Lesley & Erich on the road again.

[T1 Terry]

Sounds good, but best not to take Mitzi to the house, don't want to try getting a dog out of the cat's mouth, he has very sharp teeth

T1 Terry

[Swisslulu]

Still at Yaraka. Today we drove out in the Suzuki 45kms along the Jundah road, turning off at the sign for Magee’s Shanty, believed to be the Shanty referred to in Banjo Patterson’s “A Bush Christening”. 5kms down the track we came to a cairn that was erected following Back to Yaraka festivities in 1991.


Seen from a distance. The logs on the ground were not from the shanty but were the seating for the festivities mentioned above. More than 200 people attended. Current population of Yaraka is about 28.


Along the track was a sign pointing to Magoffin’s grave. What a lonely final resting place.


Poor fellow died in 1885 whilst searching for water.


Dead trees can make such good subjects.


Back to the Jundah road and shooting off on the opposite side another 5kms down that road, we came to the remains of the town that never was. Welford was surveyed but never eventuated. All that remains are the survey pegs.



Beautiful skies out here.


Back in town, opposite the pub.




The railway closed in 2005 and the old station houses interesting artefacts.

[Shirley]

Great photos Lesley, thanks.

[Swisslulu]

From Yaraka we headed back to Blackall for another night at the Barcoo River campsite and to replenish our groceries. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at The Lodge on Hawthorne, a beautifully maintained building that was formerly the Masonic Lodge.


Not sure if this sign is legible.



It was just a short run up the highway from Blackall to the turn off to Lara Wetlands, then 13 kms of very well maintained dirt road.

The campground was quite busy but still plenty of room for a waterfront site.



The thermal pool


On Friday we drove the Suzi the 41kms to Barcaldine to buy some contact cleaner from the hardware as we were having some problems with the trailer cable to the Suzi - no left hand indicators or brake lights without quite a bit of fiddling around.

As we had been to Barcy a few times before, we just took a few photos in the main street before refuelling and heading back to Lara.




On Saturday night there was free entertainment and an optional 3 course camp oven dinner which we enjoyed.



We signed up for the Homestead tour on Sunday which included morning tea. Jo, Lara’s owner, gave us a very good talk about Lara Station’s history and that of the homestead itself which had stood abandoned since 1975 until Jo and her late husband, Michael, bought the property in 2007.

Sadly, Michael was killed in a helicopter mustering accident on the very day that their first camper arrived in 2014. Jo has done a marvellous job of developing the tourism side of Lara but feels the need to move on with her life and currently has a contract on the property. Fingers crossed that the sale goes through.





The exterior walls were originally painted. Jo employed someone to grind off all the old paint to reveal the beautiful Hoop Pine boards.




Jo tells a good yarn.


The bore head.


Outside the rustic museum.


We had a wonderful time at Lara and highly recommend a stay there.

[Shirley]

The Masonic lodge was a big organisation in Qld.,just another chapter gone, times are a changing Australia wide. I used a photo of that lodge in Trivia were is this?

Thanks great photos Lesley, wish we were spending more time in the outback.

[Greynomad]

We’re jealous!
Under normal circumstances we’d be just ready to return south after a few months wandering the Qld outback.

[jon_d]

I know what you mean Ray, Now you can just wander around out back. Sometimes out front. If lucky, out the gate

[Greynomad]

Yup.
At least we have a ½ acre out front & ⅓ acre out back to wander in...
The Hound still manages to get lost... probably because he’s blind. Has to locate us by following our voices.
Today is his 14th birthday!
Happy birthday Paddy!

[jon_d]

Is Paddy an Irish Hound?

[Swisslulu]

The Masonic lodge was a big organisation in Qld.,just another chapter gone, times are a changing Australia wide. I used a photo of that lodge in Trivia were is this?

Thanks great photos Lesley, wish we were spending more time in the outback.

Shirley, my dad was a Mason, a converted Victorian to Qld. Were the Masons only in Qld? I thought it was a world wide organisation. Maybe I misunderstood your post.