So many wallabies, pigs, emus and three sheep were the roadkill on the road from Longreach to Stonehenge. Just before arriving at Stonehenge we came across the Stonehenge Address Book, where tourist put the town they are from, marked with rocks, alongside the road.

The town of Stonehenge is one of three areas in Australia chosen as a base for a radar defence initiative to guard our coastline. It is also has an earthquake monitoring installation to provide an early warning system for the Pacific Rim.

We decided to camp down beside the Thomson River and after setting up, we were swarmed by flies and there was heaps of prickles. After about 15 minutes the decision was made to move camp. This is a first for us but the flies were extreme.

We headed out of Stonehenge and stopped at the Swan Vale RA/Scenic Lookout, there was hardly any flies, no prickles and a spectacular vista, overlooking the floodplains. We enjoyed a fantastic humid night watching a brilliant sunset, cooking up chicken chow mien on the fire and enjoying a couple of drinks under a stunning night sky.

We woke in the morning to hear what we thought were flies but on opening the bus door, we realized it was a swarm of bees trying to make a nest in one of our plant pots. Alan had to don long pants and a jumper to get rid of the bees, the pots then was put back into a their safe haven, our bathroom….

The following day we drove only 40km down to Jundah, it's interesting to note that both towns of Stonehenge and Jundah are fenced off and you drive over cattle grids on entry to the townships. We assumed it was to stop any stock walking through town.

Our campsite for the next two days was beside the Thomson River, where we enjoyed putting the nets in but didn't get any yabies. We walked into town to check out the sites.

We headed down to Windorah, were we met up with Alan & Robyn at the Cooper Creek Bridge. They had also just arrived to meet up with Ian and Julie. We spent the next three nights catching up, sharing stories and recipes around the campfire each night. One day seemed to be taken up with the two Alans' and Ian solving our battery issues. It was a great time catching up with fellow Taggertarians.

After packing up and saying our goodbyes, we went back into Windorah and went in search of the Red sand dunes. Unfortunately due to the soft sand we could drive into the station. We had to reassess the route we were going to take, along the 'Natural Science Loop', as the supply of Pepsi was extremely low. We decided to head straight to Quilpie and camped beside the Bulloo River for a couple of nights. Again the nets went into the river but only to get one great size yabbie. We did a 5km walk into town on Sunday morning to get some spuds for our roast dinner. The weather through the day is mid 20's but at night out come the long pants and jumpers, as we sit around the campfire.

We headed off in the original direction that we had chosen to drive the 'Natural Science Loop'. Our first stop was at the Kenmore Oil Field where you can see an oil pump jack right next to the road. This is just before you arrive at Eromanga. Eromanga is famous not only for being the furthest town from the sea in Australia but it is also home to Australia's largest onshore oil and gas development. We stopped for lunch here and we were going to pull in for the afternoon but decided to move on. Our campsite for the night was at the rest area at the Innamincka turnoff, which takes you down to Camerons Corner in the South West of Queensland. We had this site to ourselves and felt we were in the middle of nowhere.

The following morning we detoured 40km to see the Historical Noccundra Pub. This hotel is built out of local sandstone and built in 1886 and heritage listed by the National Trust in 1977. There is free camping adjacent to the hotel at the Wilson River Reserve. The pub has an unsealed airstrip directly behind it, and many visitors fly in, park their planes at the front of the pub, enjoy a drink and meal before flying out again.

Our next stop was at Thargomindah, which is 1000km west of Brisbane. Thargomindah was the first town in Australia and the third in the world after Paris and London, to produce hydro-electric power for street lighting, through the harvesting of bore water from the Great Artesian Basin. After obtaining info from the information centre we were armed with a map of the local attractions, so we set out to check out the replica of the original power-plant shed, Leahy house (once owned by Sir Sidney Kidman), the old hospital and Pelican Point. Whilst looking at the Leahy house, about six emus were walking down the street towards us. This is a town that has kangaroo's and emus wandering/hopping down the streets.

We continued along the Bullo Developmental Road, still a single land highway and stopped for the night beside the Paroo River at Eulo. The following morning we had booked in for a mud bath but were up early, so did sites in Eulo and the Royal Flying Doctor flew into town. We saw one elderly gentleman having his eye test, out on the footpath. We arrived at the Artesian Bore Spa Mud Baths and was greeted by Nan, who we met the day before when she showed us through the individual rooms. We had booked the 10ft stretched bath. Nan had run the warm artisan water into the bath, then added the mud. She then explain the routine, that we soak for 30mins, then get out and smoother the clay mask over our bodies, enjoy our plate of nibbles, soak again for another 20mins then shower off. No need for bathers as they are private rooms with no roofs, a fire can be lit but as the morning was warm there was no need for the fire. We soaked and watched the Royal Flying Doctors fly away to their next clinic, a very relaxing way to start the day, soaking up in the bath. This is a luxury for us who have now lived in the bus for three years.

We once again hit the road and headed into Yowah, which is an opal town. As we drove into town, the Royal Flying Doctors plane was just taking off, so hence this was their next stop. We spent the night at the free camp in Yowah and headed out to the fossicking area in the morning but didn't find any stunning opals.

The landscape we have travelled across over the previous week was barren, open, flat, rocky and then hilly as we crossed the vast area called the Grey Range, the vegetation was forever changing.

We headed out of town and back to Quilpie where we have decided to stop for a couple of nights.