11 July 2014
Today we left Longreach and started our journey eastwards towards the sapphire fields around Emerald. The road was littered with dead kangaroos. We all commented on how we had never seen so many before. We arrived at Barcaldine and went to have a look at the campsite at the local weir. We got there to find the place packed out so we went to check out the other free camping area . . . . . next to the local cemetery!!!!!!!!!!
When we pulled in there was only one other van and by the time we went to bed there were a total of 18 vans and campers. All was quiet in the cemetry.
John & I decided to go back into town to take photos of “The Tree Of Knowledge”.
The tree was a Ghost gum that stood outside the Barcaldine Railway Station. It was under this tree that the shearers gathered during the 1891 shearers strike. Once known as the “Alleluia tree” because the Salvation Army met there, this ghost gum became the centre of a struggle and became referred to as the Tree of Knowledge.
In May 2006 someone poisoned the tree and it died. It was excavated, root ball and all, and sent away for chemical preservation. This skeleton of a tree became the centrepiece of an 18 metre high memorial designed by Brian Hooper. there are 3449 timbers representing the leaves and canopy. A further 1464 timbers were used for the facade.
The other thing of interest in Barcaldine is the Masonic Lodge, a state heritage listed building. The Freemason’s lodge was built in 1901 and is one of the most unusual buildings in Barcaldine. Built from iron and timber it has a painted facade which has been designed to make it look like brick.
Here is a photo of our vans parked near the cemetery. I took this about 7.30pm using the light of the full moon. The bright light is a LED light on the outside of a caravan some distance from us.
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