Barcaldine, Jericho & Emerald

Barcaldine is known as the birthplace of the Labor movement in Australia. They had a meeting under the Tree of Knowledge back in the 1800s. Last time we passed by, in about 1990, it was alive but someone poisoned it in the meantime. They couldn’t chop it up for firewood so built this huge structure around it as it’s the town’s main claim to fame. Seems strange. Otherwise Barcaldine is a delightful little town with some lovely old buildings in the Main Street.

 We changed our plans and instead of heading south then east to the coast we are going east then south. We are heading to Bribie Island 800ks away. So our next stop was Jericho which was really rather cute, I have included 2 quick shots I took from the car. After that we went over part of the Great Dividing Range (not as high as the Blue Mountains) into farming country at Emerald. The soil is black here, a great change from the red in the centre. 

We are staying in the overflow from the caravan park, hundreds of us, but there was water available and it’s ok for an overnighter. They had a happy hour around a campfire with a chap singing. We also got a meal of fish and chips, enough for 4 people for $20 - courtesy of the van park.