Longreach Thompson River

Many years ago the Aboriginal people cut a shield from this tree .

What  sunset wine and cheese should like on the Thompson River  at Longreach

What it really looked like ... so many flies, most wore fly veils. 

A beautiful quilt on display and this huge art work about the life of a stockman . It was a great display and even more there then when I last visited.

Aramac and Lake Dunn

This little western town is a little famous because this is near where Harry Redford known as Captain Starlight stole a 1000 head of cattle and a white bull.  He drove them to Bourke and then was caught. I think this cowboy looks like Robert Redford and he has his name on the statue but Mr B doesn't agree he says its Captain Starlight.

Some of the many sculptures in the area , as I said earlier people in the west are very resourceful. It's a test of age and knowledge to see what some of the sculptures are made of. 


So very dry on the way to Aramac . It was greener when we arrived this is just out of Barcaldine. 

Tambo

The Tambo Teddy is a bear that is completely hand made with Australian wool. It is hand made in Tambo and was the invention of some towns people to try to keep close to the wool industry when it failed in their area. Also to keep the little town alive.  The bear is famous in Australia and one was a gift from our government to little Prince George when he arrived into the world.  Each bear is numbered and referenced and is unique. The bears are named after Stations in the area.  Mine is Called "Tambo Station Ted"

This unusual horse sculpture was right next door. It is made of twisted and tangled wood.

Augathella

A Lowes Truck on the job - these guys drive for miles to deliver fuel in the outback

I have only one question ... Why?? meat ants are the most horrid things, you cant get rid of them , their nests go for hundreds of metres under the ground.  

A very old Police station - many buildings in the  late 1800's were built to be moved in a hurry. The frame was built so the boards could slip inside one on top of the other without nailing.  It is like the actual studs of the frame are on the outside not the inside.This was one such building.

Oh and a bit of Lucy Boston stitching when the road is not  too rough. Notice my cute but strong Gidgee Smith bag , excellent for stitching in the car, you can just throw it on the floor when your not using it and don't have to worry about it getting dirty out in this landscape.

Barcaldine

The shearers strike at Barcaldine is a famous part of Australia's industrial history. " The Tree of Knowledge" was the famous landmark where the shearers gathered. Sadly it no longer lives but the remnants of the tree is here for good with a monument made of timber to this place and the shearers. The monument is like a giant wind chime with pieces of wood hanging from the roof. It's amazing to listen to it. You can see it for miles approaching Barky as its affectionately called. When I was here last about 10 years ago it was just a big black box and looked terrible I thought. But now it has aged it fits much better into the landscape.

Blackall Wool Scour

The wool scouring plant was located here because of the sheep industry and the plentiful supply of hot artesian water .

The steam engines completed the water to boiling point by forcing the water between these things. I thought they were an interesting piece of machinery. 

This is the place where the very famous shearing legend "Jack Howe"  broke the record for the amount of sheep shorn with hand shears.   321 sheep in 7 hours and forty minutes. That's one sheep shorn with hand clippers every one minute and 25 seconds for a whole day..not beaten to this day by a person with hand shears . 

In one working week he sheared a sheep every one minute and fifty seconds.   He set this record in 1892. The  navy bonds singlet was named after him and is now commonly known as a Jacky Howe, but it has to be navy as this is the colour of the flannel he wore. His wife took the sleeves out of his shirt to make a sort of a singlet. 

Sheep yards made of gidgee wood  as the white ants don't eat it 

Sheep Station brands of the day that were sent  to the Blackall wool scour.

Next stop Blackall

If you want  to read a poem called the "Bush Christening" by Banjo Patterson you will hear this river referred to .  Blackall is  960 kilometers or 600 miles from Brisbane.

Sculptures using bits from the past tell many stories in the outback . People are 

resourceful and creative as you will see on our journey

The early surveyors  measured things from this stump as it held their gear steady. If it were west beyond this point , you were the other side of the black stump which is a common Aussie saying to refer to somewhere far  far away. Whoops missed a pic of the black stump, the original one burnt now they have one of petrified wood in the same spot.

This was just a funny name for a gully

Our Trip begins a Morven

For those who like patchwork and stitching news it will be a little short over the next 3 weeks because we are on an outback trip. So here we go ....



Some areas have been very dry so there are lots of cattle on the road and kids on school holidays loving to help. Never underestimate what kids in the bush can do...

Gidgee's Bush Camp   - best Coffee shop , great coffee and where you least expect it. If you go there its a must do go to the "Kill for a Cuppa" coffee shop .

The Piliga Sculptures

Looking up from the bottom of the George.

Looking down from the top

During our 'Scrub Stitchin' Retreat Chooky and Sonia organised a trip to the Piliga Sculptures. The sculptures were worked on in consultation with the indigenous community in the area.

I love this ,it's rock but to me it looks like a Eucalyptus or gum  tree when the bark is peeling.
These sculptures are so deep in the scrub no-body would know they are there!