Our first taste of the Outback - July 24 to August 4, 2009

[p1michaud]

The return journey...

Day 7 Friday 31st July – Cullyamurra Waterhole to Charleville (~800 Km).

Like all good trips, we had now passed the half way mark and it was time to point the Landcruiser East once again retracing some of our previous tracks. A long day lay ahead so we were up, fed, packed and on the road early. We wanted to mix things up a bit so decided to return nearly to Noccundra then turn North. This would take us through Eromanga, Quilpie and Charleville should we have the energy to push on. South Australia had one final surprise before we left, we saw this lone one…

Our first dingo sighting!

We progressed at a stead pace all day stopping every two hours to change drivers, stretch our legs or have something to eat. Nothing very eventful until we stopped at an interesting spot just outside Quilpie to take a break. We noticed that they had a sign at the entrance to the pull off indicating that you could try your hands at fossicking for Opals. One of the local mines would occasionally dump their “rejects” so that the tourists can have a go at finding something colourful, shiny and valuable. Anyhow we had a look around, kicked a few stones over, picked some up, looked around and realized we did not know what or more precisely how to look for Opals so we asked an older gentlemen and his wife who looked a bit more serious about the whole thing. The small stool, gloves, large sun hat and hammer they used to break some of the rocks open with gave them away as professionals at least compared to us! They gave us a few tips, showed us a few rocks with very small hints of Opal in them that they had found. We had a great chat with them about our travels, our destination, our professions, and life in general. We continued to look but in the end, luck was not on our side. Our new found friend gave each of us a small parting gift. Two small rocks with a trace of Opal in them. As we drove away, we both had huge smiles on our face as the kilometres rolled pas and we absorbed what we had just experienced. It was just like being a kid again, down on the ground, looking around, the smell of the earth, getting dirt under your finger nails and all over your clothes. It made us recall our youth and put a smile on my faces. Not a worry in the world, what ever happened to these simple days?

Our final destination was Charleville and balance of our travels for the day were rather uneventful. Charleville would prove to be fantastic.


To be continued...

 

[p1michaud]

The many suprises in Charleville.

Day 7 Friday 31st July – Cullyamurra Waterhole to Charleville (~800 Km). Continued

We rolled into Charleville tired and hungry. We decided to “splurge” after the long day and rent a room for the night. We had read in our Lonely Planet guide book that the Hotel Corones had some interesting character especially the “Heritage” rooms. As we drove up to the place we were a bit sceptical so we asked if we could see the rooms before we made a decision. We got three keys, wandered around to have a look. The first stop was a basic pub room, fine for a someone on a budget but not worthy of being called a splurge. Next was the heritage room. Not really up to our expectations and something was just not feeling right about it. We later found out that the owner/builder of the Hotel had died in this room. :yikes: So we settled for the standard motel room but it was not the cleanest place we’d ever stayed at. In fact, looking back it was probably one of the more questionable places we’ve ever slept!

Martha cobbled together a quick and easy meal before we headed out for a walk. Turns out that Charleville was having an outdoor theatre production that evening. We put our warm clothes on, brought our Kermit chairs and wandered over to the river where we were entertained for a few hours by music, horse riders, motocross stunts, local history and more. This is where we learned of our next dream time story: “Story of Ngugunda (Stars)”. Disclaimer: The version below is not the exact words that were spoken that evening in Charleville however I spotted this story on a plaque near Biloela, QLD and captured it for just such an occasion. The name of the people may be different, but the story is the same.

Story of Ngugunda (Stars)​

In the time of Creation, the Gangulu people were given the power over fire, and for a long time they used it wisely. One day two mischievous Windaru gada (Kookaburra brothers – Kookaburra is a bird) watched as the people used fire to manage the bush. They saw how the Gangulu were able to control the fire and became very jealous.

At dusk one day, when the Gangulu were fire farming, the Windaru gada stole two sticks of fire. The Gangulu warriors saw the brothers steal the fire and began to chase them. To escape the warriors the Windaru gada took to flight, flying high amongst the trees, setting them alight with the fire sticks as they flew by. When this happened, a great fire started and tore through Gangulu country. The people became frightened as they had no place to hide and called to their Creation spirit Munda Gara (Rainbow Serpent) to help them. Munda Gara saw there was danger in the land and called for rain to put out the raging fires. The rain came, but by now the flames were so great and intense, that as the rain hit the earth and the burning trees, a shower of sparks flew high into the night sky. This is how all the stars were created in the heavens.

We also learned that this story is one of many you would hear at a corroboree.

This fantastic evening set the stage for a few other interesting days to follow as we wandered around Charleville.


To be continued...

 

[KSJeep]

Great report, looking forward to more!!

 

[The Adam Blaster]

To be continued...

Ahem?