Elizabeth Ellen Carter's Blog, page 4

Part 5 – Elizabeth’s Outback Adventure

Thank you for joining me on my Queensland Outback Adventure!

We thought we’d play tourist in our backyard and visit all the places in our own state that we said we’d get to ‘one day’ and since overseas travel is so far off for most of us, I thought you might like to go on a virtual holiday with my husband and me.

Here’s our itinerary:

Saturday, April 24 – Home to Chinchilla Motor Inn
Sunday, April 25 – Chinchilla to Augathella Palms
Monday, April 26 – Augathella to Longreach (Jumbuck Motel)
Tuesday, April 27 – Longreach
Wednesday, April 28 – Longreach to Winton (Matilda Motel)
Thursday, April 29 – Winton to Blackall (Coolibah Motel)
Friday, April 30 – Blackall to Mitchell (Major Mitchell Caravan Park and Cabins)
Saturday, May 1 – Mitchell to Toowoomba (Platinum International)
Sunday, May 2 – Toowoomba to Home

DAY 5Longreach to Winton

We left Longreach before 9am to head another 170km north toward Winton. I confess, I didn’t know much about this town when planning this trip but something caught my eye… opals. Queensland rock opals, amongst the most beautiful and most sought after in the world.

The landscape is stark out here, under the bright blue skies, the orange-red earth is scrubby and flat. In the distance, flat top mesas are the only elevation for miles and miles around.

These mesas are called ‘jump ups’ out here, because they appear to simply ‘jump up’ out of the landscape

Bright blue skies, scrubby vegetation, red soil and long, straight roads. We’re on the road again in the Queensland Outback!

Thank goodness for a comfy car with good air-conditioning! This is the view for the next hour or so.

Coming up quickly on a road train. This is a semi-trailer which pulls anywhere between three and four trailers. Road trains are between 33 to 50 metres in length. They really are kings of the road.

Oooh, what’s this?

But before we got to Winton, we took a 20km detour to the Age of Dinosaurs National History Museum.  We learned from the guides that, for the longest time, it was believed that Australia had no dinosaurs until a farmer by the name of Dave Elliot discovered a huge dinosaur femur in his paddock.

It turns out that the  Winton region was once full of dinosaurs. In other parts of the world these discoveries are made by spotting fossilized bone in eroded rock.

Not at Winton. The infamous black soil that sticks to everything also stuck to dinosaur remains. Black soil is described as self mulching. Rain carrying vegetation soaks into the cracks in the earth. As it goes down, nutrient rich decomposed soil comes to the surface and sometimes dinosaur bones emerge too.

They’re not kidding. There are flies everywhere! I accidentally swallowed one! You either let them crawl all over you or you wearily wave them away in what is known as the ‘great Australian salute’.

After Dave’s discovery ended up 1200kms away in the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, he determined that the next find would be kept local.  And what a find it was! Not one but two dinosaur species! A raptor and a sauropod at 25% and 35% intact, which apparently is quite remarkable.

Banjo, the life-sized raptor greets visitors to the museum which harmonises with the landscape. Some people get so excited that they lose their head!

The locals banded together to donate land and fund a museum of natural history.

A sauropod bone. An actual bone. And the ‘labratory’, in truth, a giant shed, is full of these treasures. While we were there, four paleontologists were working on removing accreted rock from the fossilised bone.

We took a tour package that took in the lab were carefully wrapped finds (they are wrapped in aluminium foil, packed in wet newspaper and covered in plaster strips to form a hard shell for transportation. When the paleontologists are ready to work on the find, they crack open the shell and carefully reveal the bone. We saw genuine dinosaur bones up close as well as the scientists at work. 

The second part of the tour was the collection room with the remains of the raptor, nicknamed Banjo after famous local bush poet AB Banjo Paterson and the sauropod Matilda, named for Banjo’s famous poem Waltzing Matilda. 

Our last tour took us about 1km on an open sided tour bus for a canyon walk filled with beautiful bronze sculptures of the dinosaurs, many of the life sized. We got a sneak preview of a new attraction, a 60 metre long dinosaur stampede full preserved. Again the find came by accident, a flood revealed it at Snake Creek. It had to be moved in order to preserve it and that attraction is scheduled to open this weekend.

The Canyon walk takes you on a journey into dinosaur territory with beautiful bronze sculptures and dioramas.

The view from the top of the Jump Up (Flat top Mesa) where the Age of Dinosaurs Museum is located.

At the top of the cliff is the building that houses the dinosaur stampede tracks.

The drive to Winton was only 20 minutes.  We’re staying at the Matilda Hotel, an older, but charmingly refurbed motel. 

We had to hunt for opals and the second place we looked in had some beautiful examples of Queensland rock opal. I treated myself to 3 pairs of earrings and for you I have a special gift.

UPDATE

This evening we dined at the Tattersall Hotel, a classic Aussie pub in every sense of the word. We felt like a light meal tonight and had the classic steak sandwich – two thick slices of bread toasted, a thin minute steak, grilled to perfection with fried onion, fresh rocket lettuce, sliced tomato and sliced beetroot. Served with beer battered thick cut chips and washed down with a Great Northern Ale.

We ended up striking up conversations with complete strangers – as you do – folk who have been travelling for months already and still have months to go and they’re from all corners of Australia, some doing the big lap, as circumnavigating the country is called.

After dinner, we wandered across the road to The Royal Theatre, the second oldest outdoor cinema in Australia built in 1918 to entertain the Cobb and Co passengers. Theatre burnt down in 1938 and rebuilt.

The Royal Theatre at Winton, the country’s oldest running outdoor cinema in Australia.

The foyer and former cafe next door form The Royal Theatre museum. All of the ephemera like these static promotional transparencies are very rare, so it is wonderful to see them on display

Winton at night. We strolled the main street after our night at the movies, before heading back to our motel room.

Seating is on the classic slingback canvas seats and the ceiling was the night sky above. I saw Orion from my seat.

Wednesday nights are nostalgia nights. It begins with the all rise for the national anthem God Save The Queen – all three verses – before playing vintage local ads from the 1960s, Cine Sound newsreel, a cartoon and a selection of comedy shorts.

Afterwards we were.invited to visit the projection room where they had a welding rod lantern for the glass advertising slides, a 16mm projector and 2 35mm projectors. To protect the delicate film stock, the nostalgia night presentation has been scanned and projected using modern digital projectors.

The Royal Theatre is a not for profit and is run by an amazing group.of volunteers.

Tomorrow, there are a couple more places in town that we’ll visit before beginning our return trek south-east.

LEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW TO GO INTO THE DRAW FOR THIS OUTBACK PRIZE PACK

Contains:

Queensland boulder opal pendantsColoured sands from the Winton ‘Jump Up’ MesasA canvas tote from Tambo teddiesAn Australian Country soapPost cards,and More!

Winner will be announced in June’s Love’s Great Adventure magazine.

The post Part 5 – Elizabeth’s Outback Adventure appeared first on Elizabeth Ellen Carter.

Part 4 – Elizabeth’s Outback Adventure

Thank you for joining me on my Queensland Outback Adventure!

We thought we’d play tourist in our backyard and visit all the places in our own state that we said we’d get to ‘one day’ and since overseas travel is so far off for most of us, I thought you might like to go on a virtual holiday with my husband and me.

Here’s our itinerary:

Saturday, April 24 – Home to Chinchilla Motor Inn
Sunday, April 25 – Chinchilla to Augathella Palms
Monday, April 26 – Augathella to Longreach (Jumbuck Motel)
Tuesday, April 27 – Longreach
Wednesday, April 28 – Longreach to Winton (Matilda Motel)
Thursday, April 29 – Winton to Blackall (Coolibah Motel)
Friday, April 30 – Blackall to Mitchell (Major Mitchell Caravan Park and Cabins)
Saturday, May 1 – Mitchell to Toowoomba (Platinum International)
Sunday, May 2 – Toowoomba to Home

DAY 4Longreach 

DAY 4

Despite the age of the motel and its location opposite the airport, we had a great night’s sleep.

Opposite an airport?!?!

Longreach airport only operates during daylight hours and the aircraft taking off are light aircraft and turbo props.

So why on earth stay so close to a working airport? This is going to be today’s adventure – visiting the QANTAS  Founders Museum!

My what fun that was! If you have any interest in history or aviation, then this is the place for you.

The museum is worth seeing in its own right. It’s filled with historical pieces relating to the origins and founding of the Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Service.

So why was Australia’s flagship airline founded here in Longreach? As much as this region sees drought, it also sees flooding rains and once rain hits the rich, black soil turns gelatinous and no road transport could get through. 

Keeping reading for tomorrow’s installment because there is something remarkable about central Queensland black soil that will hopefully astound you as it did me!

The establishment of an aerial service brought together communities separated by great distances.

We spent two hours in the museum itself before joining a guided tour through an original 747, a Super Constellation, a DC3, 707 and a little Avro.

The story of Qantas’ early days more than a century ago  is truly remarkable and how dedication to bringing communities closer, inspired the founders and how that vision was captured and share by communities who funded an airline to bring mail, supplies and medical support to outback communities.

After the museum visit we walked up and down the main street of Longreach and bought a few souvenirs.

Including a cute pair of handmade leather earrings.

By the time we got back to the hotel, we were footsore and thought we might cool off in the pool. The water was freezing, so we settled for dangling our feet in instead.

Apparently there are two places in the world where you can stand in the engine of a jumbo jet and have your photo taken. The QANTAS Founders Museum is one of them. Doesn’t Duncan look right at home in this Outback town?

We took a guided tour of the jet park where decommissioned planes from Qantas’ past are available to walk through. The Southern Spray is a Super Constellation.

The tour guide said only ‘hosties’ (stewardesses) would have been allowed to pose for promotional pictures, so I decided to try my hand at it.

Around, under, through these amazing aircraft – and for some enthusiastic souls, you would even book a wing walk, where you could walk along the length of a 747 wing!

The story of the founding of Qantas (now accepted as title case rather than acronym) is utterly fascinating. We take flying for granted and forget that it was a revolutionary, and dangerous technology 100 years ago.

The point where Qantas became an international airlines with a partnership with British Empire Airways.

LEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW TO GO INTO THE DRAW FOR THIS OUTBACK PRIZE PACK

Contains:

Queensland boulder opal pendantsColoured sands from the Winton ‘Jump Up’ MesasA canvas tote from Tambo teddiesAn Australian Country soapPost cards,and More!

Winner will be announced in June’s Love’s Great Adventure magazine.

The post Part 4 – Elizabeth’s Outback Adventure appeared first on Elizabeth Ellen Carter.

Part 3 – Elizabeth’s Outback Adventure

Thank you for joining me on my Queensland Outback Adventure!

We thought we’d play tourist in our backyard and visit all the places in our own state that we said we’d get to ‘one day’ and since overseas travel is so far off for most of us, I thought you might like to go on a virtual holiday with my husband and me.

Here’s our itinerary:

Saturday, April 24 – Home to Chinchilla Motor Inn
Sunday, April 25 – Chinchilla to Augathella Palms
Monday, April 26 – Augathella to Longreach (Jumbuck Motel)
Tuesday, April 27 – Longreach
Wednesday, April 28 – Longreach to Winton (Matilda Motel)
Thursday, April 29 – Winton to Blackall (Coolibah Motel)
Friday, April 30 – Blackall to Mitchell (Major Mitchell Caravan Park and Cabins)
Saturday, May 1 – Mitchell to Toowoomba (Platinum International)
Sunday, May 2 – Toowoomba to Home

DAY 3 Augathella to Longreach 

We made the trip in good time, arriving here at just after 3pm and we have a treat in store…

Not that far out of Augathella, we encountered a stock drive. We inched our way carefully amongst the cattle which were being driven south. One of the stockmen was on a trail bike, another on his horse. Leading to a discussion on why cowboys are more romantic than shepherds. We came to the conclusion that a shepherd attains the same romantic hero status if he is in the company of his trusty sheepdog.

 Above, two pieces of public at in Blackall. I just love them. I like the anime-style the artist has used. There are plenty of pieces of public art in Queensland small towns and it is glorious to see – paintings, mosaics, sculptures… it is an art lover’s dream.

The first town along the way was Tambo. We didn’t stop there since it was a public holiday and we’ll be back through in a few days. We pressed through another 100km to Blackall with zero mobile phone coverage.

Here we see a community hurting. A number of businesses in the main street are either empty or for sale. But the Queensland outback spirit is resilient and they have a major social media campaign to support local businesses and encourage tourism. You’ll be seeing a few Instagram posts with these hashtags, so I encourage you to like, share and follow to give them some support.

At left, an abandoned grocery store which murals covering the front widows. At right the main street of Blackall. There are two pubs in the man street. One of them is closed up completely.

We had lunch at Blackall and we’ll be breaking there overnight on our trip back home.

Another 200 odd km through pasturelands to a scrubby desert lands. The colours of the landscape yellows, greens, reds, blues and purples are beautiful but even that gets monotonous after a while. We plugged in the USB filled with songs and we had our own version of carpool karaoke.

Now we’re relaxing in our room at the Jumbuck motor inn, the least salubrious of our accommodation so far.  It’s a 1960s time capsule and in desperate need of refurbishment. But it is clean and the bed is nice.

Now for the surprise – tonight we’re going a riverboat cruise!

I managed to be the first up onto the paddlewheeler wheelhouse deck

The Outback Pioneers’ River Cruise on the Thomson River. They run two craft, the paddlewheeler and a small ferry.

A full moon rising up over the landscape

An outback sunset on the Thomson River

A wedge tail eagle searches for his last meal of he day. The wedge tale eagle is Australia’s largest eagle and is much larger (but far less pretty) than the American bald eagle.

What a night that was! We were picked up by a coach and soon we were on our way just out of town to a place on the banks of Thomson River called Fishermen’s Bend. It was set up like a stockman’s bush camp. We were given an introduction into the life of a drover, before being invited to embark on a small paddlewheeler for a sunset cruise along the river. All up  we estimated about 100 people on this excursion and every one was from out of town having their own outback adventure including two incredible older ladies who have been to Western Australia, the northern territory and now they’re driving back to Sydney, stopping in Brisbane to visit family.

Once back at camp, we were ready for dinner – beef and vegie stew with mash. Scottie regaled us with bush poetry and jokes. He’s an older man who has difficulty walking and yet he gets about in the dirt and gravel completely in bare feet.

We learn after, from the bus driver/stockman Jonsey,  that Scottie is well known in town as a character, much beloved. When he was 16 he fell off a horse and severely injured his back.  He spent 3 weeks in a coma. After he recovered, he suffered severe vertigo which was only relieved by going barefoot. He worked 20 years for the State Department of Primary Industries. Then they did an OHS audit and sacked him because he couldn’t wear shoes. He started his own lawnmowing business and did so for years until the local council threated to close him down for not wearing shoes (for safety). The morning before his OHS audit the town turned out and presented him with a pair of boots – with the souls cut off. And he’s still mowing lawns today.

And that’s another point. The guys who did the show and cruise tonight do this as a second job, they too work on the land, struggle with the drought and the Covid restrictions.  They need our support. 

Following dinner (dessert was apple strudel and custard), we went out to stadium seating overlooking the river to a floating stage where we watched a short film telling the story of the notorious cattle (duffer)  rustler called Captain Starlight.

The night ended with fresh cooked damper made over an open fire, and brewed billy tea.

LEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW TO GO INTO THE DRAW FOR THIS OUTBACK PRIZE PACK

Contains:

Queensland boulder opal pendantsColoured sands from the Winton ‘Jump Up’ MesasA canvas tote from Tambo teddiesAn Australian Country soapPost cards,and More!

Winner will be announced in June’s Love’s Great Adventure magazine.

The post Part 3 – Elizabeth’s Outback Adventure appeared first on Elizabeth Ellen Carter.

Part 2 – Elizabeth’s Outback Adventure

Thank you for joining me on my Queensland Outback Adventure!

We thought we’d play tourist in our backyard and visit all the places in our own state that we said we’d get to ‘one day’ and since overseas travel is so far off for most of us, I thought you might like to go on a virtual holiday with my husband and me.

Here’s our itinerary:

Saturday, April 24 – Home to Chinchilla Motor Inn
Sunday, April 25 – Chinchilla to Augathella Palms
Monday, April 26 – Augathella to Longreach (Jumbuck Motel)
Tuesday, April 27 – Longreach
Wednesday, April 28 – Longreach to Winton (Matilda Motel)
Thursday, April 29 – Winton to Blackall (Coolibah Motel)
Friday, April 30 – Blackall to Mitchell (Major Mitchell Caravan Park and Cabins)
Saturday, May 1 – Mitchell to Toowoomba (Platinum International)
Sunday, May 2 – Toowoomba to Home

DAY 2
Chinchilla to Augathella 

My what a long drive! We hit the road about 9.30am and arrived at 4.30pm. Our first stop was Miles. We couldn’t resist stopping to look at the gorgeous pub architecture. Three pubs,  three different styles with 300 metres of one another. When we arrived, the main street was being closed off for the Anzac march to the memorial.

All throughout today, towns and villages  turned out to honour those who served.

I couldn’t resist poining out the 2010 National Sausage King winner in the town of Miles

A beautiful native tree, a bottle brush with tiny baby pink flowers

Faded signs, old country buildings – quintessentially Australian country architecture.

Classic 1930s art deco pub at the Hotel Australia

The Wall of Remembrance in the central community park in Miles. You see that they’re setting up for the Anzac Day service.

Our midday destination was the big country town of Roma. It seems like people stayed on after the Anzac service. A large bakery cafe called BakeaRoma ( geddit, Roma …) was open, along with a very posh, modern pub called 99 On Royal and, opposite the bakery, the Queens Arms.

Roma has some lovely old main street buildings including the 1918 School.of Arts Hotel which is now a series of shops and offices. Also lovely is the local Anglican church, a mashup of Norman and gothic architecture.

The Queens Arms Hotel, an art nouveau style building with bar and bistro on the ground floor and hotel rooms on the balcony level – a style familiar to every Australian who has been out of the city.

Right next door to the pub is an old department store. Sadly, it not longer seems to be in operation

Again an art nouveau building but this one has the unusual additional feature of a widow’s walk. It is no longer a pub and is now professional offices on the ground floor.

A beautiful Anglican church in the heart of Roma

This is a bottle tree, so named for its wide base which tapers towards the crown. This tree is also used in the logo of the local district, Maranoa.

The old Roma primary school, built in the late 1920s in the Spanish Mission style popular in Queensland at the time, is now state government regional offices.

We’re down to half a tank of fuel but decided to fill up and was pleasantly surprised at the price, at $1.28 a litre, it is comparable to home. I was expecting fuel to be dearer.

Back on the road at 1.30pm is the long stretch and we’re officially in the Queensland outback. Farming lands give way to cattle country and miles and miles of it. After about 90 minutes on the road we stop at a little postage stamp of a village to check out a long abandoned service station. These pumps last recorded fuel at 74c a litre which means they haven’t seen service since the early 1990s.

Still heading west, we drove past Mitchell. We’ll be returning there to try out the artesian spa waters. 

At Morven, we turned north 100km or so nearer to Augathella. We came up behind a road train, a 55 metre long prime mover and three trailers. He’d slowed for cattle. Hundreds of them from calves through full grown steers, being driven by a single stockman (cowboy) on horseback.

To break the monotony of this last stretch roads signs encouraged you to stay alert on the roads by playing trivia. They even gave you a starter question – what is the mascot of the Augathella Rugby league team?

I’ll share the answer with you tomorrow.

Our accommodation tonight is in a little cabin behind the Augathella pub, the only business in town aside from the butcher across the road. It’s smaller than Chinchillas stop, but still nice.

Tonight it will be dinner in the pub. You can have anything you like as long as it is pizza, a choice of four different types. We chose supreme. It was a bit of a wait but oh boy…. The best pizza in ages! Fresh and lots and lots of toppings. 

The pub is small seating only a dozen but the takeaway does brisk trade.

Augathella’s claim to fame is a little boy called Smiley, written by a local teacher’s son.. his tales were made into a series of films featuring Chips Rafferty.

Smiley, a film based on a book written by a local author was turned into a major Australian film in the 1950s.

The plot of Smiley, described as Astralia’s Tom Sawyer, was his various schemes to earn 4-pounds to buy his own bicycle.

Since the pub doesn’t open until 10am tomorrow. This lovely pizza will be our breakfast tomorrow morning ahead of a long (4.5hr with no stops) drive from here to Longreach.

LEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW TO GO INTO THE DRAW FOR THIS OUTBACK PRIZE PACK

Contains:

Queensland boulder opal pendantsColoured sands from the Winton ‘Jump Up’ MesasA canvas tote from Tambo teddiesAn Australian Country soapPost cards,and More!

Winner will be announced in June’s Love’s Great Adventure magazine.

The post Part 2 – Elizabeth’s Outback Adventure appeared first on Elizabeth Ellen Carter.

Part 1 – Elizabeth’s Outback Adventure

Thank you for joining me on my Queensland Outback Adventure!

We thought we’d play tourist in our backyard and visit all the places in our own state that we said we’d get to ‘one day’ and since overseas travel is so far off for most of us, I thought you might like to go on a virtual holiday with my husband and me.

Here’s our itinerary:

Saturday, April 24 – Home to Chinchilla Motor Inn
Sunday, April 25 – Chinchilla to Augathella Palms
Monday, April 26 – Augathella to Longreach (Jumbuck Motel)
Tuesday, April 27 – Longreach
Wednesday, April 28 – Longreach to Winton (Matilda Motel)
Thursday, April 29 – Winton to Blackall (Coolibah Motel)
Friday, April 30 – Blackall to Mitchell (Major Mitchell Caravan Park and Cabins)
Saturday, May 1 – Mitchell to Toowoomba (Platinum International)
Sunday, May 2 – Toowoomba to Home

Something to remember that our journey takes place all within Queensland.

How big is Queensland?

Area Queensland = 714,959 square miles (1,851,736 square km)

Which makes it bigger than Alaska by 50,000 square miles.

Queensland is larger in area than Texas, California, Montana and New Mexico combined but it only has a population of 5.1 million (which is about the same as South Carolina)

Queensland is the second largest state by area (behind WA) and third largest state by population (behind NSW and Victoria).

Day 1

Gold Coast to Chinchilla

We set off before 10am and did the familiar drive from the Gold Coast to Toowoomba – about 1.5 hours drive out of the city and along the Warrego Highway.

Once we got there, we didn’t have much of a plan for lunch. We stumbled across the Royal Hotel.

It wasn’t much to look like on the outside, but boy were we pleasantly surprised. We arrived ahead of the lunchtime rush. The Royal appears to be popular with families for lunch and no surprise. The bistro was fresh and modern. And the food was lovely. Duncan had roast of the day (pork), I had the salt and pepper calamari. 

We’re pretty determined to avoid fast food along the way and when to comes to the country and the outback, the one  place you can be pretty sure of good food is the local hotel, or pub. It’s not just a bar, it’s often a bistro and in some places it also offers overnight accommodation too. Depending on how far you are from a major own, many outback pubs have room for you to park up your campervan or caravan and rest up overnight.

Then it was the 2 hour drive to Chinchilla through the western downs passing cotton and wheat fields. Towering silos over expansive fields, road trains and milelong trains. The roads were great.

20km outside of Chinchilla we stopped for an ice cream in a little village called Brigalow.

We arrived in Chinchilla just after 3pm and stayed in a self contained cabin at the Chinchilla Motor Inn. It’s lovely, quiet and clean. We were greeted by Seth and were offered a complimentary drink. After hot day we opted for a cold bottle of Great Northern Brewery beer.

Here is something you may not know about Chinchilla… there are no little furry chinchillas here. Apparently the town got its name from a local Aboriginal word tintinchilla which means cypress tree. But the first ‘tin’ was dropped and the ‘t’ became a ‘ch’ and the rest is history.

Chinchilla is a farming area and is billed as the melon capital of Australia. It used to have a large melon festival but its been cancelled until further notice. Whether this has to do with COVID or an extended drought, it is difficult to say.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, so everything was shut, but we were directed to a lovely pub for dinner.

We were too early for dinner so we ordered a couple of coffees. There was no charge, another delightful surprise. After an hour or so relaxing back in our cabin, we went back to The Club Hotel.

Again, such a lovely atmosphere. The staff were very friendly and oh my the food! We both had beef and beer pie served with mash potato, mushy peas, onion rings and gravy. Outstanding! Although, I couldn’t finish it. After dinner, we sat on the pub verandah awhile and enjoyed the crisp, cool evening air.

Tomorrow is Anzac day.  Unfortunately, well have to miss the service because we have an even longer drive ahead of us tomorrow.

From Chinchilla we head west past Roma, past Miles to an even smaller town of Augathella.

UPDATE: my goodness it got cold overnight. Hubby ended up sleeping with a beanie on his head. It is also noisy in the country and these cabins, pretty much like luxury caravans, are not that well insulated. We went to bed relatively early and while in a light doze we heard traffic (mainly road freight) from the highway, the blare of the horn as the freight trains (at least three) made their way through. Now we’re not close to the highway or trainlines which are a km away, but it does go to prove that this is a working town, not merely a tourist town.

Breakfast! When we checked in  we bought a breakfast pack – bread for toasting, yogurt granola, a muffin, orange juice, muesli bar and an apple. It was more than enough to start our day, so we took the juice packs, apples and muesli bar for a snack later in the morning and enjoyed with cereal and yoghurt with a hot cup of tea.

LEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW TO GO INTO THE DRAW FOR THIS OUTBACK PRIZE PACK

Contains:

Queensland boulder opal pendantsColoured sands from the Winton ‘Jump Up’ MesasA canvas tote from Tambo teddiesAn Australian Country soapPost cards,and More!

Winner will be announced in June’s Love’s Great Adventure magazine.

The post Part 1 – Elizabeth’s Outback Adventure appeared first on Elizabeth Ellen Carter.

Time After Time – Time Travel In The Movies

I have to confess, I’m a bit of a geek. In addition of history and romance, I also enjoy science-fiction. And, in the case of time travel romance, you get to have the best of both worlds.

Time travel is a fascinating trope and it’s fascinating to see how various writers get around inherent paradoxes in the concept.

The causal loop – what if an event from the future is cause of an event in the past, which in turn is the cause of the future event? A permanent ground hog day that goes on for centuries? That’s intriguing.

The contradiction – in which a time traveler goes back in time and does something to alter future events. Also known as the grandfather paradox – if a time traveler goes back in time and kill his grandfather in his childhood, the time traveler’s parents would not have been born and therefore the time travel themselves would not be born.

But I think the most fascinating idea that comes from time travel is the notion of eternal life or the eternal soul – the idea that we can transcend time and space to pursue happiness and love (or perhaps to save the human race itself!)

Do you have a favourite time travel film? Let me know in comments.

Read the Time Travel edition of Love’s Great Adventure MagazineElizabeth’s favourite time travel movies

12 Monkeys (1995) In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.

Groundhog Day (1993) A self-centred weatherman finds himself inexplicably living the same day over and over again.

The Terminator (1984) A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity’s future salvation.

The Time Machine (2002) Hoping to alter the events of the past, a 19th century inventor instead travels 800,000 years into the future, where he finds humankind divided into two warring races.

Back to the Future (1985) Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent thirty years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the eccentric scientist Doc Brown.

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) Two seemingly dumb teens set off on a quest to prepare the ultimate historical presentation with the help of a time machine.

Somewhere In Time (1980) A Chicago playwright uses self-hypnosis to travel back in time and meet the actress whose vintage portrait hangs in a grand hotel.

Check out Time After Time – my short story anthology available now – just 99c (free on Kindle Unlimited)

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Upon A Midnight Dreary – A Halloween Anthology

I am so excited that I can finally announce another of my 2021 projects! In addition to my short story anthology, Time After Time (which releases on March 11), I have another short story released on October 21!) The Ghost Bride, will appear in Upon A Midnight Dreary, Dragonblade’s mega Halloween anthology. I was so excited by this project that my story is written and submitted, so I can’t wait to introduce you to Jemima Douglas and Dr. Monty Rhodes a delightful and intrepid couple who come together to solve the tragic haunting of The Ghost Bride. Here is the blurb for the anthology:When doors creak and ghostly whispers can be heard throughout the halls, this stunning collection of haunted Historical Romance novellas is sure to leave you breathless with ethereal, romantic tales… Welcome to UPON A MIDNIGHT DREARY anthology!Many of your favorite Historical Romance authors have come together for a collection of never-before published stories inspired by true, legendary hauntings of the British Isles. These tales will give you a chill, a thrill, and have you reading them over and over. From the moors of Devon to the ballrooms of Regency London, and far north into the Scottish Highlands, these stories will bring you wistful dreams of legendary and haunting romance. You’ve never before experienced a collection like this by some of the very best authors in Historical Romance. Pre-order now: Amazon – https://bit.ly/UponAMidnightDrearyB&a... – http://bit.ly/UponAMidnightDreary-BNKOBO – https://bit.ly/UponAMidnightDreary-KO... – http://bit.ly/UponAMidnightDreary-Apple

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Time After Time – a collection of short stories

I’m delighted to share my first release of 2021 with you.

Time After Time is a collection of my short stories including the serialised short story The Lady’s Maid’s Secret which you will have seen in Love’s Great Adventure magazine.

Pre-orders will open on January 26 with the book releasing on March 14.

Time After Time will be 99c and free on Kindle Unlimited.

Time After Time is an collection of seven romantic short stories which range of the 18th century to far in the future. Some are humorous, others are poignant, and some are tender.

They are:
– September Harvest
– The Night of the Feast
– A Fine Chance
– Three Ships
– The Lady’s Maid’s Secret
– The Tin Bear
– The Onyx Sun
The Onyx Sun is published here for the very first time. Set aboard an interstellar freighter, it is the first foray into the future for an author better known for historical suspense and romance.
Of the other titles, the Victorian-era The Lady’s Maid’s Secret was previously serialized exclusively in the author’s quarterly magazine newsletter, Love’s Great Adventure, while the remaining stories appeared in anthologies with other authors or supporting novellas.

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O Night Divine 2020 Christmas Advent Calendar

The Christmas tree is up early this year – and why not? We need a little love and joy this year!

I’m delighted to be part of the incredible short story anthology O Night Divine out on December 17 (pre-order today!).

Inspired by Charles Dickens immortal classic, A Christmas Carol, these stories will definitely put you in the Christmas spirit.

So, get ready for the countdown and meet each of the authors many of whom will share their favourite Christmas movie with you.

Like all Advent calendars, this starts on December 1, so come back each day to open another door and get another treat.

With much love,

Elizabeth

Available for pre-order now and out on 17 December 2020, O Night Divine features 22 Dragonblade authors from around the world, including USA Today best-selling writers.

Authors include Kathryn Le Veque, Caroline Lee, Chasity Bowlin, Hildie McQueen, Maggi Andersen, Mary Lancaster, Meara Platt, Violetta Rand, Alexa Aston, Anna Markland, Anna St. Claire, Aubrey Wynne, Charlotte Wren, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, Elizabeth Johns, Elizabeth Keysian, Emily E K Murdoch, Emily Royal, Lynne Connolly, Maeve Greyson, and Whitney Blake.

PRE-ORDER O NIGHT DIVINE: https://www.dragonbladepublishing.com...

VISIT ELIZABETH KEYSIAN: https://elizabethkeysian.com/

VISIT ELIZABETH ELLEN CARTER: https://eecarter.com/

SUBSCRIBE TO LOVE’S GREAT ADVENTURE MAGAZINE: https://eecarter.com/loves-great-adve...

Credits: Intro/Outro music and motion background footage used under licence from Storyblocks https://www.storyblocks.com/ Video produced for Love’s Great Adventure by Business Communications Management http://bcm-online.com.au/

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Conversations with Elizabeth Keysian

In this episode of Love’s Great Adventure Conversations, Elizabeth Ellen Carter talks with author Elizabeth Keysian about her contribution to the upcoming Dragonblade Publishing romantic Christmas story anthology, O Night Divine.

Elizabeth K also reveals her background as an archaeologist and living in Tudor character for several weeks as part of her work. She shows examples of goods that people made and used in Tudor times.

Available for pre-order now and out on 17 December 2020, O Night Divine features 22 Dragonblade authors from around the world, including 9 USA Today best-selling writers.

Authors include Kathryn Le Veque, Caroline Lee, Chasity Bowlin, Collette Cameron, Hildie McQueen, Maggi Andersen, Mary Lancaster, Meara Platt, Violette Rand, Alexa Aston, Anna Markland, Anna St. Claire, Aubrey Wynne, Charlotte Wren, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, Elizabeth Johns, Elizabeth Keysian, Emily E K Murdoch, Emily Royal, Lynne Connolly, Maeve Greyson, and Whitney Blake.

PRE-ORDER O NIGHT DIVINE: https://www.dragonbladepublishing.com...

VISIT ELIZABETH KEYSIAN: https://elizabethkeysian.com/

VISIT ELIZABETH ELLEN CARTER: https://eecarter.com/

SUBSCRIBE TO LOVE’S GREAT ADVENTURE MAGAZINE: https://eecarter.com/loves-great-adve...

 

 

Credits: Intro/Outro music and motion background footage used under licence from Storyblocks https://www.storyblocks.com/ Video produced for Love’s Great Adventure by Business Communications Management http://bcm-online.com.au/

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