Interesting that just as we get towards the end of our travels our packing and unpacking is getting a little more efficient. We packed up and left Longreach early, happy that we saw what there was to see here and thrilled with the free camping so close to town. We did wonder how any paying camping ground could make a good living here based on the crowds at the free camp area.
Our first stop of the day was Barcaldine for morning tea. Lachie proceeded to fall over my bag, twist his ankle and break the 2nd pair of shoes in as many days. He decided his leg was “broken” and was unable to walk on it. Just another reason to get carried around like a baby.
We did a quick stop at Tourist information and then went to see the Tree of Knowledge – the birthplace of the Australian Labour Party. This tree was poisoned back in 2006 shortly after being deemed a national treasure, and now what remains is a rather impressive memorial, built around the dead remains of the tree for the meager sum of $5mAUD.
The kids gave it a good greenie style tree hug in the hope some of that knowledge rubs off on them, and then Lachie (with the broken leg) proceeded to do headstands around the tree, so not sure he really gleaned much from the experience.
Onward to Tambo(population 330), our stop for the night and to be honest neither of the two campsites in town looked like much. We settled for one on the highway which cost $20, so expectations were rather low. However, for that we did get hospitable hosts and up close and personal with the road trains hammering down the highway at night all done up like Xmas trees – Lachie loved it.
We headed out in the evening when we had set up camp and did a quick walk around the local river called the Coolibah walk. The evening sun was beautiful, kangaroos a go go, and we even got to visit the site of a Qantas crash back in 1923 which I believe has been struck from the history books as I had always firmly believed Qantas had never been involved in a fatal plane crash – amazing what you find in the most remote of spots.
We walked back via the main street past the Tambo Teddy shop and to the horror of the kids and our delight, it was shut for the evening so we got to go home, have a glass of wine and cook amongst the bugs yet again. I seriously think we are getting more protein than we bargained for in our recent evening meals without the annex – roll on Charleville and hopefully some comfort again.
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