The road changes little as you head due east on the Barkly Highway until you approach Mt Isa which is nestled in rugged and hilly country. It has that bare-earth, scarred look that big mining towns so often have. It was great to top up supplies and do a little washing at the Laundromat before heading out to a quiet paddock off the road that would be our home for the night.

Walkabout Pub in McKinlay, Qld was the prop pub in Crocodile Dundee.

The vegetation is thicker but the road trains are just as long and frequent in Queensland – 24 hours a day! We passed endless farms with paddocks so big you cannot see any fences. Here and there the Aussie sense of humour finds expression even out here.

This old beer truck shows how serious Queenslanders are about their Four X!

Qld version of farm gate art? I think this bloke is a bit lonely. He should go on the TV show “Farmer Wants A Wife”?

The next “major” town is Winton where lunch was enjoyed, along with the phone signal for calls home and email checks. The timing between blogs has been a challenge with so little coverage.

This little unique house is for sale in Winton. Nearly made an offer on it but Ginnie wasn’t keen 😦

Abandoned cattle yards by the roadside

From Mt Isa through to Barcaldine we were absolutely staggered by the amount of roadkill on the verge. Literally thousands of Roos, dozens of pigs, cattle, sheep and even a donkey or two. On the worst stretches, we observed that we could not travel 50 metres without there being at least one dead thing beside the road… and that was for hundreds of kilometres! It seems like such a waste. These creatures could have maintained the meat pie industry at the MCG for at least one football season.

Fortunately no Camels were  roadkill! These animals were key inland transport a hundred or so years back.

By far the biggest town on this stretch is Longreach. With it’s stately trees, historic buildings, extensive facilities and industry it is a thriving hub of business and tourism. It is also home to the Stockman’s Hall of Fame (this was just a shed under construction when we passed through here 27 years ago). This place is well worth a visit even if you don’t venture further west.

The Stockman’s Hall of Fame

Perhaps our favourite typical little country town was Barcaldine which has a bakery so good it was like peak hour in Melbourne when we hit the place at morning tea time. The sausage rolls were amazing! This town also houses “The Tree of Knowledge” the site of shearers strikes and the birth of the labour party in the 1890’s. The link between knowledge and modern politics seems tenuous but this tree has significant links with Australia’s past and the union movement. After 200 years, termite infestations and the hands of vandals saw the grand tree die. It has been preserved and now encased in an open air “reverse canopy” with thousands of suspended timbers internally shaped to reflect the original canopy size. Apparently night is the best time to see this display with its internal lighting. You can’t miss it as it is in the main street of Barcaldine.

Looking up into the canopy cavity of the Knowledge Tree in Barcaldine.

Of course there are many quaint and quirky little towns to see like Alpha and Dingo. Perhaps the most unusual was Jericho which included a strange reconstruction of the walls of Jericho and the “Crystal Trumpeters” as they were seeking to retell the Biblical story behind their name. Cutest of all was their cafe and drive in theatre (also the War Memorial park) which can accommodate nearly 2 dozen cars with extras seated in a small pavilion behind.

The Jericho souvenir shop, bistro, restaurant, fuel station & trader in arts and crafts!

The WWII Memorial Park also doubles as the Jericho Drive In Theatre. They can take nearly 2 dozen cars and pedestrians can sit in the stall behind the cars at the rear!

After seeking local knowledge along the way we turned east off the Lansborough Highway at Barcaldine and took the Capricorn Highway nearly all the way to Rockhampton before turning south a little inland from the busy coastal roads so as to arrive in Gympie via scenic route – just a short drive from our destinations in the Sunshine Coast.

We stopped at this rail crossing for the coal train. It stretched over a kilometre and included 2 diesel engines at the front, 3 engines in the middle and 100 coal carriages.

There are certain signs that help you to realise you have arrived at The Sunshine Coast…

The Big Pineapple – Nambour.

We had enjoyed our days in the Noosa region immensely. Markus drooled over the Expedition vehicles we inspected and Virginia boosted the economy at the Eumundi Markets which we haven’t visited in about 15 years. Here are some shots of these great markets…

Yep… a bakery for dogs!

Markus’ first ride on a Segway… intense concentration!

These old guys were singing a sweet Gospel country tune.

This dude makes amazing guitars from cigar boxes and plays them a treat!