A little town called Julia Creek - and how we got there.

After leaving Bourke behind, it wasn’t long before we crossed the border and entered Queensland, the fourth state on our tour of Oz.  We had 10 days to get to our next gig in Julia Creek - about 1600km away.  We were travelling up through the central west, through the town of Cunnamulla and onto and even smaller town called Eulo, on the Paroo River, where we spent the night.  Eulo is part of the Queensland opal fields, but we were there for a different reason.  We had heard about the famous Artesian Mud Baths in Eulo and had booked in for a late afternoon session.

The Cunnamulla Fella

An old couple, Nan and Ian, had been running the “bath house” on the outskirts of Eulo for years, and we were really impressed with our experience.  In their garden were several “rooms” made of corrugated iron, with no roofs, so we could see the sky, and each contained old clawfoot baths painted in bright colours.  Each room also had an open fire grate and a shower made in an old tree.

Our artesian bath house - before photos only

The order of activities went like this - 1. Artesian mud is mixed with lovely warm bath water and you soak in it for half an hour (while enjoying a glass of wine and nibbles).  2. You get out of the bath and take the container of artesian mud you’ve been left and rub it all over yourself.  3. You wait for the mud to dry (whilst standing beside the open fire as it’s starting to cool down as the sun goes down).  4. Once dry, you get back and soak in the bath for another 20 minutes or so.  5. You have a warm shower, towel off and smother yourself in their own moisturising balm.

We came out an hour and a half later and twenty years younger!

We moved on the huge distance of 80km the next day to another opal town - this time the peculiar little town of Yowah.  It’s only reason for existence is the opal fields and it’s famous for its boulder opals.  After a walk around town and a particularly nice coffee (we hadn’t had high expectations), we spent the rest of the afternoon in the artesian hot spring pools, soaking away any remaining aches and pains from the last rescue and enjoying the chat with fellow travellers.

The hot springs at Yowah - a great way to spend an afternoon

Yowah is situated in the middle of a large cattle property and the next morning, on our way away, we drove up to the top of the bluff to take in the views over the vast area.  

The Yowah opal fields

Looking out from the bluff at Yowah

We headed back up the road we’d come in the day before, and on to the small town of Quilpie.  Quilpie is a town on the Bulloo River, servicing the stations and other industries in the area.  Again, it’s in the opal belt, so we had to visit The Opal Hunter’s shop in town where we had a good chat with the “hunter” and learned a lot about how opals are formed and mined.  

Our camp on the Bulloo River at Quilpie

Opal encrusted alter in the church at Quilpie

From Quilpie we were heading for Windorah.  It was mid June, and in a few weeks thousands would be heading through this way to Birdsville for the Big Red Bash, but just now it was quiet - thankfully.  We lost a tyre on the road between Quilpie and Windorah - it wasn’t pluggable - so the rest of our driving that day and the next was with breaths held till we could arrange for a replacement in Birdsville.

The was no fixing this one

Crossing the Cooper Creek at Windorah

We were going to take two days to do the 470km from Windorah to Birdsville, but the Birdsville Development Road was in pretty good nick and we were making good time, so we did the trip in a day and rolled into a very green Birdsville late in the afternoon.  We got a great spot to camp on the common and were amazed at how the rains earlier in the year meant there was so much vegetation.  When we’d been here last year it was all dry and dusty.  Our original itinerary didn’t include a stop in Birdsville, but Matt had wanted a stockman’s shirt from the Birdsville Hotel for his birthday, so it meant a bit of a detour.  Not that far in the grand scheme of things.

Betoota - population 0 (the pub is about to open again)

The view from the Birdsville Development Road

Purchase obtained from the pub

We drove up the road from Birdsville, through Bedourie and on to Boulia, taking in all that the Diamantina Shire had to offer.  It really is one of the most beautiful parts of the country and an area we hadn’t visited before.  From Boulia we cut across farm land on a little used dirt road to McKinlay, famous for it’s Walkabout Creek Hotel (from Crocodile Dundee fame) and the final leg of our journey saw us cut across again from McKinlay to Julia Creek.  This was to be our home for the next 3 weeks and we were looking forward to our volunteer job here as caretakers of the free camp a kilometre out of town.

All settled in for our new role

Government surveyors arrived in this area in 1870 and officially listed the nearby watercourse as Julia Creek.  The township was founded in 1890 and really started its growth in 1908 when the railway was extended through.  The railway today is on the major rail link from Mt Isa to Townsville, moving ore from the nearby Cannington silver and lead mine, and cattle to market.  Huge trains lumber quietly through several times a day.  The town is also the administrative hub for the McKinlay Shire which consists of the towns of McKinlay, Nelia, Julia Creek and Kynuna.

Julia Creek has a population of about 600 people and a warm and welcoming feel.  The Shire Council is a very progressive one, and recognises the importance of the tourist dollar.  For about 6 years now they have been running the free camp to give people a reason to stop in Julia Creek rather than just driving through.  

The town is bright and neat and offers most services people could want and it’s encouraging to see new businesses opening rather than the usual scenario of businesses folding in a lot of country towns.  The towns folk are friendly and helpful and we were made to really feel part of the community straight away.  I would go up to town each morning to do a bit of shopping for dinner (great butcher shop in Julia Creek by the way) and would get waylaid chatting to people.  It was never just a quick visit.

During our time there we went to the Biggest Morning Tea at the primary school where we spent a great morning playing games and taking part if raffles etc (not to mention the absolutely fabulous food on offer courtesy of the all the parents).  We visited Reg, who has a fantastic veggie garden in his back yard and sells his produce for a few dollars and tells a great story or two while he’s got you.

Being entertained by the kids at the Biggest Morning Tea

One day we were invited to the quarterly Paddock to Plate lunch which showcased the locally farmed red claw and beef - not to mention the wonderful desserts made by the local ladies.  Food also features again with the CWA ladies having opened a new tea room and serving THE best scones, jam and cream every day.  The word was quickly spreading about the scones, as a lot of the travellers coming through our camp were asking directions to the tea room!!  Lynne, the CWA president made sure Doug was looked after and sent him take away scones to have at camp.

And you can’t (or shouldn’t) visit Julia Creek without taking in the Monday night bush dinner.  Each Monday night one of the local community groups takes a turn to put on a dinner at the local caravan park as a fundraiser.  The travellers staying at the park are invited, as are the travellers staying at the free camp (the Shire even sends a courtesy bus to pick us all up)!  Two courses for $15 and there was always entertainment and a raffle.  It was always a great night, and enjoyed by all who went - the record was set one Monday while we were there of serving 172 dinners!!  We were amazed at how many of the travellers who stopped at our camp had planned their stay around the bush dinners.

Bush Dinner - a real community event

Nice and warm on the cool nights

Our time at “The Creek” was spent welcoming visitors to the camp and explaining the guidelines around the need to be self-contained and generally making sure everyone enjoyed their stay and the place was peaceful.  It was a busy camp with between 40-50 vans a day coming in. Occasionally we’d have to politely move people on who didn’t fit the self-contained model and they usually didn’t put up a fuss.  I was less polite with the back packers who crept into camp late at night hoping to stay.  If I had to get out of bed and walk around camp following their tail lights in my PJ’s, then they were going to know I was annoyed.

Sunset on "The Creek"

All too soon our three weeks had come to an end.  Time flies when you’re having fun.  We met so many wonderful people during our time there - both towns people and travellers and had many happy hour conversations with tales of travel and campsites.

Happy hour entertainment

We hadn’t had any plans for after we left Julia Creek.  When people asked where we were headed next we’d shrug and say “roughly north”.  It was always a case of waiting to see what came our way, and as has usually happened so far, something has!  But that story can wait till next time.

Farm Rescue - Mark III

Our time in the Louth area came to an end and we reluctantly said goodbye to all our new friends and started the journey to Bourke, where we’d planned a stop for a day or two so we could re-stock and clean up.

Things changed only 12km after leaving Louth when we heard a loud bang and lost a rear tyre to a big slash in the sidewall.  A road-side change was made a little more challenging than it should have been with the passing of 32 vehicles from the Landrover Club of ACT.  The wind was blowing their dust in our direction, so with each vehicle that passed, we crossed to the other side of the road to avoid being covered.  32 vehicles later…(and a lot of smiling and waving and “thanks for stopping, no we’re fine”) we finally got the wheel changed and were on our way again and we reached Bourke in a couple of hours.

No fixing this one.

The tyres on the car were reaching the end of their life but we’d hoped to make it to Mt Isa before needing to buy replacements, but with one slashed, one with a nail in a nasty place, one with a split in the sidewall that could go at any moment and our second spare the wrong size, we thought we’d better play it safe and bite the bullet and get six new tyres.  So on arrival in Bourke we went straight to the tyre centre and they were ordered and would be with us in two days.  Not bad eh?

We had a lovely camp at Mays Bend, about 15km north of Bourke on the Darling River and we spent our time visiting the exhibition centre, trying out the cafes and generally relaxing.  We were on our way again by Thursday with new boots on the car and heading to our next Farm Rescue near Brewarrina.  

The beautiful Mays Bend

Our farm this time was in an area about half way between Brewarrina and Walgett, then head north towards the Narren Lake National Park and the Grawin opal fields.  J and R have been farming the 22,000 acre sheep property for 3 generations and the drought conditions in the region have been making life hard.  They have de-stocked to 2,500 sheep and are hand feeding daily.

The NPWS had helped J move an old farmhouse from the national park to J’s property, as he was going to make it into shearers quarters.  But life and the drought got in the way and the old house was left in a bit of a state and wasn’t habitable. Every year, when the shearers came, J would have to pay travel time for them to come from Lightning Ridge and back every day and get an hours’ less shearing time into the bargain.  Our task for this rescue was to do as much as we could in the week to make the quarters habitable for the shearers, thus saving J a lot of money come shearing time.

The house was missing a front and a side when we arrived (not to mention the mess it was in inside)

Our team of 10 eager volunteers worked incredibly hard over the week we were there; cleaning, mending, patching, installing windows and doors, renovating the bathroom, painting, installing down pipes and a water tank - phew!!!!  You wouldn’t believe that the outcome - our sad old lady became a fresh, bright thing, with three bedrooms, a bathroom and a large room that would serve as a kitchen/dining room.  Large cracks in the walls and ceilings had gone, the missing ends of the house were restored and a bright front door finished her off beautifully.

Getting there - new windows and door - she's looking good

Getting to be a whizz with a roller

Nearly finished - just the final section of paintwork

Another great part of the Farm Rescues is the time spent and relationships built with fellow volunteers and the farmers.  We had worked with some of the volunteers before, and we met some more lovely people who are all there for the common goal.  

An afternoon off to enjoy lunch at the Glengarry Hilton

Our catering this time was done “in-house” with Rosey leading her crew of kitchen volunteers and we were working under some challenging conditions.  The camp stove supplied didn’t have the correct fitting to hook up to the gas cylinder, so the week was spent cooking on two little butane camp stoves and my Weber.  We were very inventive in what we cooked and how we cooked it but we managed to put a great meal for 11 people on the table every meal time.  Washing up was done in a plastic tub and the old shearers fridge in the shearing shed was working overtime.  After dinner and clean up, we all sat round a great camp fire until bed called.  It was never late as we’d worked so hard all day that we were pretty tired.

Challenges of catering

The exciting difference between this and other rescues we’d done was that a film crew from television show “The Living Room” was coming to do a story on the Farm Rescue program and cook us a meal.  

The crew of 7 arrived on a chartered plane and were picked up at Brewarrina air strip on Saturday morning.  The team included Grant Denyer and his wife Chezzie and celebrity chef Miguel Maestre.  They spent all Saturday and most of Sunday morning filming the various “scenes”.  God, working in television is a long, drawn-out affair.  Lots of hanging around, and doing it “one more time”.  But hopefully they got what they wanted and it turns out well.  I’m not sure they were ready for their rustic accommodation, but they handled it with great good humour.  Even the rickety old long-drop!!!

Room with a view - the long drop at sunrise

J, the farmer, had prepared an awesome bonfire for everyone on Saturday night, and we were entertained by stories and antics all evening.  Miguel and Grant became experts at toasting marshmallows on the fire, although we were worried about the burns they may have got being so close to the huge fire.  

Bonfire tree

Miguel toasting multiple marshmallows

Breakfast on Sunday morning was unexpectedly prepared by Miguel after we showed him the emu eggs we’d found a couple of days before.  He was amazed and so were we when he produced emu-egg frittata.  

Emu eggs - just on the ground, no nest

Miguel making an emu-egg frittata

Filming his cooking segment

Before we knew it, they were packing up again and being whisked off to catch their flight back to Sydney and we commenced the mammoth task of packing up all the tools and equipment and loading up the vehicles/trailers for departure the next day.

Celebrity friends

Our time spent with J and R was another great adventure for us, and hopefully they will get the benefit of our visit the next time shearing comes around.  After 10 days, we drove out the gate of their farm and headed towards Bourke for another re-stock.  Well, that was the plan, until we got the message from Rosey that we’d driven off and left our levelling ramps behind.  So, just 40km down the road, Doug unhooked the van and left me with it, and wheeled round and raced back to collect them.  

All good, and back on the road, we arrived in Bourke by early afternoon and decided to treat ourselves to a night in the caravan park.  I could do some washing, colour my hair and sit and watch TV with the heater on.  Sounded like bliss to me, and we enjoyed our night there, although it was packed and we were all squeezed in like sardines.  

The sky was blue but it was cold the next morning, as we headed out the gate and turned right.  Today was the start of the next chapter - Queensland.  Bring it on!!!!