Winton to Lara Wetlands

Monday 19th July

This morning we farewelled Libby and Eric as they turned their nose north for the long journey home. We have enjoyed sharing their company and creating more memories, vastly different from Singapore ones…although whisky was a common thread. I have especially appreciated someone to share my birding ventures and we will miss the delicious meals prepared by MasterChef Eric.

We weren’t too far behind them but only for a short trip to Winton where Michael enjoyed his morning coffee before we explored some more of the town. From the back of the Waltzing Matilda Centre there is a Walkway of Honour, an installation to honour all Australians who have served in our forces.

There are a number of interesting old buildings including the heritage-listed Corfield  and Fitzmaurice Store. 

It seems that every pub in this part of the world has been burnt down at least once and the North Gregory Hotel is no exception. The current building is the 5th iteration and is renowned as the site of the first live performance of Waltzing Matilda in 1895. It also has some beautiful etched doors by Daphne Mayo.

We returned to the Waltzing Matilda Centre where we found that the art gallery, which had free entry, had a current exhibition called Lightning Without Flash by Joe Ruckli. It was a series of photos from Lightning Ridge showing it as it really is…basic. 

The sight of three bus loads of school kids heading in to the centre put us off doing the rest of it so we made tracks.

Another first for today was my initial go at towing. Once I had recovered from the nerves I found it not much different to driving without the van attached, but there were certainly no overtaking moves and for now I will only drive on ‘proper’ roads. 

By the time we arrived in Ilfracombe a nice warm shower was very welcome. While I was enjoying that, Michael crawled under the van to tie up a couple of loose wires and spray WD40 on some floor squeaks. By the time I returned he was feeling unwell and he didn’t improve with a hot shower. Apparently this always happens when he works under the van! An hours sleep certainly helped before he felt well enough to explore the rest of the Machinery Mile, while I caught up with some blogging. 

Not long after we arrived,  Little Joeys younger sibling turned up and parked right beside us!

Dinner was in the very conveniently placed Wellshot pub…about a dozen steps away.

Tuesday 20th July

Happy birthday to Kathy, in lockdown in Sydney and Eric, on the long drive back to Darwin.

Our first stop this morning was back in Barcaldine. When we were here on our westward journey it was the weekend and most of the town was closed. I had seen advertising for an exhibition called Flowers in the Dust so we took a break to check it out. We had quite an interesting chat with the artist, Jenifer Mace. Although always having an interest in art it wasn’t until she returned to the area after retiring that she concentrated on this love. She has spent the last few years recording, in watercolour, the flora of the Queensland Desert Uplands region. She believes there are about 650 species and so far she has recorded about 500. Her works are very beautiful and delicately done. With assistance from the Barcaldine Council she has published a book of her work and is keen to see a Botanic Garden established in the area.

Once we had restocked our fridge and pantry it was time to go back on previously untravelled roads, to Lara Wetlands about 30kms south. Almost as soon as we left town we noticed a dramatic change in the surrounding landscape. The large expanses of treeless plains had been replaced by large areas of trees.

Once settled in we took a stroll around the periphery of the lake and checked out the thermal pool…something for tomorrow.

Shortly after getting back to the van I got a message from my sister, Mary. The friends she had been travelling with recently were also here and had seen me walk past and recognised me! Amazingly the message had come through because Internet is very flaky to say the least but I did manage to track them down and say hello.

We also saw the lengths some spouses go to, to please their partner. The couple next to us had an automatic satellite dish which picks up the TV channel. He couldn’t get it to point in the right direction so she could watch her favourite show. He moved their entire setup 1 m to the right and the antenna worked…..happy days, she could watch Home and Away!

A great campfire and magnificent sunset brought another satisfying day to a close.

Wednesday 21st July

We had been planning on taking the historical homestead tour this morning but shortly after we checked in yesterday the woman who takes the tour broke her arm so it was cancelled. We probably would  have only stayed 1 night otherwise but never mind, it is a beautiful spot.

Instead after a leisurely start we made our way over to the thermal pool which is about 38 degrees. After soaking for an hour we were both wrinklier than usual but it did save the need for a shower.

In the afternoon Michael retraced our steps from yesterday’s walk, in the hope of finding the dinner voucher he had lost (successfully) while I had an afternoon of blogging(note taking really as there was no internet) and knitting.

We shared the bbq dinner and show with our neighbours and another couple who were lusting after our Little Joey.

This site was very peaceful and  abounding with birds so I added a few more to my list, to leave  here with a total of 140 species to date.