We visited a travel agent to if there was any way we could go to Val Marrett's funeral. Driving the Motley 2200 km didn't seem practical in the time and flying would have cost all four arms and legs so we had to abandon the idea.
We set off towards Emerald to catch up with the safari reaching Blackwater by tea time.
Blackwater is named after the Blackwater River which is named after the water which flows in it which is black because of the extensive coal mining in the area.
There are about a dozen mines within 30 km of here and each one has a railway spur. The main line, which runs right through the centre of the town carries a continuous traffic of coal trains each with 120 wagons. Its amazing how easily one can filter out the noise of such expected disturbances.