Devils Marbles

Yesterday we drove about 300kms from the Barkly Homestead Roadhouse to the Wauchope Roadhouse. This trip was westerly along the Barkly Hwy to the Threeways Roadhouse at the intersection with the Sturt Hwy which runs north-south. We topped up fuel at the Threeways and let Blue out on a small area of green grass. We have seen a few road trains carrying these bales of wool wrapped in yellow plastic like this one at the Threeways. We don't know where the wool comes from but presume South Australia.

There has been hardly any roadkill on the roads we have driven. We think it is because there is grass and other food available away from the roads, so kangaroos and other animals are not having to eat roadside grass. We have not seen any live animals along the roads, which is most unusual.

The Devils Marbles Hotel is 8kms south of the site of the Marbles. We had a powered site out the back but decided one night there would be enough. The money we had paid for the second night was willingly refunded, and we spent it having dinner at the hotel (which was disappointing given the good reviews we had read). There was a lovely area of green grass for campers so I could keep Blue off the dirt. There is no Telstra mobile phone coverage there, and only exists in a few places along the Sturt Hwy where there are some emergency stations where you put your phone into a metal bracket to use this service.

As we visited the Marbles last year Anita decided to look after Blue and Tilly. Three of our Roadie friends came with me in the afternoon, but I was on my own when I drove back to see the granite rocks at sunset. The spiky seed is only about the size of a 10 cent coin. The close up of the granite shows the amazing colours in these rocks.












Popular posts from this blog

Broken Hill to Burra

Image
We left Broken Hill about 8am for our drive to Burra. Our first stop was at Mannahill. We followed this load of sheep as we dawdled through roadworks. On a recommendation from friends we explored Terowie, an historic town that is almost abandoned. The town grew late in the nineteenth century as a transhipment point from broad gauge rail to narrow gauge. In the 1970s the line to Peterborough was converted to broad gauge and Terowie became a near ghost town. Several abandoned shops are now owned by the South Australian Government. Unfortunately there is a risk associated with asbestos being blown around the town. The population fell from about 2000 to 130. In 1942 General Macarthur passed through Terowie on his way to Adelaide and Melbourne. He made a public speech at the railway station famously asserting "I came out of Bataan [in the Phillipines] and I shall return". A plaque marks the location at the rem...
Read more

Aussie Road Crew - Finished

Image
After our final dinner and concert some Roadies were continuing their celebrations near our Bushtracker. We could hear the noise even though all windows were shut and the van is normally soundproof. As it was after 10pm I ventured out to negotiate with them. While one person accused me of being the fun police, other Roadies supported my suggestion they turn off the amplified music and keep the noise down. The general expectation in caravan parks is noise stops after 10pm. There were non Roadies trying to sleep in tents, and I suggested their activities would reflect badly on Aussie Road Crew and Beccy who might not be able to return to this park on future tours. Fortunately there was very little noise after my visit. We drove out of the Crows Nest Tourist Park just after 7am looking for a MacDonald's in Toowoomba for coffee and brekkie. Instead we spotted Valetta Cafe in time to park the van across the road. I bought a take away brioche egg and bacon roll and coffees. The cafe is i...
Read more

Around Chinchilla

Image
The Condamine River is flowing over the Chinchilla Weir 5kms out of town. It has reached the 6m mark on the gauge and is an impressive sight. It is forecast to reach 8m by Tuesday in two days time. Chinchilla has suffered several floods when Charley's Creek rises. This is the post office in the 2010-2011 flood and as it was today. On 28 December 2010 the water level at Chinchilla Weir topped 15m. Despite this history of repeated flooding Chinchilla appears to be a prosperous town with many community facilities such as a water park, 700 seat cultural centre, and major road improvements. Many of the out of town workers are employed by QCG, a Shell company "producing" natural gas in the Surat Basin - presumably this means collecting the gas by fracking. Just down the road there is accommodation for 1,000 workers in Stayover so the town is benefiting from the presence of this large workforce. Tilly finally slept through the night. Today I kept her outside as much as possible ...
Read more