There are some well preserved old buildings in Bowen and the post office is my favourite. Bowen was one of the locations for filming the Baz Luhrmann film Australia. Whole streets were constructed as sets for the film, complete with dust covered buildings to represent Darwin in WW2. These were removed once filming was finished. Parts of Bowen were hit by cyclones in recent years and there is still evidence of the damage caused, especially near the harbour.

We opted for a drive through site at Bowen as we were only staying one night. This avoids having to unhook the Bushtracker. The neighbours on our right put their male Dalmation on a 6m lead which allowed him to invade our space resulting in a scuffle between two male dogs. The moron to our left thought it was ok to do his washing in his van and allow the waste water to flow over the ground near our front door. He got narky when I suugested it be moved to avoid a muddy puddle forming at the bottom of the steps to our van.

I saw this fish being caught from the Bowen jetty. It was about a metre long but I'm not sure what type of fish it was as the fishermen were Asian and not speaking English. My alternate mode of transport is an electric scooter that folds up and fits in the cargo bay of our van. I rode out to the end of the jetty as the track was very smooth. Scooters with small hard wheels don't like rough surfaces. Most of the towns we have visited have good quality footpaths with very few pedestrians so I am able to get around fairly easily.  Our caravan park is near the local skate park where kids ride scooters as well as skateboards. My electric version attracts a lot of attention but I tell them I can't do the tricks they can do.

We had a drive around Mackay and took this pic from a lookout. Some numbskull had driven his motorhome towing a trailer into the lookout carpark and was struggling to get out again. Mackay has several fairly well preserved art deco buildings and we saw a few of them walking around town. There is a lot of mining around Mackay. Most of the people staying at the Big 4 caravan park are staying long term so probably work in that industry.

This evening we were entertained by Chris Pritchard who sings classic country music. He recently retired as a drover parting with his horses and working dogs. Chris and Kath are now travelling the country and sometimes he will perform. The tradition is for such artists like Chris to perform at caravan parks in the hope of receiving donations or selling CDs. We made a donation and bought his CD! We are packed and will head towards Mackay tomorrow. The Jeep is due for a service so we will stop at the first place where that can be done.

The railway reached Emerald in 1879 and the city grew around it. A passenger train stops here twice per week travelling between Brisbane and Longreach. The station is well preserved and maintained, like the rest of this town.  The decorative veranda is cast iron supported on cast iron posts. There are dozens of rail trucks at the station waiting to load cattle.

This 25m high structure is the world's largest painting on an easel. It is located near the Information Centre in Emerald. Why, you will be wondering. Apparently it celebrates the area's sunflower production. The painting is recognisable as a Van Gogh copy, but is not very well done. The chap in the foreground happened to be doing his exercises just as I needed a human being to demonstrate the height of the easel. We explored the cafes and shops in Emerald. I even visited a car wash to remove a variety of dead things from the Jeep. We refuelled, restocked the groceries (mostly for cats and dogs), did the washing and performed some minor caravan maintenance jobs, such as lubricating locks. Tomorrow we will explore the area.

This amazing building is timber framed with corrugated iron cladding all around apart from the front. The painted timber cladding mimics masonary. It is heritage listed and unfortunately some work needs doing to preserve the timber facade.

Today we travelled from Blackall to Emerald. We wanted to visit Barcaldine so we stayed on the black top rather than take the shortcut via unsealed roads. I had to visit the site of the Tree of Knowledge which is where the labour party originated. The tree was poisoned by some unknown cretin and the response was to build this impressive timber structure around it. The hanging timbers are like a huge wind chime. Our Max was still stressing when in the Jeep so we walked her around Barcaldine. We also tried letting her travel outside her crate, but this didn't solve the problem. I managed to get a late appointment with a vet in Emerald. We are trialing a new drug that doesn't have any known side effects. Ironically the happy pills made her dopey and miserable. Fingers crossed ...

This huge friendly goat loiters at the entrance to the Blackall Woolscour Visitor Centre. He knows he isn't allowed inside but he hovers with his nose in the doorway. The Woolscour is another must see. It commenced operation in 1908 and ceased in 1978 after which time it fell into disrepair. The Blackall community managed to get funding to help them buy the property and they restored both the buildings and the machinery. The building is mortice and tenon construction which is most unusual but has lasted very well. All of the equipment was pulled apart and restored so that much of it can be demonstrated in working order. It is the only surviving woolscour of its kind out of 50 that were once in use in Ausralia.  The wool clipped at the 20 shearing bays was put through the woolscour to remove dirt and grease. Surrounding graziers brought their merino woll to be cleaned because it fetched a higher price

I looked over this derelict caravan located at the Blackall Woolscour. The hinges on the fridge (or icebox) still appear to be in great condition. There are hundreds if not thousands of old cars, trucks and farm equipment here in the outback. Many of the rusty vehicles still have inflated tyres which I find pretty amazing considering their age and the fact they haven't been used for decades.

For $2  we visited the heated olympic pool down the road from the caravan park. We walked the dogs there and they were allowed to stay with us inside the fence. The hot water comes directly from the artesian basin 800m underground. This is a must do if in the area. In the laundry at the caravan park the sign warns "hot wash only" instead of the usual cold wash only. People don't buy hot water heaters around here, but they may fit a water cooler. I was surprised when sprayed by a sprinkler to feel it was hot water.

This is the site of the Black Stump which surveyors used in 1888 to gain latitude and longitude observations to more accurately map Queensland towns. Everywhere to the west was Beyond the Black Stump. The original stump has been replaced by a petrified log thought to have been hoop pine dating back more than a million years.

Today we drove from Charleville to Blackall, stopping at Augathella and Tambo. Lunch was at Fanny Mae's Cafe in Tambo where the dogs were able to lay on the veranda beside us. The Matilda Way is sealed but sometimes bumpy which upsets our stressed dog. I am calling ahead to see if any vets en route can sell me more prozac for her. There isn't a vet at Blackall and our limited phone service is an encumbrance!

We stayed at the Evening Star caravan park at Charleville with the Aussie Road Crew so decided to stop here again. A country music singer plays each evening for donations - not up to the standard of Beccy Cole and her musicians, but good fun.  Today we washed clothes, dogs and dog beds to mitigate the red dust. Number one dog started stressing when travelling so I took her to the local vet for some happy pills. This happened a couple of years ago when we were in north west Australia. Vicki the vet has seen this before in travelling dogs, and one theory is some dogs don't like the noise and vibration when their car drives over cattle grids. This fits with our experience as there was no issue on our last trip to Sydney, Melbourne and Port Fairy as we didn't drive over cattle grids on the freeways!

Riki is not keen on the red dust. She needed some encouraging to stretch her legs. My challenge was to have her walk but not roll over in the dust. Both cats keep looking for grass to eat, but there's none around because of the drought. There are five cats on tour - our two, two other cats travelling in a large bus, and blind Lara who happily walks on her lead regardless of the dust.

When it is cold our cats curl up together in their house made of foam. This pic shows how grey they are as they approach their 18th birthday in July. Thay happily sat on my shoulder going for walks to get pats and cuddles from people missing their own critters left at home.  They have travelled very well in the Jeep. We put them in their other bed on a box in Coco's crate with food, water and kitty litter. At home they have to go up and down stairs to access their essentials. In the caravan they only have to go down from the bed to find everything. For lazy cats the crate is ideal, with everything they need within easy reach.

Anita wasn't keen to have any photos that will remind her of the red dust, but we had an opportunity to have someone else take our picture. The wind covered everthing in dust but I avoided having the critters lay in it. We were parked close to Chris and Neen in their Paradise motorhome. Fortunately they are dog lovers but are more used to little dogs.  Last night we had our final Aussie Road Crew meal and saw Bec Hance and Pete Wilson in concert. These two have been a great asset to the group, working hard and playing fun music. They met 5 years ago at Music in the Mulga and are now married, living and working as paramedics in Murchison, Victoria. Bec said she loves playing music and singing, but also loves her "day job".

For a jazz, cabaret, opera singer, Libby O'Donovan's performance at the country music festival, Music in the Mulga, was well received. She surprised the non Roadies in the crowd when Beccy Cole joined her on stage for a couple of numbers. For Libby's final song Beccy played the drums.

After listening to variations of bush poetry I wrote one about our Aussie Road Crew. There is reference to a bunker which is a type of swag on legs. Selma has slept in this all through the trip, coping with the cold nights. The ironing van belongs to Sue's brother who kindly swapped vehicles when she had problems with her campervan.

I visited the Bilby Experience in Charleville and took this pic of young bilbies. They are nocturnal and they can't see the red light. Bilbies are endangered due to feral animals. A specially fenced section of a national park resulted in the breeding of 300 bilbies, but the last flood damaged the fence and feral cats entered the area. It has taken a long time to cull the feral cats from the area before the breeding program can recommence. 

This array of hats is in Golders clothing store at Charleville. It was busy in town today with 40 odd Aussie Road Crew vehicles, plus many others passing through on their way to Music in the Mulga. One of the two service stations ran out of diesel.

The back of our Bushtracker looks interesting with the shadows of over hanging branches.

That's our Bushtracker in the background behind John Murray and his horse. The funniest thing he got the horse to do was poke its tongue out! John lost his wife in 2007 and spent 18 months drinking at his local pub. He woke up one morning about 2am outside the police station. His horse was standing over him when he woke up and that caused him to realise what he was doing. He cut back his drinking and spent time training his horse instead of taking it to the pub.

The fellow has an amazing affinity with animals. He has a female Kelpie and a male short hair Border Collie he uses to round up sheep, mostly for shows. He put each of the dogs in with sheep from the age of 6 weeks. Both of them were itching to work and the hardest thing for him is getting one to stay put while the other works.  The Kelpie is scared of whip cracking but the Collie isn't. He said some dogs are scared and others are not. We have one that is and one that isn't. 

Our longest drive of 450kms was from Jondaryan to Bonus Downs Station. On the first morning I looked out to see why Max and Coco were growling and barking to find this Kelpie pup timidly approaching them. She was shaking and I don't know whether it was from fear, cold or excitement. Other roadies helped me put her back with the other pups before she was kidnapped. The owner said she will become a working dog. The biggest drawback of this campsite was the prickles all over the ground. Every time Max and Coco stepped off their groundsheet they were at risk of getting some stuck in their paws. I then was at risk of having thorns stuck in my fingers getting them off. Bonus Downs is a 33,000 acre cattle station. The owners abandonded sheep because of the problem of wild dogs. One of its major attractions for the owners when they bought it in the 1990s was the sealed road right to the gate. They also enjoy wonderful water from the artesian basin but they are very conscious of minimising

Roadies were bussed the 15kms from Jondaryan to the Oakey RSL for a Beccy Cole concert. About half the audience was roadies and the other half "locals" coming from as far away as Dalby. Non drinkers like me drove ourselves so we didn't have to wait for one of the buses. We all had roast lamb for dinner and it was very good. I heard lots of people commenting favourably on both the quality and quantity of the meal. It was a late night but even later for the music crew who had to sell CDs, have photos taken, sign autographs and pack up the gear before they could leave. They also had an early start the next morning cooking breakfasts to go such as toasted egg and bacon sandwiches because we had a long drive the next day.

At the end of the scheduled concert last night Libby O'Donovan jumped up and said with 3 singing Becs in the hall they should give us a tune. She introduced them as Bec Hance (in the hat), Bec Lee Nye, and Bec Wife!  This was clearly an impromptu performance as I heard Beccy Cole whispering the next line to the other Becs. They sang 2 Dolly Parton songs because her middle name is Rebecca. They did a great job and demonstrated their combined talents and versatility.

Rebecca Lee Nye and her husband Billy Bridge are very talented entertainers. She has a great voice and he is is a wonderful mimic and story teller, as well as having a voice reminiscent of Neil Diamond. When they first came on "stage" last night, Bec was having trouble with the heel of her stiletto boots sinking into the dirt. Beccy Cole produced an old pair of more sensible boots and helped her change into them. It was a very funny and friendly evening listening to songs ranging from Blue Bayou to Shilo to original songs they have written. Their CDs will be added to our collection!

We were among the last to leave Esk this morning because we had trouble closing our awning. I enlisted our mate Steve to help but his fingers got stuck and we had to work out how to release him. Fortunately there was no serious injury and he managed to work out how to fix it. We stopped for groceries and coffee and discovered how cold it was outside the car. Leftovers from our enormous lunches at the Oakey RSL will feed us and the dogs for days! Our camp for the next two nights is at the former Jondaryan station. The woolshed was built in 1860 and is still standing. The original homestead burned down in 1937. Its replacement is now used as a museum. Our group is sheltering from the cold wind in what appears to be the old mess hall for shearers. These three woodfired stoves capture the feel of the place.

Some seriously talented artists performed at this evening's concert. The Hussy Hicks are from the Gold Coast but regularly tour in Europe. They recently won Album of the Year at the Gold Coast Music Awards. They played some of their original songs and some well known favourites with their own interpretation, such as Yippie-ya-yay with the guitar making convincing horse clopping noises. Beccy also had Mick Albeck here to play fiddle. Mick is Beccy's ex husband so there were many jokes like "I think he's the father of my son". Mick has won his own swag of awards and has often played in Beccy's concerts and in some of the songs on her albums. At times there were half a dozen mussos jamming on the makeshift stage near the campfire.

Today I went with a group of roadies on a visit to a nearby Llama farm. As you can see we were able to get up close and personal. This farm supplies llamas to local sheep farmers to mitigate feral dog attacks on sheep. I wasn't tempted to feed them as they habitually spit green saliva long distances if there is any dispute over the food. There were also goats, an alpaca, a lapaca (cross between an alpaca and a llama), a camel, a horse, a pony, a sheep and chooks. The family's German Shepherd kept eating the pellets intended for the llamas with no apparent detrimental effects. The commentary was sus at times. For example, the owner refers to the paddock where the baby llamas are kept with their mothers as the kitchen - a place for feeding and breeding.

Today was the start of the Aussie Road Crew Queensland tour. We enjoyed a catered meal of roast chicken, beef and pork at the camp kitchen - all 80 of us! Back at the Hub Beccy and Libby introduced their crew and welcomed all roadies. They also passed on their thanks for some wonderful gifts that roadies had made for them in celebration of their wedding earlier this year. Before the concert the Regular Roadies badges were handed out to all those who have participated in more than one ARC tour. We collected our second badges as this is our third tour. Chris and Neen in the centre of the picture have been on all five tours so they collected their fourth badges, otherwise known as the stalker badges! They are also going on a coach tour of Ireland and Scotland with Beccy and Libby so their stalker status is warranted! The concert tonight was fun with all of the musicians participating, but it was cold sitting around the campfire. It will definitely get colder as we head further west!

We had lunch yesterday with some friends at an outdoor cafe in Esk and we were joined by these uninvited visitors. More roadies have arrived and we met some of them during a noisy meal at the Esk Thai restaurant. Our Coco has a small bark to let me know he needs to be taken out of his crate for his morning constitutional. I am worried he will wake others at 5am but that concern was mitigated by a chorous of raucous kookaburras . I was the first roadie up and about to enjoy the lack of rain and see the mist rising off the mountains.

Our latest adventure is the Queensland Aussie Road Crew tour with Beccy Cole and Libby O'Donovan. Yesterday we were setting up at the Esk Caravan Park when Beccy arrived early with some of her crew. That's her black ute and trailer in the background. Libby was finishing recording her new album so didn't arrive till today.  In the foreground you will see we have added a generator box and pole carrier to the front of our Bushtracker. We also replaced the next-to-useless electric awning with a much sturdier manual version. Fortunately we finished setting up before the rain started as our dogs and cats are with us and we could put them under cover. It is great catching up with so many of our friends on this trip. Half of the roadies have done previous tours so we know many of them. The ARC tour starts tomorrow afternoon so hopefully the rain with ease up for our first campfire concert.