We think it would be a birdwatcher's paradise around Cunnamulla and again this morning before we left, we could see quite a variety of birds and of course there were others which we could only hear, but not see.

One of the more colourful varieties is what we believe we've identified as a Red Winged Parrot and sharing a tree adjacent to our site was also some white Cockatoos. The seed pods on this tree appeared quite attractive to both varieties.

Wyandra is almost exactly half way between Cunnamulla and Charleville, and so it made sense to stop for a morning tea break there. It seemed many others had the same idea, whether travelling North like us or South. The Wyandra General Store is very quirky, being also a Post Office and caravan park, and it seemed some of the travelers expected instant barista service when ordering their coffees. 

But we were very happy with the Devonshire Tea served up by the couple - Glenn & Kim we think - running the Store, which we enjoyed as the hordes departed and we sat in the peace and quiet. We left Wyandra via the historical powerhouse site. There was no electricity supply at Wyandra until the powerhouse and two National engines were moved here from Cunnamulla in 1955. It ceased operation in 1970 when supply was connected to Cunnamulla.

In what is believed to be Australia’s biggest ever peacetime explosion the Angellala Creek Bridge was destroyed on 5 September 2014. It was a result of a truck carrying 53 tonnes of ammonium nitrite catching fire, crashing and then exploding. Remarkably nobody died in the incident, but several emergency service personnel were injured when the explosion occurred while they were travelling to attend the fire/accident scene. While the bridge was rebuilt, a 550km detour via Roma and St George was required. 

After setting the van up at the Bailey Bar caravan park we made a quick stop at the tourist information centre to book our star and Sun watching experiences at the Cosmos Centre before stocking up on some groceries. After a dinner of steamed Thai fish and a salad, we headed out to the Cosmos Centre within the airport grounds.

Here we were entertained for over an hour by several guides using four telescopes in an open air facility. Featured on the night were: the planets Jupiter, Venus (the only planet which spins backwards) and Saturn, the star Vega and two star clusters, Omega Centauri (up to 10 million stars, the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way) and "The Jewel Box" (150-200 stars, some displaying colour). Lucinda thought Saturn's rings were the highlight, while the highlight for Bryon was Jupiter's moons.