Wed 22nd May

Arrived Cloncurry and checked in with Blaze Aid to do some volunteer work . We were put up for the night at the showgrounds . Had a wonderful dinner at the base , then it was organised that we would go to the Burke and Wills roadhouse for a 3 day camp draft to help with Blaze Aid get together
for local farmers . We then have a station to go to for our volunteering , about 35ks from Cloncurry .

Tues 21st May

Stayed last night at the long waterhole about 5ks from Winton . Fuelled and watered , quick visit
to the Waltzing Matilda Centre .

This is the new building which replaces the one burnt down a few years ago . They have
done a great job .

Sunday 19th May , Monday 20th May .

Drove on to Ilfracombe where we stayed the night just outside town ,huge open area
only two of us camping .

On to Longreach . Couldnt believe how the countryside had changed since we came through
last year when it was virtually just a dust bowl . Now green everywhere , lots of feed and lots
of fat cattle . Into town to do a bit of shopping and a walk around town .

Saturday 18th May

Before I do today I have been reminded by Beverley that I missed out o a place we stopped ,
little place called Mulgildie , home of the " Bunyip ".

Back to Saturday . Stopped overnight just outside of Alpha , nice spot on the river .

Friday 17th May

Travelled up through Biloela , Moura , Rolleston  to Springsure , shocking road conditions ,badly
damaged it would appear by the hundreds of mining trucks . triple road trains 53 metres long .
Stopped for the night at Virgin Rock , a spectacular rock formation which is lit up at night and
purports to show an image of the virgin mary . It was more spectacular at sunrise .

Left after breakfast and drove on to Alfa where we will stay the night .

Thursday 16th May

Well finally got away , we were going on Wed arvo but got held up in town until
nearly 4pm and it was belting down with rain , so left it til Thurs am . Drove to Ceratadus
between Eidsvold and Monto . It is a renovated railway station from 1856
There was also a NSW police station on the site from 1854 -56 prior to queensland being queensland

Only three other camps and understood why , it was terribly noisy

Fri 26th April to Wed 1st May

Left Forbes sat morning . Could have stayed longer but the wind was horribilus , blowing dust everywhere and quite strong , spent most of friday arvo bunkered down in the van . Saturday decided to stop at a camp behind the Mullaley pub , would not go there again , dirty dusty covered with burrs ,showers and toilets very sad

Sunday saw us off to Tamworth , where we had planned to stop and do some touristy things . The town was extremely busy as they had an N R L game the night before so we pushed on to Bingera , a delightful camp on the side of the river . Have stayed a couple of times before , only one other camp there when we arrived , so we had the pick of the sites

Told I looked like a pommie tourist , but colour coordinated !!!!!!

We decided that a new awning cover was needed as ours was looking very dilapidated . Phoned RV warehouse in Brendale where we had had an awning installed a few years ago . They said they could make and install a new cover on wed 8am . Headed off to Brisbane and stayed at the Lawnton showgrounds about 15 mins from RV warehouse .
Arrived 8am wed , and job was finished by 1pm , $810 which was about $600 cheaper than a Dometic one imported from America .

Then it was home james and dont spare the horses , couldnt believe what a fantastic job our house sitters have done whilst we have been away . They have headed off for a while and will come back when we head north . Truck goes into the doctor on tues to fix the problem we had 5 weeks ago , hopefully . So we will give this blog a rest for now until we head off again