Friday 3rd July - Charleville

Friday 3^rd July

On Friday we went back to the Cosmos Centre again. At the Cosmos Centre we booked a tag-along-tour of an old American Army Base. There was a bomb sight house with a thing to help you look

This is the little house that has the bomb sight in.

This is the bomb sight.

where to drop the bomb in the right place. The person who does that is called a bombardier. We even got to see one of the hangers. (A hangers are where you put planes to keep them safe.)

This is the only hanger still standing. It is the smallest of all the hangers that the Americans used in that war. 

Mum's note:
Other things we saw on the WWII American Army Base tour were bitumen baths for the men's hygiene - the baths were a zigzag shape to slow down the flow of water through them and sealed with bitumen. They are currently barely visible, awaiting profession excavation, as they are fragile.

This is a small portion of one of the bitumen baths still mostly filled with dirt.

We also saw a number of other facilities around the base including the medical centre (now a private residence), the dance hall foundations and ablution blocks.

This is the foundation of one of the mess complexes.
The pit on the right (mostly filled in) was the ice cooler.
The foundations for the stoves can be seen at the rear of the concrete (centre).

After we returned to the caravan park we went for a walk around the property. We saw Red-wing Parrots, Major Mitchell Cockatoos and lots of very large paddy melons.

Major Mitchells.

The Major Mitchell Cockatoos were ripping these open for the seeds.

Back at the Evening Star we enjoyed the campfire and the hospitality of the caravan park owners. Craig also collects Aboriginal artefacts (among many other things) and was very passionate and knowledgeable in sharing a small portion of his collection and very generous in letting everyone touch all the items.

The campfire at the Evening Star never goes out.

Some of the items that were explained and available for examination.

This stone was the most fascinating of all.
Apparently these artefacts predate known Aboriginal occupation of Australia and their origins are a mystery.