Lara Wetlands to Winton - Dinosaur Stampede (the only one in the world!)

Lara Wetlands has been on Jayne's hot-list for some time. Its just south of Barcaldine. It's a small lake filled from an artesian bore sunk over 100 years ago, so its been around for awhile.

The camping isn't cheap at $25/night per van, and you get water plus firewood that you have to cut up yourself.

But the view, especially at sunset, is to die for.

The camping is on grass which we love, and so does Bailey, so he can roll around heaps. 

 They also have a guy who's based there over the tourist season who does massages, and we both agree it was one of the best massages we've ever had.  Jayne had cupping as well, so her backside looked like she'd been hit by squash balls.

There are flushing toilets and hot showers heated via a Donkey.

Jayne managed to find a drop toilet built for 2!

We had lots of room to spread out

We stopped at Barcaldine to pickup some water and do the toilet duties. They have the best tasting water in Queensland according to a survey recently.

Barcaldine is where the Labour Party was started

This is the Tree of Knowledge under which the Labour Party was formed. It was also where the workers of the 1891 shearer's strike met.

It was poisoned in 2006 by some insipid person, so it needs supporting now and all limbs are held up by wires.  Sort of like the Labour Party of today!

Bush traffic jam, on the way to Longreach

Longreach

One of the things we had to do in Longreach was to install the new caravan door. It was waiting for us at the Caravan Park when we arrived.

Exciting times! It's funny what you look forward to when you're out there.

The unpacking

Removal of the old damaged door

The new door ready to go in

After two attempts, we managed to get the two doors in without removing the old frame. Which meant we had to throw away the old doors and new frame.

I'm extremely pleased how well it fitted and shuts. Much better than the original door. No more loud closures needed. We still have to get BushTracker to fit a new door as this one isn't the right one for our van, it's meant for a flat sided van. To get the exact door we had to wait 29 working days for one to be built! I'm glad this one was half price, as it's a second.   It has a couple of scuff marks on the perspex, but nothing too serious.

I know a lot about how to fit these doors now!

We also went on the Cobb & Co Coach Ride in Longreach. They do a gallop as well, which was really cool. Last time we were in Longreach they rolled a coach doing this!  Thankfully nobody was hurt.

I was lucky enough to get in the seat at the very front, only one passenger is allowed up there on each coach. Jayne elected to take one of the rear facing seats at the back.

Here she is climbing down

The rear seat is very dusty, so they blow the dust off the passengers

What a well trained dog.  He jumped up on the wheel whenever they took a photo, without any word or signal from his master.

We continued our Vanilla Slice Challenge in Longreach

We're now finally in the Tropics having crossed the Tropic of Capricorn in Longreach. It's still cold at night though.

Winton - Home of the only dinosaur stampede in the world

The Waltzing Matilda Centre burnt down and the new one was opened just last month.  It's a lovely building, but unfortunately they lost a lot of historical stuff in the fire.

Here's Jayne with Banjo Paterson

It might be brand new, but it's already rusted. Things don't last long in this harsh environment

They make walls out of junk here

Queenslander's need clear and concise warnings before they can operate machinery

This is the Dinosaur Stampede. We were only 95 million years too late to see it live