Yes, we did it again, for we were met with a beautiful morning followed by a glorious day. 28 degrees and a cloudless sky, who could ask for anything more.
We had a walk around Alpha before we left. Nothing ceases to amaze us.
 |
| 270517 Typical country store room |
Our trip took us 250km along the Capricorn Highway from Alpha to Longreach, passing through Jericho (site of the crystals monument), Barcaldine (home of the Labor Party and of the Tree of Knowledge) and Ilfracombe (old vehicles/equipment displayed in the main street) on the way.
We were of course heading due west and the road, predictably, had some straight stretches. The best was 28km, gun barrel straight, as we left Alpha. We also crossed the Great Dividing Range 110km west of Alpha which is at a height of 444metres. The western side of this point marks the start of the catchment area for Cooper's Creek.
 |
| 270517 Countryside just outside Alpha |
The countryside was becoming drier as we went further west and there was increasing road kill.
Jericho provided us with quite a couple of surprises. In the main street is a monument which has its origin in the biblical battle of Jericho. There was even a trumpeter, fashioned out of barbed wire. The feature was a series of crystal suspended above the centre of the structure which reflected light on a ceiling. Interesting to say the least.
 |
| 270517 Main street of Jericho |
 |
| 270517 Main street of Jericho from the other direction |
 |
| 270517 Symbolism - Joshua and the battle of Jericho |
 |
| 270517 Explanation of the crystal trumpeters |
 |
270517 Suspended crystals at the bottom with reflections from
the crystals, which move in the breeze, on the ceiling, |
 |
| 270517 Who did what |
 |
| 270517 Joshua the Trumpeter of Jericho |
 |
| 270517 Plaque for Joshua the Trumpeter of Jericho |
Another surprise was a sign post/s with several destinations. Love "Speculation".
 |
| 270517 Take your pick - signs just outside Jericho |
Rather than describe what we saw in in Barcaldine, ilfracombe and Longreach, we have included passages from a previous blog done when we passed through in 2014. Nothing on the ground has changed.
2014 blog is italicised, with some editing and observations to ensure truth. The gnome was not accompanying us this trip:
Day 12 Barcaldine to Longreach
A lazy 125.6km form Barcaldine to Longreach via the Capricorn Highway. Visited the Tree of Knowledge at Barcaldine, the birthplace of the Labor Movement and prompted by the shearer's strikes early in the 20th century. The interior of the monument has hundreds of long pieces of timber hanging from the top. They apparently are symbolic of the ends of shears and "chime" when moved by the wind. We noticed as we came west from Barcaldine the countryside changed and became dry and barren, obviously still under drought conditions. Inspected an impressive array of historical farm machinery at Ilfracombe. The display was every bit of 500m long on the side of the main road through the town.
 |
| 180414 The Tree of Knowledge Monument in Barcaldine |
 |
| 180414 The Tree of knowledge, dead but not forgotten. Note the hanging timbers |
 |
| 180414 Soaking up knowledge from the Tree of Knowledge |
 |
| 180414 Introducing the gnome, checking out an old Chevy at Ilfracombe |
We had a quick look at the QANTAS Founders Museum and the Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach.
 |
| 190414 Stockman's statue at the Stockman's Hall of Fame |
 |
190414 A 747 and a 707 on permanent display at the
QANTAS Founders Museum at Longreach |
That completes the 2014 blog sourced information and almost the blog for today, except that .......
We had three visitors to the caravan park in Longreach.
 |
270517 Cheeky brolgas in the Longreach caravan
park - coming for food |
 |
270517 Cheeky brolgas in the Longreach caravan
park - leaving when there was no food |
Tomorrow we head for Winton - dinosaur country.
No comments:
Post a Comment