5 March 2012 - Barcoo River Camp, Tambo, Central West, Queensland

Such camps as these are rare. For now we are totally alone beside this well known river which is little but a series of muddy puddles  If it were to rise by four metres, then we could be in trouble and the small sign announcing the fact that this is an approved camp ground, and that we are entitled to stay for three nights, does also mention that it can be subject to flooding. Hopefully the rain we have been subjected to over the past couple of days is not enough to show us that the Barcoo can be a real river.

We left Sydney a week ago and in that time we have covered 1,900 kilometres. I should remind readers however that we did spend four nights near Canberra so this does distort any distance calculations you might be attempting in your head. This is also an opportunity to mention that we have covered over 51,200 kilometres since we initially set out on our great Australian Adventure over twenty five months ago. But then it is also timely to remind the reader (and myself) that we have spent four months in total back in New Zealand during that time and many many weeks camped up in state’s capitals for intense urban exploration.

We passed an excellent night at Wyandra, still alone but for the Victorians in the small camper van. We left camp soon after them, farewelling a retired working dog who was hungry for company. He was obviously quite deaf and could easily have ended up under the wheels had I not been outside watching him. We filled our water tanks and drove off out of Wyandra before the children had arrived at the school next door.

It had obviously rained overnight more than we were aware; great puddles lined the road side and at one point we narrowly missed a very large lizard making the most of the water pooled on the road.

After about one hundred kilometres, we reached Charleville just as we were about to switch over to the sub fuel tank and filled up at a brand new Gull Service Station, then used the dump facility provided to the travelling public. Charleville along with so many of the townships along this route we are taking, is an RV friendly town and really does its best to capture the tourist dollar before they whistle on through. There are tours of the Outback School and the Cosmos Centre starting early in the morning which means that you really need to have stayed overnight. Clever ploy, don’t you think?

Charleville’s population is a grand 3,550 and sits at an elevation of 306 metres ASL. While the sheep industry has declined somewhat over the past ten years, cattle production has grown. The healthy mulga country can carry 3 – 4 cattle per square hectares in an average year, and some of these recent years have been better than average. The goat meat industry  is also taking off; the meat exported to thirty different countries. The town is the largest centre in South West Queensland and acts as a service centre to the regjon.

Charleville's Town Hall

We parked out on the highway since angle parking doesn’t really suit our rig, then walked back into the main street. The Courthouse is quite wonderful and was the first government building we saw, however apart from that, the town did not really impress. Although the locals were all very friendly and busy greeting each other as if they hadn’t caught up since the last monthly visit to town, the shops were really very uninspirational.

We were accosted by a delightful lady of Indian ethnicity who told us she and her husband had been in the town for four years, having come over from Wellington, New Zealand. He has a government posting in the medical area, however is being moved to Toowoomba sometime soon. His wife is rather happy with that however a little frustrated about not knowing when; she would like to start packing. Charleville’s climate does not suit her well, she hopes Toowoomba’s will be a little more like Wellington. Right!

We wandered down the street together chatting and then paused in front a real estate agent’s window. This is a regular practice of ours done with no intent but from mere curiosity. Here in Charleville one could buy a half decent weatherboard house for between $70,000 and $150,000 it would seem, however our companion cautioned us against doing so. We all wished each other well as we headed off in different directions.

We drove on again, still on the Mitchell Highway, now through green farmland, green from the overnight rain and surely more before that. There was little traffic on the road which continued as it has since Parkes to be mainly straight and flat, or at least with the subtlest of rises and falls.

A few kilometres south of Augethella, we joined the Landsborough Highway and drove on into this small centre of just 430 people, found the picnic parking spot opposite the pub and lunched over the newspaper. Soon we were joined by our Victorian fellow travelers however they were in and out before we were ready to rouse ourselves from our lethargy. And by this time the rain had started once more, putting an end to our intended exploration of this tiny town.

Augethella is famous for its colourful history of bushrangers, bullockies and bullock teams who camped here beside the Warrego River (which incidentally we followed up from Charlesville). There are a few murals to celebrate the history of the place which also lays claim to being the filming location of a 1950s movie called “Smiley” which I had never heard of. There is also the rather bizzarre sculpture, the Mighty Meat Ant, which celebrates the prowess of the local rugby team. These we saw through the vehicle windows as we pulled out in the rain and headed back onto the highway.

Both Charleville and Augethella are situated in the Murweh Shire which also includes Morven and Cooladdi, the latter having the grand population of just four. Mum, Dad and two kids?

On we pressed, this day intending to travel a lesser distance than yesterday. Just one hundred and seventeen kilometres up the Landsborough lies Tambo on the mighty Barcoo River. Well I am not so sure about the “mighty” but will accept that the Barcoo exists.

Tambo boasts a Teddy Bear shop and an Art Gallery, the latter we might just check out tomorrow as we leave. We did glimpse some of the very old buildings as we turned into the access road and will explore tomorrow. It is the oldest town in the Central West dating back to 1863. The courthouse which still stands, dates back to 1888. As I said, tomorrow will do and in the meantime, we are camped here in the bush beside the “river”. While the only wild creatures to make themselves known so far are the ants, I am sure there will be a great number of birds later.