The road to Boulia from Cawnpore Lookout.

Heading towards Boulia we stopped at a lookout or two before pulling into town.  We were greeted by three emus on the main street median strip and later witnessed two dogs chasing a kangaroo at full tilt bounding down one of the side streets. Finally here is the town that Americans dream of.

After a quick set up and lunch at the local CP we headed to the Stonehouse, home to some ancient fossilised dinosaurs.

Plesiosaur and ichthyosaur, which ploughed the inland sea around here in the early cretaceous about 100 million years ago, are both represented with remarkably complete skeletons. Like Winton, these are real, and not the ubiquitous casts normally seen in museums.  Apart from the Emus in the main street, other entertainment was the local library, the last of our free ‘swap and go’ Queensland libraries. The ability to borrow books or DVD’s and return them to another rural library is an excellent initiative that we wished we knew about during our five months in WA.

With all to see in Boulia ticked off in one afternoon we planned to head off the next morning after topping up on fuel and a few groceries, our Queensland leg completed.  We are heading west across the Plenty Hwy to the Red Centre travelling along part of “Australia’s longest shortcut” most of which is dirt road – wish us luck!