Ballarat to Mt Isa
Heading North to Warmer
Weather???? Well Eventually
The
'Backtrack
to the Outback'
The Kidman Way runs from Jerilderie to the Queensland Border.
Until May, 1999 a large section of The Kidman Way was unsealed and unsuitable
for caravans. Now sealed, it is a great way to quickly get into outback
NSW and
Griffith, Nice Town, Great
Wineries ....... Our first stop after departing Moama on
Monday May 1 was 
After spending a day in
Heading North.......
We departed 
75 mm in Cobar and 125 mm in Bourke. Paddocks were flooded, the sides of the
road deep in water and in a number of places as shown in the photo the water
crossing the road. Every unmade road in the
Shire of Bourke was closed to traffic due to the rain. This rain
together with rains earlier this year have transformed the outback into a
green, lush environment and vastly different from what we witnessed only 8
months ago. The cows and sheep all look fat and healthy
so if this is any indication then the farmers will do well this season.
Cobar .....
Before reaching Cobar we came across some travellers who had stopped for a
coffee break on the side of the road. We decided to stop also and Rob
luckily happened to hear a hissing noise coming from under the guy's
bonnet. On investigation, it was found that a heater hose had
burst. With some innovative mechanical work done, the driver and his wife
reached Cobar where mechanical repairs were carried out. Cobar is a small
mining town in the far west of
Bourke - As in 'The Back Of'.... This was our next stop not too far up the road. This town had had 5 inches of rain so again the sides of the roads were very boggy and luckily we did not come across any road trains coming our way. The road is very good and since it was opened up in May 1999, it has brought a lot of tourism to Bourke. This is seen in the main street where the pavements have been all bricked paved and the original metal bars protecting the shop windows have been removed and replaced with colourbond pull down shutters. The park we stayed at was just the other side of Bourke and it had copped the downpour with the caravan sites quite waterlogged. There are some beautiful old buildings in Bourke and also the grave site of Fred Couples who did so much for the aborigines in Bourke. He requested to be buried with wide open spaces around him. We found his monument in the Bourke cemetary - a very simple grave site and an aboriginal monument commemorating his life.
Unfortunately due to the rain, all the unsealed roads out of Bourke were closed, so we could not see a few attractions which were on the Mud Maps.
Charleville....
Our next overnight stop was to be Charleville. We arrived around 4.30 pm
and found the park to be absolutely chock a block. To get out in the
morning, you had to nearly move out in shifts, but the very friendly owner and
his wife were there to help. 
On the road again and during one of our quieter moments Liz was heard to say
and I quote "What is that Rob? It's smaller than a cockroach and
bigger than a kangaroo." What the hell am I supposed to look
for. Well the photo tells the story. It was a goanna we met on the
roadside on our way from Charleville to Blackall. He was sunning
himself and was quite happy for us to stop and take photos. What we have
noticed on this section of our trip is a lot of emus and kangaroos.
The lush green countryside has really brought these animals out into the open
and even during the day you have to watch the sides of the road for kangaroos.
Blackall....
This is just a small town further up the track. The caravan park was very
nice and it seems that everyone is moving along together as we keep bumping
into the same travellers. Along with some caravan neighbours, we took a
run out to the Blackall historic woolscour. It is unique in its
presentation as it is totally unchanged since its earliest days of steam
power. Built in 1908, it is the only surviving woolscour in western
Unfortunately we had arrived at the caravan park the night before the camp oven cooking night. It always seems to be that you are either there the day after or the day before the event.
Thank goodness these towns have something to advertise and sell their towns to the passing traveller. One town that would have been struggling to get their name on the map would have to be Augathella, which is famous for its "meat ants". Yes the sign promoted as "meat ant country"
Longreach....
This town is the largest town in central western
The
Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame opened 10 years ago and is well worth a
visit. It gives a comprehensive history of
It was then time for the Longreach Agricultural Show. There is nothing
like a country show. There were lots of country people catching up with friends
and acquaintances who they may not have had contact with for many weeks and
just the whole layback carnival atmosphere. There was the crowning of
Miss Showgirl, dog jumping competition, shearing competitions and
more. We even had a chance to visit the bull auctions and Liz,
inadvertently brushing a fly from her face, ended up purchasing a 1000 kg Santa
Gertrudas bull which we now have in the back of the 4WD (No Bull).
This was then followed by the fireworks display, which did not quite match the
New Year's Eve celebration on
After two days in Longreach, it was time for us to move on to Winton
Winton - The Home of
Waltzing Matilda .... and the birthplace of Qantas. Winton
is 176 kms up the road from Longreach. Again, we missed the
campfire cooking at the caravan park which was on last night or is it on
tomorrow night. I dare not ask. Anyway, we arrived at
lunchtime and hit the town in the afternoon. Winton is known for the
Waltzing Matilda Centre (the origin of our national song, so they say).
This centre is very well done with the life of Banjo Paterson and Waltzing
Matilda and is an impressive combination of
Mount Isa ..... 'Been there,
done that' Having spent a few days in Mount Isa last year we will
not be tourist on this stay. Our main purpose for stopping a few
days is to stock up on supplies, do all our washing and update the WEB
Site. Believe it or not
This section of the trip has been very
interesting mainly because of the wide variation in weather conditions and some
excellent tourist attractions. The weather has now improved and is what
we expected. Every day, clear blue skies, 28oC
during the day and down to about 12 to 15oC at night. What
could be better. For those that are interested we have
already travelled 2750 km since leaving home, petrol prices have varied from a
low of $0.765 in Ballarat to a high of $0.949 in Charleville. In
The highlight of this section:
Has to be the "Stockman's Hall of Fame" in Longreach. This really is a world class exhibition and takes ever bit of 5 hours to cover or if you really spend time at all the displays at least 8 hours.
From now on we leave the world of manufactured tourism and head to the real outback and the tourist spots that mother nature has constructed over millions of years.
Until our next update.
Regards, Rob & Liz
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