Sunday 24 February 2013 - Barcaldine

Sunday 24 February 2013

Wow, what a day. These girls are really testing our patience. Sienna insisted on pushing the boundaries when we arrived at the campground in Barcaldine, continuing to head over the internal road to a caravan where a puppy lived. Yasmin is predominantly whingey and demanding, occasionally downright naughty (eg walking up a flight of stairs that we’d just told Sienna not to go up) and has been in time-out twice this afternoon. We’re wondering if it’s possible to drop them off at some sort of centre like people leave their animals in kennels when they go away...

Anyway! We cancelled our Cosmos Centre booking for last night as the girls wouldn’t have been able to handle it. The sky came over cloudy as it was, so we wouldn’t have been able to go anyway and it was fortunate that we had cancelled otherwise we would have kept the girls up for no reason. After some early morning antics (3:30am-ish playing and giggling) from the girls, we got up just after 6am and packed up. All was running smoothly for an 8am departure, when Sienna toddled off a few metres and found a hairy caterpillar train. The poor mite came back in great distress, showing us her hands and was pretty much inconsolable for the next half hour. We tried Itch-Eze, Savlon and finally I remembered the Phenergan! By the time we finished the last bit of packing up and set off, she was much more settled and had a decent sleep in the car. 

I had my first drive today, doing about 200km from Charleville to Tambo. We had a quick loo stop, stretched our legs and then Glenn took back the reins for the rest of the journey to Barcaldine, punctuated by a lunch stop at Blackall. This particular town features a real ‘black stump’ – everything west of it is considered ‘beyond the black stump’. Not much else was there but it had a nice picnic spot!

The Black Stump!

On reaching Barcaldine, we found the showgrounds closed until next month, so we pulled up at a central caravan park (my goodness, we’ve actually had to pay for accommodation – $17!!) and began setting up. Once the basics were sorted out, Glenn and I agreed to separate the girls, so Yasmin and I set off on a little walk and he and Sienna pottered around the campsite. The caravan park is right in the middle of town so we were strolling around a residential area. Many of the gardens here are beautifully maintained and the residents seem particularly houseproud. Yasmin was most excited to spot a horsey in a little paddock next to someone’s house and not two minutes later, I was thrilled to see two brolgas performing a courting ritual just fifty metres down the street. We followed them for a few blocks in hope of getting a closer picture, but this was the best I could get. The male was dancing and flapping and bopping all over the place – pretty special!

After a fairly painful dinner and shower experience (see notes on challenging children above!), we put the girls in their PJs and hopped in the car to see the Tree of Knowledge. We’d been told by the caravan park owner that it looked pretty awesome at night (see for yourself below). Apparently the locals aren’t too fond of it – the tree itself was poisoned in 2006 (possibly by accident, we were advised, not necessarily for political reasons) and the monument cost $8 million to construct. A $4 million proposal for an old folk’s home had been turned down just prior to this government investment, so I can understand why Barcaldine feels a little jaded about this landmark. 

The Tree of Knowledge

The girls running amuck around the Tree of Knowledge

On our return, we tucked the girls straight into bed and are enjoying some quiet adult time. Tonight is a bit cooler than the last few have been (I’ve got a T-shirt on instead of a light singlet) and there’s a nice breeze around. Good sleeping weather. Apparently rain is due to hit Longreach on Thursday so we’ll have to work out our plan of attack soon, in order to avoid getting flooded in anywhere. I think the best thing will be to find somewhere quiet, warm and dry to hang out for a week or so, in order to resettle the girls and give ourselves a break from travelling for a while.