Blogs from Longreach, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 2

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Longreach August 13th 2013

Dry, dusty and nothing there. So many people believe this to be true. You only need to open your eyes, ears and spend some time, to find the character of Outback Central QLD. Whether it's the waterholes, with it's abundant wildlife; or in the small towns, with pubs and down to earth people; or in the flat, dry plains; Central QLD has a personality. Like anyone, her personality can be irritating and/or awesome and has the ability to evoke a range of emotions within the traveller. Dave and I have had time on our side and luckily have been able experience this.... read more

Kalgoorlie to Alice Springs - Part 2 - then on to Longreach

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Longreach July 26th 2013

DSCF5187

deekay

Forgot to tell the story of the missing dinner. At Palm Valley we had our veges and meat all prepared to cook for our meal. It was cold, so no flies were about. Just on dusk we walked across to talk to Terry and Steph for about 15 minutes, returned to our table, and the meat was gone. About 20 minutes later we saw a very cheeky dingo passing by our tent, and only 8 metres away from people cooking and the campfire. I hope he enjoyed our boerewors sausage! Finke Gorge to Boggy Hole gave us a little bit of 4-wheel driving until we reached a very sandy creekbed where we could see that another vehicle had ventured in, then backed out. Being on our own and it being late in the afternoon we decided ... read more

Day 4 Charlerville to Ilfracombe

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Longreach June 13th 2013

kaznpete

Sunshine greeted us this morning, i was so pleased to see it, i couldn't help but sing a little tune, the Beatles, here comes the sun was appropriate for this morning, until I was told be quiet:-( The camper still very wet with a very heavy dew. Another day of driving today, destination, Ilfracombe to meet up with Jane & Tim to finally get to wet little Islas' head! Arrived at Ilfracombe around 3ish, popped a bottle of bubbles, had a quick drink, into the Cassie and of to the artesian hot tub for a well earned but of R&R. 5:30 is happy hour at the C.P, so back from the hot tub, tidy up, and of to the camp kitchen for a drink, really, these are the places where you meet some of the most ... read more

'The Ringer'

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Longreach September 25th 2011

'The Ringer' - the most skilled of stockmen

Pootling Possums

Friday 23rd September – and we set off for Longreach, our next destination. We had heard that like Winton it was also very busy so we had booked ahead to ensure we had a space. Actually we had booked another “en suite” facility as they seemed reasonably priced and we like the independence that they provide. In a way, we regretted making the booking as we would have liked another day or so in Winton. For a small outback town, they really knew how to organise a good time and it was good to see it so well supported. The journey of about 180 kilometers was easy and, without much traffic about, we were able to “cruise” at a slower speed than normal. Occasionally a road-train or a faster moving car and caravan would creep by ... read more

After the dry riverbed at Hughenden we were surprised to see a very healthy looking Thompson River

Enormous decommissioned Boeing 747 at the entrance to the QANTAS Founders Museum

Brisbane to Longreach

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Longreach August 3rd 2011

Brisbane to Longreach 030

Fazz77

It was a great feeling to finally hit the road after planning the trip for over 6 months. We decided to head inland as we have done most of the Qld coast before. Our target was to head for Gold Rush country and try our luck at a bit of prospecting. After a quick stop off at Emerald to get some supplies we headed for the small town of Clermont. Lovely little town with lots of history of not only Gold but also one of the most devastating floods in Qld history with loss of life. After checking in at the caravan park we met with Clermont Prospectors who would give us the best chance of finding gold as we hired one of their state of the art metal detectors for 1/2 a day. We set ... read more

6 West: Emerald to Longreach 26 4 2011

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Longreach April 26th 2011

Sapphire

DonPattie

On Monday the 18th, we packed up and left Emerald. It was raining. The golf course was flooded. Really tough seeing as it had only opened its full 18 holes on the Saturday. Our next stop was Sapphire, where you guessed it, they still mine sapphires. However its now focuses on tourists and hobbyists and there is little serious mining being done. To make sapphires you need aluminium oxide and volcanoes. They come in several colours due to mineral impurities and the red ones are called rubies. The volcanoes have eroded away and all sapphires are found in ancient riverbeds as alluvial stones. Some are still found on the surface but most are mined at depths of 15 to 30 meters underground. We have camped at the Sapphire Camping Ground which, unusually, is on the top ... read more

BFN Tours

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Longreach July 8th 2010

Photo 2

Leeroy

Hi All, Quite a busy first four days traveling just over 2000kms through the wonderful outback. Our first stop was Nyngan on the banks of the Bogan river, a pretty camp but near freezing conditions so was glad to keep moving. Next day we introduced Julie and Craig and their "nice" all wheel drive" (which incidently has BFN number plates) to the aussie dirt road - red dirt!!! They coped but I think they will stick to tar where possible! We stay at Gundubooka, a national park about 70kms south of Bourke, it is quiet and very beautiful particularily the Yappa Rock Area. The chainsaw got an outing and needless to say we had a kick arse fire. Day three was a driving day Howes and Bush 300+ kms on the dirt whist Julie and Craig ... read more

Longreach

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Longreach June 26th 2010

Alpha Mural

JohnRose

Well, we’ve made reasonable headway since the last entry. We’re now at Longreach after one-night stops at Duaringa and Alpha. Duaringa was our first “free” camp where we had to use our own resources. ie. gas, generator, van tank water etc. All went well except for Rose suffering a touch of food poisoning from a dodgy sausage roll she had eaten along the road. Memories of Cook Islands???? The campsite at Alpha was lovely with, once again, very friendly people, always willing to give their advice. The town is renowned for the number of murals painted on various buildings around town. We have been lucky to have a tailwind most of the time we have travelled, so the fuel consumption is not as bad as we expected. Paid $1.38/L for diesel? The car is coping well ... read more

Greetings from Longreach

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Longreach May 25th 2010

Carrs

Dear Family & Friends We have now been on the road for 4 days... eventually left Nth Balwyn on Friday 21st. So far all is going well and we a getting into the swing of the “Camping Ground” life. Camping Ground life is a totally new experience for us and we are amazed at the friendliness of everyone. When speaking to others we realise what “novices” we are. There are a number of people who are travelling up the York Peninsula..it seems to be the flavour of the month. Our Tvan has created much interest amongst everyone..people asking for inspection as they haven’t seen anything quite like it. It certainly is very comfortable for our needs and you don’t even know you are pulling something behind. Our overnight stops so far: Parkes, Bourke, Charleville (lovely place ... read more

Sampling the Queensland Outback

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Longreach May 2nd 2010

Banana the cow

Brumlins

And so we sampled the great Queensland Outback Well here we are again so soon after our interim Blog on our very enjoyable time at Blackall and Coolatai. Our trek from The Town of 1770 to Longreach took us to an overnight stop at Banana. Banana isn’t famous for bananas, just ripping you off for two stubbies for $12.60 and a big yellow cow! When we arrived we were lucky as the only caravanners on site, which was good as there was only one male shower and toilet, but unlucky as by dusk the site was full. Our next stop - oh sorry, did we mention how far inland Longreach actually is? - was Lake Marraboon, 17km south of Emerald. A great campsite, we spent two nights here next to lovely neighbours Ian and Ros from ... read more

Brief history of Australia

Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name...more history

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