Day 224. Charleville to Ilfracombe

Return of the Boab!

It was an early start this morning, as we had a 5ookm + day ahead of us! We were packed and on the road by 8am, but before we left we dropped in to say goodbye to Yvette, Robert, Milly and Jordan. We met these guys in the park here where we are staying, and Scarlett loved playing with Milly and Jordan. They are about to start their own trip travelling Australia, and are just on a 3 week 'trial' holiday before their big adventure starts in the next few weeks! Good luck guys, and I hope your holiday is everything you dreamed of!

Again not enough can be said about the large amount of road kill up here! The roo's are everywhere, and there is usually a dead pig thrown in every now and then as they must get hit by trucks as they come out of the scrub to feed on all the carcass's left on the road. It's not a pretty sight, but its a part of the 'Outback' experience - I guess. It's not just all the dead animals either, as there are lots and lots of feral animals out here. Today we saw more goats; and by the number of nannies and kids we can see running around, they are breeding like wild fire.



Playing in the park!

Well 2 hours into the trip and Scarlett was getting tired of being on the road already. We came across the small town of 'Tambo' which had a great kids park and playground, so we took the opportunity to pull over and let her burn off some excess energy. Bec and I enjoyed a fresh cuppa, and Scarlett played with the local kids already here.

Half an hour later and we were on the black stuff again! Not that anyone wanted to leave the park, but if we wanted to reach today's destination before dark we had to keep going. Not far out of town and we came across our first Boabs! I really didn't expect to see these iconic trees so far south, but here they are! After seeing so many Boabs previously during our travels, it was nice to see something familiar again!

We drove on until we hit 'Blackall' , where Bec grabbed some hot potato chips for lunch. We found another park with a playground and had lunch, while Scarlett played in the playground with more random kids!

Jack Howe Memorial - Blackall

'Blackall' is home to the Jack Howe Memorial. Jack Howe was most famous for the incredible feat of shearing 321 sheep in 7 hours and 40 minutes with blade shears at Alice Downs in 1892 - a record that was never beaten. He was also the only shearer ever to set both a blade and machine shearing record in the same year. (He set the machine shearing record of 237 sheep in 8 hours at Barcaldine Station).

Bec continued the driving until we reached 'Barcaldine', where we stopped to fill up the Pajero and Scarlett surprised me with a Cornetto! Yummy! Then, with only 110kms to go we all climbed in the car for the last leg of a very long day on the road. Almost an hour and a half later, we pulled into the Ilfracombe Caravan Park. Finally! After 8 hours on the road it was good to finally climb out of the car. The only problem was we still had to set up our camping spot!

Ilfracombe Caravan Park

We set up camp and had the satellite dish up and running in record time. (The V8 Supercar L&H 500 was on, and I wanted to see the last hour of the race). While I watched the race, Bec went over to the Camp Kitchen as 'Happy Hour' was on, and Scarlett was off riding her bike with some new kids she 'found' here at the park.



The first caravan/motorhome ever to reach Ilfracombe

It was a long day on the road, but at least we'll be staying here for the next 4 days to rest and explore!

Struth its warm out here in these parts! Pass over a coldie will ya luv? And can ya get dinna for the tin lid while ya at it? Tah!