Cunnumulla

 On the drive south we stopped at Cunnumulla, there was a small market on so we checked it out, none of the cafes took our fancy so we took a few pics and drove out of town and stopped for morning tea. 

We found a lovely camp at Mays Bend North of Bourke, wouldn’t be a lot of fun in the wet as we could see many deep ruts where others had been stuck or churned their way through. For us it was dry and rough but once in there was a very large area to camp. Unfortunately all the good river spots were taken by others. It was still a lovely spot and easily worth a few days rest. 

Cunnumulla Fella

Main Street

Hotel 

Some interesting murals

Sunset at Mays Bend

The Darling River at Mays Bend 

Resident friendly Goat 

Presently camped at a roadside rest area 120k East of Wilcannia, Bulla Park Rest Area. Another beautiful evening.

Change of Mind

 One good thing about being retired is we can change our minds 🤣 After putting up with the crappiest of roads and getting to Longreach and being gobsmacked how many vans are out there doing the same thing and knowing every town further West will be the same we did a turn around. 

Back down to Barcaldine and then retraced our steps to Augathella before taking the route to Cunnumulla. The sun is still shining and temperature is pleasant and the amount of vehicles and vans has reduced significantly. 

Our new Optimum is still travelling superbly on these Bucking Bronco Roads, though the water tank levels need calibrating or something is strange as I can fill both tanks and rarely do they show 100% and identical. The % amount also drops quite quickly with not a lot of use. No water leaks underneath I have seen. We intend to keep using the water regardless of the shown % and see how long it takes before they are empty.

Tambo QLD

 Camped alongside the Barcoo River ( my mistake I named it Warrego River) at Tambo Qld … Gee the roads are shocking, some bumps and dips feels like we’re airborne ..can’t wait until the new Bilstein Shocks get fitted to the Chev, the Van is travelling beautifully, nothing moves inside, books left on side table still there. …. 🥴 Gibb River is better than these Qld roads.

We stopped at Augathella for lunch, nice camp area close to the town but decided on to head to Tambo.

Nannango - Wilkesdale - Mitchell Qld

 After Visiting Eumundi and leaving Woodford it was back towards Blackbutt which involved another Bakery stop ❤️ 

Blackbutt Bakery

Excellent Hardware store

Blackbutt Hotel

Then it was on to visit mates at Nanango, a beautiful property and Rob & Marg are busy building a shed home, they have it at the lock up stage and the Gyprock guys started doing all the walls and ceilings, still a way to go but a superb effort to do what they have. 

Rob & Margs Shed 

A beautiful property. 

Our next morning was a short drive to call in and visit David & Jane at their property at Wilkesdale, David is an expert in Solar and lithium systems and is very popular with the RV crowd having installs and repairs. He checked our system out and advised a few tweaks to the settings and helped me set up the Victron WiFi to my phone. 

David and Jane’s Property 

Rosie the Kelpie, beautiful dog, one of four they have

David’s massive Shed … I have Shed Envy

The rain started during the night and continued as we drove further North West. We finally stopped for the night at a very popular freedom camp in Mitchell at the Neil Turner Weir. 

Neil Turner Weir Mitchell QLD 

Percy the Pelican 

A very popular place for the RV crowds 

The 2nd Masterpiece we have seen, I didn’t disturb them. 

Few clouds about but the late afternoon sun is still shining.

Woodford - Eumundi Again

 Driven roughly 5300klms so we can visit Eumundi Markets again … 😂 The things we (I) do .. Happy Wife, Happy Life 😁

Nothing has changed that I saw, still recognised many of the stall holders from many visits and years ago. No bread boards bought this time but we did buy some nice bird paintings, some for the van and some for home. 

Eumundi Main Street, Been there Done that 

Whew .. though I did feel sorry the seller might go broke without Vickie buying up .. 🤣

Pigging out on 1st grade mince 🥴

Two days at Woodford Showgrounds and tomorrow we move on to visit long term friends at Nanango.