To The Gulf Country 2018

Isisford is a very small town in Queensland's central west.  The town has only a few businesses surviving in the main street and seems to be slowly dying.  We had a relaxing week camped by the Barcoo River close to town. The town's only remaining hotel served us great meals for a bargain price. A Bower Bird Visited Our Campsite Everyday Mallee Ringneck Parrots Also Visited Us Boiling The Billy Spoonbill At Oma Waterhole Mallee Ringneck

Once again Wikicamps led us to a great camp spot by the Warrego River between Cunnamulla and Charleville.  We had the area to ourselves so we had a large campfire, plenty of wine and loud music until nearly 9pm. Wow! Pelican hunting fir Fish in the Warrego 'Lawn' Tennis at Wyandra

We found Bowra on Wikicamps and decided to give it a try.   It's a very quiet spot with lots of tracks to drive around to view the bird life.  Unfortunately there are not many birds away from the main bore fed lake so we stayed put there for our time at Bowra. The nights are still cold so our gas heating is much appreciated. Black Legged Stilt Ring Necked Parrots Black Fronted Dotterel Major Mitchell Cockatoos Emu On The Prowl Around The Camp Area

Lightning Ridge, one of the places where Australia's national gemstone is mined, has evolved into a sizable town since my last visit many years ago.  To see a real opal mining camp we went out to the diggings about 50Km from /Lightning Ridge where we also had lunch at the 'Club in the Scrub'.  It seems to use some sort of golf course as a reason for the clubs existence. We also visited Amigo's Castle that Amigo started building about 25 years from local rocks he found lying around the area.  Some conservationist then decided that Amigo was depriving the things that live under the rocks from having a home so the rock collecting ceased.  Then the council realised it had a problem with an unauthorised structure and threatened to demolish it.   The locals objected and now Lightning Ridge has an unfinished and roofless tourist attraction.

The sculptures are another of the attractions in the Piliga forest, just north of Coonabarabran, that we were unaware of until recently. The Piliga forest is one the largest forests left in Australia. This has a great camp area and a lovely walk among the various sculptures.  It's a quiet spot with very few visitors. Sculptures Showing Old and New Axe Technology Our Camp Site in the Piliga

We have driven up and down the Newel Highway dozens of times without knowing these caves existed.  They are less than a kilometre off the highway but not sign posted at the request of the Aboriginal Elders.  Can't blame them because the caves have suffered from vandalism over the years.