HEADING EAST - BARCALDINE TO ALPHA - PART 1 (THE TRIP AND A GREAT CARAVAN PARK) (17 - 18 JUNE 2019)

By the time we left Barcaldine we really did feel as though we knew most of what that town had to offer, and hopefully you will agree with my comment that it was a great deal.

But seven days there was enough. We were more than ready to be moving on, and today's 140 kilometre leg east along the Capricorn Highway to Alpha was to be over a stretch of highway which was new for us. There are not too many of these left now!

With less than two hours to run, we felt no real compunction to be hustling about at 'sparrow's'. The sun was well up by the time we headed out along Oak Street and into the grazing lands east of Barky.

The highway verges soon became much more heavily timbered, and it was not too long before we could see lines of hills ahead of us.

Just over 80 kms into our trip for today, on the approach to the small town of Jericho, we came across a sight we had not seen for quite some time, termite mounds, many of which were decorated with odds and ends of clothing, some more skillfully than others!

In what can only be described as a remarkable coincidence of timing, this clothed colony featured quite heavily in the local Queensland news services only two days ago. 

Believe it or not, there is a real fracas brewing about this quaint practice (which is by no means unique to this area....we had seen many similarly dressed mounds around Tennant Creek and other spots along the Stuart Highway). 

Many in the Jericho area argue that this is a great tourist attraction and are advocating its expansion (they really do need to get out and about a bit more!) whilst others in positions of authority are beating their chests and wailing about the dangers of distracting passing motorists from the real job at hand. Frankly, that is about as 'nanny state' as one could get. Anyone who has difficulty retaining their appropriate place on the highway whilst passing these oddities should go immediately to the nearest motor registration branch and hand in their licence!

Mind you, these dressed termite mounds are not the only quirky feature of Jericho, a tiny town of about 100 souls which came into existence when the railway line heading west reached this area. 

Firstly there is the name. Why Jericho? 

The answer purportedly lies in the fact that the town sits on the banks of the Jordan River just south of Lake Galilee. Interestingly, however, the Jordan River was actually named after Harry Jordan, an original settler in the area back in the late 1800's and had nothing to do with the tales of the Old Testament at all.

But once the railway station was built, one of the engineers involved with the project named the area Jericho in 1885 because it was the first station west of the Jordan River/Creek. This, of course, was a direct reference to the fact that the Biblical town of Jericho was west of the other Jordan River.

Others would have us believe that the name is nothing more than "a rather elaborate outback joke" .

What ever the reason, the few folks of Jericho have not dallied in recent times exploiting the name of their little town. One of the main features of the drive through it is the statue known as the Crystal Trumpeters. We did not stop, so I'm indebted to my old bloging friend 'Aussie Towns' for this photo,

and for the following text:

"The town has a remarkable ability to exploit its very dubious religious connections. 

In 1988 as a Bicentennial Project, the town decided to construct the 'Crystal Trumpeters' in memory of the Biblical story where the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for six days then blew their trumpets on the seventh day and watched as the city walls collapsed. 

The crystals (the connection of the Biblical story with the town is, to put it mildly, rather tenuous) symbolise various moments in the Old Testament including the slavery in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the receiving of the Ten Commandments, the crossing of the River Jordan and the arrival in the Promised Land. The monument is located on the Capricorn Highway over the road from the Town Hall."

Knowing this, why do decorated termite mounds surprise? But the quirky nature of this town  doesn't end here. 

A mural or two seems to be an almost obligatory facet of small country town life, and in this regard Jericho is no exception, but theirs displays a areal sense of outback fun......

  

....three goannas leaning on a post and rail fence downing a beer! It really doesn't come much more 'Aussie outback' than this.

And finally, before we leave Jericho in our mirrors, one other town feature is worthy of note (for what it's worth). In Darwin Street, a modern screen set in lovely lawns is the home of the town Drive-In Theatre, opened in 1969 and still showing films once a month on Saturdays. But be quick. With only thirty four vehicle sites this is recognised as the smallest Drive-In Theatre in the country.

So much for Jericho.....the highway ahead awaits.

For some unknown reason I had not expected to find mountain ranges in this part of the country, but some fifty kms from Alpha the ridges on the distant horizon were unmistakable.

But they presented no real challenge and we found ourselves on the outskirts of Alpha in no time

and soon spotted the sign which indicated the town caravan park was off to the right. The buildings of the short town main street which we were to visit on the morrow can actually be seen just beyond the junction.

Less than a minute later we had, as our electronic navigator frequently intones, "reached our destination".

As we pulled up at the park office, we could already see that this choice of an brief stop-over showed a great deal of promise.

Once signed in we were directed past the small group of park cabins

to a huge, grassy site 

where we set up in no time (which, of course, including raising the Queensland Cane Toad flag at the insistence of the navigator...it was still State of Origin time). At this stage our immediate neighbour and a couple of others across the road were the only occupants of the park. This did change later in the day, but the sites here are so spacious that we enjoyed plenty of 'elbow room' throughout our stay.

This park really was a surprise....Alpha is far from being the tourist hub of central Queensland, but we could not fault our new temporary home. 

From our site we had magnificent views across the well maintained and expansive park lawns which gave this place a really 'open' feel.

Another feature were the murals. The walls of the very functional ablution block were adorned with a flying flock of doves,
















whilst the not too distant camp kitchen sported  














brightly coloured lorikeets on both the side
















and back walls.

This was not merely window dressing to make up for an inadequate facility. This open kitchen housed all that was necessary to store and/or prepare a tasty meal,
















including a large, flat BBQ plate which encouraged Chef Pierre to take the opportunity to make up a mess of his famed caramelised onions and potatoes to go with the sizzled supper snags.
















Even the notices on the interior walls of this facility were the obvious subject of some thought and imagination, a real indicator of a well run park.


















Those with a yen to sit around the campfire are also well catered for here in Alpha. All guests are invited to make the most of the large outdoor fire pit and a more than adequate supply of wood in this spacious corner of the park behind the camp kitchen.




We could not have been happier with our decision to spend two nights here. Oodles of room, great grassy sites, good facilities, and a very well run park with obliging and charming managers. 






It even came with the most beautiful local butterflies.











Our great country could use many more parks like this!