Great roads, skies and campspots

Thursday, May 04, 2023
Charleville, Queensland, Australia
Friday May 5    Bendigo to Mt Hope
There were a few complaints from our companions in the house as our departure time was 0830 and we needed some cars moved in order for us to leave!!!  We did get away on time, filled up with diesel and headed north.    We’d visited most places on previous trips – Echuca, Deniliquin and Hay.  After that it was new territory, but not very inspiring.  Many miles of Hay plains… very plain and plane!   All grasslands with a few crops – grain and cotton and the odd tree.
An electronic sign with a road closed notice confused us enough to call the local information centre which resulted in us changing our route, going through Goolgowi to Hillston.   Native pines lined the road which was a delightful change.  From Hillston we had the eye out for a campspot, but nothing inspired us and we ended up at the Royal Hotel in Mt Hope, a town of 8 inhabitants.  Free camping for clients of the pub.   We did our best to help the economy and met a few locals and other travellers and generally had a great evening learning about the history and current activities.  The area was home to thousands of people in the late 1800’s when there were some copper/gold mines operating.
Saturday May 6               Mt Hope to Bert’s Camp
With no particular rush and after a chat with a grey nomad who’s been “helping out” at the pub (anyone else interested in a job?), we headed northwards at 0830.  We’d been warned that the road ahead had been reported as in bad condition with one of the road trains reporting 6 wrecked tyres in one trip…so figured it was best to get as many miles under the belt as possible.
Just before arriving in Cobar we visited a lookout over and old copper/gold mine.   That one was no longer in use, but others in the area are.    The company that owns them provided a great information board with both historic and current information.
“Someone” hadn’t turned the gas off at the bottle last time we used it…months ago…and guess what?  It ran out this morning.  Once again we were grateful for the back-up of the trusty trangia this morning.  In Cobar we went in search of a refill, but on a Saturday morning that proved impossible.    We visited the Heritage Centre which included a very touching memorial to all the miners (far too many) who have died in the area.  The information centre and museum is housed in a really impressive two story brick building that used to be the administration building for the mines 100 years ago.
Next stop was Burke for lunch.  We’d forgotten about the “Back of Bourke” exhibition centre which was closed last time we were there and decided we’d need to devote a day to it, and with bookings made in Charleville and the road ahead threatening to be bad we decided we’d keep that spot for next time.
Motoring on, we continued to dodge sheep, cattle and far too many feral goats and their very cute kids.  The live goats were very numerous, but unlike the roos, we didn’t see one of them dead on the side of the road.  Someone has given them some road sense!    The landscape was pretty flat, with the   occasional undulation providing some curves in the road, but mostly it was pretty easy  to overtake the plentiful monster road trains.   We saw a bit of cotton waiting to be harvested, but mostly there was grazing land dotted with eucalypts, wattles and callitris.
Our target for the day was to get to Queensland.  We managed that and called a halt at 4pm when thanks to Wikicamps we found a great spot, off the road with plenty of firewood and a bit of old mine wreckage to explore.
Sunday May 7   Bert’s Camp to Charleville          
With no particular pressure and plenty of firewood, we lit the fire to boil the morning billy and since it was a cold morning of course we enjoyed the warmth as well.  The road continued to be sealed and in excellent condition so we cruised along through more grasslands and sparse woodlands, arriving at Cunnamulla to a town with lots of “Queenslander” houses, and particularly attractive but deserted CBD on the Warrego River .   The locals take Sundays seriously out here.  The only sign of life we saw was a huge line up of cars at the local Anglican Church.
Moving right along we next stopped at the tiny village of Wyandra and followed the signs to “The Beach”  Indeed there was a huge sandbar on the Warrego River.   We were briefly excited about a bright looking coffee shop with flag flying, but no,  it was Sunday and closed!   After a quick look at the old railway, closed in 1994, we continued to Charleville.   The road did deteriorate and there were quite a few roadworks, but not a patch on the state of the Alpine Hwy in Vic!   We hadn’t realized we would be following the Warrego River, but we certainly have been and did all the way to Charleville.  In most places it had lots of water in it.
Quite a luxury to arrive at our destination before lunch and thankfully the supermarket and Information Centre were open – nothing else though.  We lunched and set up camp in the Bush Caravan Park just outside Charleville.  Wendy enjoyed a bike ride into and around town and Rick enjoyed a relax and prepared a roast dinner.
The camp hosts had lit a communal fire which we used to cook.  What a luxury!  There were about half a dozen other campers there and we did a bit of entertainment with harp and guitar.  As Wendy was packing up the battery and lights for the harp she provided a bit of excitement as for some reason there were lots of sparks and smoke coming from the battery.  No more light.  A head lamp did a reasonable job!
Monday May 8 Charleville
It was a cool four degree morning, but with sunshine and not a particularly early start it was just fine.  We had booked a tour of the local date palm farm for 9am.  We met our tour leader and owner of the farm, Mark, an ex Lutheran Pastor who had decided to establish a date palm farm after trialling it in on a small scale in Ipswitch.  He negotiated with the council to use all the waste water from Charleville for irrigation and purchased land to which the water had been flowing for 80 years with no use being made of it.   Unfortunately the quality of the water, despite its mineral content is not the best for the palms.  Mark is trying to solve the problem and is working with an ecologist, applying for a huge grant to do research into crops suitable for the desert.  We learnt a lot about varieties, marketing, diseases, nutrition etc. as we wandered around the farm.     We tasted four different varieties of dates and finished the tour with a cup of tea and a delicious date slice!
We refuelled the BT, checked tyres, filled the gas bottle, stocked up on groceries, by which time we needed lunch and to get to the next tour!   At 3pm we went to the local railway station/ Information centre/Bilby Experience.  Fascinating endangered species, but thanks to a couple of local guys, the Save the Bilby Fund was established and they now have a positive future.
Back at camp we prepared for departure tomorrow, then on to a Cosmos tour.   We had the opportunity to view a variety of astronomical phenomena through 14 inch telescopes.  In some respects it was a bit like a trip down memory lane as we used to do a similar thing with our students at Wyperfeld National Park way back in the ‘70s with a 4 inch telescope.  It was a fantastic experience and a great tribute to the local council who established and funded it.
Back at camp we had the luxury of a communal campfire glowing and had it all to ourselves to cook our taco dinner.    
Wendy had a plan to solve the harp’s lighting problem, taking a set of LED’s from the tent and applying them to the harp.  Success!!
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Comments

Lyn
2023-05-08

Interesting travels. Looks as though you've avoided the rains along the coast. Great that you've solved your harp problems.

Merran
2023-05-09

We were driving from Brisbane to Armidale on Saturday, we virtually passed each other!! Great to read about you adventures!!

Frosty
2023-05-09

Great trip so far. We went to some of the same places on our big trip.

Patricia Gordon
2023-05-09

Figs? How many kms are you doing each day? Snow at Hotham already.

Rod
2023-05-14

Those Hay Plains had a mythical status with Karen's mum. After a wet year, she said they were glorious. Our thoughts are as yours, quite drab. In Broome ready for a cruise, enjoying the blue skies awaiting on the Cape. Go well.

Maureen S
2023-05-15

Lost an opal earring at the back of the mount Hope hotel many years ago when we were camping. Didn’t find it did you?

2025-02-10

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