Outback Queensland 2023

 Roma is a busy town due to the gas industry.  The locals understandably have varying opinions on the large scale of fracking in the area.  We stayed at the gun club in Roma which was quiet except when the Thursday practice and Saturday comp was on.  After Roma we tried a couple of free camps before staying at Lightning Ridge.  While there we did a trip out to the Grawin opal diggings where we had a nice hamburger lunch at the Club in the Scrub. Several days later we arrived at Bourke where the temperature was in the mid 30s.   Ah, Heaven! The draper shop at Roma Building your own burger comes with risks - ah, jalapenos The gums are flowering at Yuleba A Red Wing Parrot at Judds Lagoon, Yuelba     We are at the Club in the Scrub - it looks a bit 'rustic' The Club has a TV.  They must use it to watch the footy   And, of course, the club has a golf course Lightning Ridge has several quirky buildings illustrating the local sense of hum...

 We have turned south and are now heading towards home.  Our first stop was at the small town of Springsure where we were very fortunate to receive an interesting, informative and humorous Aboriginal heritage presentation from Daryl.  He is trying to keep his culture alive and impart knowledge of his culture to anyone who has the time to listen. We camped at the Staircase Ranges where, in 1905, Chinese labour was used to construct a road cutting in the sandstone rock using hand tools. Our next camp was at Lake Nuga Nuga which was formed about 160 years ago because the Brown River silted up after flash flooding.  With all its dead trees it looks a bit like Lake Eildon. Daryl telling us about the local aboriginal culture A small part of Daryl's. collection of knives, axe heads and spear heads The hand cut cutting at Staircase Range Fivsies and a Lake Nuga Nuga sunset A moth in 'cammo' on the side of our van A stilt at Lake Nuga Nuga Lake Nuga Nuga Sunset

 We camped a few nights at the Pump Hole Reserve at Muttaburra.  The town has had a large population decline over the lat 100 years but still survives with tourists being attracted by the cheap camping, great winter weather, its heritage, sculptures and dinosaur stuff.  We left Muttaburra and drove to Lake Dunn via Aramac where we had a welcome coffee stop.  Lake Dunn is a bit of an oasis in the outback and has a lot of bird life. Our last stop for this part of the trip was at Bogantungan railway station.  The town is unfortunately famous for Queensland's worst railway disaster when a bridge over a rain swollen collapsed under the Winton to Rockhampton passenger train in 1960 resulting in 7 deaths.  We have reached Emerald where we'll have a stay before turning south to commence our journey home.   I've already done a few rides around Emerald and found that the magpie season has well and truly started. Slaters crossing the road in Muttaburra - loc...

 The nice day time weather continues with cool overnight temperatures.  David and I have been riding almost every day, exploring Charleville, Augathella, Tambo and Blackall.   At Charleville we had a bit of luxury by staying in a campground with power and water.  We visited the Cosmos experience at Charleville where we looked through some expensive telescopes at the night sky.  There were a few nice coffee establishments and a good Thai restaurant where we enjoyed our last dinner in town.   We free camped at Augathella and Tambo by rivers and had a great pub meal at Tambo.  At Blackall we got a really nice spot by the river on the town common so stayed 4 nights.  There are some great coffee places there and a few things to see and do, including the thermal pool/aquatic centre which is popular with grey nomads. Our next nearly free camp at $5 a night was beside the Barcoo River at Isisford.  The great weather and bike rides kept goin...