Boulia to Alice Springs

 I have only been to Boulia once and that was back in the 80's when we went to one of Philips school friends wedding.  I don't remember a great deal about it because we stayed at the Pub, the wedding was at the pub, and really the pub was all we saw!  So it was a lovely surprise to see that the quiet town has grown somewhat.  There are many street murals but by far and away the best one was at the Aquatic Centre.

There was even a smallish mural on the water tank near the windmill......

I forgot to get photographs of the caravan park but it was definitely one of the best we have stayed in with its huge grassed sites.  It was also a nice surprise to run into a couple that we met in Longreach on the Starlight river cruise.  We did of course sit down over sundowners and have a good old chin wag and we will hopefully catch up with them when we get to NSW.

We got away from Boulia quite early the next morning.  We didn't really have much idea of the road conditions that we were about to face over the next couple of days.  It is a bit daunting when we saw the signpost pointing in the direction we were heading, NT Border 140km, Stuart Highway 637km, Alice Springs 704km.

As it turned out the Donohue Highway to the Northern Territory border was almost entirely bitumen and the gravel that was still there was as good as any highway.  The governments are to be commended.

But, unfortunately on the Norther Territory side the road deteriorated badly.  We stopped at Tobermorey Station for fuel (right on the NT border) and Philip asked the manager what condition the road is in for the next 500km.  His response was "you will never see it any better".  We took that to mean that it would be pretty good but in reality it meant that the road is never maintained and you will never see it any better.....

It was pretty terrible with lots of corrugations and we only travelled another 70km from Tobermory to a camping area called Limestone Rise.  It was still relatively early in the day - around 2pm - but Philip was tired from concentrating and hanging onto that steering wheel! This camping area was great and as there was a fire pit where we pulled up, we decided to light a campfire and cook the chops that Marco had given us, even though it was 30 degrees and the flies nearly carried us away!  But it was enjoyable sitting and watching the flames light up the night.  Just before dark another camper arrived so it was just the two of us, well spaced, in the camping ground.

We woke to a rather cloudy day but the sunrise was quite magnificent.  This is the outback, the true outback.  We never heard a single vehicle throughout the night and we were waiting to hear the howl of a dingo that are prevalent in this area but we either slept too soundly or they are not around.

There was not a great rush to leave the next morning although we probably should have.  If we thought the road was bad yesterday it was ten times worse today.  The only blessing it being Sunday with very little traffic although Sunday didn't stop a cattle muster!

We plodded along at around 40 - 50kmh for most of the morning and eventually stopped for lunch when we reached bitumen.  I opened the van door and was meet by one of my vegetable bins from the fridge and a tub of butter.  Strangely enough, but thankfully, the fridge door had opened, spilling out those couple of items and then the door shut again!  It could have been a lot worse.  Unfortunately though when I opened the fridge a few items had made a bit of a mess with their lids coming off - tub of yoghurt and a jar or salsa made the worst mess.  But nothing that a bit of cleaning couldn't fix.

Philip also found an oil leak under the van but thank goodness he was able to fix it enough to stop the leak.  It was the hydraulic oil for our levelling system.  We set sail again down the bitumen road thinking that it would run out any minute but lo and behold it was now bitumen all the way to our stop at Gemtree around 100km.  The NT government in conjunction with the Federal government is slowly but surely laying bitumen along the Plenty Highway and I daresay it will be finished within the next couple of years.

Gemtree Shop, Hotel and Van Park, is a fossickers delight where you can go on organised fossicking trips to look for various gemstones.  Our friends would love it here.  The van park is lovely with huge drive-through sites and we were pleased to be on power and water again.

It is only 136km from Gemtree to Alice Springs so we didn't leave the van park until after 9am and were in Alice by 11am.  The drive is magnificent with the mountain ranges in the background and the sun and cloud adding drama with the shadows and brightness.

You know that you are in Alice Springs when you spot the giant flagpole with the Northern Territory flag waving in the wind. It sits proudly on the side of the road, welcoming all.

We only have two nights in Alice Springs as we have visited here previously on the Ghan and saw a lot of the highlights on that trip.  We will however take a sunrise hot air balloon ride tomorrow morning - pick up from our van park at 5.15am - as that has been on our bucket list for quite awhile.  Philip wants to visit the Road Train Museum but I think I will stay at home and catch up on some washing.  I know that we will also have to shop some grocery items as things will be limited at Kings Canyon and Uluru, and expensive! 

Winton

 Winton is another eye-opener and has grown so much since the Winton I remember.  I will always remember my first trip to Winton when Philip and I were driving back from Warwick and we arrived in Winton.  I was really thirsty and we pulled up at cafe where I asked the girl behind the counter for a glass of water.  She tried to warm me. It's hot she said.  No problem I replied.  It's a bit smelly she said.  No problem I replied.  Needless to say I didn't drink the water because as soon as I brought the glass to my mouth I got a whiff and I gagged and spilt the whole glass on the counter. I must have become a lot more accustomed to the smell and taste of bore water since those days because it hardly bothers me anymore.

Yesterday afternoon, after we had arrived and eaten lunch, we went for a walk downtown to the Waltzing Matilda Centre. You may recall that it was burnt to the ground in 2015 but by 2018 it had been re-built.  A remarkable feat.  It must have been devastating for the town as so much memorabilia had been lost but I am pleased to say that the new centre has been re-stocked with some fabulous memorabilia.  I imagine there was a big call-out to everyone in the area to donate what they could.

We spent around two hours wandering around the Waltzing Matilda Centre and could have stayed longer as it was very interesting.  While we were at the centre, that doubles as the Information Centre, we asked about the Dinosaur Stampede that is around 100km from Winton.  The very helpful lady behind the centre suggested that we first visit the Australia Age of Dinosaurs before deciding whether to tackle the dirt road to the Stampede.  Her advice was good.

The drive to the centre took us up a windy road to the "jump-up" that sits high above the landscape. I had pre-booked our full experience tours and we were at the centre by 9am for the first of our tours, Dinosaur Canyon Outpost and Outdoor Galleries, that began at 9.15.  

We are taken by shuttle bus to the Dinosaur Canyon Outpost that houses the footprints of many dinosaurs, turtles, crocodile and lungfish. Remarkably the whole footprint area was transported some 70km from where it was found to its new home in the climate controlled building. It is a magnificent display and our guide kept us engaged throughout the tour.

Once the tour was finished we were invited to walk down to the canyon at our own leisure.  It was fantastic. Here we found replicas of dinosaurs that would have inhibited the area some 95million years ago and deep in the canyon they are trying to re-establish some of the plants that would have lived here millions of years ago, for example cycads.

From this area we are transported back to the main building and then we walk along a well defined path to the fossil Preparation Laboratory were our guide explains the whole process from excavation of the fossils to chiselling away the rock encasing the fossil.  It is a time consuming and laborious task.

Fossils wrapped in casts, waiting for cleaning

Dinosaur bones from Judy and Ann.  :-)

We return to the main building for the last presentation in the Collection room.  Once we are shown to our seats an audio visual presentation commences.  In front of the screen, in a semi-circle,  are displays of fossils that have been stripped of all rock and are amazing in their detail.

This, the last tour, finished around 1pm and by this time we were very hungry.  It only took us around 20 minutes to drive back into Winton and we headed straight to Tattersalls Hotel where we both enjoyed a huge crumbed steak with salad and chips.  The salad was simply a suggestion. 

Winton has been very enjoyable and a walk around the streets shows that the community really care about their town.  There are a couple of beautifully restored houses, and some that need restoring but all in all a great little town to visit.

Longreach

Longreach is a town that we have driven through dozens of times when we were living in Julia Creek and yet we never stopped to have a good look around.  We knew the Stockmans Hall of Fame was here, but our thoughts at the time were "we live that life, why would we want to see it in a museum".  Our bad.

When we first arrived here on Sunday and unpacked the van, we took a long walk into the town centre.  The council have done a magnificent job of tree-scaping a pathway from the Stockmans Hall of Fame and Qantas Founders Museum right into the heart of the town.  It is just under 3km in length.  The town centre is green and lush and it is far more attractive than the last time we were here. I really loved the white statues showing stockmen sitting around a bush campfire. We walked for around an hour and our bodies, once again, thanked us.

 Yesterday we walked to the Stockmans Hall of Fame.  We are fortunate that the caravan park we are staying at is within easy walking distance to both the Stockmans Hall of Fame and the Qantas Founders Museum.  I must admit to you that I had not set the Stockmans Hall of Fame very high on my list of places to visit but from the moment we were handed our headphones to when we walked through the doors into the museum, I was totally enthralled and engaged.  The whole experience at this place runs so smoothly.  The headphones pick up where you are standing and looking and start an audio.  We particularly enjoyed listening to Stump Malone, an old Julia Creek identity, sadly passed on.

We only had an hour inside the museum before we were called into the theatre for a video showing the outback from the early days to today.  It was informative and even though we knew a lot of the information I still found the video to be very interesting.

Philip showed me this saddle that was the exact same one that his grandma gave him.

From the cinema we were directed to the outback stadium for a show conducted by a single gentleman.  We were shown horse skills, dog skills, sheep skills and he could really strum that guitar and belt out a tune.  I loved it.

After the show we went back inside the museum to pick up where we left off.  We were home by 1.30pm in time for a quick salad for lunch.  We didn't want too much to eat because we were booked on another tour in the evening (pick up 4.30) that would take us for a sunset cruise along the Thompson River with nibblies, then back to the bush camp for dinner (stew, mashed potato and bread) followed by Apple Pie.  Before the dinner we all sat around a campfire and listened to our host regale us with bush tales and then bush poetry.  After dinner we were directed to an outback cinema where we watched the movie about Harry Redmond - the greatest cattle duffer of all time - who got away with it!  That last thing on the agenda was billy tea and damper that was dripping with golden syrup.  Yummmmm

You can just see the roof of one of the paddle boats that unfortunately sank earlier this year.

Today it was the Qantas Founders Museum, once again within easy walking distance.  We were booked on the 9.30 tour that ran almost two hours.  It was good value for money.  There is lots to see here.  We started inside the museum that is very well laid out.  After the museum we headed into the old hangar that was filled with memorabilia and from here we passed into the restricted area that houses the giant Qantas jets.  Our guide spoke almost non stop for the two hours and spoke rapidly!  I couldn't pick up a lot of what he was saying but he was well informed and you could tell that he loved his subject.

The "black box" flight recorders that are in fact, orange and yellow!

As I said, Longreach has been a wonderful surprise and a place that I would readily return to.  Our caravan park is neat and tidy with concrete slabs that make life easy.  We were visited by a couple of brolgas yesterday that made all the campers happy.......