Carisbrooke Station

About 80 km wast of Longreach is a smallish (58,000 acre)cattle station (ranch)named Carisbrooke. To boost their coffers they let a couple of caravanners 'camp' at their shearing shed where we connected to power. The property was vast and beautiful and we did a bit of 4x4 driving exploring the country. We saw even more wildlife than we expected including wild pig and wild goat. Of course I don't have to mention the kangaroos, emus and prolific birdlife. What an experience.

If you notice in the photos a fella in a big hat that is Eric. We are in Akubra country (Aussie icon hat) so you wouldn't expect a fella to wear anything else.Hope you enjoy the gallery.

Longreach

Spent a few days in Longreach. Lots to see here, The Stockman's Hall of Fame, Qantas museum, The Station Store, Pastoral College (for farming, not men of the cloth) and plenty of animals.....

See if you can guess which title (above) goes with which photo.

Jericho, Jordan - Where are we??

Our journey continues but who would have thought we would camp on banks of the Jordan River in a very small town called Jericho?? Yes, we are still in outback Queensland. We stayed here for several days and relaxed. There was swimming in the river (we didn't indulge) yabbying freshwater crayfish), birdwatching, bushwalking and fishing. We met some lovely fellow campers and sat around the fire each night and toasted marshmallows.
Downtown Jericho consisted of one pub and one shop AND a drive-in theatre on the main street with a show every second Saturday. Thankfully, the shop made good coffe and was a pleasant walk from our campsite. Have you ever seen a drive-in like this one? It took 30 cars and had deckchair seating in a little grandstand at the back.

Central Outback Gems

Sapphires are not the only gems to be found here.
Here we are in Willows Gemfield (name of town). The campsite is something to behold. Have a look.

The people here are the real gems. From all over Australia they are here on, mostly, their annual fossicking pilgrimage. They stay a few months every winter and meet up with old friends and search for the ever elusive Big Find. Our campsite even has a herb garden planted by the 'regular' who spends four months here every year. I have included the Bonanza Mine set up (see photo) where we covered ourselves in mud and examined many trays of mine 'gravel'. We actually found a number of different sapphires. One of which may(?) be able to be faceted. But don't worry folks - we don't have "The Fever". In case you are wondering what else there is to do here there is a Rec Club like no other. The program is posted in an unusual fashion. And, yes, that is the clubhouse in the background....

Fraser Coast

Two weeks have passed while we have whiled away our time at/near Hervey Bay - the whale watching capital. The weather has been sunny although often breezy. We have caught up with friends and just chilled. Skip Bo (cards) are played at Happy Hour with our friends Yvonne and Peter - ps happy hour starts at 4:30 and continues for well over an hour.....
We've done a little cycling along the Esplanade and E has found a great little coffee shop that he visits daily. I thought you might like these photos of our camping set-up.
We head further north tomorrow..... stay tuned.

Inskip Point

What a well kept secret this place is!
We met up with friends Russ and Win Meares and set up camp next to the beach. This was ,
'roughing it' as there was no power or water but we felt like we had won the lottery. Sparkling ocean, white sand, dolphins aplenty, sunshine and, in the evenings, our own campfire! We planned to stay 3 days but extended to 7. Eric tried fishing and although he wasn't particularly successful, enjoyed it. Every evening about 4:30 he would grab his fishing gear, a chair and Tilly and try his piscatorial luck. He often brought the line in when the dolphins got too close. We will certainly be back and next time we will stay longer.

Two Days Here

Now this is what we were hoping for. We spent a couple of quiet days here all on our lonesome. The creek has been panned for gold for many years and this site is for fossickers. We did some bushwalking and just listening to the unusual bird calls........ The days were warm - about 21 degrees C but..... the nights......were a tad chilly......-2 degrees. Now, that doesn't sound too bad from where you are sitting but here in the bush we had no power for heating. Suffice to say we had early nights and even earlier dinners. We felt recharged after the two days and headed north, searching for warmer nights in particular. More later......