Lake Dunn

One of the campers dogs enjoying the sunset at Lake Dunn

From Longreach we drove to Barcaldine stopping for a vanilla slice at the Bakery - Terry said it was the best in Australia - and he was not wrong.  Drove out to Lara Wetlands - was great to catch up with Lynn and Janice again plus Syd and Maz pulled in not long after we had set up.  Spend 2 days enjoying the company, scenery and of course I had a few soaks in the hot pool.  Enjoyed the Friday night BBQ with entertainment from Ian (guitar and singer), Maz playing her Roland Electronic Piano, and out of the blue pops up a Bagpipe player!!!  Full moon provided flickers of light on the lake - looked like heaps of little fairy lights under the water.

After a relaxing couple of days at Lara Wetlands we drove back to Barcaldine and headed to Aramac, one of the oldest towns in Central Western Queensland. From here we took the Lake Dunn Sculpture Trail which is a circuit starting in Aramac and covering a distance of approx 200km with more than 25 sculptures along the way - refer to separate blog post for photos (we stopped and photographed 33 sculptures!).

Decided to tackle the dirt road part of the circuit first (approx 130kms), which was not too bad at the beginning however deteriorated near the end becoming rough and corrugated in parts. Stayed the night at Lake Dunn before heading off the next day to complete the Sculpture Trail.

Lake Dunn, or more commonly known as "The Lake" is a freshwater lake 68 kms north east of Aramac.  It was named after James Dunn, head stockman at Mt Cornish Station - being discovered when he tracked a mob of cattle to the area.  Lake Dunn's aboriginal name is Pajingo Bola, meaning "Big Fella Waterhole" and is a birdwatcher's paradise - home to over 80 different species of birds and an excellent fishing spot for Yellowbelly, Black Bream and Blue Crawchies.  The Lake was won in a ballot in 1914 by Ben Dickson and has been owned by the Dickson family ever since.

Sunset reflections over the lake 

Pulled into Lake Dunn rather late to camp and were allocated a site behind a shack to plug into power - also told we could use the front deck of the shack to sit and enjoy the view.  When Helen went to put the legs of the van down, one of the front ones was missing!  Had fallen off coming out of Lara Wetlands or along the track to the Lake. Lovely spot to camp - quite a few vans here.

We could use the deck of one of the shacks to have sunset drinks

Next day we were off again on the Sculpture Trail however this time the road was bitumen so did not take so long to complete.  Once again we were impressed by the sculptures and thoroughly enjoyed the circuit.

Back in Barcaldine we were going to see Heather and Barry, owners of the Shakespeare Pub for lunch, but it was closed on Mondays!  Grabbed another vanilla slice from the Bakery (just to make sure they are as good as the last ones!!) and continued to Jericho where we camped by the Jordan River (Redbank Park), which was dry where we set up.

An interesting cow on our way to Lake Dunn