Taking our time to get going, (because we could), we headed into town around 9:30am and started with a trip to The Jackie Howe Place, a museum and gallery dedicated to the great gun shearer, Jackie Howe who still holds the record for the most sheep shorn in a day … 321 sheep in 7 hours 40 minutes. He knocked off 20 minutes early ‘cause his mates were ribbing him unmercifully that he’d done enough. It was very interesting and Jenny Muir, his granddaughter, who runs the place with her husband Barry, was very friendly. In fact we have found everyone to be friendly.
It was then off to follow the Sculpture Trail map and we jumped in and out of the car taking snaps of various sculptures including Eagles Nest, Bottle Tree, a fossilised tree stump, the Pioneer Bore, and much, much more!
We were then keen to get out to the Wool Scour early to make sure we didn’t miss out and arrived with time to spare to watch a pre-tour video outlining the history of the facility that involves shearing, grading, scouring (washing), drying, and packing the wool. It opened in 1908 and was powered by steam with an abundance of artesian water. It closed in 1978 and lay dormant for many years until a group of locals saw its value to entice visitors (you aren’t allowed to call us tourists apparently), to the area. It was a fascinating tour, run by Scott, a retired buyer from the wool industry. This was historically sheep country but when the bottom fell out of that market in the 70s, many turned to beef. It was a fascinating tour that lasted about an hour – an hour where I got harassed by mozzies … forgot the aeroguard!
Back in town we sourced a lovely café where we dined on salmon bagel for me and toastie for Gaz, along with a slice of fruit loaf and coffee for Gaz. A slight detour via the cabin for a cup of tea (me), and we headed of to the Aquatic Centre on the edge of town. What a facility! An Olympic size pool, two spas, all supplied with 30+ degree artesian water. A whopping $2 entry fee each saw us jumping first into the spa and then floating about in the pool. They even have pool noodles to borrow for free! There was only one other couple there – Clem and Clem’s wife (oops, didn’t ask her name). OMG it turns out Clem and Gaz are soul brothers – that was THEIR words. “Where have you been hiding?” Clem said as he and Gaz regaled each other with conspiracy theories on … well … just about everything. Importantly, they always seemed to agree with each other. Clem’s wife and I drifted slowly up the pool, putting more distance between us and them as they became more and more animated. Strangely we reacted very similarly to their theories. Anyway, I enjoyed a lovely afternoon immersed in water – loved it.
After an hour or so to relax (Gaz) and work (me), we headed off to the Barcoo Hotel for dinner. Still reasonably full after our lunch, we opted for a shared seafood basket and shared apple pie and ice cream. The hotel was so accommodating – they served the mains on 2 plates with, I reckon, a full salad and chips on each plate with the seafood split between the two. The amount of ice cream with the pie had to have been double the normal serve – very thoughtful.
We raced back to the cabin as there was a scheduled family facetime call as it is Carly’s birthday today – Happy birthday! Unfortunately, Lucas tested positive to Covid this morning and she had a rubbish day at work with no time for lunch, didn’t get home until after 7:30pm … but other than that I’m sure it was a great day! ☹ For us it was a bit of TV and then planning the pack up and ship out tomorrow.
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