Caravan around Australia

 The mornings are getting very cool, but they result in bright sunny days with temperatures in the low 20's. Whilst Blackall is a small place, there is a lot to see and first up this morning we have booked a tour of the Blackall Wool Scour. The oldest, steam driven wool scour in QLD, it was operational until 1978. There are 3 tours per day and we opted for the early one commencing at 9.30 am. We only had a 10 minute drive to get there so that seemed very doable. It turned out, we were the only two that had booked this early tour, so we had the guide's undivided attention for the duration of the tour. After a bit of Albo bashing to begin with, we headed out onto the site of the scour. First stop was at the scour bore, where boiling hot water was gushing out of the well head. I am not sure what the temperature was, but you couldn't put your hand under it. This was a bonus for the scour that needed hot water and got it for free. Next we approached the main building, which we s...

 It was very peaceful at the Charleville Bush Caravan Park and we would certainly go back there, if in the area. We were all packed and ready to go at 9.30 am for our roughly 300 km drive to Blackall today. Our route takes us through Augathella, where we stopped for morning tea. With a population of a bit over 300 it seems to attract q uite  a few tourists, particularly in caravans. There were a few tourist attractions. It was hard to miss the mural on the water tower as you drove into town. It seems collecting wild dog scalps can be an attractive sideline A little further down the road we came to a park which houses the treasured sculpture of the Giant Meat Ant. Opposite the park is is the remains of an old cinema, with a mural of "Smiley" a classic 1956 film. Apparently Augathella is the home of this movie. Enough of the highlights of Augathella, it is time for a cup of coffee at the Catfish Cafe which adjoins the old cinema. Our visit to Augathella was a bit more than we e...

  It is a pretty uninspiring drive from St George to Mitchell, first driving through cotton fields, some a which appear to owned by Cubbie Station, then through scrubland, cattle stations and a some sheep grazing. Along the road the drovers are moving cattle North, apparently to Roma for the coming cattle sales. With all of the rain, the shoulders of the road are very sloppy in some areas as a result of the cattle. We saw few cars and trucks, a good amount of road kill, had to slow down to let an echidna cross the road but otherwise uneventful. A bit over 200 km from St George we reached Mitchell, a decent town with good facilities. We bought some fresh bread, parked near a park and had lunch in the van before moving on to Charleville. Once again, not the most interesting road you could travel on, and in bit under 200km we arrive in Charleville. It as an around 3 pm, we need fuel and to find our caravan park.  We are staying at the appropriately named Charleville Bush Caravan ...

 Lightning Ridge was a real surprise. We really enjoyed our stay there and could have put in a few more days. It is very friendly, there is a lot to see, and there is little crime. However it is time to move on, and today we head off to St George in QLD, with light persistent rain still with us. Fortunately we packed up our awning late yesterday when there was a bit of a dry spell for a few hours, so we didn't have to cope with a wet awning this morning. We diverted a bit along the way to see a few recommended attractions. Today's route The first town we reach, Hebel, is a general store and a service station with a population of 60-70 people. We did not bother to stop and moved on to Dirrabandi which has a highly recommended bakery operated by some Russians. It was a good tip and quite busy. Morning tea was beckoning, so the arrival time was perfect. I can highly recommend the sausage rolls. The Dirribandi Russian Bakery There were plenty of caravans parked in the vicinity of t...