Hello from Charleville, south west Queensland, the land of the Bidjara people. We had a big drive yesterday, stopping in at the Back O Bourke before heading north then crossing the border which came up so quickly we didn't even realise it had happened until it was too late to stop for a photo! I'm very grateful that I've spent the last 7 months worth of credits on my audible subscription purchasing the Harry Potter books on tape - the first book was a big success, and did help the hours go by easily.

We checked into our lovely AirBnB place here in Charleville, aptly named Josie's place, and had a quiet afternoon and evening enjoying the sun, space and in my case, the washing machine! I did 3 loads, and they all dried today in the 24 degree sunshine. A dream!

We headed into town for a tasty lunch of pies at the local bakery, after checking the kids book section at the lifeline shop which is going to be a key part of a routine on this trip. Then we headed to the airbase to wander through an exhibition on the secret American air force base during WW2. It really brought to life the effect of the war on the people of this area and the 3,500 USAAF personnel who were stationed here in Charleville between 1942 to 45. We also saw the Vortex Rainmaking Guns in a local park, which were a pretty wild attempt to create rain through explosives in a terrible drought in 1902.

Then we went to visit with the bilbies at the Charleville Bilby Experience. They were just the cutest thing ever! We learnt all about the Greater Bilby, as well as the attempts to protect them so they don't join the Lesser Bilby and the 33 other mamals that have become extinct in Australia in the last 100 years. Then we got to go into the nocturnal house where the ambassador bilbies have had their schedules altered so they think day is night and visa versa (hence the red lights).

We had dinner at a beautiful art deco pub, the Hotel Corones, where the US airmen danced with locals during the war, before heading to the Cosmos Centre for a stargazing tour. Despite an underwhelming guide, the night sky was amazing, and we particularly enjoyed looking at Alpha Centauri. It is the first of the 2 pointers to the Southern Cross and to the naked eye it looks like a single star, but is in fact is a binary star system so in the telescope we could see the 2 super bright individual stars, which was really exciting.

After the late night the kids have crashed out quickly, so we've been able to get a bit of headstart on packing before heading out to Longreach tomorrow.

A technical note, my amazing web designer (aka Bob) has added the ability to comment down below. Please don't feel any obligation to leave a response, we just wanted to give it a try!