Hi everybody,

We are now in Charleville. We have had an eventful trip and can tell you that Charleville is the safest town in Australia. Ron lost his wallet this morning. As you can imagine we freaked out, reported it to the police and the bank. As we came out of the bank a man walked past and looked at Ron strangely. He had found the wallet and was just about to take it to the police. Needless to say we were over the moon and everything is now sorted. Lesson to all men - don't carry your wallet in your back pocket.

Charleville has been lovely, we are having 2 nighjts here and staying in the historic Hotel Corones. It's a bit run down now, but during the hey day of the pastoralists it was the place to be seen. Underneath it's shabby looks you can see the grandness that once existed.

Last night we went to the Skywatch Observatory and spent time out under the stars looking through the telescopes. The night sky is so clear out here. It's been a long time since we've seen the Milky Way so clearly.

We're off to Barcaldine tomorrow and then to Longreach for a few days.

We are having a wonderful time, especially now that we have the wallet back.