Day 67: Medlow Bath to Darlinghurst, via Caringbah, 150km. Total distance: 13,717km

Made it home after calling to mum and dad, nearly 14,00km and 67 days later. House and occupants all well. Now, to plan the next trip ...

Day 63: Wellington to Medlow Bath via Rockley, 320km

Rockley and Bathurst have changed a lot since we used to go there regularly, for the better. Before we got there, we found this place on the main road at Molong. Looked like an abandoned junkyard, with no one around but piles of metal junk and hidden amongst them were these weird large-scale sculptures.

Day 62: Bourke to Wellington, 420km

Following the Macquarie River and the Mitchell Highway reminded me about how the early explorers (Mitchell, Stuart etc) were all looking for the inland lake and giant river, like the equivalent to the Amazon, Mississippi, Ganges, Nile etc. It made sense because every other continent had such a river, all the rivers this side of the Great Dividing Range run west, they had seen the big rivers in the northwest of the country flow to the sea, and Flinders (who charted the southern coast of the country) said he never found the mouth of any big rivers. Below is one of the proposed maps of inland Australia. 

They weren't too far off - they called the area around the lake "The Dead Level" and it is pretty flat

Day 61: Cunnamulla to Bourke, 255km

Nothing between Cunnamulla and Bourke, except the lone lady who sold roadside coffee out of a converted caravan - 120km from any town.

The coffee van, in the middle of nowhere

Day 60: Tambo to Cunnumulla, 400km

Southbound again. Cunnumulla was the end of the (Western) line (which now ends at Charleville) and the train was vital to the town until the roads were built (and a truck carrying 50 ton of ammonium nitrate blew up in 2014 causing a Richter 2.1 quake and taking out the road bridge and the neighbouring rail bridge south of Charleville). But the town still thrives and the museums, of course, are great.

Part of the Cunnumulla Off The Rails, All Aboard 3D Light and Sound Spectacular 

Day 59: Longreach to Tambo, 310km

Stopped at Ilfracombe, Barcaldine and Blackall and were surprised each time by how well presented these small QLD towns are compared to the rest of the country. They all have art galleries, cafes, aquatic centres (of course) and historical sites that are so well looked after. Tonight though, we are staying at the Royal Cannangarra Hotel and attended the chicken races held out the back in the Schnitzel Stadium.

Horse sculpture by Pip Fearon

Day 58: Longreach

The Qantas Founders Museum was the reason we came on this path, and it was worth the trouble. I got to see all my favourite planes and learned a lot on the way.

DC-3

Day 57: Winton to Longreach, 200km

Half day tour of the Age of the Dinosaurs museum just out of Winton. Family new (2016), beautifully put together and well organised but after seeing Jurassic Park, it I shard to get TOO excited about a bunch of dinosaur bones. Did find the history (the old inland sea and giant trees over 100m high thing) interesting and did some comparative anatomy. It is amazing how their skeletons are so similar to ours, and the other animals for that matter.

Day 56: Julia Creek to Winton, 275km

Winton is just a small central Queensland town with population of just over 1,000, so naturally it had three petrol stations, three pubs, three museums, two hardware stores, multiple cafes, a library, pool, water park and as many shops as Caringbah. It is the Dinosaur Capital of Australia, and the Waltzing Matilda capital, and the opal capital of QLD, and the gateway to the gulf, etc. etc.

The A.B. 'Banjo' Patterson statue at the Waltzing Matilda Centre

Day 55: Burke and Wills Roadhouse to Julia Creek, 240km

Yes, Julia Creek, the most suspiciously well resourced town you will ever see. Not only does it have (all open to the public) a skate park, football field, pool, waterpark, tennis courts, under cover basketball courts and shade cloths over the main street parking spaces. When they ran out of things to build, they built a Bike Safety Training Park, where you can ride your bike around mock-up roads with traffic lights, roundabouts. The population? Around 550. They must have the best local member ever.

A "Bike Safety Training Park" complete with road signs, roundabouts and traffic lights

Day 54: Karumba to Burke and Wills Roadhouse, 270km

 I once caught a fish this big:

Then I gutted it, filleted it, pan fried it in olive oil and served it with lime, salt and pepper, and it tasted great.

Day 53: Burketown to Karumba via Normanton, 290km

Aye Karumba! Although these towns are both on rivers in flatlands on the Gulf of Carpentaria, Burketown was very quiet but Karumba (the other barramundi capital of Australia, apparently) is a full-on tourist town full of caravan parks and holiday letting.

On the way back from the sunset cruise off Karumba

Day 52: Hell's Gate Roadhouse to Burketown, 180km

A washout! Our ballon ride over the salt pans was cancelled because the salt pans are all mud, as we found out when we tried to drive over them. Sue and Kim got stranded and couldn't get to the big bash so we won't meet them in Longreach next week (they are there now, instead of Birdsville).

A bee eater outside the closed (because why not?) tourist information centre in Burketown

Day 51: Seven Emu to Hells Gate Roadhouse, 270km

Rain! We had some rain overnight at Limmen NP but it poured last night and this morning at Seven Emu. They said they haven't seen rain at this time of year for 10 years. Made for a muddy drive to Hells Gate Roadhouse just over the QLD border, the only stop for accommodation and fuel for hundreds of km east or west.

The view from camp this morning

Day 50: Limmen NP to Seven Emu, 300km

Best. Campsite. Ever. We wanted to stay at Lorella Springs, another station on the "Savannah Way" that has been doing tourism for decades but they closed to the public this year (tour groups only) so we found Seven Emu on the map. On the Robinson River that runs into the gulf, it is hard to get to but the 6 campsites they offer are amazing.

Day 49: Roper Bar to Butterfly Falls Campground (Limmen NP), 230km. Bonus cooking tip

Doesn't get much more remote than this. Not much to see, except the occasional big river. This area is mainly for serious fishing. We did do some fancy campfire cooking in our new camp oven - pics below.

Typical scene in this area

Day 48: Pine Creek to Roper Bar Store and Park via Mataranka, 250km

We thought the Kimberley was remote, we are now on the “Savannah Way” (a collection of roads from Broome to Cairns) and this stretch along the Gulf of Carpentaria is even more remote. There is nothing and no one here, except people fishing in the many very large rivers.

Met this couple who caught heaps of these cherubin (like huge prawns that bite - freshwater crayfish) using dog biscuits and a net. Small ones are bait for barramundi, large ones are keepers for eating.