This time our 'Catch Up' was with Ronda and Robert Williamson and who would have thought it would be on the railway platform at Barcaldine.......... Ben and Mena Burton hopped off the train as well. They have been holidaying with Ronda and Robert and Ronda's words were "Yep!  Ben & Mena are our travelling buddies most of the time"!  Ronda and I have had a few emails back and forth about where they were in Queensland and what dates they would be in Longreach.  It was looking as though we were going to miss each other by a day or so.  They were arriving on the train to Longreach, the afternoon of the day we were leaving.My last email to her on Saturday was to say "Look out for us on the railway platform at Barcaldine.  It just might work out that we are having a look around the town as you travel through"!  I had looked up the timetable for the 'Spirit of the Outback' passenger train and decided we just might be in Barcaldine around 11 am.  Ronda didn't actually get the email before they boarded the train, so she had decided we would have passed each other way back wherever!  The look at the 'Mile of Machinery' at Ilfracombe filled in an hour.   Fancy there being 19 graders amongst all that machinery lined up alongside Capricorn Highway, beside the railway line.  It was well worth the walk from one end to the other and the little buildings that were housing memorabilia, were great as well.  We did check out the bottles Delma, but I'm not sure if you meant the ones in that Museum, or at the place over the road with the hub caps hanging on the fence.  We just drove by that one!  The bottle collection belonged to Henry and Una Jackson, who started collecting bottles in 1968.  Since then he has collected 16,500 bottles, 41,000 buttons, 1,500 marbles, 511 neckties and 115 sets of scissors.  In June 2005 the Ilfracombe Shire Council purchased the collection with the intention of relocating to the site in the main street.  Don't know where they do house the collection?  What a shame it wasn't there.  It would have been great to see all those buttons!  When Peter was looking at trucks again in Winton, I thought to myself "What about some ladies stuff, like a collection of buttons"!There were lots of caravans that stopped for a look in Ilfracombe and obviously someone opens and closes up each day.   There were a few donation boxes in the buildings.  It must work for them and great that it does.  Ilfracombe is not a very big town, so I would think they battle for volunteers as all Museums seem to.The stop at Barcaldine for morning tea at 10.30am worked well for the rendezvous with the train to Longreach.  We had just finished when we heard the train blowing its whistle.  I was off to the platform!  The train slowly pulled into the station and I was scanning the windows.  To my delight when it stopped, the passengers started getting off! The passengers were actually allowed off the train for 20 minutes to see the 'Tree of Knowledge', which is outside the railway station.  What 'Good Planning' from Ronda and Pam'!  Queensland Rail also played their part with this rendezvous!  It was great to give them all a hug. Meeting up with friends when you are a long way from home is extra special.  I did manage to get the three guys together under the 'Tree of Knowledge'.  Not that they were that keen as it was under 'that' tree in 1891 that an organisation was formed that later became 'The Australian Labor Party'.   The tree died in 2006 and three years later the structure over the tree was officially opened by the Queensland Premier.  All of this to keep the 'National Shearers Strike' of 1891 alive.  The 'Shearers Strike' in 1891 saw '15 Unionist Prisoners' sentenced for two and half years.  All over a reduction in wages.  It was all happening with 'Shearers' way back then and one could say "Nothing has really changed"!  This is some of what was written on the Monument Plaque:  The Tree of Knowledge Monument, that signifies protruding shear blades, is in recognition of the stalwart men and women of the west, who through their courage, determination and dedication to the principles, objectives and ideals of the Union Movement, played a leading role in the formation of Australia's Labour Political Movement which emerged from beneath the 'Tree of Knowledge' in 1891.This is a little more of the history of Barcaldine:  The town was formed when the rail line forged west from Rockhampton in 1886.  The town derives its name from a castle in Scotland.     The town has had an interesting and famous history due to its involvement with the Shearers Strike of 1891.  It is home to the Tree of Knowledge, the reputed birth place of the labour movement in Australia.  During the 1891 Shearer's Strike, the tree was used as a place of inspiration for the shearers and grew in folk law as the birth place of the Labor movement.The Tree of Knowledge was a Ghost Gum which grew outside the Railway Station for a period of 180 years.  Sadly it was poisoned in 2006 by an unknown culprit.  After preservation the Tree was placed under an award winning timber structure which was constructed to both protect the Tree and celebrate its importance in Australia's history.  The memorial is inspirational during the day, but when viewed at night it is truly magnificent.The structure is comprised of 4913 individual timbers, 3449 of which are hung to give the illusion of a canopy over the Tree.  The memorial was opened by the premier Hon Anna Bligh on 2nd May 2009.After the train had left, we decided to check out the BIG tent that was behind the main street.  It turned out that it has been placed in the grounds of the 'Australian Workers Heritage Centre'.  Peter wasn't that keen to pay to have a wander, especially as everywhere we turned in Barcaldine, there was reference to the Labor Party.  He said "He didn't need to pay money to read about the Australian Labor Party"!  But we did do it!   Chances are 'we won't be back'!  The cost was $26. 00, but now we have seen it! It is a 'Centre for all Australian's'.  The 'Centre' is the custodian of the rich heritage, history and traditions of all working Australians.  The vision is; to pay tribute to the lives of extraordinary people who built our nation and fought fearlessly to defend the freedom that all Australians enjoy.  There was lots of interesting info in the various buildings in the grounds.  The 'BIG Tent' was the 'Celebration Theatre' and the centrepiece of the 'Australian Bicentennial Exhibition' in 1988.  It was acquired by the 'Australian Workers Heritage Centre' after the celebrations and was opened by the Hon Robert (Bob) Hawke on May 4th 1991.  The 'Celebration Theatre' was purpose built to screen the spectacular film 'Celebration of a Nation'. The official film that was commissioned to celebrate Australia's 200th birthday.  The film told the story of Australia and its people through image and music.The tent city convoy was a fleet of 70 vehicles carrying structures, exhibitions and 101 staff that toured 34 country and city centres around Australia as part of the 'Bicentennial Travelling Exhibition'.  The largest exhibition to ever tour Australia, it was designed to communicate and express in an exciting, entertaining way, the uniqueness of our country and its enterprise.  It told the story of those who shaped the nation, our culture and communities, our environment and achievements, encapsulating our society in all its diversity.   Reading about the celebrations in 1988, brought back memories and we reckon that the convoy did come to Geraldton and it was on Eadon Clarke oval.  I'm sure Delma will be able to confirm or tell us it was something else we are thinking of.By the time we finished wandering around the 'Australian Workers Heritage Centre' it was lunchtime.  The Didgee Didge Cafe looked inviting, so we had a toasted turkish bread sandwich and then were on our way.  It had taken us a while to do just over a 100kms!  Barcaldine is also known as 'The Town of Murals'.  The most famous and significant is the one  done by Australian painter D'Arcy Doyle.  It is a painting of a sandgoanna and D'Arcy donated the picture to the community of Barcaldine in appreciation for the wonderful time he had whilst holidaying there.The next town was Jericho and then Alpha.  Both small towns and Jericho had interesting features in the main street. Of course we stopped for a couple of photos.  The main structure was depicting the biblical story the 'Battle of Jericho' and the man made mostly from barbed wire at the railway station, was an interesting structure.  Jericho is built on the Jordon Creek, south of Lake Galilee as well, so affinity with its namesake doesn't stop there.  The town goes back to 1885 and owes it beginnings to the railway line.    The feature in the town is called the 'Crystal Trumpeters', constructed in memory of the Biblical story where the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for six days and blew their trumpets.  On the seventh day, they watched as the city walls collapsed.  I rang Emerald to see if we could get into the Caravan Park, but they were booked out and would have had to squeeze us in with the permanents.  So we decided to stay at Anakie.  When we got there, they found us a site at the back of the park.  It was the last day of the four day 'Gemfest Festival' which is held in Anakie each year on the 2nd weekend in August.  The oval was near the caravan park.  My nephew Travis reckons Uncle Pete can back a semi-trailer into a coke can and it did test Pete's skills on Sunday, getting around through vehicles to the site!

The end of the festival celebration was happening at the park that night, so we purchased a ticket and enjoyed the barbecue and entertainment for a while.  Talked with some fossickers who were off to Opalton near Winton, the next day to try their luck out in the field.  We told them we thought we might give this fossicking a go!  They told us it was addictive!  We thought "Not for us".  We just want to say "We have had a go"!  Little did we know!  16 Photos