Sapphire to Winton and Carisbrooke Station to Cloncurry

8 May

In the previous episode we were in Sapphire Caravan Park Retreat, and what a treat it was.  We needed good internet access, cool weather and some considerable time to plan some of next year’s activities.  Sapphire provided this and we were able to break the back of the bookings etc. 

Sapphire Van Park - our camp

Sapphire Van Park-view from our camp

We went out and saw all the sights of Sapphire on our first full day here.  When we arrived back at camp the kettle was still hot enough to have another cuppa without re-boiling it.  The area is awash with fossickers washing tonnes of gravel looking for the precious stones that will fulfil their dreams.  For most it seems, reality and dreams have never met and they continue to live in hope and hovels on their mining leases.  There is not much to Sapphire, a small grocery store, a bottle shop which is literally a tin shed, a few van parks and a 48 hour free camp in the middle of ‘town’.  The free camp is pretty open with flush toilets, drinking water and dump point.  We were pleased to be camped in our van park.

Having used up a lot of our internet allowance, we decided to move on after three lovely nights.  On the day we left the young family (2 adults plus 3 kids) camped beside us were packed up and gone by 4:45am!  They were as quiet as could be in packing up their campervan but we were still woken up by their departure on the crunching gravel surface of the van park as they drove out.  

Morning tea spot 150klm west of Barcaldine

We were on the road by 8:30am ourselves and, on turning west heading towards Longreach, we realised we had a strong tailwind to push us along.  We dropped a litre per 100klm in fuel consumption and had a great drive through Central Queensland, over the Drummond Range to enter into Major Mitchell’s old stomping ground 150 odd years ago.  Through Alpha, Jericho and Barcaldine we were blown. 

Stopping in Barcaldine, just opposite the Tree of Knowledge, the familiar sounds of a country show could be heard.  The lady in the only café open in town confirmed the Barky Show was on, hence the 100’s of 4wd’s and enough white 10 gallon hats to form a lake the size of Sydney Harbour parked in the Saleyards. 

Tree of Knowledge

Tree of Knowledge

The streets were empty except for the dead Tree of Knowledge housed under its magnificent timber shed on the side of the road.  We had the Tree to ourselves as all the dogs were at the Show too.  

Because the tree was killed a few years back when Australia had a budget surplus, it has now been preserved and placed in a display where it originally stood.  With a glass floor around the base, the root system can also be seen suspended below the tree.  The Tree is now an excellent tribute to a part of Australia’s heritage and the start of the Australian Labour Party way back in 1891.

The Tree could only hold our attention for so long so we fuelled up and headed to bush camp for the night at Lloyd Jones Weir located 12klm out of town beside Lloyd Jones Weir.  With drinking water taps, rubbish bins, flush toilets, picnic tables, fire pits and views over Lloyd Jones Weir, the bush camp has it all – including blue green algae.  The place is pretty full but we were lucky to get a site right at one end (our preferred location) beside a picnic table under a ghost gum with views of Lloyd Jones Weir wall and little billabong below it.  The weather remains fine, dry and warm during the day and cool at night – just about perfect really.

Bush Camp at Lloyd JonesWeir

"Grave" near toilet block

Next morning was once again a classic western Queensland sunrise.  We watched the sun rise, through the white-barked river gums that fill the watercourse in front of our camp, waking all the birds and wildlife as well as the millions and millions of flies.  I’d love to know where flies sleep at night so I could go and annoy them all night while they want to rest.  Anyway, to my surprise a pelican flew around above us then came in and landed in the little billabong.  I thought there might have been a letter in his bill from the Gold Coast but not to be.  Given the camp was a little dry and dusty as well as busy (for us) we decide to break camp and continue our journey west. 

Roadside stop on the way to Longreach

The road ahead

The road behind

From Barcaldine, the next main centre is Longreach and having both already been there we decided to push on to Winton and then to Carisbrooke Station Farmstay located 57klm off the road to Lark Quarry.  On the journey, we saw three Australian bustards on the side of the road spread about 100 metres apart – an unusual sighting we believe but we didn't have the cameras handy as we sped by.

Road into Carisbrooke Station

The farmstay is a first for us and Carisbrooke Station is well documented in the region as a good one.  Phoning ahead Penny, the owner, confirmed that they could fit us in on their 25000 hectare property as there was no one else there at the moment. Lunch was in Winton and camp was 100klm south along the road to Lark Quarry.  We had to put latitude and longitude coordinates into both the Nissan and TomTom GPS’s as there are no real addresses out there and we wanted to double check everything, and away we went. 

Going down the Nareen Jumpup

Both GPS’s sent us in the same direction (always a good sign) but we slowly became more and more worried as we drove along desolate, quiet, one lane dirt tracks. Not a human or animal could be seen, except for the flies from Lloyd Jones Weir.  The terrain was flat, gibber coved, treeless dust with a salt bush thrown in every now and then. We drove over and down the Nareen Jumpup and headed towards the horizon. 

Julie relaxes by reading her family tree

The GPS’s eventually died of thirst and were humanely shot, we carried on using something called a hard-copy map and a compass, finally reaching the road we should have been on if we had read the detail in something called ‘instructions’.  We did end up going the shortest route but if anything had gone wrong it was likely that our bones would have been found with those of our GPS’s.  When telling Penny of the way we went she merely raised one eyebrow and choked – on a fly I think from Lloyd Jones Weir.  We are in another fly zone and put on our head nets to be able to walk around in some comfort until they all just disappeared for the night at sunset. 

Our camp - caravan alongside the shearing shed

 Our camp is a kilometre away from the main farm house down beside the shearing shed.  The shed has a camp kitchen, fire pit, good donger toilets and showers, power board and a tap which delivers a mixture of dam and bore water.  The terrain is flat and sparse with stunning views to the jumpups in the distance.  A working sheep and cattle property, the owners have had to add tourism to supplement their income due to the current drought.  They have an airstrip which is well used by the well-healed who fly in for their well-deserved farm stay on the way back from fishing trips in the Gulf.  The previous US President, Lyndon B Johnston (LBJ), forced landed here in WWII when his plane got lost and ran out of fuel – they must have had our GPS’s way back then too.  The Irwin’s from Australia Zoo arrive this evening too.  Apparently they have come here for the last 3 years and they were delighted to hear that we are here too.

The main reason for coming here was to see Lark Quarry – the only place in the world where a dinosaur stampede is recorded and it is all done with fossilized mud.  95 million years ago several hundred Coelurosaurs (chicken sized) and Ornithopods (emu sized) dinosaurs were attacked by a three metre Australovenator wintonensis megaraptor (3 metre scary sized) on a river bank.  3300 footprints have been frozen in time showing how the attack occurred.  The detail captured clearly shows how some of the dinosaurs slipped in the mud, turned to run towards their attacker and the giant steps taken by the ‘big one’ in the chase.  

Lark Quarry dinosaur stampede - a couple of large footprints and many smaller ones

Flocking Brolgas

The drive from Carisbrooke Station takes an hour and 15 minutes on dirt roads, bulldust and corrugations.  Kangaroos, brolgas, budgerigars, finch and cattle are common sightings with the elusive bitumen road appearing for only a couple of kilometres where needed over the jumpups.  Last time I was here you could just wander around the raised boardwalk under a weatherproof cover above the stampede whenever and for as long as you liked for free.  Now there are only three viewings a day with a guide at a cost of $12 per person.  It still remains a highlight for me to actually stand and look down on perfectly captured 95 million year old dinosaur footprints.    After the tour, we walked around the area through the spinifex for half an hour looking at the landscape and the area where dinosaurs definitely roamed.  The temperature was more than 10 degrees cooler than the same time yesterday and the wind had come up so we were actually quite cold during this time.

Our campfire lighting up the night sky

Returning home the rain from down south arrived.  It wasn’t supposed to but it didn’t know that.  The surface of the roads became a little wet and sticky, while underneath the dust was still alive and kicking.  The car was a lovely patchwork of red and black mud spray with a lovely dusting of dust.  The heavier rain later in the afternoon washed most of it off. 

Our first night we had the place to ourselves.  With millions of stars above us, a campfire in front of us and a few drinks inside of us, we sat back and enjoyed the peace and serenity.

The reason why we decided to come here was on the advice of a couple in the Sapphire Van Park who said it looked good.  They were due to arrive a day after we did - which they did.  The owners contacted them due to the rain and sent them along their private road which has far less black soil and 40klm shorter.  They still had to stop five times to clear the caked in van wheel arches of mud so that they could continue slipping and sliding across the road at times.  Shortly after they arrived the rain stopped and the clouds parted just a little.  I lit the campfire about 5pm and we all sat around until just after 9pm when a little sprinkle of rain forced us inside.  

Richard and Sue were the couple who come from Victoria Point in Brisbane.  Recently retired and temporarily relieved of babysitting duties they are on a three week tour with their little dog.  They are a lovely couple who, up until now, have never had their van off-road.  Given their unexpected experiences getting in here in the rain and mud, they are now more confident in taking their rig off-road.

Overnight the clouds continued to part and the day dawned with cloudy skies but no rain. 

Sunrise at Carisbrooke Station looking out from next to our caravan

The owner, Penny, came and saw us and told us to go out via their private road.  We had no trouble although it was 14klm of 4wding over muddy roads and up a steep jumpup.  Once up over the jumpup the black soil disappeared and we easily travelled the 40klm of dirt before hitting Mr McAdam’s most wonderful invention – the bitumen road. 

Some of Arno's Wall

Arno's Wall

Stopping in Winton again we had morning tea then went to Arno’s Wall located beside the North Gregory Pub where Waltzing Matilda was first performed and then on to the world’s first musical fence beside the airport where QANTAS first flew into.  A day of world class firsts was had by both of us, a first for us.

Winton's Musical Fence Conductor

"ANIMAL" at the Musical Fence

Heading north-west, we travelled around 160klm to the Combo Waterhole – the billabong where the events took place that form the story of Waltzing Matilda written by Banjo Paterson. 

Combo Waterhole plaque

Combo Waterhole with eucalypt branch in hand to frighten the flies

Walking to the actual billabong requires each participant to carry 87 flies on their back, a further 7 in our mouths but only one at a time and only for a very short time, plus several occurrences of a fly unexpectedly entering any remaining orifice available and unprotected for more than 2-3 seconds.  We found a small leafy eucalypt branch was good for swatting and by the time I got back to the van I knew I had become addicted to self-flagellation. We toyed with the idea of bush camping here but the risk of becoming flyblown and having to be crutched by a shearer turned us off – at least this time.  If the shearer would have offered to hit me with a leafy eucalypt branch I might have stayed.

Off we drove back along the 8klm of dirt road to the highway, turned left and travelled the 20klm to the small town of Kynuna and to their van park behind the pub.  Very basic but very welcoming little van park, we spent a nice night here having a great pub meal with a couple of retired farmers from Victoria. 

Kynuna Camp at the back of the Blue Heeler hotel

Again we have no TV or internet or phone connection which is basically the story of our trip – and we really wanted to hear the Federal budget as it was handed down tonight!

Another couple next to us are on their way to Broome from Newcastle with 10 push bikes and all the luggage and spares in a specially designed Jayco van which has an enormous rear boot  for all the gear.  When they arrive in Broome they then hand over the car and van in Broome to a support crew who will be flying in with the other nine riders then the ten of them will cycle to Cap Leeuwin at the bottom of Western Australia.  On top of this, the car and van aren’t his and he has never towed a van before.  He doesn’t know how half the stuff works.  The people we meet and the stories we hear makes for a very interesting trip.

Two brolgas for breakfast

Next morning we had two brolgas for breakfast, then packed up and headed to Cloncurry where we are now.  The funniest thing was that Julie didn't realise the birds were outside the van door and the best thing was that I was able to capture her face as she came face-to-face with these metre high birds.  Look carefully at the photo on the left.
Wal's Campground is a little basic van park out the back of Cloncurry, away from the highway and its many triple bogey semitrailers filled with beef cattle roaring past.  We will stay here two nights to ready ourselves for the next part of our trip up to Lawn Hill National Park. 

All continues to go well for us.  The van and car are going great and the lifestyle is even better.  There seems to be a direct correlation with the price of fuel and latitude.  In little Kynuna we paid $1.53c and up here it is $1.69c.  This will make for an expensive 800klm journey to Lawn Hill.

Keep those emails coming too, we love them.  So far we have received one since we have been away.  Its great to keep up to date with everyone.  We are looking forward to the next one-any day now..... and don't forget our email address is jdhjmh@gmail.com.