We need a break!

 

After over 1800 kilometres in five days, plus sight seeing, lots of dog walking whenever we stop, setting and packing up it was definitely time to stop and catch our breath. We have been doing the "miles" as there are big distances between places in Western Queensland. So it was so good to stop for two nights in Cobar. The weather was lousy; very windy and cold. Cobar seems a nice town with a good shopping centre including an excellent quilt shop that attracted my attention. It has an economy based on mining.

But despite the huge distances the days went quickly, it was not boring as there was a lot to see. You notice the little things out here.

1. Like the way the vegetation changes and geography changes; the river crossing with names remembered from primary school lessons like Barcoo, Darling, Warrego, Thompson and hundreds of other creeks and flood plains. It must be amazing when they fill up. Everything was dry and only a few had water in them.

2. Numerous animals are on the side of the road including beef of all sizes and colours, kangaroos, sheep, horses, foxes and camels.  Unfortunately there is a lot of road kill, mostly kangaroos who obviously cop it from the road trains.

3. Birds. Squadrons of black kites, square tailed kites and whistling kites, squawking galahs and cockatoos, the black and white birds such as magpies, starlings, mud larks and crows, gorgeous grey bustards (bush turkeys) who are very hard to see ahead on the bitumen and  majestic wedge tailed eagles.

4. Vehicles. Lots of road trains and semi trailers, caravans and RV in all sizes and ages, a tractor, and a bloke travelling around Australia on a tractor towing a decorated horse float.

 
5. Stations, or just names with intriguing roads heading off to some unknown destination.

6. The artesian basin with its hot water that comes up a thousand metres or more from deep within the earth. It's hot (58C plus) and in places smelly. They need to cool it before they use it.
In Tambo they didn't even have hot water systems in the caravan park. But it really dried out my skin and hair. Not a good look ...straw instead of hair.