Dear family and friends,
It is over 7 weeks since we left home and we are still in the general area around Winton. We start our VISE teaching placement next Monday 12th July. Since last email, we have been enjoying getting to know several Winton people and seeing the sights in the general area.
We like this photo. It was taken while the Engadine team were here and shows 2 Engadine men cooking sausages at Winton school and some eager children waiting. This was part of the big breakfast we did on the last Friday of our team visit.
Winton was the location for an unusual exhibition, sponsored by the Museum of Contemporary Art. The show, Digital Odyssey contained as its centrepiece this tapestry/collage. All materials supplied by locals, particularly local Vinnies, and roughly stitched together. The theme was "home", and various people were interviewed and a video recorded which was then shown using the collage as screen. It was dark. Lee and I represented tourists, the remaining interviewees were locals. We had to say what "Home" meant to us. And that is where your tax dollars go!!!!
We travelled to Boulia, 385 km away towards Birdsville with Bob Witten the minister for church on Sunday evening then stayed overnight and took school scripture on Monday. It was a lovely little 2 classroom school. Here is Lee with some of the junior class, singing an action song where they had to jump up and down.
We went to the annual Winton Show, where we saw sideshows rides, produce for judging and ring events. The showground is on the edge of town.
Bladensburg National Park is just south of Winton, we camped on Surprise Creek for three nights, it was very relaxing.
Bladensburg was one of the original very large pastoral leasehold properties around Winton. it was cut into smaller freehold properties in the 1930's.
"The carpark is full". This is the view from Bladensburg Homestead, now a National Park ranger station. It looks barren but there is some good pasture.
One of the properties created from Bladensburg is Carisbrooke. It is 55,000 acres, and contains a large plateau with beautiful views. We stayed there a few days and went on a mini bus tour with the retired owner (his son now runs the property). Here we are having lunch.
The three sisters at Carisbrooke. The Diamantina channel country is in the background. Carisbrooke is about 80 km south west of Winton.
When we were there, the property owner asked us to look after the place while they went to Townsville for a few days.They gave us use of their old 4WD, and we went to a dam on the property, where there was a lot of birdlife.
There is always one galah in any mob, including people. This is a small part of a huge flock of Corellas that arrived just after us and swarmed around for quite a while before settling. There were over 200 corellas.
On the way back from the dam, we saw two mobs each with about 30 brolgas. Here is one dancing but none of the females (we presume) seemed very interested.
Last week we drove to Cloncurry and passed this road train, It is 53.5 metres, 86 wheels. It takes ore about 180 km from BHP Cannington Mine to a rail siding near Cloncurry. Cannington is the world's largest single mine producer of both silver and lead.
Before reaching Cloncurry, we stayed at McKinley, at the back of the "Walkabout Creek Hotel" which was used to film Croc Dundee. We shopped at Woolworths in Cloncurry (first Woolies for 6 weeks, and prices were very good). From Cloncurry, we headed east on the main Mt Isa to Townsville road and stopped at Julia Creek and Richmond, then to Porcupine Gorge National Park.
This is called the Pyramid, in the Porcupine Gorge, where there was flowing water and some people went swimming. It was quite hot, we walked down into the gorge with our lunch and stayed several hours.
Some butterflies on the Grevillia in the gorge caught my attention.
This morning there was a cool change. We are now at a small village called Corfield, 80 km north of Winton. It has one pub and six houses. We are free camping in a roadside spot next to the pub, where we had free hot showers. The pub is community owned and operated. It is raining, and the crowd is lower than expected for State of origin 3. There are about 12 dirty looking 4WD vehicles parked at the pub, the local graziers who came here over dirt roads.
Tomorrow (Thursday) we go to Winton where there is mobile phone access and I will send this email. After church on Sunday morning we will go to Tucson Station for six weeks. Next email will be from there.
We would love to hear any news from you. Click on this link, pcaspo@iinet.net.au and send us a short note.
Bye for now and God bless,
Peter and Lee.
