Today was our last real holiday day, if that makes sense, because even though we don’t go back to work for another week, we’ll be driving, driving, driving and then at home we’ll be unpacking and mowing and washing and shopping and getting haircuts and shivering ... hmmmm.

The weather yesterday was cloudy and there was rain about, so for the first time on the trip we erected our awning. It worked, because today was beautiful and sunny, warm with a cool breeze, just like the last time we were here.

This morning we took it easy, reading books and playing games. After lunch we went to the railway station to see if any trains would be going through, and the staff there suggested coming back at four o’clock, as a goods train would be arriving and another departing, and some shunting would be happening. Cloncurry station is mostly a freight operation; the station building is a utilitarian steel box. So we came back and got to see some real shunting going on, which the boys have never seen before, so they were suitably impressed. No doubt when they get home there will be some shunting going on when the toy trains come out.

Cloncurry’s water comes from Chinaman Creek Dam not far out of town; it’s a top spot, with grass growing right down to the water’s edge, even in the water itself, and a couple of steep rocky knolls nearby add some character. I guess it’s looking its best following all the rain Queensland has had this year and last. I was the only one who went for a swim, while the others took photos of Smokey and Poppy at the end of skid marks on the road. Each to their own!