One of the features of life on the road is the food one eats. The humble sausage is a favourite. It is so easy to cook and can be supplemented with a range of sauces and accompaniments. But the really interesting bit is the different types of sausages available and how most town’s butcher has won the ‘best sausage’ award at some time.

The range of premises from which they were acquired also varied from the modern flash sort of premises to the somewhat more rustic. The shop in Croydon was closed in November 1983 so we were unable to taste its fare.

Croydon Butcher’s Shop

We have had our fair share of sausages on this trip. All have been excellent. There are two standouts. The first was from the small butcher in Georgetown. A really nice thick meaty traditional beef sausage with some subtle flavouring, went really well with tomato sauce. The other was at Normanton where we picked up some neat small Italian flavoured snags. The others along the way have been good, particularly the little number from Winton (illustrated). Homealone put together a great onion gravy to go with this one.

Winton Beef sausage

Sausage on the Sausage Tree

We did not try the sausage from the tree at Greenvale, it looked a bit tough and leathery.

The other thing I must mention is the music and bush poets! It is just wonderful here in the outback sitting back listening to old crooners pumping out the hits from days gone by. A number of the caravan parks have dugouts into which they drop these guys and girls who entertain us as the night goes by.

Of the few we saw the guys at Daly waters put on a good show. The Daly waters trio was an impromptu. The harmonica player and the guy playing the spoons were ring ins from the audience. they were pretty good!

The Daly Waters Big Band Trio

Graham Rogers at Blackall

It is just the sort of thing an old muso  friend from Orange, Bruce Longhurst, should get into now that he has retired. Pull out the old keyboard Bruce and get into the action on the circuit!  He could while away the hours and make a dollar or two, although it is busking. These  musos park their vans in a secluded part of the park for 3 or 4 months and then churn out the hits night after night for 3 or 4 months during the touring season. Homealone is really into this stuff, she almost fell off her perch when one of them belted out John Denver’s ‘Its good to be back home again’, even if we are not. Nearly, though!