Aramac 

The main feature about Aramac is the Sculpture Trail.

The sculptures actually start in Muttaburra, but these aren't done by the same artist that does the "Official Sculpture Trail" from Aramac.

Muttaburra's sculptures are all about Dinosaurs

The view from our van at Muttaburra, only 1 km from town

This sculpture trail goes in a loop from Aramac to Lake Dunn and back to Aramac via a dirt road. We thought we would do the dirt section first with the van attached and stay at Lake Dunn, but it was so rough and corrugated we decided to turn around and just do the sealed section to Lake Dunn.

Lake Dunn has been on our hit list for ages, having heard good reports about the camping there. We drove in, looked at the dust everywhere and people camped on top of each other, and decided to go back to Aramac for the night. It appears we're over dust for this trip. We also haven't been cramped into camping spots for so long, and we didn't want to start now.

These sculptures are all done by the one artist (Milynda Rogers) and she has an amazing ability to make them out of left over things on the farms, i.e. junk.  She's an incredible artist and you need to look closely to see what she's used in her sculptures.

Kangaroos and emu riding a bike

Ram

The famous cattle thief Captain Starlight and his dog

Johnathan Thurston - one of Australia's most famous footy players from Queensland

The original JT. Pretty good resemblance.

Frilled neck lizard

Rainbow Serpent

Barcaldine

We've often filled up our water tanks in Barcaldine as their water was classified "Best Water in Queensland" in 2017. It's certainly good water and tastes delicious.

This time we decided to stay for 2 nights in their showgrounds.  At $32/night its an expensive showground, but we reckoned over the years we've taken enough free water from there it's about time we did some payback.

Camping at Barcaldine Showground

"Tree of Knowledge" where the Australian Labor Party was formed in 1892

The "Tree of Knowledge" in the centre of Barcaldine was where the Australian Labor Party was formed in 1892.   In 2006 a very selfish person poisoned it, so it's heavily protected from the elements now, and all that's left is a trunk and a couple of flimsy branches. Luckily we've seen it alive before.

The Muttaburra Races were on Saturday, and the showgrounds at Barcaldine were used as an overnight stop for many of the racehorses on their way to Muttaburra. So the showgrounds here were an absolute hive of activity.

Lara Wetlands

We keep coming back to Lara, so obviously we like it and this time it didn't disappoint. When you keep coming back to a place and you don't get tired of it, it has to be good.  Everyone is really friendly and a 1.2 km walk around the lake can take as long as you like, depending on how many people you talk to on the way.

This is the 4th time we've been here and it's still excellent.

Hot thermal pool, lake with amazing sunsets and sunrises that you camp around with plenty of space between you and your neighbour. Especially if you pick a site between two trees and stumps so you can't get "built-out".

Alan looking like he's enjoying the view, but despite what Jayne says, he's not sound asleep

Lara sunsets

Sunset drinks - notice we've both finally had a haircut!

This jalopy (Klapperkiste) turned up one night.

We think 2 families or 3 generations - grandparents, parents and kids were travelling in it. They certainly created a lot of attention when they pulled up. A modified articulated vehicle, or "bendie" bus, which didn't look at all safe, and incredibly difficult to find a campsite anywhere. 

Every Saturday night they turn on dinner and entertainment for $25/person. A bit steep, but considering where we are we guessed it's ok. Pea and Ham Soup (soup's not a meal, we know Russ!), followed by a sausage, a rissole, a boiled potato and veggies. With sweet damper with jam and cream to finish.

They did 80 meals that night, and that's not a busy night, but a nice earner for them.

Biggest fire we've seen so far, and yes it did collapse! Gave everyone sitting near it quite a fright

Lara is another bird watching paradise. Last year when we were here, we saw a Tawny Frogmouth (like an owl, but not) in the tree in front of us.

Well, guess what he's still there. Same position. Hasn't moved. And yes, he's still alive!

Shattered Solar Panel

The arrow points to where the shattering radiates from

As much as we didn't believe it was a rock from our car/van that caused this, there is definitely a point of impact where the shattering radiates from. So it's safe to assume that this is what caused the panel to shatter.

We did some tests to see how much power this shattered panel was putting out. This involved cleaning them all, then covering them all with blankets etc so that no power was being generated. Then uncovering them one at a time and seeing how much power was being generated by each one.

Our test showed that, at this point of time, the panel next to this one was outputting 6.2A and the shattered panel was outputting 3.7A. Which is a better result than what we were expecting.  At least we're getting some power from it.

We've been told that if water gets in through the cracks the panel won't produce any power anymore.

Where to from here?

Jayne will have had her 2nd Covid vaccine soon. Alan had his 2nd when we were flew back to Sydney from Broome. So we're relatively safe.

Since we've been in Queensland we've met so many travellers that really just don't know where they are going to next. It's certainly the most discussed topic out here and people are just milling around with no idea what to do, or where to go next. So many people that are due home don't want to go home, some (like us) because they'll go straight into lockdown, others can't get home. Some have plans, but they're certainly not fixed in concrete and need to be flexible. Normally when you meet people in places like this the discussions are centred around where you've been, now its definitely where are you going.

We've meet 2 lots of Tasmanians here at Lara that can't get home as they have to travel through NSW and then through Victoria. Both hot-spots according to the Tasmanian Government. One of these couples is thinking of going to Darwin, selling their car and van there and then flying home. Well, that's a solid plan.

So where to from here for us? Queensland finished their lockdown in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast at 4pm on 8th August. So it looks like we'll be able to maintain our booking to have the solar panel replaced at Bushtracker (Sunshine Coast) on the 23rd August. We'll also get the fridge repaired (under warranty) as well as a new oven. Plus look at new vans from Bushtracker and Zone.

However, we're again thinking that we won't go home whilst the lockdown in Sydney isn't showing any signs of being lifted. If we were at home we still won't be able to see everyone, even though we could see Casper for some days, we'd be still locked down and unable to leave the house.

We have until the 20th August to decide on this. The danger is if we go to Noosa and the Gold Coast they could easily be subjected to their own lockdowns and this would destroy our plans yet again. So it maybe safer to just avoid the populated east coast altogether.