Mosaic Monday

For Mosaic Monday I am showing some of my favourite photos as we travelled around Queensland and New South Wales last year.  If you are following my blog you would have seen many of the places we have been to in this huge country.

  My Country by Dorothea Mackellar

                                                          I love a sunburnt country,

                                                          A land of sweeping plains,

                                                          Of ragged mountain ranges,

                                                          Of droughts and flooding rains.

                                                          I love her far horizons,

                                                          I love her jewel-sea,

                                                          Her beauty and her terror -

                                                          The wide brown land for me. 




Mosaic Monday

Winton, Qld.

 Population approx. 950, Dinosaur Capital of Australia.

Butcher Birds

Butcher Birds

 Butcher birds are native to Australia and are closely related to the Magpie.

Statues and art works in Queensland

Dining area in the foreground,
kitchen on the rhs

Full ensuite bathroom

Kitchen, fridge on left of photo

We have changed the original dining seating as we found it uncomfortable,
and we now have recliner chairs

Various camping spots on our Qld trip

I love her far horizons,I love her jewel-sea,Her beauty and her terror -The wide brown land for me!

                                                            by Dorothea Mackellar

Beautiful trees

Bourke, New South Wales

 Core of My heart, my country

Her pitiless blue sky,

When sick at heart, around us,

We see the cattle die -

But then the grey clouds gather,

And we can bless again

The drumming of an army,

The steady, soaking rain.

by Dorothea Mackellar

Roads across Australia

An opal-hearted country,A wilful, lavish land -
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand -
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

by Dorothea Mackellar

Blackall,Qld

Continuing on from our trips to Queensland in 2013 and 2016, our next town is Blackall.

Sculpture in Blackall - Roly Poly

Eagles nest sculpture in Blackall

Eagles nest  sculpture around Blackall

The Eagles Nest sculpture is really great, it is made of old railway spikes, and timber and bolts and other bits from around the local area and some apparently from an ol bridge.  It is quite large and is one of quite a few fun and interesting sculptures scattered around the town.

Jackie Howe statue

Another lovely bronze  statue  is this one of Jackie Howe with a stud ram and stands in the main street.  Jackie Howe was a champion shearer and in 1892 set the record for  hand shearing 321 sheep in 7 hrs 40 minutes.

Beyond the Black Stump

The Plaque on the Black Stump

 This is a well known saying here in Australia "Beyond the Black Stump".
 This phrase comes from the custom of using a fire-blackened stump of wood as a marker when giving directions to travellers. 
 In more recent times it is just a phrase that we use to describe anywhere in the outback.  

The Barcoo Hotel in Blackall

Another  Major Mitchell plaque just out of Blackall

The inscriptioon on the Major Mitchell  plaque

Dry countryside around Blackall

Blackall welcome sign

The Information Centre

Our caravan at Blackall

Blackall Wool Scour

The Blackall Wool Scour operated from 1908 to 1978.  The wool scour is a wool washing plant operated by steam and is the only one left in Australia.  The wool scour is now a tourist attraction and is open from May to August as a working wool washing plant running on steam from water in the nearby artesian bore. 

Blackall Wool Scour - artesian bore

The 20 stand shearing shed

A lovely old Queenslander

Weekend Reflections

Weekend Reflections in Tambo, Queensland

Tambo is a central Outback Queensland town located on the Matilda Way, halfway between Brisbane and Mount Isa.

We camped here on the banks of the Barcoo River for a few nights  last year on our trip from Adelaide to Queensland.

Barcoo River Reflections, Tambo, Qld

Barcoo River Reflections, Tambo, Queensland

Darling River, Bourke, New South Wales

Reflections at Waltzing Matilda Centre, Winton, Qld

The Waltzing Matilda Centre in Queensland has a light display with the colours rotating and changing.