Day 227. Ilfracombe (Longreach)

Happy Birthday Shane!

Today was Shane's Birthday; so after a 6:30am phone call from grumpy (my father) to wish him well, we were all awake. Thanks for that Grumpy! Oh well, we were going to make it an early start today anyway as we were heading off into the 'Stockman's Hall Of Fame'. Scarlett wanted to cook Shane a yummy brekkie before we went too, so it was beans, mushrooms, toast and eggs for Shane's birthday brekkie feast!

After a couple of cuppa's we were on our way back into Longreach again. We are about 27km's out of town, but the drive in takes only about 10min and the park is so cheap and lovely it's totally worth it. First and only stop for the day today was Longreach's 'Stockman's Hall Of Fame'. We were lucky enough to get Scarlett in for free; as normally you have to pay for 5yr olds, but Shane said "she has literally just turned 5" and the lady let him off. On a trip like this it pays to try and save every cent you can, so you can do more of the big ticket items.

The 'Stockman's Hall of Fame' is dedicated to Australia's outback pioneering history; and my god they have covered just about every aspect of the early life of this country and done it in a no expenses spared fashion. The memorabilia is amazing and the walls of information on the early pastoralists, aboriginals and explorers was very interesting. If it wasn't for Scarlett running around all the time, I could have gotten lost in the stories and yarns for ages.

We paid the extra money and caught the 'Stockman's Show' where a stockman displayed some amazing horse riding skills on his stock horse without any bridle or saddle. With working dogs, camels and bullock teams, it made for a very entertaining hour of fun. Scarlett was amazed with the size of the bullocks, and the dogs had her in stitches when they mucked up their routine.

After the show we went to the 'Cattleman's Bar and Grill' for a huge hamburger and chips for lunch, being Shane's birthday today we decided to splurge. The food was great, and in the garden right near us were three Brolga's. It was so amazing to see them here without a water hole (the only other place I have ever see them) and letting people walk right up and take their photos. Scarlett got a few good photo's of them on her IPOD; she was most pleased with herself.

I took Scarlett with me after lunch back into town to grab some last minute supplies for Shane's birthday dinner. I decided to take her so Shane could go back inside, and have some uninterrupted time to himself. We picked up some cake supplies, including candles and of course more popcorn (Scarlett goes through tons of the stuff). When we returned, Scarlett and I had one last look in the hall then we all decided we were hot and tired and it was time to head back to the van.

Upon our return we closed all the doors and windows, put on the air conditioner and lay down to watch TV. Shane even had a nana nap, which was a first for him. While he was asleep, Scarlett and I cooked him his birthday cake which was chocolate covered in smarties. I had to borrow a cake tin of Cathy the caravan park owner; being a country cook she has one of every size. That evening, after gourmet pizza's for dinner Scarlett and I sang Happy Birthday and brought out our cake. He loved it, we all had a piece with a cuppa and talked about how good a day we had all had. I have been told by Shane he had a great Birthday which was great, as he totally deserved it.

Tomorrow we are off to 'Winton' in search of dinosaurs.