Leaving Cunnamulla we head north again , we are heading for Winton and the dinosaur fossils, but this will take a couple of weeks to get there as we do not travel too far each time we move.
The first place we come to is Wyandra, a little town with a population of just over 100 . They provide traveling tourists with a campsite with solar showers and toilets for just a gold coin donation to use. We stayed for 2 nights as they have a river walk and a tourist walk of their old buildings and a real old fashioned pup we decided to have dinner at .
We were waking around the river walk along to what the locals call ' the Beach' when we came across a young couple with their toddler son , they were bogged in the loose sand. He said it was a new car and he wanted to do some 4x4 driving and was practising and got stuck. He did not know how to put the car into the low range or how anything worked. They inform us they are doctors in the next town we are going to.
We helped get them going and said we would call in and see them when we reached Charleville.

In the morning we packed up and headed north again all the time getting warmer during the day with some of the nights still a little cold about 4-9 c. Days 20-25.
We had rang ahead and booked into the Bush camp- no pets , no kids, no smoking , with birdlife and kangaroos everywhere . It lived up to its promo and also had a shower and toilet block that was only in their second year and by far the best we had come across so far.
As we turned into the road where the camp is we could see 2 Brolgas in a paddock so we came to a quick halt to take photos. The first Brolgas we have seen on this trip and when we turned into the drive for the caravan bush camp the resident kangaroos accompanied us to the office.
The rest of this day was taken up with washing sheets and towels and sorting out the itinerary for the next few days and doing some food shopping. We did find time to go see the yellow footed rock wallabies at the breeding centre. These are endangered and are being bred here for release. 


Photos included.At this place they are also breeding the endangered Bilby but we are due to have a tour and cuddle latter in the week, This only happens once a week.

The second day, in the morning we went on a bus tour of the area and its old heritage buildings . The tour also included flood mitigating work thats is being done. We are in a part of the country that gets no rain in winter and has dry river beds, then when the monsoon hits further north the rivers all run and places like this get flooded . In 2010 was a real bad year as both the rivers in town flooded together and all the residents had to be evacuated as in places the water was up to the house roofs.That was also the year lake Eyre had water after years of no water. Water all feeds down these rivers to Lake Eyre.
So here with some help from the government the people are raising their houses on stilts so are as high as 2 story houses.
After lunch we went for a walk around displayed heritage and other stuff. One display was the Rain seeding guns used to make it rain in the drought. They shot gun powder into the clouds, no it did not work.

Next day was the weather station and the release of the weather ballon . Charleville is one of the weather stations who sends data to help with forecasts
Then the Flying Doctor headquarters tour . This is a free service to remote areas for medical transfers and emergences it is also available to us if we need it , pretty good .
Then at night we went to the Cosmos centre to view some stars and galaxies . Amongst other things we saw Saturn and its rings and a cluster of stars called the Jewel Box, with 150-200 stars of different colours that is 7700 light years away,
Next day started with a tag along tour in your own car to view the old secret American air base here in Charleville established in 1942.
This was to house the Norden Bomb Sight , a mechanical devise for accurate bombing. Charleville was the marshalling point for the B17 bombers for the battle of the Coral sea in the war
3500 US airmen where based here in the war. Charleville was used because its latitude on the Great circle of navigation, commercial planes still use this route.
This site was out of range of enemy bombs, has a dry climate which helps to minimise caressive deterioration .
Next was the school of the air where teachers started years ago with a peddle radio then went to short wave inherited from the flying doctors, then came VHF and now use telephone and computers so all the class can conference at once with the teacher .We sat with a teacher and her class of 6 year olds. All the kids entered their answers into the computer for the teacher to see and spoke on the phone link. They all were on remote farms and all were very at ease with the set up and all seamed very well advanced for 6 year olds. You try and answer this question how many sports can you name that begin with the letter ' T ". These kids came up with between 3 and 6 each.

The last and by far the high light was the Bilby captive breeding program. Bilbies are endangered desert dwelling bandicoots about the size of rabbits. They have large years, their coat is very soft light grey and tan hair. they have a distinctive black and white tails. Bilbies are the only species of the 6 Australian bandicoots still living and if it was not for Frank Manthey and Peter McRae they would be lost too.
These two men launched a save the Bilby fund in 1999 and with the money built a predator proof fence at Currawinya National Park to house the re-introduced Bilbies from the captive breeding program in Charleville.
 Yes I have said if we return we will volunteer to help run tours and talks or just be in the Bilby shop for the tourists.