First stop this morning was Tambo. Visited Tambo Teddies which is getting a bit of a name for itself world wide. Great to see such a successful little business in the middle of Queensland. Tambo is doing a good job of reinventing itself. Lovely old building, a nice gallery and quite a few murals on the walls.
On to Blackall and a coffee stop and a shop before heading north towards Lara Wetlands. The Road to the Wetlands heads west off the Landsborough Highway 78km north of Blackall, 13km of gravel/dirt road which, by the look of it has been a little problematic for some in the wet. No such problem for us today. Not a cloud in the sky.
Lara Wetlands
Lara Wetlands is a 15,000-acre cattle station and is 41 kms south of Barcaldine and 91kms north of Blackall and includes a 13km gravel road off the Landsborough Highway.
The red sandy loam to chocolate soil country is mainly lightly timbered with box, sandalwood and gidyea. There are also areas of semi-open country. Native and buffel grasses are found on the river flats off Alice and Patrick creeks.
Water is supplied throughout the property from the Lara Artesian Bore dug soon after the station was established in the early 1900s and it is around this bore 'lake" that the tourist facility is based.
The Wetlands has an abundance of birdlife with the unlimited water supply.
There is a magnificent semi-renovated, six-bedroom homestead built in 1912 with sweeping verandahs on three sides. The homestead is part of the Lara Wetlands Tourist Enterprise.
Lara can run 500 head of Breeders, has undercover cattle yards and is fully fenced.
Lara is not quite how we imagined it might be. There are so many people here all set up around the perimeter of the lake and a few back from the edge. We had a little difficulty finding a spot where we could set up with Margaret and Arthur. A little backing in between trees did the job. Guess the main issue for us is that it is just very crowded. That said, the birdlife is quite amazing. We saw two brolgas fly in just on dusk which was a bit of a treat. More native hens around than we have ever seen anywhere. One with a nest in a log just offshore near our van.
