This was our biggest drive day - 6 hours in the car was a big day for the kids but they coped really well. We first stopped for fuel in Longreach before going all the way to Barcaldine. We stopped here for lunch and checked out the Tree of Knowledge. After reading the information about it, the tree was named this because it would have heard all the conversations from the founding members of the Labour Party. It was said if the tree could talk, it would tell all sorts of tales!

There is also a memorial for the shearers strike of 1891. The members of this strike flew the iconic flag to acknowledge the southern cross, joined by a white cross representing freedom. Their strike lasted 3 months and the 13 men at the forefront of this were imprisoned on St Helena Island for years after the strike.

The Tree of Knowledge died a few years ago but they kept the structure in place and have lit up the roots underneath a glass floor. There's a structure around it like an enormous wooden wind chime (it's not noisy though!) - very pretty and would look stunning at night.

We arrived in Willows Gemfields (a tiny village off the highway) and found our camp. Kids sat down to start excavating their fossil from the Age of Dinosaurs Museum. Tomorrow we're going gem fossicking in Sapphire and I have given the kids strict instructions that they MUST find me a sapphire :-).