'Wherarwee' in Oz: Log 28-04 Emerald to Longreach

We left rocky at 8:30 & proceeded West to Emerald, stopping on the way at yet another delightful country town of Blackwater. The town may have been small but they had a shopping mall which included Woolies. We did a weeks shopping & then had lunch in the carpark. Continuing on we arrived at Emerald about 1:30 & proceeded to park in the car park of the botanical gardens. As we entered the car park there was a sign saying rodeo 6:00PM tonight. After a few enquiries we sussed out the venue & although it was just 3 O’clock we made our way there. We obviously got a great spot just outside the entry, investigated the scene & then retired back to Wherarwee, early dinner, then entry to the arena at 5 O’clock to make sure we got good seats right up against the fence. Not many people there so we just settled down to watch as they set up for the show. The show was fabulous, steer roping & throwing, wild bull & horse riding & a few novelty events. The grasshoppers were in their thousands, Liz wore long pants but I was in shorts & singlet. Thank God grasshoppers don’t bite! So, now I know why farmers always wear jeans, long sleeved shirts & hats. It was all over by 9:00 PM & as we turned around to leave we were amazed by the number of people that had turned up, at least 5,000, in such a small community. Leaving had it’s own problems as we became bogged in the carpark. After a bit of trouble we dug ourselves out (no one behind us could leave, but no one offered help) & went back to the botanical gardens, someone next to us in a hi-ace got up at 3:00 AM & must have slid the side door open & shut at least 50 times..

We decided on a longish trip to Longreach as our next step as we wanted to spend Anzac Day there, so we drove 6 hours arriving around 2:00 PM. Checked out times for the march & settled in for the rest of the arvo at a stop just 4k’s out of town, dropped the scooter off ready for the next day.

In to town for the march but we had been told the wrong time, it was an hour later so we went back to camp. Longreach is unchanged after all these years &, other than the Stockmans Hall of Fame & the Qantas museum, both of which I’d seen & Libby wasn’t interested in, there was nothing. So we packed up & drove back to Jericho (pop. 150) & parked on the bank of the river Jordan. Spent the rest of the day & the next day as it was just simply beautiful. Spent some time at the local pub, Mick, the publican told us all about the floods, the whole town went under with the water just up to the pub’s elevated floor. Reluctantly we left & proceeded to Anackie (even smaller), stayed at a park there to replenish water, charge batteries etc. Had a drink & dinner at the pub next door, another good night.

Well, today was different, we must be slowing down. We drove just 15k’s in all, first stopping at Sapphire where we went to Pat’s Gems. There we bought a bag of tailings for $30.00 & sifted through it. They guarantee that there are 2 cut sapphires’ in the bag. We found them & about 100 little baubles, 4 of which the girl in the shop said were worth cutting or polishing. Talking to others there we learnt that you can fossick for sapphires just out of town so we hired some equipment & went afossicking. We met some interesting locals out there & although we found no sapphires we had a rich & full day talking to people & inspecting their leases. Tonight, while Libby was sitting outside looking at the stars a wallaby came up & sat beside her, she called out to me to bring some bread, which I did & she had an enjoyable half hour feeding it, At one stage it even Put it’s front paws on her chest.

We decided to move on today so, after returning our implements we proceeded to Rubyvale where we missed the turn off to the road to Clermont. Libby was driving & the road we followed quickly turned to gravel, not much further on we splashed through a little creek & the road narrowed, a little further again was another creek & the road got seriously narrow so she wisely decided to go back. Backing the truck a way we came to a drive where we managed to turn around. We thought we would have to return via Emerald but found the road we should have taken. After many stock grates & about 10 creek crossings, most with water over the road we came to Theresa Creek, another crossing, about 15cm deep we thought. About a third of the way across we found the concrete causeway had sunken & we were in about 30 to 40cm of creek, we could feel the back wheels slew sideways in their attempt at traction but Libby kept going & we crossed safely. This part of the days travel as far as Clermont was very winding but with breathtaking vistas & many beautiful stopping points along the road. We stopped for the day at Isaac River rest area 108k’s N/East of Clermont, no facilities & just off the road but this’ll do.