3. Nardoo Station (near Cunnamulla Qld) – Longreach Qld

How’s this for a giant Bilby?  It does look a bit piggy from this angle (that would be the one on the post!).  We visited the Bilby Centre at Charleville Q and saw these neat little marsupials from the bandicoot family.  They are around the size of a small cat and have large, translucent, rabbit-like ears and black & white tails.  Rhonda thinks they are really cute.  We saw 2 females which proved impossible to photograph in the low red light, particularly as they didn’t stop running around.

We stopped for lunch at the beautiful lakeside rest stop in Tambo Q, along with about 10 other caravans, all doing the same thing.  Fortunately, the area was big enough for us all. 

The road was a little bumpy between Tambo and Barcaldine and Rhonda ‘had fun’ re-stacking the crockery shelves, etc., after we arrived. 

We found the site of the original Black Stump in Blackall Q and are now in the area once considered to be “Beyond the Black Stump” ie. west of Blackall.  A petrified tree stump now marks the spot.  Comfortable cars, air conditioning and bitumen roads sure make this trip easier.

The Tree of Knowledge died in 2006 and so we checked out the $5m wooden structure built around the original tree as a memorial.  An impressive, huge scale construction which also acts like a wooden wind chime in heavy winds.

We arrived in Longreach in time to join Scott, Belinda and friends from their church for a surprise camp birthday dinner for Terry at Starlight’s Lookout, about 60k from Longreach.  We enjoyed good company, good food and marvelous views from this solitary hill in vast, open country. 

Scott borrowed a trailbike for Spen then took us to the bike track on the common outside Longreach.  He was delighted when Rhonda agreed to a (gentle) double around the track – duly captured on video of course! 

Scott had a hoot and handles jumps with ease.  Spen on the other hand rode much more slowly and was dubbed ‘Spencer the Safe’ because he needs all limbs to remain in working order for the rest of the holiday.

On the good news front - Toby & Neo (S&B’s dog) seem to be getting on well and Spen re-connected two clearance lights on the caravan after a repairer cut the cable accidentally.