3 August 2019
Bill and I were awake early, and headed off to get a coffee. Even on a Saturday, coffee shops are open at 5am here to cater to the port workers. Winning.
Packed up camp and headed off for our biggest day of driving in the last few weeks. 470 km to cover.
We had a couple of stops along what was a fairly uninteresting drive and arrived at Bullara Station mid afternoon. We set up camp and went for an explore. What an interesting place! It is still a working station, however also now houses quite a large campsite. The infrastructure is fantastic! Everything looks to have been made out of old pieces of farm equipment etc that they’ve had lying around. Towel hooks have been made from bent horse shoes. Toilet cubicles made from what appear to be old tanks of some kind. They have donkey heater showers that get fired up a couple of times a day, and the wool shed (complete with shearing gear and wool tables) now houses a table tennis table and tv.
Happy hour was at 5 pm at the communal fire pit near the camp kitchen. They cook up damper for all the guests 5 nights a week, and everyone has a bit of a chat to the people sitting near them. The damper was really very good too. Damper John (ol’ mate that cooks the damper) gives a bit of a talk on the history of the station and how he ended up there. It was pretty great.
Bill and I headed off to enjoy a donkey shower. I fed the donkey (stoked the fire) and we hung our towels and toiletries bags on the gum tree that was growing through the cubicle. It was all very novel. Although I recognise that back in the day when these sorts of showers were the only way to have hot water, the people using them would have thought the constant hot water that we are used to these days was extraordinary. But now we want a hot shower that we have to work for! How ridiculous are we!
Steak and vegies cooked over the open fire and a glass of red wine for dinner, and then we all enjoyed sitting around the fire until time for bed.
Inside the shower cubicle fuelled by the donkey heater. The bucket up the top has holes puched in the bottom and is the shower head.
The donkey heater setup.
The lava-trees. The signs here are all made of old windmill blades.
Bill feeding Maggie, the resident kangaroo. She is a huge fan of walnuts.
Travelling the Big Island 