gregory development Road, intending to stop at Greenvale about 250Km away. We wern't sure about the condition of the road after the cyclone, but found it in good condition at least up to Greenvale. There have been further improvement to the road since the last time we had used it back in 2015. There is now only a 4 km stretch of single lane bitumen between The Lynd and Greenvale left to upgrade. Arriving in Greenvale, we had intended to free camp, unfortunately our fridge was playing up and would not run on gas. We ended up booking into the local caravan park which had large well shaded sites. Greenvale is a small town consisting of a primary school, pool, garage and a pub called the Three Rivers Hotel. We walked to the pub for a drink, it is fairly run down with no beer on tap, with the golden beverage only coming in cans or bottles. The local publican's kids entertained us while we sat at the bar. The pub does have a claim to fame, it is portrayed in the song of the same name by Slim Dusty. There is a murial of him on the wall with the lyrics of the song. 

I had a look at the fridge and found a wasp had build a mud nest in the gas burner blocking it completely. The Gas Burner is used to circulate the refrigerent gas by heating it. I scaped as much of the mud out as I could but was unsuccesful in getting it to light. I needed something to blow it out completely such as compressed air. We were going to be in Charters Towers the next day so though a can of contact cleaner would be ideal as it left no residue behind.  

The caravan park was quiet so we got a good nights sleep waking next morning to chirping song of the birds, Packing up was simple as the caravan was still hitched to the car. After breakfast we headed off towards Charters Towers some 200 km to the south. Still on the Gregory Development Hwy most of the road was in good condition with full width bitumen and line markings. There was 2 sections of of single lane seal road of about 10 Km each, luckily we didn't meet any road trains on those sections, although we did meet a few cars and caravans always just before the end of the single lane sections. 

Arriving in Charters Towers we found a large parking area just off the main Hwy. We decided to unhitch the van from the car so I could do the short drive into the centre of town. I fueled up at the servo then bought the can of cleaner at the local automotive parts shop. leaving Anne sitting under a shady tree to look after the van. After about half an hour I returned, sfter a short bite to eat we rehitch the van. We then eaded east towards Hughenden. 

We had planned to free camp somehere between Charters Towers and Hughenden but as the fridge still was't working on gas we pushed on through to Hughenden itself and booked into the shire caravan park. We had already been to Hughenden on a previous trip so we were only passed through as this was the shortest way to Winton from Walkamin. Winton is our first planned attraction stop, we wanted to see the Australian Age Of Dinosaurs Museum. We had been to Winton before in 2014 but not to the Dinosaur museum. Winton makes up one corner of whats called the dinosaur triangle which also includes the towns of Richmond and Hughenden. We had already visited the dinosaur centres in both Richmond and Hughenden last year, Wintons Age of Dinosaurs was the last one on our list. 

The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum is located on top of a large Mesa accessable via a jump up. The museum is approximatly 24 Km from Winton with about 16 km of the road sealed and the last 8 km unsealed. They are doing up the road in stages and we expect it will be eventually sealed all the way to the reception centre. The only way to see the museum is via a guided tour conducted at scheduled times. Currently there are 2 areas open to tours, the fossil preperation room (The Lab) and the Collection Centre. There is a third area opening up at the end of April called "Dinosaur Canyon" but we were to early to see that. Australian Age of Dinosaur Museum relies heavely on volunteers. They do many tasks out in the field or at the museums labs. Anyone can volunteer but you pay for the experience to cover the costs of living expenses.

The next day we left Winton and headed south east along the Landsborough Hwy towards Longreach and Barcaldine. We had previously been stayed in Longreach in 2014, this time we only stopped long enough to a quick shop and fuel up. About 30 km further along is Ilfracombe and we were told to stop at the caravan park there as happy hour would include entertainment. The park was quite neat, there is a unique entrance arch in the form of a vintage delivery van across the top. The sites were generous but once again we were to early in the season as the happy hour entertainment didn't start untill after Easter.

Next on the list of destinations was Blackall, we had previously visited this town before. Last time we enjoyed the artesian water filled swimming pools so much we just had to stop here again. We had planned to stay in the low cost camp site but our fridge was still playing up. In Ilfracombe I had another go at fixing the gas burner on the fridge. this time I tried to clean the actual jet but I think I was a little too vigorious using a pin. When I put the jet back in this time it workjed a little to good and was burning way too hot so once again into a caravan park. The park is convienently located within walking distance to town in one direction and walking distance to the pool in the other direction. At the pool complex there are two artesian heated pools, one olympic in size the other which is warmer, the size of a large spa. Although it was school holidays their wasn't many people there. We did get to climb into the spa pool at one stage, we were only in there 5 minutes before all the little toddlers climbed in and decided to play a game of hide and seek. This was our queue to exit returning a little later when they had all got bored.

Leaving Blackall the next day we headed south once again. We had originally planned to stop at a few free camps along the way but since the fridge wasn't working on gas we changed our plans, it pays to be flexable. We had already decided to stop a Kidman Camp in Bourke for a few days but instead of dawdling through a few free camps on the way there we decided to 2 two big days of travel with only one stop in a paid camp spot between Blackall and Bourke. Travelling the Landsborough Hwy towards Charlieville we stopped at the town of Tambo. Here we found a nice park and lake to stop for a coffee break. While there we met a young family who had hired a van and were trying out the caravaning life style over a two week holiday. We resisted the urge to impart unsolicted, our vast knowledge of cravanning onto them. Leaving Tambo and continuing south, about 100km from Charleville I looked in the rear view mirror and could see one of the pole carriers hanging out the left hand side of the van. Stopping and checking we found the brackets holding the pole carrier to the caravans bumper had broken, now we have to look for new brackets. We had used some pretty standard parts in asembling this pole carrier you thing the replacements would be easy... noooo... apparently in the outback they don't work with that 150mm pipe no matter what town we stopped at between Charleville and Broken Hill.  

Travelling through Charleville we continued south this time on the Mitchell Hwy. This Hwy was bumpy with the car and caravan bouncing up and down, once again Queensland roads living up to their reputation. About an hour South of Charleville we arrived at the town of Wyandra. This is a small town which is a quintessential outback town. Not a lot there except for a Postoffice cum General Store and a number of houses. At the rear of the postoffice is a grassed camping area which provides power for $20.00 per night. There was not much in Wyandra for us to do except somewhere to camp for the night. It was good to pull up after travelling 400 Km for the day. There was only one other couple camping there, we ended up spending a couple of hours chating with them. 

Next morning we continued on our journey to Bourke another 350km further south. The road surface from Wyandra had improved a little, not as bumpy. We stopped at the town of Cunnamulla for a short break (and try to buy brackets) then continued on again. Arriving at the border of Queensland and New South Wales we stopped for a photo of the border signs as evidence we had crossed over, we then continued on the last 136 Km to arrive at Kidman Camp in Bourke. 

Kidman Camp is like a small oasis in the bush. it has a lush grass setting with plenty of shade. We booked in for 3 nights to start with and would extend if there was more to see. There were a number of attractions in Bourke on our list to do. The Jandra paddle wheeler boat cruises was one of them. It is berthed about 800 metres from Kidman's Camp (very convienent) and takes tourist for a one hour trip twice per day. Costing $18.00 a person, the paddle wheeler leisurely cruise up and down a section of the Darling River. As we motor along the Captain gives a comentary on the indienous and european history, and flora and fauna of the Bourke district.  

Next we drove into town to watch them start the retored Crossley Engine. The engine was built in 1932 and is a stationary engine used to pump water. It has been restored and now located next to the old Wharf. It is started every weekday at 12pm. The operator gives a history lesson on the engine then describes the startup procedure. Incidentally the operator looked strangely like our boat captain from the affore mention cruise... maybe a twin? Next we visited the pioneer cemetery. This is where Dr Fred Hollows was laid to rest when he died. Fred was famous for travelling the world and restoring sight to people of developing cultures. His belief was 80% of the people who are blind shouldn't be and could have their sight restored through simple surgery such as a lens replacement. He had a strong connection with the people of Bourke particularly the Indigenous community. Finally we ended up at the Back O Bourke Exhibiton Centre. Here contain a lot of  detail about the Australias Original Inhabitants and the evolution of European history in the Bourke and beyond region. We also took a picture to prove we had been... "Out the Back of Bourke". Now all we have to do is find the black stump so we can go beyond it.