Blackall and Longreach

 

 

 Tambo

We had a morning stop at Tambo halfway to Blackall. Its a little oasis amongst the dry country side.
Blackall’s claim to fame is the “black stump”, used for surveying purposes around 1887. Surveyors placed their transit on the stump for latitude and longitude observations and a stump was used rather then a set of legs to give more stability to the transit. At that time any country west of Blackall was considered to be “beyond the Black Stump’

 A cane chair and a purple bougainvillea lead up to a timber cottage, which is Blackall caravan park office. The park fees are $28 per night, we just booked for one night. The amenities are basic and the sites very close together; however they have the tastiest roast dinner for $20.

Graham Rodger

Kites

the campfire crowd.

 

 

Graham Rodger, a Tamworth Golden Guitar winner, entertained us with his singing for an hour or so at sunset and John bought two of his cds. A flock of kites hovered overhead, swooping gently on the air currents. It was a typical Aussie outback experience.

 

We left for Longreach after breakfast, stopping halfway at Barcaldine for morning tea.  Morning tea in these parts is still called ‘Smoko”.

 The channel country is harsh and dry, with long distances between towns. Roadtrains are king out here, the road kill numbers are high. We saw lots of kangaroos dead on the road and beside it on the 215 klms drive to Longreach . Its hard to avoid them and the many crows and kites fighting for their share of the spoils. Luckily we have seen a lot of live animals on our travels.

Emus in town

 

The large Qantas plane is one's first sighting of Longreach. The jumbo has a permanent home in the grounds of the Qantas museum.

Any one for a stage coach ride?

As we have been to Longreach twice before, we didn’t want to do the tourist things we have done on previous visits. We have been on the Cobb and Co stagecoach ride, the Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the School of the Air. We decided on a quiet morning in town.

Tomorrow a drive to Winton for the night and then Cloncurry.

25th July.