Our hookup was not complicated by nearby caravans doing the same as many had left before us. We were not late leaving just after 8.30am. We stopped for coffee at the coffee hatch in the Wellshot Hotel at Ilfracombe, 27kms from Longreach. Road closure signs along the Landsborough Hwy reflect the state of some minor roads, but it is a rough ride in some places along the highway.
We stopped briefly a couple of times on our 314kms trip, but didn’t linger as we have travelled this route many times. We don’t recall ever having stayed overnight in Tambo, so chose the caravan park in the centre of the small historic town. While Anita was checking us in, we were directed to a drive through site. Tilly was on the front seat and upset a labrador when she looked out the window. We were moved to another site to avoid any cat/dog issues.
I took Bluey for a walk through the heritage area, and had a long chat with a local woman supervising the historic items in one of the buildings. The large tree behind Blue is on the verge beside the Tambo Shire Hall.
The Royal Carrangarra Hotel conducts a fund raising event each night from 1 April to 31 October, raising money for charity. The unique event is chicken racing!
The grass on the “race track” is kept trim by a resident sheep and goat. Some of the chickens are coloured with food dye and given silly names like “pink bits”. The chickens are motivated to “race” by chasing a remote controlled model car transporting a bucket of chook food. On the test run the car crashed!
Visitors are invited to bid on a chook, the highest bidder becoming the owner of the chosen chook for the race. Anita successfully bid $70 for the yellow chook named Bumble Bee. The bid money is pooled and the owner of the winning chook gets half the kitty, with the other half going to charity. Some nights depending on the crowd a lot of money is raised, encouraged by Ben’s corny chicken jokes. One night the bidding total was over $5,000, but tonight it was closer to $500. Bumble Bee did not win!
Unfortunately the hotel dinners were very ordinary, but the live music was good. The other hotel was very quiet but we wish we had eaten there.
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