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