Did you know:
It is possibly the only Australian river that finishes up as a creek! The Barcoo River, one of the great Western Queensland river systems, has its headwaters near Tambo, flows north-west before turning south to the Channel Country and flowing into Cooper Creek
Barcoo Rot” was sometimes described as ‘outback scurvy’ and the scourge of explorers, stockmen and drovers. The treatment for such a condition being “Barcoo Rot Ointment” – several Queensland chemists, including Thomas Ingham, a Rockhampton Chemist developed such ointments. In 1890, Ingham patented his carbolized eucalyptus ointment, advertising it as ‘a certain cure for Barcoo Rot’!
Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson were both inspired to write about the Barcoo in their writings; while Slim Dusty had several songs referencing the Barcoo.
Barcoo was used as the name for two Australian Ships: SS Barcoo was a coastal steamer built in Glasgow in 1885 and plied the Queensland coastline, until 1911 when the ship was hulked and used as a Naval coal ship in Sydney Harbour before being scuttled in 1924. Photographs exist of the SS Barcoo at the ports of Mackay and Townsville . The second ship HMAS Barcoo was an Australian built anti-submarine frigate commissioned in 1944 and saw active service in the waters off New Guinea providing gun support and escort duties. Following a post-war refit, the HMAS Barcoo undertook survey and training duties until 1972 when it was decommissioned and sold for scrap to NW Kennedy Ltd of Vancouver, Canada.
This cache is located in what can be a high traffic area and certains times of the year, so stealth is imperative.