Winter 2013
Part 08
Cloncurry to Winton

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Back in Cloncurry for another spell and we are reminded that all eighteen buildings (thats about all there is to Cloncurry) shake when these guys are passing through.

Somebody should let the Labor party know that this building is for sale - it would make an ideal headquarters for them.

This is a worrying sight in the Queensland outback. It is only a couple of kilometers from Cloncurry.

Believe it or not this fire was started when a wheel came off a small box trailer and a huge spray of sparks from the brake drum and axle landed in the grass at the edge of the road. The owner was looking pretty humble and apologetic when the police and fire truck arrived from town.

Somehow the bouganvillia seems to manage to survive the dry (maybe the owner waters it a lot, I dunno ???)

This is the only green lawn that we saw in Cloncurry. Strangely, there seems to be no hesitation to use the bore water for anything and everything but very few people use it for lawns.

The "Great Artesian Basin" beneath us is a mind boggling idea that I can't get my head around. Even in the 2009-2010 drought it didn't "run out".

Almost all of the town is dry and dusty. The grass just crunches under foot and walking causes clouds of dust.

The drive from Cloncurry to Winton passed through massive areas of landscape where the occasional tree appeared as a tiny dot on the horizon.

When I see landscapes like this (just outside Winton) I cannot help but take a photo. I love our outback.

I stopped the car and looked at this for about ten minutes.

I kept thinking about French champagne glasses - don't see the connection? Well, in France, the perfect womans breast fits neatly into a champagne glass.

kasi! where on earth are you? you sign in at strange hours!

Patches like this remind me why our country, which covers millions of square kilometers, has only 23 million inhabitants.

Each time we crossed a bridge over a river, the sight was the same, just dry sand instead of water.

As we entered the town of Winton we saw the four bores that bring water up more than one kilometer from the "Great Artesian Basin" that lies underneath most of Queensland. Because it is near boiling, the water has to sit in cooling ponds before being pumped into the town water supply. It smells of hydrogen sulphide for awhile, but this gradually disappears.

Aussies will race anything... and bet on it. So we decided to stay in Winton for the camel races on Saturday.

The camels are built for endurance - not for speed. They do manage to work up to a bit of a gallop though.

For a small town like Winton the crowd looked great. My guess is that around 1000 people turned up. The programme for the day included six races which I thought was impressive. The public address system was from "Kickass Sound Systems" .. it was not as impressive as the hamburgers.

And the winner was number 14 .. .. who incidentally bit the jockey after the race - maybe because he tried to PIN the winners ribbon on his neck - and also for using the whip.

If you look carefully, you'll see lots of things that can make a lot of noise. There are gas cylinders, trash cans, pipes, hub caps and more. There is also a "musical fence" and it may be Wintons version of the Sydney opera house. In the right hands, this lot has a mean reputation.

If you want to get any engraving done in the jewellers shop, be sure to write it out very clearly and dont assume they will spell things the same way as you do.

We went for a walk after dark and were surprised when we discovered that the Tattersalls Hotel was alive with "al fresco" dinning. Admittedly it was Saturday night!

After being "picky" about the jewellers spelling ... I hope I spelled "Al Fresco" properly?

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