We veged out for most of the morning, waiting for the repairs to be finished.
The new bullbar arrived at about two o'clock and quickly it became clear that the mounting hardware was different. Jean said that she new something else was bound to go wrong to delay our departure.
In the event, we arranged to drive to Archerfield where the bullbar was made, taking it with us, and have them fit it.
We arrived at about three thirty and were away by five. The guy at Bridges Fabrications was very helpful and also very conscientious.
I would also commend Jasper Panel Works. All the work done was of the highest standard and they all went out of their way to ensure that our stay there was as pleasant as possible.
We were more than anxious to start the journey to Barcaldine so we headed off along the Ipswitch Motorway.
There was some traffic congestion just before we reached Gailes and some chat on the CB abouit coppers and scalies at the weighbridge. When we got there, it became clear that some people try to overtake the other traffic by ducking in to the weighbridge road and the cops had decided to give them a hard time with document and vehicle inspections thus teaching them to be patient and not try to get an advantage over other road users. We were amused and heartened that the bad guys were getting their comeuppance for once.
On the spur of the moment, I decided to take the road to Esk which will take us up through Biloela and Emerald rather the road to Toowoomba which would take us through Roma and Blackall. The plan was to stop at Fernvale, a free camping place which had been mentioned around the campfire at Sherwood Forest. By the time we reached Fernvale it was dark and we had some trouble finding the appropriate place top stop. The barman in the pub said there wasn't anywhere in town but perhaps the place was "down by the river". We did find the rest area, which isn't listed in Philip's book, and settled in for the night. It is a bit noisy but it is free.