We left Longreach to begin making our way towards Charters Towers then Mount Isa before returning to Nhulunbuy for December and January. On the way we stopped at a little town called Barcaldine and visited the Tree of Knowledge. I didn’t know about this event in history.

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At the Drovers’ Hall of Fame in Longreach, we heard about the Shearers’ Strike of 1891. We learned more about it here. Around one thousand shearers marched through Barcaldine demanding better conditions for graziers. Thirteen men were sentenced to three years hard labour. This strike led to the formation of the Australian Labor Party

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Later we stopped at the lovely town of Clermont. We visited the memorial of the 1916 flood. This is another important piece of Australian history I knew nothing about, yet it is, I believe, the second worst flood in Australia in terms of number of people killed. When the town of Clermont was being planned, the local Aboriginal people warned them that they shouldn’t build the town on the flat, flood prone area. They were ignored and in 1916 when a cyclone hit the coast, a wall of water flooded Clermont, destroying the town and killing 65 local residents. (Clermont was rebuilt nearby in a safer spot).

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The ‘piano tree’ photo on the right is a replica of the photo on the left taken just after the flood. A piano was wedged into the tree from the force of the water!

All the little towns we drove through looked nice. Most have something to set them aside from the others. Hughenden, for example, has a beautifully painted water tank.

We stayed overnight in Richmond at a lovely (very reasonably priced) caravan park. We really liked this town. Again it has the wide streets, is very clean and friendly. The buildings are a reminder of the old days, and all along the street is information about historical events of the town.

We had missed out on seeing the dinosaur museums in Winton but decided to visit the one here in Richmond. So we called into Kronosaurus Korner and spent a couple of very interesting hours in there. Many dinosaur fossils have been found in this area which was historically an inland sea. We were quite surprised at the amount of fossils and dinosaur bones found nearby.

We left Richmond and drove to Julia Creek where we booked into the caravan park for the night. They had bikes available for use so we decided to ride into town which was close by.

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I knew that the caravan park had some Artesian Baths and I was really keen to book in. John was not so sure but willing to keep me happy. So I booked it for the evening and we took our own wine, cheese and biscuits. It was wonderful soaking in a bath overlooking the outback.

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We have loved visiting these small outback towns, learning about their history and enjoying what they have to offer. We are now heading to a bigger town – Mount Isa.