May 14th: Glamping It Up!

Day 41 (Day 16 in Australia)

Our stop for tonight and tomorrow is 3km outside the town of Longreach, which is less than 2 hrs drive from our ultimate Outback destination of Winton. We’re at Mitchell Grass Retreat for a spot of ‘glamping’ with a definite emphasis on ‘glam’.

Our ‘tent’

The view from the deck

As the owner showed us around our ‘tent’ with its large double bed, separate bathroom with bath and large shower, kitchen area with fridge/freezer (including a large bar of KitKat - dark chocolate Tasmanian mint flavour - you don’t get that back home!), deck with gas barbecue etc, she pointed to a decanter half full of port and said, “if you run out just let us know and we’ll restock it for you”!!

She also said, “I’ve just cleaned your toilet again as there was a green frog in it. He likes it here so he might come back”!!! We like frogs so I’m hoping it is a green tree frog and does pay us a visit.

Well done to Carolyn for booking this place!

Mind you, the first thing I saw after we parked was…

It feels pretty warm to me!

We left Blackall a little later today as it was only a 2.5 hour journey. Due north for half of it, due west for the rest. The scenery was pretty much the same all the way - bush! As you’d expect. It’s the unending vastness of it that is so overwhelming. 

We saw a lot of emus on the way and two very large eagles enjoying a meal of kangaroo by the roadside  Still no large red kangaroo! Every now and then, in the middle of this wilderness was a bus stop indicating there must be homes within a walk, though we rarely saw any.

Our halfway stop for coffee (and scone with cream and jam) was at Barcaldine (where we turn west). Pronounced ‘Bar-call-din’ though known to locals as ‘Barky’, it was the scene of the first union in Australia and the beginning of their Labour Party.

Barcaldine with its Tree of Knowledge was the scene of a major sheep shearers strike. 13 shearers were sentenced to hard labour and this led to the start of the Labour Party. It’s worth reading about it so click on the link above rather than me transcribe it here  Then have a look at my photos of the memorial and those of the Tree of Knowledge. The tree died a few years ago and the community has built a superb canopy over it to preserve the stump.

The new vanity over the Tree of Knowledge

Julie showing the scale of it
Hard to see but there are hundreds of logs hung over it
which I assume make a pleasing sound in the wind.

Radio Theatre

Scrap metal sculpture of a striking shearer

It’s a very neat and tidy town, as they all are out here. Carolyn explained that it used to be a bit scruffy but the advent of tourist attractions in Longreach and Winton made it a perfect stopover and provided the funds for the town to spruce itself up. They have done a first class job of it.

Driving on we passed slowly through the town of Ilfracombe which appears to have jumped on the tourism bandwagon by painting up all its old farm equipment and displaying it along the roadside! “The Museum of Machinery”. Still, it was free! 😂

After checking in at the glamping site, we drove back to Longreach to stock up for tonight’s barbecue. I hope it gets a little cooler!  

Longreach is yet another lovely town kept in pristine order and full of friendly people who say “G’day”. It is right on the Tropic of Capricorn, which means part of the town gets a full day of night in the winter and a full day of sun in the summer.

Longreach main road

Longreach main road 

Horse hitch

At 5:30pm as the sun is sinking towards the horizon, Phil summoned us for ‘sundowners’ - pre-BBQ beers…

Julie choose to drink beer for the first time in her entire life. Her verdict? “It’s actually quite refreshing, isn’t it?” 😂🤣

We sat around the fire pit drinking beer and eating nibbles as the sky showed off its full splendour.

This, and all photos, from my iPhone. Not altered at all. 

Then it was time for the BBQ on the deck, cooked superbly by Phil and enjoyed with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz (not the whole bottle of each though!)

Finally, back to the fire pot for toasted marshmallows, chocolate and port followed by stargazing in the almost cloudless sky with a half moon. (NB: click on the sky photos and zoom in to see what we could see.)

I don’t think we’ll forget this fabulous day for a long time. Hopefully never.

Just as we were turning in for the night, little green frog returned. Not so little! He almost escaped before I grabbed my phone but I just got him squeezing behind the toilet. I’ll try to get a better photo tomorrow!

It’s now 23:20 in Australia so it’s good night from me!

23:30 stop press… went to the bathroom and Kermit was there to greet me!