Gulf Journey 2006-July

July

Saturday the 1st
Here we are at the start of a new month and did things change not really, of for the usual walk and then back to camp on the Flinders River determined to move on to Walkers Creek camp area.
It was a pleasant morning when we departed at 7:45 am with no cloud and just a slight breeze favouring out journey north, we were to still encounter single lane bitumen though we were lucky not meet traffic until we reached the double lane bitumen. Slowly they are making the highway a double lane road. It means that every fifteen kilometres you have single then another ten kilometers of the new road.
Our trip to Normanton was uneventful and we arrived very early morning and wondered why there was a hold up of traffic, first we went to the Electrical shop and being a Saturday his trading hours were 12noon until 9pm strange hours though not suitable to us.
We parked up and walked the main street of Normanton and first witnessed the Gulflander train heading off to Croyden for the day tour, bearing in mind the only railway line in this area is from Normanton to Croyden and return; thus it is more of a tourist attraction operating from May to September only.
We had a look through a couple of supermarkets and didn't buy anything other than a fridge magnet, we thought the prices of goods were not to bad given the remote region.
As we walked the main street it became obvious that there was a bike ride in progress and we gleaned that the hundred or so riders were taking part in the Coast to Coast charity event, they started their journey from Cairns and intended completing the run to Karumba on the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. We decided to kill time in Normanton so as to allow them plenty of time to get in front of us.
We went and took photo's of the famous Purple Pub and the monster crocodile. The crocodile is actually a replica of the original killed by a woman farmer in 1957 who was losing her prize bulls when they went to the water to drink, the bloody thing was a monster 8.3 metres long and has a huge girth.
We then had a look at the heritage building which used to be the old Burns Philip Trading Company general store and the would you believe of to the butchers shop to buy our bread and we also bought a lettuce, most strange.


Bike riders heading off	Purple Pub Normanton	Crocodile Replica Normanton

Then we headed off to camp at Walker Creek, when we arrived it was a bit of a shock to see much the area overgrown and lack of maintenance of the area, certainly a change from when we were here in 1999, we set up camp and then decided to drive digger into Karumba to have the world famous Barra and chips.
We were to drive out of the rain forest type terrain into the Savannah country that was just flat plains as far as you can see, when arriving at Karumba we went first to the township and had a look at the mineral processing plant that was being built when were here, the complex receives most of its minerals from the Lawn Hill area that is pumped through pipes as a slurry and other minerals are carried in by road train.
We then went out to Karumba Point where we at last had reached the most northern part of our travels and we sat down and had beautiful Barramundi and chips at 2:30 pm for lunch a little on the dear side though well worth it they were absolutely delicious, then I went and booked a trip on a fishing boat for next monday out to the Gulf where I hope to catch a Spanish Mackerel amongst other fish.
The boat is 8.5 metres in length and the fishing is from 7am until midday and they supply everything; I am really looking forward to the trip.
Then we went into the Tavern and had a few schooners of XXXX Gold under the trees and looking out over the Norman River and the Gulf of Carpentaria. The temperature is currently 32 degrees and when you get out in the sun it is as hot as.
Finally we were to witness the Coast to Coast bike race completed then we headed out to our camp which is 40 kilometres away, an excellent day just reaching Karumba and continuing our happy hour back at camp. As there is no television available I set up the satellite dish so we will watch various channels tonight.
Kilometres travelled 100


Gulf of Carpentaria	Beach on the Norman River	Liz enjoying a cold one at the Tavern Karumba

Sunday the 2nd
Another nice morning as I went for my walk, I took a plastic bag hoping to find a road kill roo for my yabbie traps; this wasn't the case I was only to find pigs that had failed to run the gauntlet across the highway. I was to cut off strips of pork not knowing if the red claw would be attracted.
Back to camp and had breakfast and carried out the usual things like getting water from the river for our shower bags refueling the generator etc. Then it was off to cut wood with the chainsaw for our campfire and then it was relax in the shade reading Saturdays paper the temperature was 19 degrees at 8am and would rise to 30 degrees during the day, needless to say it was shorts and singlet was the order of the day.
After lunch we decided to back into Normanton and look about and of course have a couple of schooners, from our camp to Normanton is 30 kilometres and it didn't take long we were to stop at several lagoons to admire the water lilly's and the birdlife such as Brolga's and Magpie Geese and the usual Egret etc. The last time we were here all these lagoon and billabong's were dry thus no birdlife or water lilly's.
We decided to go and have a look at Shady Lagoon and on the way in the Aborigine signs indicated that we were not allowed to enter their land, so we had to return the highway; we wonder what they would do if we banned them off our highways!
When we arrived in Normanton we noted that the shops were closed with the exception of the Butchery and the Purple Pub so went onto the rubbish tip to drop off our waste. Of course whilst there we checked the place out and we noted that the local op shop had thrown a lot of clothes out so we sorted through and gathered garments suitable for cloths around the camp.
Bearing in mind that the sun was so hot we went off to the Purple Pub and had a few schooners and pots for Liz, very enjoyable so we went back to the camp after a couple.
On the way we were able to get hold of a bit of roo road kill on the way back, I then went around the yabbie traps and only had one red claw and two yabbies so I re baited the traps with roo meat so we will see what happens when we return from our fishing trip in the Gulf tomorrow.
Then it was time for happy hour and then time to light the campfire for tea, tonight we decide to have a reverse meal so we had eggs and bacon which was great for a change. The temperature at 7:30 pm is a comfortable 24 degrees, tonight we will watch television via satellite; I have had a few enquiries from fellow campers about the system and the way the questions were coming I suggest a few will be obtaining the equipment.


Welcome to Normanton	Lilly's on a Billabong	Beautiful Lily

Monday the 3rd
It was a hard night, waking up quite often frightened that I may sleep in and miss the Fishing Charter boat, given this, I was very tired when finally hopping out of bed at 5am. No walk this morning and I headed off to Karumba to catch the boat at 7am, it was an uneventful run and I arrived with fifteen minutes to spare.
I had seen photo's of the boat and I wondered how ten people were going to fish comfortably, they ran the boat "Kerry D" straight up on the sand so we were able to step aboard without getting wet feet.
The skipper was in a hurry to get us aboard for he wanted to beat the other Hire Boat to what he described as a hot spot for fishing, I was impressed with the boat which was 24 feet in length and had a 10 foot beam. The boat had a centre control centre so we were free to walk around the entire boat, toilets etc were down in the forecastle if required.
We were to see the sun rising as we left Karumba bound for the fishing grounds some 8 kilometres into the Gulf of Carpentaria, the tide was incoming and we anchored beside a large sand bar absolutely covered with all types of sea birds.
All we had to do was to catch the fish for the deckie baited up and took the fish off when caught, there was only one mishap when a woman getting a bite lost her grip on the rod and over the side it went. The skipper was able to snag the line with another rod and when pulled up it still had the black bream still attached. It was very windy and out of the south which meant that I had two pullovers on and I took my shorts off and put on my jeans.


Karumba morning leaving Port	First catch 380 mm Bream	Birds on Sandbar

Even when fishing there was never a dull moment whether watching the antics of the sea birds which included the Pelicans or to see the Barge from Wiepa come into port to load containers of food and other goods for the town which is a fair way up in the Gulf. The Zinifex ship that carries refined ore out to the bulk carriers also passed us by.
Our Skipper informed us that the ship had to go 50 kilometres out into the Gulf to meet the bulk carrier due to the shallowness in and around the Gulf and Norman River.
I was very lucky to have caught the most fish ranging from a 380mm Black Bream to Spotted Mackerel a total of 10 Bream and 3 Spotted Mackerel unfortunately the Spanish Mackerel eluded us, though I was more than happy with the result and no had compulsion in sharing the catch with others on board.
When the Bream went off the bite so we moved out further to target Mackerel and there was only five caught and I caught three of them then it was back to the Port for it was 12noon.


Wiepa Barge heading to Karumba	Zinifex Ship transporting Ore	Jim on the "Kerry D"

When we arrived back Liz was waiting for me and took a couple of photo's of us coming in, we took our fish ashore and the first thing we did was go to the supermarket and bought a bag of ice for the fish since it is 40 kilometres back to camp at Walkers Creek. Icing down the fish allowed us to go to the Tavern for a couple of schooners, boy did I need it and was I hungry; well a steak sandwich with salad and chips fixed that problem with Liz having wedges and cream.
We then took on some diesel in a container at $1.46 cents a litre, four cents cheaper than Normanton since the fuel is imported through the Port of Karumba.Then back to camp where we cleaned the fish and then checked the Yabby traps to no avail, something I Could not understand. Was the fishing trip worth $90? of course when we were to see hire dinghy's and private tourist boats not catching a fish; local knowledge certainly counts.
Come 4pm I was absolutely buggered so a short happy hour was in order then we cooked the large fish in alfoil with all the usual condiments.
Showered after tea and watched a bit of television before going off to bed.


Jim's bag of Fish	Jim back at camp cleaning fish

Tuesday the 4th
Well, I slept very well last night and I didn't get out of bed until 7:30am, I didn't worry about going for a walk this morning and went around my Yabby traps instead before I had breakfast, I was to get 20 good sized Red Claw with a few yabby's a change from yesterday.
After breakfast we decided to stay in camp and just relax and read, for some reason I was still feeling a little weary and didn't wander far.
We were to have the camp area to ourselves for most of the day for everyone pulled out this morning and as we are going in the morning we started to pack for the journey ahead.
I went around and pulled the Yabby traps for the last time and only had three thus for the three days the poor result of 26, when here in 1999 we were getting this many in one trap, in the area where I set the traps were hundreds of butterfly's some black and white and others a vivid yellow.
Other than have a chat to a few new arrivals that is all we did today other than cook a few fish to go with our salad which we had outdoors for the temperature at 6pm was still 25 degrees with a pleasant cool breeze
This is the furthest north that we are going having achieved out goal of reaching Karumba and the Gulf of Carpentaria, the fishing trip was a bonus. The local shire council boasts that the Gulf of Carpentaria Shire is larger than Tasmania and has only two towns that is Normanton and Karumba.
We were even late having our happy hour today for we did not shower until late this afternoon
The last thing to be packed away of course will be the satellite dish allowing us to watch television tonight and the camera was not used today at all, though in hindsight I should had taken photo's of the butterfly's.

Wednesday the 5th
Arising later this morning I still managed to go for a walk in the early morning light, this was possible for I packed the satellite dish away after we watched television last night. Frankly speaking it does not take much time to assemble or disassemble.
I was surprised how much traffic was on the road heading towards Karumba especially caravans, I suppose they are racing to line up at a caravan park waiting for a vacancy at $28 per night. No thank you! we had noticed they are crammed in like sardines when we went by.
We were on the road towards Normanton at 7:45am and there was a slight headwind though nothing to worry about yet, we were to see heaps of Brolga's and plenty of birdlife and Lily's in the various Billabong on the way; this has been compliments to the two Cyclones that hit the area prior to our arrival.
On arrival at Normanton Liz headed off to the Laundromat to so the heavies and I bought bread and fuel for the generator, it wasn't to long before we were on the road and saying farewell to the shire of Gulf of Carpentaria we have to say we have enjoyed our time in the area. When we were talking about as we drove along we concluded that even though we have been on the road now for two months we were actually now heading for home, frightening really how the time has gone so quick.
We took the left hand turn and headed towards Croyden on the Golf development Road, we were last on this highway in 1999 and it has certainly been upgraded we were to do in excess of 70 kilometres on double lane highway before it turned to single lane bitumen.
The scenery was a bit boring with the same kilometres after kilometres even though it was lush green, it reminded us of our tour up through Asia some time ago.
We were surprised to come across and pass the Gulflander the train that runs excursions from Normanton to Croyden daily during the dry season for tourists, we estimated that it was only doing 40 kilometres per hour. We were ahead of the train when we pulled up to take photo's and discovered they stop at all the cattle stations along the way delivering mail etc.
Next we came across Black Bull siding where the train pulls in to give its passengers morning tea so this allowed us to take more photo's and have a look around the small museum they have there, we pulled out determined to set up a bush camp to allow us to hang out the washing to dry.
We came across Creen Creak where we set up a bush camp well off the road at around 1pm and for the first time since we left home I actually had an afternoon nap after setting up the clothes line.
We were able to get clean creek water, again thanks to the cyclones, which we put in our shower bags and let the sun heat the water for our bush shower.
Tonight we wont even worry about a fire just sit and read before having an early night and read before pushing on tomorrow.
Kilometres travelled 162


Roadside Scenery	Gulflander train Black Bull siding	Our bush shower at Creen Creak

Thursday the 6th
I hate to say it the weather of a morning is getting quite chilly at 11degrees, I think we have just become acclimatised to the warmer weather and now we are starting to head down and eastward the day and night temperature is dropping.
On my walk this morning I wish that I had put my gloves and balaclava on to keep out the cold, there was a heavy dew on digger and was still there when we hit the road at 7:30am.
We were only thirty kilometres out of Croyden and the road commenced as a single lane bitumen and then after about ten kilometres we hit double lanes again all the way.
I have to say that there has been a big improvement in the development road since we traversed it in 99, the scenery was green as green and the wattle was flowering with its beautiful yellows and the orange bottle brush was starting to appear. We had a head wind which was slowing us a bit and the flat countryside that we had experienced for the past month or so has now disappeared and been replaced by hills etc.


Oldest Store in Oz?	Old fashioned grocery shelving	Croyden from Lookout

We arrived in Croyden and pulled up outside the old shop that advertises itself as the "Oldest Shop in Oz" whether this is play on words or not I do not know. When you enter the shop you drop back to the late 1800's for everything in the shop is from that era including the shelving where the groceries are stored for selection, all very neat and tidy.
They have on display the old ledgers with their fine english writings from centuries past and the old cash tills and safe, they have also a small museum displaying bottles and clothes and everything to do with gold.
Croyden is an old gold mining centre and though there are no mines today the population during its peak amounted to thousands for instance it boasted 37 Hotels and 122 liquor outlets, today there is only one pub and the population is only 24. Given this it is a vibrant community set on attracting tourists and all its facilities and the town in general are very clean and tidy, we drove past the caravan park and lo and behold it was full of caravans.
We then drove the four kilometres out to Belmore Dam and though the climb was heavy going it was well the visit, there is a lovely park to savour the outlook over the lake with all its different types of tree and all the different greens highlighted by the reddish rocks of the surrounding hills.
The most noticeable thing is the amount of no camping signs that start about fifteen kilometres from the town and are up everywhere including the lake, the rest area that was twenty kilometres west of the town has also been closed down.
We continued on and against the wind we were to admire the undulating countryside where it appears that spring has started early, we were to see at least a twelve foot snake slithering across the road it was a monster that I wouldn't like to meet face to face, we were to witness two helicopters and three trail bikes rounding up cattle out of the very thick undergrowth. The helicopters would flush them out and then the motor bikes would herd them together.
We finally arrived at the Gilbert River just after lunch time and decided to call it a day for we suspect that we are coming down from the top end just a little to quickly, we do not see much sense in arriving further south and experiencing the cold weather and shorter daylight hours.
We explored around the river and then just relaxed and read for the afternoon and what happens tonight who knows?
Kilometres travelled 119


Creen Billabong	Lake Belmore Croyden	Gilbert River nearly dried up

Friday the 7th
Went out for my walk and crossed the bridge over the Gilbert River, a single lane bridge and I was lucky to have no traffic crossing for there is no room for pedestrians to cross, the river must be magnificent when in flood during the wet season.
Back to camp packed up and on the road when we went over the bridge the road continued as a single lane bitumen highway, the edges were really bad with about a 100 mm drop off; real tyre destroyers. As usual the four wheel drives were out in force and going as there is no tomorrow spraying up gravel over us.
We then had double highway for the next 30 kilometres then back onto single lane, I have to say the road is a vast improvement on when we drove over it on the last occasion.
We were steadily climbing and the hills forced a gear change for the first time since leaving the Savannah Plains, and to top this off we had a head wind which we could feel effecting the Motorhome, we were to see heaps of cattle stations and of course the mandatory Brahma cattle, all the water holes were full of water thought the small rivers we crossed were dry with just river sand.


Bridge across Gilbert River	Double lane to Single lane bitumen	Welcome to Georgetown

We were to pass the old Cornish Gold Workings with its high brick chimney that still stands today, as we had taken time to look over the site on the last occasion we pushed on to Georgetown.
We went to the Terrestrial Information Centre and checked out and found that the Rodeo was on this weekend and we decided to stay and attend the Rodeo which will be our first.
An added bonus was that we could camp on the grounds and watch the action free of charge, when we enquired we found that they make their money out of alcohol and food sales.
We went filled up with diesel for $1.39.9 cents a litre and then parked up at the Rodeo grounds and chose a spot well away from the action guessing that the place would be noisy and no doubt the locals would party on well into the early morning.
Down to the Information centre and went to upload the diary on the net, however it was to no avail as the link would only last for about one minute and drop out; it was really frustrating!
We then had a walk around the town and had a good look at the old building and machinery that was on show, excellent displays. Then into the take away and had a humongous hamburger and toasted sandwiches for a late lunch and then onto the only pub for a couple of schooners before returning to camp for the happy hour.


Terrestrial Information Centre	Rodeo meal for us both	Rodeo Ring

It was interesting to note that the grounds were filling up and there were was over a thousand people setting up and heaps of horses plus the cattle.
I went and had a chat with some to find that one group had driven this morning from Mt Isa and another group opposite us had left Ingham this morning towing a horse float, not to mention the people off the cattle stations from near and far; some flew in with their plane and others with the helicopters.
We decided to have a meal at the event and talk about country cooking, for $8 a head there was heaps of salads and steak and sausages and you could put as much on your plate as you wanted, unbelievable! needless to say we had a rather large feed and if you wanted desert then there were about ten different items and you could have as much as you wanted for $3 a head; needless to say we did not worry about desert.
We then purchased our beer tickets and then settled down in the grand stand to witness the "The battle of the Buckin' Bulls" There was one set of bulls from Gilbert River and another set from the Mossey Station fighting it out.
I attempted to take photo's, however the action was to far away for the flash and just to dark without it, The action was unbelievable talk about Buckin' Bulls those who rode would have to be crazy riding for a first prize of $500 for each heat. There was a requirement to ride bulls from each station, there was one bull that has entered the Rodeo circuit and has not been ridden successfully. There is a need for each rider to remain on the bull for not less than 8 seconds and depending on the ride points were awarded.
What a wonderful spectacle though there were injuries to both riders and bulls.
The action was completed by 9:30 pm and then the band came on the partying started in earnest, the band played non stop from that time until 1:45am and the music was good old fashioned rock with a sprinkling of the more modern songs.
The partying still continued on to dawn, of course we were off to bed earlier than this and slept well only waking now and again and then dropping off again irrespective of the noise.
We are enjoying so much we may stop here until Monday.
Kilometres travelled 82


Old Machinery and Shop	Butchery	Savannah Way

Saturday the 8th
This morning I took the opportunity to walk around the town and had a good look and took many photo's again choosing which for this diary is task on its own, the old buildings and machinery points to the towns previous life as a gold mining town. The Galahs were out in force this morning noisy buggers there must have been over 200 in the mob they darkened the sky. I was to run into the lass from the Information Centre who indicated to me that the problem with the internet was found at there end and unfortunately it can not be rectified until Monday.
I was surprised on my return to camp to find those that had partied on until after 3am this morning up and cooking breakfast at 8am, I had a chat with them and it was obvious that they were all hungover though they would not admit it.


Buckin' Bull unrideable	Time trial around drums	Lassoo the Calf

Fish and chips and Steak sandwich for lunch washed down with a Pepsi, I was amazed at the amount of liquor being consumed so early in the day though it certainly wasn't by competitors. They certainly take their sport seriously and though they are friendly they are very competitive to one another. The time trial around four drums was certainly a spectacle its hard to believe that a horse and rider can turn so quickly and sharply around a drum, the problem was to capture the horse and rider in an action shot; I ended up with heaps that were part of the horse and rider and some nothing at all.
Then it was rope the calf, two riders had to lasso the head and the rear of the calf and it was no mean feat there were many that had calf's that just wouldn't run or went in the opposite direction therefore the riders were disqualified. Then around to see the Buckin' Bulls and they looked do docile, obviously they have had the tips of their horns cut though I suppose they could still give you a nasty surprise if they tried to hook you. The Buckin' Bull that no one has ridden yet for the full 8 seconds was quite amiable to have his photo taken, he is a totally different bull with someone on his back.


Kids Lassoo competition	Kids competition	Kids around drum lead by Mum

The day appears to be a family day with competitors including young children trying their luck, Mum or Dad would lead the small child on the horse around the drums, no doubt these are the competitors of the future. It was great to see the children competing in the lassoo competition, they had a mock head of a calf attached to a bale of hay. They must practice well for there were many young ones who appeared quite proficient with the lassoo.
The programme for the day went right up to 6pm a truly entertaining day, the meal for tonight is a roast consisting of Pork, Lamb and Beef with the usual baked veggies for $10 and sweets for $3 a thoroughly enjoyable meal. The only entertainment for tonight is a band so Liz and I have elected to watch the Melbourne vs Brisbane Lions and then off to bed with the sound of the band to rock us off to sleep.
A thoroughly entertaining day in pleasant weather of 22 degrees with a breeze cooling things down.


Cattle Roping	Cattle riding	Buck Jumping

Sunday the 9th
Here we are still in Georgetown at the Rodeo grounds and I have to say it was a bit quieter last night even the band was not as noisy as Friday night, I did not bother to go on a walk this morning I just felt to lethargic so I caught up on a few little jobs that had to be done on the Motorhome.
The Rodeo started at 9:30 am this morning with Cattle Roping, Bull Riding and Buck Jumping all very spectacular and hard to catch on the camera due to the quickness of each event, at least the events are one after another, of course the first events on were for the novices with the professional riders on after lunch.
The crowd is thinning out no doubt for quite a few have over a thousand kilometres to travel to their homes, talk about committed fans, with others departing tomorrow.
Our problem is that the road from Georgetown to Mt Surprise is all single bitumen so we don't want to get caught up traffic travelling east for they will be driving a lot faster than us, we will take the decision to stop another night or move on Tuesday dependant on how many leave tonight.
We had lunch again by the Rodeo action and had kebabs and fish & chips, they sell heaps of food not to mention alcohol which there seem to be a non ending supply.
We were to witness young kids as young as 8 being competent at the various events and even though some were riding poddy calves you would have thought that they were true professionals. The only downside was the introduction of a politician who used the microphone I believe to seek re-election by bagging South East Queensland with their six lane highways and trains etc and how he was fighting for people in the bush though he didn't say how. I was so pissed off that the event could be used to this extent that I yelled out " You mightn't like what happens elsewhere though it is obvious you like food!" this comment wasn't met with much support from the people around me for they appeared to support the obese mongrel.
We then had the grand parade of Champions and the singing of the national anthem which was really a excellent spectacle and a one minute silence for the passing away of one of the local Bethel family a large contributor of the Georgetown Rodeo, thus "Bethel's Bucking Bulls".
The rest of the afternoon was competition of the Barrel Race, Bronco and Cattle riding for all ages all very entertaining and given that the sun was really strong with no breeze I believe that we may be sun burnt.
we had our usual Happy Hour and watched people as they departed for Townsville and Ingham and Cloncurry and some from N.S.W. those we met indicated that they didn't expect to be home until midnight and they left at 3pm

Monday the 10th
What a night, talk about celebrating and partying on; it appeared that all the Station Hands and Competitors were drinking and singing as there was no tomorrow. Though we appeared to sleep through most of it at sunrise they were still around the various fires and still drinking cans, in view of this we decided to stay another night and let them wander off to their destination during the day rather than having to put up with them on the single lane bitumen highway. This turned out to be the right decision for by 3pm the grounds were empty other than a couple of bull and horse transports and we doubt if they will party on tonight.
The bonus of staying on of course is plenty of water on tap next to our camp and the showers will be kept open for a couple more days before the transports move onto the Mareeba Rodeo next weekend and the partying starts all over again.
We did very little at all, Liz washed all the sheets and clothes and then we both sat out in sunshine reading and watching people leave for their respective destinations, the people we had befriended next to us said there farewells and then left for their trip home to Ingham a six hour trip they indicated; towing the horse float.
It was interesting to watch how competitors packed their Rodeo gear including their cowboy hats, the hats were either placed into hat boxes or laid in between two nylon lines upside down and the buckles they wear are massive and must weigh heavy. This relates to both the men and woman and of course lets not forget the small children dressed up as cowboys or cowgirls.
After lunch we drove down to the information centre to see if we could upload the diary and thankfully we had no problems on this occasion other than sending e-mail by Tasmail. Then onto to the supermarket for bread and a couple of extra groceries for our trip ahead. The supermarkets in this town are part of the Petrol Stations, quite unique.
Back for our happy hour and then we started packing and then decided to have an early tea and then watch Television for the rest of the night. A very relaxing day and hopefully the night will be the same, we have really enjoyed our time in Georgetown and if it hadn't been for the Rodeo we may have just passed through so it has been a real bonus in our travells. Thank you Georgetown for a wonderful time!


Farewell from Georgetown	Road out of Georgetown

Tuesday the 11th
What a nice peaceful night you could even hear the moonbeams bouncing off the Motorhome given that it was a full Moon last night that absolutely illuminated the countryside, its a wonder that the solar panels didn't start transmitting power.
Arose early this morning and went for my final walk around the town and I was to witness the helicopter taking off no doubt to round up cattle in the bush at some Cattle Station nearby, most people were also going off in their four wheel drives to work probably on the outlying stations. We had breakfast and our shower and it was time to depart Georgetown having enjoyed our time here even if it was a bit noisy at times, the wind was fresh out of the south east and this means we will pushing the wind; this will be only the second time on the trip that we have a head wind so we really can't complain.
On the highway and it was mostly single lane bitumen with double at times, and wouldn't you know it we seemed to strike most traffic on these single lane sections, needless to say we were showered with stones and dust on many occasions.
The countryside was undulating and there were many Brahma cattle amongst the gum trees that were most prolific and the greenery was quite scenic, we started to climb and then we were on top of the Newcastle Ranges and what a panoramic view you could see forever and the forested hills and valleys looked a treat.
Needless to say the going was tough with plenty of gear changes, we finally arrived at Mt Surprise wherein we ran the Motorhome and Digger through the jet wash to remove any weed or grass seeds that may adhered to the bottom of the vehicles. unfortunately the water was bore water that has left white streaks on the paintwork of both vehicles and this can only be removed by washing again and wipe of with a chamois
The we had a walk around the Mt Surprise which is just a small village on the tablelands, they like other small towns take pride in attempt to attract tourists, we went and had a look at the Gem display. The to have a look at the Savannah Train that services between here and Cairns it consists of two carriages with one having the diesel engine for traction.
The quality of the Agates is very high and see the agate prior to being cut and polished makes you wonder how they discover the beauty of the rock prior to cutting, we spent nearly an hour looking at the collection it was really great.
Back on the single lane highway and we travelled a further 40 kilometres to when we reached the turn off to Charters Towers and then made the right hand turn. The left hand turn takes you into Cairns, moving south and we struck plenty of road trains carting ore to where we will no doubt discover as we move further south.
We have now lost the blue sky's that we have enjoyed for the past month or more and it is clouded over heavily which has dropped the temperature down to 20 degrees and we feel cold would you believe, by the radio it is raining on the coast at Cairns and lower and with a bit of luck we will dodge this for a while yet.
By taking the turn towards Charters Towers means that we are finally heading south and towards home though we still intend to camp up for days at a time so as not to get down into the cold weather to soon.
We have chosen a bush camp for the night up off a telstra tower and will settle in this afternoon to read and take it easy and I suppose we will do the same tonight. Oh! lets not forget we will still have our happy hour at 4pm.
Kilometres travelled 187


On top of Newcastle Ranges	Mt Surprise	Agate display Mt Surprise

Wednesday the 12th
When I awoke this morning and looked outside I was surprised to see that we were shrouded in fog, being dark it was all the more eerie, on my walk I opted to wear my balaclava and woollen gloves for the first time in a month or so for it was a little on the cool side.
When I walked down to the highway it was still dark and foggy and along the highway three road trains carting ore passed and they were four trailers of 56 metre length overall, being single bitumen in most places it will be an interesting exercise when confronted by one of these monsters.
Back to camp and the fog appeared to lift slightly given that we are up about 60 metres higher than the highway, it didn't take long after breakfast to pack and then hit the road, as we drove digger up independently Liz drove down and waited for me at the highway to hook up.
On the road and it wasn't long before we met our first ore road train who exercised the motto "might is right mate!" and would not budge of the bitumen at all, this meant I nearly had to go bush, other road trains that we came across at least put one set of their wheels in the gravel and at least showed some level of caution.
I needed to have the wipers going intermittently for the fog was damp and left goblets of rain on the window screen and dampened the road which wasn't good for Digger following along in the spray off the back wheels of the Motorhome, though we were to come across double lane highway in places which made for easier going.
It was noticeable that we were travelling down off the ranges and it wasn't long before we passed a sign indicating that we were now leaving the Great Dividing Range, there were heaps of trees and high grass being green which would probably indicate that they have had rain in the past weeks.
We took a left hand turn and took the highway towards Charters Towers and the scenery was to change again to red hills with the different greens setting it all off, and again we were to come across literally hundreds of head of Brahma cattle along the way, we will be glad when we are finally finished with these single lane bitumen development roads as they call them and back on normal highways.
The problem is that the bitumen edges are quite jagged and it wouldn't take much to rip the sidewalls out of the tyre's for you do not get much notice of an oncoming vehicle allowing you to choose when to avoid these jagged edges, though I have to say we have been lucky to date.
We pulled into the small village of Greenvale where we were to buy a loaf of frozen bread (take or leave it) and though they have modern amenities and a 50 metre swimming pool most are closed due to the closure of the mines in the area, a real pity to see something as modern as this dying off. We were to fill up with water have a quick look about and then back on the road, we were still travelling through heavily timbered country with cattle looking at us as we passed by, we finally arrived at post 315 which designated our camp for the night.
It was only noon so we had a look at our off road rest area and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was beside a dam that was absolutely overflowing with beautiful purple lily's, what an idyllic setting.
We set up and had lunch and then set about finding wood for our fire which wasn't hard it was lying about everywhere, we then placed our kettle full of water on the fire and after it had boiled filled our shower bags and had showers.
The weather was still very overcast and foggy and as we settled in by the fire it started raining, something that we haven't experienced since leaving Charleville some time ago, so we went indoors and read for the rest of the afternoon and at 7pm it is still raining and we have buckets around the Motorhome collecting the rain water and we will place the rain water in our drinking tanks in the morning.
Luckily we are camped on ironstone so we wont have a problem getting back onto the highway in the morning, Oh well off to read and then I suppose we will have an early night reading and listening to the radio for we do not have television and I am certainly not going to set up the satellite dish in the rain.
Kilometres travelled 210


Camped on the fog line	Single bitumen with fog	Beautiful lily's at our rest area

Thursday the 13th
Rain,rain and more rain during the night which meant this morning the buckets we had in place around the Motorhome were full, these then were emptied into the water tanks.
No walk this morning just a walk around the dam admiring the water lily's that were opening even though there was no sun just cloudy overcast weather with some sprinkling rain.
We were in no hurry this morning given that we only intend travelling about a hundred kilometres or so, we placed the bra on Digger in an attempt to lessen the amount of gunk coming off the road and Motorhome. When we finally hit the road the weather was not kind to us so we were rugged up against the cold, We have to say the roadside scenery was excellent no doubt due to the rain and greening of the countryside and as usual there were plenty of cattle to be seen not just Brahma also Hereford.
We were to experience increased traffic which lead to some interesting driving on the single lane bitumen highway, some would go right off the road and give us free run on the bitumen others would not know what they should do which we found disconcerting. It was strange that when we came across the double lane part of the highway we didn't seem to strike any traffic at all and luckily we did not come across any road trains.
After leaving the current roadwork's that were quite sloppy due to the rain we were to experience a section of dry weather and before we knew it we arrived at our next rest area at Fletchers Creek some forty kilometers from Charters Towers.
Popular? we would say so for on each side of the road there were heaps of Caravans and Motorhomes and given that the camp areas are so large it meant that there was plenty of room for all without feeling that you were in a caravan park.
We set up and made sure that clothes lines and awning etc were out to give us some comfort and as the two television stations available were a bit snowy so we set up the satellite dish which gives us a ghost free picture and clear viewing, up went the cloths line to dry out cloths and unfortunately Liz was unable to do the washing for it started to rain.
Given the soil was black it meant that the ground around us was muddy and if you walked upon it meant that your shoes just built up with mud and grass and made you feel you were much taller than we actually are.
We read for the rest of the afternoon and then settled in to watch television before we went to bed, and easy day made at least a little pleasurable due to our happier than normal happy hour.
Kilometres travelled 102


Termite mound by dam	Lily's by our camp site	Lily's on dam

Friday the 14th
It rained heavily during the night and it deterred me from walking this morning, it was to rain steadily for most of the day and made things a bit muddy and slippery around out camp.
We noted that some who had camped on the black soil had packed up and we were to see one bloke in a four wheel drive packing up his gear on the gravel road after churning up the black mud, as usual with black mud it just clogs up the tread of your tyre's and as such means that you have no grip at all and just spin the wheels and go nowhere. We have found ourselves in this dilemma some years ago, we dodge the black soil knowing what occurs when it rained. It was for this reason that we dodged Ward River out of Charleville early in our travells due to this factor when it was raining.
We cleaned up and had our shower and then decided to go into Charters Towers some 40 kilometres away, when we set off I was a bit worried how Digger would handle the single lane bitumen especially if had to go off into the gravel due to traffic. Luckily, we were to discover that it was double lane all the way; as we were leaving the camp site we were to see many Bash cars going north on their quest to raise money for the special children.
On the way the countryside was very green due to the amount of rain they have experienced over the past month and the weather forecast has indicated that we should not expect the sun until at least Monday.
As we came to the outskirts of Charters Towers we were to spot the very large cemetery with very large headstones and crypts we thought we would have a better look on our way back.
As soon as we arrived at the town centre our recall flooded back and we were able to identify the architecture of the beautiful old buildings that the town is renowned for, we parked Digger up and strolled down the street and we remembered being here in 2001 on a Sunday when everything was closed. Today was different and the town was vibrant and there were many visitors who are easily recognised.
Firstly, we checked out the el cheapo store and then into the op shop and we bought little in both then onto Mc Donalds for a junk meal for lunch, nothing like a semi cold Big Mac and fries to make sure you don't have it to often.
We spent the next hour walking around the shops just browsing and then into the tourist information centre, though volunteers they sure do a wonderful job and are very informative and helpful.
We drove then up to Tower Hill that gives wonderful views of the countryside and the town centre, they have a small theatre at the summit that recalls the gold bearing ground on and around the hill; there were many gold mines in and around the hill at the beginning of the last century. The information boards are very informative and the views even on a rainy overcast day were great, back down into town and into woollies to stock up with groceries and then onto the grog shop to restock.
We then headed for our camp and on the way we dropped into the cemetery and we were pleasantly surprised with the layout and the amount of well preserved grave sites which gave us a much better understanding of the history of the area, come to think of it we do not usually go to cemetery's it was just that this was so large and was part of the tourism trail that we bothered and was it worth the visit? Yes it was.
Back on the road and it didn't take all that long to travel back to camp, as we crossed the dry Burdekin River we were surprised at the previous flood levels, there must be a tremendous flow during the wet season.
There were a few more happy campers that had arrived and thankfully no one has parked close to us yet, after packing the groceries and grog away it was time to cook tea and for the first time we did not have a happy hour, one of the new campers was setting up his satellite dish and was having all sorts of trouble so he came over checked out our dish and I went back and helped him set his up.
That's what we intend to do tonight, just watch television for the weather is not conducive to staying out by the fire even if we cooked our tea on the firepot.


Charters Towers looking East	Town Centre Charters Tower	Cemetery tour

Saturday the 15th
Rain again last night, so needless to say there was no walk again this morning, unfortunately there was a need to run the generator this morning to boost the batteries and so we watched the Saturday morning cartoons via satellite television.
It is obvious that we were not going to do much at all today and it is a waste of time moving on down the road for the weather conditions are such we may as well sit here and make the best of it.
It was not cold at all; I spent most of the day in jeans and singlet, it was only when the showers stopped for an hour or so that I put a pullover and then we walked down around the camps as well as across the road, with ours there are six satellite dish's set up around the camps, those who are using normal television are only getting two channels and ghosting and poor signal and the bloke next camp along finally moved his satellite dish to obtain a better reception; he was trying to get the best through trees.
We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the St Kilda vs Essendon footy match on the television via Imparja, a match that I thought that Essendon would win not lose by three points.
In between showers I cranked up our camp firepot and on went the camp oven to cook a lamb chop stew with all vegetables thrown in, I found if I kept the wood full on, the fire was not effected to any degree by the showers and as usual the stew cooked in the camp oven was excellent. I even had seconds it was that good, I am afraid to go near a set of weight scales to see what my weight is after all these happy hours and meals, especially now that I haven't walked for three days.
Well, tonight we will watch the new series of Dr Who on the ABC and then switch over to the football at 9pm on Imparja, may I finally say that our campsite is tranquil and very pretty or it would be if the rain buggered off, the forecast is that we will not have sun again until Monday. People have been staying put due to the weather and the chance they will bog if they attempt to move on the black mud and there have been a few more come in. One woman who arrived this afternoon, who is on her own in a four wheel drive Isuzu motorhome has pulled in near us and we recall having met her some time ago at Muttaburra and another I spoke with, a C.M.C.A. member has been on the road full time for the past eighteen years; incredible!


Damp camp at Fletchers Creek	Fletchers Creek at our door	Down from our camp

Sunday the 16th
Rain? of course! the heaviest we have experienced to date, we were watching television and the West Coast vs Sydney footy match when in the last quarter the rain was so heavy that the Satellite signal pixilated, luckily it only lasted for a few minutes thus allowing us to watch the end of the nail biting game that West Coast won by two points.
This morning when I went outside there was puddles of water everywhere, just sheets of water, Liz wanted to do the washing irrespective of the weather. We decided to go to the laundromat in Charters Towers, I never thought I would see the day when we would travel 80 kilometres return to just do the washing.
However, given the rotten weather we needed the break away from the mud and slush, we went straight to the laundromat and then went walkabout looking at the old buildings, they are doing restoration work on the City Hall, though I am not keen on the colour scheme.
Then off to have a look at the Venus Gold Battery a few kilometres out of town, they have turned the area into a tourist attraction and I haven't seen stamp mills in such good condition as these, we were able to look back towards town and see Tower Hill where most of the gold of the area was mined prior to going to the gold battery's.
Then we drove home for the town virtually closes for Sunday and there is not a great deal to see nor are there many shops open, on the way back to camp it was rather daunting to be overtaken by a ore road train which made me hang onto Digger with both hands as it overtook us.
Then Liz hung out the cloths to dry for the rain had ceased; even though the day was overcast the temperature was still 22 degrees with wind blowing out of the west.
As I haven't walked for the past three days I went for a five kilometre walk after lunch and enjoyed it immensely, hopefully I can start again in the morning for a period.
Then the fire pot was lit and we cooked rolled roast of pork for tea with the mandatory baked veggies a most enjoyable meal, as we have always said you do not have to rough it too much when on the road.
Then again we stayed inside for the evening and watched television which we will do until things warm up and the rains disappear, something we are looking forward to.


Restoration of Town Hall	Old Bank of Queensland	Venus Gold Battery

Monday the 17th
It only sprinkled on and off during the night and when we hopped out of bed there was no rain though very overcast, I resumed my walking and really enjoyed it given that it gives you the opportunity to see more than driving. I spotted where there was a good wood supply and after breakfast out came the chainsaw and sufficient wood was cut for the next few days, again Digger was the workhorse.
As things were starting to dry we pulled up our ground cover and Liz washed off the mud etc that had accumulated over the past few days, I washed the solar panels which were covered in red dust that the rain failed to remove and then washed off the road grime from the rear of the Motorhome that had accumulated during our recent travels.
We were surprised the amount of Caravans that arrived steadily during the day and most seem to think that they were in a caravan park the way that they parked, thankfully they stayed away from us maybe they saw our generator and that may have deterred them.
After lunch we went walkabout and were surprised that there were very few campers across the highway along the creek, we stopped and had a chat to quite a few people about this and that which passed away the time.
Back in camp and I decided to have a bit off a snooze and then read for the rest of the afternoon, the clouds were now dissipating and lovely blue sky was appearing. Before we knew it happy hour arrived and we sat around the fire until about 7pm talking to those who joined us before going inside to have our evening meal and then to watch television for the night.
We have both noticed that it seems to be a little cold though the temperature in the Motorhome is currently 18 degrees, talk about being acclimatised to the warm weather we are starting to worry about when we move further south and how the cold will affect us.
Given the weather we will not be moving on until Thursday and hoping that the weather takes up, of course there are many parts of Queensland that wish that the rain will continue to break their current drought and water shortage in the dams for drinking water.


	Liz washing ground cover

Tuesday the 18th
It certainly was a cold night though the morning was cool and it was good to see blue sky's once again, out for my morning walk and the temperature was quite cool and I thought that at least I should have been wearing my woollen gloves.
Back to camp and carried out the usual cleaning and tidying up around the camp and re-fueling the generator, Liz was to do a little washing and then we decided to go Charters Towers for the day.
Our first stop was at Woollies where we bought a few groceries and then some marinated chicken wings for $1.99 which we intend to have on a bed of rice for tea.
Liz visited Millar's and bought a few cloths for our journey south into the colder weather and then it was off to Subway for lunch, though Liz has had it before this is a first for me, to see a roll over a foot long was unusual so we only bought one and had half each, washed down with a cup of cappuccino.
Then onto the el cheapo and the hardware store for screws etc we went to visit the op shops though they both closed at 1:30 pm so we saved money, I think. Being such a fine cloudless day we decided to once again to go to Tower Hill and look out upon the country side under sunny blue sky's, and there were certainly much better views to the mountains than the other day under grey and raining sky's. The views were spectacular and we could see the highway in the distance that we will be taking in a couple of days.
Due to the weather we were able to explore more of the history of the old gold mining days and walk around to the old chimney, or what is left of it and the old processing ruins. On our way we were to see a Rock Wallaby that was only to happy to sit and be photographed it is obvious that it was used to people thus was sitting on the large rocks sunning itself.
We went and checked out a couple of the parks we could see from the Hill and they were all well maintained and we welcomed the shade and the ability to relax, really excellent.
Then it was off to help a fellow camper that decided to purchase a satellite television package for $549 and then we went back to camp to set and dial in the channels that are available for them to enjoy the digital television this evening. Luckily it did not take long and it was up and running, though tomorrow we will need to devise a better support for the satellite dish.
We lit the fire and and then had our happy hour plus a few more whilst our evening meal cooked and then inside as the night was becoming cool again, the time 7:45 pm so it was a good happy hour and again good to chew the fat with a couple of fellow campers.
Then inside where we had our evening meal and watched television for the rest of the night before retiring, oh what a busy day it has been.


Sun rise and blue sky's	Rock Wallaby on Tower Hill	Countryside to the south of the Towers

Wednesday the 19th
It was a chilly 9 degrees when I set out on my walk this morning, so much so that I decided to wear my woolen gloves and it wasn't long before I wished that I had worn my balaclava as well, clear sky's and a warming morning sun didn't take long to raise the heat of the day though.
The Brahma cattle close to our camp seemed to enjoy the morning sun and already were seeking shade, they were to cross the highway and I thought they run the risk of being knocked over should one of the road trains happen along, this was not to be. They appear to be timid though not when they are used for Rodeo purposes.
Back at camp and it was time to think about packing for we are moving on in the morning, it is strange how long and how easily you can be distracted which prolongs the time it would normally take to pull down the camp.
It would have appeared that we were in no hurry to pack or move on, It didn't help when requests were made to assist in setting up satellite dishes to receive the allotted television stations, others who were interested came and wanted to know what was involved in setting up, I referred them to the people in Charters Towers that sell and service these systems.
Before we knew it; lunch time had arrived, after lunch we decided to have a look around the Dalrymple National Park which is right on our doorstep, along the various tracks and we came across a lot of signs warning us of sink holes and plenty of No Trespassing signs all done in a non professional manner.
This only furthered our interest to the extent that we had to check out why in a National Park these types of signs would appear, then we came across what was well established gardens consisting of Gravilleas and wild plum trees etc the type that would have been around an old homestead. Tucked away in one corner was a camp that looked as if it had been erected for some time, even years maybe.
Definitely an old hermit's camp with many outdoor fires and tables with the bed in the open with a tin roof and no sides alongside an old tent. We made some enquiries when back in camp from those who use this camp area regularly who informed us that in fact there is an old hermit living in this area and they stated that the signs were not from the National Park people. It appears that they tolerate the bloke given that he does some maintenance on the local graves from the 1800's and other areas in the park.
We then went down to the Burdekin River and it was obvious that in the wet season the river rises dramatically, in all we spent about three hours in the area taking photo's and enjoying the scenery.
Back at camp we continued our packing and when the happy hour arrived after our showers we had a few fellow campers come to have a last drink with us before our departure, we have made some excellent friendships with a few of the campers and we will miss them when we move out of the area, however, this always happens each year we travel, many will keep in touch and others we will not hear from again.
After our meal cooked on the camp fire we retired to the Motorhome and watched television and read when we went to bed.


Brahma visit our campsite	Hermit camp in National Park	Sandy reaches of Burdekin River

Thursday the 20th
It was dark when I climbed out of bed this morning, another cold night it was only 9 degrees in the Motorhome. On with the woollen gloves and off for my walk, the walk is exactly two kilometres out and the same back to camp; on the way out there were two Cattle Road Trains parked up, no doubt the drivers were having there mandatory 6 hour rest break before continuing on to load up off some cattle station.
Back at camp and after breakfast we finished out packing and the last item packed was the satellite dish and then it was farewell to those that had befriended us and joined us at our happy hours over past days. It took awhile to say our farewells and swap addresses so we can keep in touch then it was on the road to Charters Towers.
Along the way we were to receive a few spots of rain and the morning was overcast with the weather forecast on the radio indicating showers for the Tower late this afternoon. Our first stop was at Woollies to get bread and rolls and then onto the petrol outlet where a woman gave us another petrol docket that we used, the cheapest fuel yet on our trip at $1.33.9 cents a litre for diesel and $1.31.9 a litre for unleaded for the generator.
Our next stop was at the pub to get a carton or two of Gulf beer and then we were on the road heading towards Emerald, the road wound its way out past the Rodeo ground, which is very modern by Georgetown standards, contestants and others were setting up their camps for this weekends Rodeo.
For the next hundred kilometers we had beautiful two lane bitumen and scenery as we climbed the range through a couple of National Parks, though the road was straight it was up and down like a roller coaster until we came down on the flat ground again.
We had a bit of head wind, though it wasn't holding us back a great deal and then we were back onto the dreaded single lane bitumen with the gravel sides showing deep tracks where road trains had passed each other in the wet of last week, in fact some of the wheel ruts still contained water; I have whinged enough previously about some of the drivers on these narrow stretches so I will not repeat what I strongly feel.
Then we arrived at Belyando Crossing which is no more than a road house with a caravan park out the back, we stopped here for lunch had a look about and we both thought it had not changed at all since we were here last in 2001. Still the same old Sulphur Crested Cockatoo still digging holes and picking out its chest feathers, there was plenty of flowering wattle which looked great along with a few flowering waratah's.


Cattle Road Trains	Flowering wattle	Cockatoo Belyando Crossing

After lunch we pushed on and luckily it was double lane bitumen again, it wasn't long before we were to see a sign that welcomed us to the Central Highlands, we were to see many roads that lead into gold mines and other signs that indicted cattle stations up the side roads. Each sign appeared to have at least ten stations listed and they were up to 250 kilometers from the highway, or should I say development road.
Then we came across a police car that informed us that a 8.5 metre load was coming our way and we would need to get off the road, that was a laugh for there were drop offs on both sides if we attempted to do what they requested we would have rolled the motorhome. However, we did our best and moved as far off as it was safe to do, then wide load appeared so I jumped out to take a photo for they were doing at least 100 kph and I noted that there would not have been anymore than 200 mm between the load and us as they went past, quite hairy and scary.
We drove to a gravel pit about 60 kilometres out of Belyando Crossing and were joined later by three caravans, we lit a fire and cooked our tea and then sat around it for a couple of hours before going into bed. Lets not forget we had our mandatory happy hour. The weather this morning was overcast with some drizzle and where we are now it is patchy cloud with a cool south easter, so tomorrow we will move onto Emerald or thereabouts and with a bit of luck the weather will pick up and we can enjoy once more the weather of the past two days.
Kilometres travelled 288


Welcome to Central Highlands	8.5 Metre wide load	Campfire at the gravel pit

Friday the 21st
There were a few drops of rain during the night, though on hopping out of bed there were only a few clouds and blue sky, this morning most of my walk was downhill and then the walk back uphill had me puffing like an old blue tongue lizard, we intend to put a few kilometres under our belt today and pull into Springsure for the $15 for the first night and the next two nights free.
On the road and we had at last a two lane highway and going was easy, though we were climbing up onto a plateau, there there was a little wind. We were lucky to have it on our side. There was still plenty of cattle around the water holes and plenty of trucks on the road though I don't think we caused them a problem, then we were on the way down and passing through wheat country with plenty of huge paddocks under cultivation.
We then arrived at Clermont which is some five kilometres off the highway, as we had visited here previously we wanted to see if they have upgraded the town.
Yes, they have and done a tremendous job, the town now looks prosperous and they have done heaps around the creek, we went for a walk along the walking trail and came across a couple of Geese. I spotted one in the reeds and it came up at me and I noticed the eggs she had been sitting on, then the gander had a go at me and after a quick photo we hastily vacated the area and let them be.
They still have the murals at the railway station and on the old carriages and they have been upgraded and look superb, after a quick drive around the town we were back on the highway again.
Our next destination was Capella which is a grain receiving station of course with the railway running beside the wheat silo's, then onto Emerald passing again many large paddocks of grain and other crops, Emerald being a large town of about 10 thousand plus that services the grain industry as well as the very large citrus fruit industry. On arriving at Emerald we unhooked Digger to make it easier to park and get fuel.


Off the ranges onto flat farmland	Goose eggs at Clermont	Geese protecting eggs from me

We stopped of at Woollies to buy potatoes and was a bit surprised to have to pay $9 for four kilo then we re-fueled at $1.30.9 per litre the cheapest yet, when checking our fuel consumption we had burned more than usual we put this down to the hill climbing and wind.
We did not bother to walk around the business centre nor go out to the dam sight seeing, we drove to the outskirts and pulled up in a rest area and had our lunch; we were in no hurray for we only had a further 60 kilometres to travel.
Back on the road we were to pass heaps of farm machinery especially a strange looking tractor that has been altered to spray crops by the look of it, the going was easy though we could see mountain ranges in the distance and again along the way there were plenty of wheat silo's and rail sidings.
We were to wind our way around the mountain ranges until we arrived at Springsure, as we where coming into the town the sign for the park we were going to stay at had a sign indicating that it was under new management, I said to Liz that it could mean the deal of pay one night have two free may have changed.
Sure enough that was the case so we paid $15 for one night only, this is the first caravan park we been in all of our travels this trip. We parked up and showered and Liz used the washing machines and as we have television that's about all we will do tonight, we were hoping to park up for a couple of days and explore the area. We do not want to have spend to much or travel to far in any given day, in the past two days we have paid out $186 for diesel, its true to say that we have only travelled 60 kilometres on the current re-fill.
Kilometres travelled 343


Strange looking Tractor	Travelling beside mountain range to Springsure

Saturday the 22nd
This morning I decided to walk around the centre of Springsure and have a look at the housing and attractions prior to the locals hopping out of their beds. The town though small is clean and well sign posted as to their tourist attractions like the Virgin Rock, walking around the back streets gave an indication of the type of housing, the majority built on stilts and having large air conditioners on their roof's, this probably means the heat in summer is possibly very hot.
I then returned to the Motorhome and drove out to the Racecourse in Digger looking for camping spots for we want to watch football this weekend before moving on towards Biloela, unfortunately there was nothing suitable so back to the Motorhome and had breakfast.
On the television the Kangaroos vs. Adelaide was on channel 9 at 5am so I was able to watch the final quarter, we had our shower and then Liz washed the sheets and we were on our way out of Springsure with the thought of finding a rest area for the weekend.
We were to climb out of Springsure and up the Staircase Ranges and that was exactly what the road was like at stages I was down to low third it was that steep and we finally reached the summit signage indicated 6% gradient on the way down. Approximately a third of the way down we came across a viewing pull off where the countryside below and in the distance created a great vista.
Once we reached the bottom the land was flat again and it wasn't long before we came across a big gravel pit where we were able to pull around the back and in brilliant sunshine set up our camp. We collected wood that was in abundance and hung out the washing to dry. We then watched the Collingwood vs. West Coast Eagles footy match which Collingwood won by 36 points much to Liz's satisfaction, talk about smile you go a long way to see one so wide.
We cooked our tea on the fire having hamburgers with the lot made by us of course and having a late happy hour washed down by the appropriate liquid. Then we went inside to watch Dr Who and then turned over to catch the last quarter on the Hawthorn vs. Brisbane Lions.
Kilometres travelled 39


Welcome to Springsure	Springsure and surrounds	The Virgin Rock

Sunday the 23rd
It was good to see the stars and milky way in a rather bright night last night which has ensured a cool day today and a pleasant walk this morning, the downside was that the going was easy on the way down the hill on the way back it certainly tested me for the hill was very steep; the countryside at the bottom of the hill was flat and there were large paddocks of what I assume to be wheat.
Back at camp and the fire was lit and breakfast was a pleasant affair with sun rising with a blue sky and no clouds, we have not planned anything for today other watch the St Kilda vs. Port Adelaide match this afternoon.
The rest of the day will be spent cooking a chicken in the camp oven and allowing it to cool down for a chicken salad tomorrow night, tonight we will have patties and vegetables and then probably watch the movie later.
So, in all we will be doing bugger all mate! just relaxing before we move on tomorrow.


Getting ready for Breakfast	Our Gravel Pit Camp	Boiling the Kettle

Monday the 24th
As we move further south it appears that the daylight hours are shortening, in the morning thus the sun is rising when on my walk. This morning the sunrise through the bush was very nice and that is the reason I always carry the camera with me on the walk even though I may not take a photo on many mornings.
Back in camp and it was not long before we were on the road heading for Dawson Creek, it now appears that we have left the dreaded single lane bitumen highways behind. we were climbing once again and it didn't take long to arrive at the top of the Expedition Range it being 442 metres above sea level. On the way down we were to come across farm land with hectares as far as you could see of what we believe to be wheat and at other times row upon row of some type of tree and we could only assume that it may be for oil extraction of some sort.
Of course there was plenty of traffic and cattle though the Brahma has been replaced by other breeds, we could see mountain ranges in the distance which we believe we may have to climb at some stage.
We finally arrived at Rollestone a small village where we topped up with water, posted off letters and then purchased a loaf of bread the price of we will not disclose other than to say we thought it was a little dear, one of those take it or leave it mentality.
Then we were on the way towards the township of Moura, again there was plenty of farmland with mainly cattle though we were to see groups of Emu's and even a Dingo that was drinking from a water trough, it was a bit far off to take a photo even though it didn't seem to be perturbed.
We were to see a Landcruiser flat tray loaded with Kangaroo and a single pig on the way to chillers some where down the road, again we can only assume that there is an industry for Kangaroo in this area also.
We arrived at the Dawson River Rest Area and were surprised to see how many were camped up, mainly caravans, our discussions later in the afternoon with some of the campers revealed that some had been camped here for as long as two weeks all in a rest area designated as a 48 hour Rest Area. We have noticed that this has been the case in other areas that we have come across no doubt this will lead to closure of these areas that are abused.
It is quite a pleasant Rest Area with plenty of trees for shade or you may park out in the open if you have Solar Panels, the river is a little dirty looking though signs indicate that there is plenty of small fish released recently for anglers, this was confirmed with locals that I had a discussion with while they were fishing.
Happy Hour arrived and we were joined by six other campers and it was good to hear their recent travel experiences and their future travels, a very good happy hour indeed. We had a cold chicken salad for tea and it was great sitting outside by the fire doing so, the problem is that as soon as it gets a little dark the cold evening air sends you inside and believe me we are feeling the cooler evenings on our way south and we are still above Bundaberg even though we have dropped below the Tropic of Capricorn.
As I have set up the satellite dish we will watch television for awhile before going off to bed to read for awhile.
Kilometres travelled 187


Sunrise on morning walk	Kangaroo shooters load	Camp at Dawson Creek

Tuesday the 25th
What a night, flashes of lightning and then thunder, the rain was to pelt down all night ranging from light to heavy, I went outside and placed drums and buckets under the awning and in the morning we had about 70 litre's of fresh rain water. This we were to use during the day for showers and washing of clothes etc. and still have enough left over for a couple of days.
When I hopped out of bed at 7am the rain had stopped and it was just a little overcast so I headed off on my daily walk, at least this morning the road was flat so in no time at all I was back in camp having breakfast having covered 4 kilometres.
After our shower we headed off to have a look around Moura and upload the Diary to the internet, as we were only five Kilometres from town it did not take long at all, the town is supported by the local coal mine and the farming industry, there are very large silo's to hold the grain grown in the area and displays of old coal mining machinery.
We went looking for an internet connection first to the Library and then to the Tourist Information Centre both to no avail so the Diary is still bubbling along waiting to be uploaded. Then we drove around the town and then onto the Mitre 10 to look for screws and a satellite plug. No luck; so onto the IGA for a few items and lo and behold Tim Tams were on special so we purchased a few packets for our supper, no wonder I am putting weight on with this and happy hours. We were to run into Eddie and Audrey who had just arrived in Moura and would be spending a night at our Rest Area, it was good to catch up with Chapter news and news about other members currently on the Mainland.
We then went to Mitre 11 (The Tip) and did a bit of scrounging, we found a brand new golf umbrella with a broken handle, which I fixed no problem, a rod and reel, the reel only needed a bit of grease and it was as good as new, spanners, a hack saw, fish spear, books; a rather productive day at the tip.
Back in camp and I spent a pleasant sunny afternoon fixing a few broken things and then had a good natter with others in the park, come happy hour and Eddie and Audrey had arrived so we had a good group of Caravaners and Motor homers come together for the event.
We were to cook our meal on the camp fire and dined outside even though the chill of the evening and the darkness was upon us, then inside and watched Television and then off to bed and read for awhile.


Eddie & Audrey at happy hour	Gathered for our Happy Hour

Wednesday the 26th
On my walk this morning and it was great seeing the dawn and sun reflecting on the few clouds on the horizon, even though we have two Geese that frequent our campsite I spotted another six white geese on the golf course as I passed on my way back camp. After breakfast there were some happy campers that we had befriended who were departing this morning, so we had a good old chat prior to their departure.
After these farewells we just set the fire and then also bid Eddie and Audrey farewell as they headed off to Theodore to meet up with Dick & Madge, we indicated that we would see them again at Casino for Tassie Week.
We just sat out in the beautiful sunshine with a top temperature of 24 degrees reading our books and every now and again having a bit of a natter with other campers as they came our way.
We took a short walk over the bridge during the afternoon and took a few photo's of Dawson Creek and then back to camp for the happy hour, again there were a few join us and we just chatted about all and sundry, especially where people were heading off to. We appear to be the only ones heading towards Biloela and then down to Kingaroy, then it was time for tea and again we dined outside in the twilight before going inside the watch the television. Not much to report at all for the day was really relaxing and we both completed reading our books and then started another.


Morning walk at Dawn	Geese on the Golf Course	Dawson Creek

Thursday the 26th
Yes, I went for my walk again this morning and the sky was very cloudy; though the morning was not cold at all, it was strange this for there was not much traffic thus the walk was easy and I did not suffer the air wash as vehicles went past, as in previous days.
Back to our rest area which has been great and carried out the usual chores and then after cleaning up we decided to go and have a look at the weir that was holding back the Dawson Creek. Well the track in looked as if every four wheel drive liked chopping up the the track and making deep muddy culverts, poor old Digger had to straddle the track and only once did he slide sideways into the mud culvert and luckily we came out of it.
The trip was worth it for the weir gave us an indication why there is no much green-blue algae staining the water near our camp, I haven't bothered to fish the Creek for the signs warn against eating the fish due to the algae that is present, in the dry season with no water runoff makes the Creek unsafe for water activities.
We then went on towards Moura and visited the local IGA and bought a few items and then filled a few cans with water rather than use the polluted water of the Creek.
We then drove the ten kilometres toward Biloela to have a look at the coal mines, it would appear that there is a lot of construction going on for the amount of cranes and building was quite large, we drove as far as we could into the mine and were to see the washing plant and some of the construction work. There were heaps of large man made mountains of overburden as far as the eye could see, unfortunately we were not able to see the open cuts or the large drag lines that must be there.
We were lucky enough to get near the large dump truck repair facility to get a couple of photo's before we left the area, one noticeable thing was the amount of A.CT.U. Fightback banners that were hanging from many parts of the washing plants and repair facilities.
We then returned to our rest area and had a late lunch and then lit the fire to cook our silverside for tea and to the boiling water Liz was to add many vegetables and of course soup mix to make a soup which we will have over the next couple of days. There is no doubt that we are eating healthy with plenty of different meals being cooked all mainly cooked on the campfire.
We were to notice the clouds had become really heavy with rain and it looked like we would get a downpour at any moment, we transferred our cooking inside to the gas and emptied our campfire of ash and packed it away when it cooled down along with the rest of the gear, we loaded it into Digger whilst it was sprinkling.
The rain held off long enough for us to have a happy hour with a few of fellow campers, some that had only come into the area today, when it started to rain we all retired to the shelters by the river and continued our happy hour, then it was inside for tea and given that we only have to turn off the gas in the morning we will probably make an early start towards Biloela.
As yet it is not raining heavy and we will watch television and hopefully before we go to bed I can pull down the satellite dish and stand and pack them away which will leave very little to do in the morning.


Dawson Creek Weir	Dawson coal washing facility	200 tonne Dump Truck servicing facility

Friday the 28th
It poured down with rain all night, to the extent that I was concerned that we may not get away from Dawson Creek this morning; luckily it stopped about 5am and this allowed me to go out for my final walk in this area.
We were underway at 7:30 am due everything being packed away last night prior to the rain, though the ground was wet it was solid we did not have any trouble getting out of our camp spot.
On the road towards Moura and we were to strike fog on the road though it cleared as we were going through the town. On past the huge heaps of mine waste and mulloch mounds that the dominated the skyline, the sky behind was a dreary looking grey thus it was certainly no tourist attraction.
In no time at all we arrived at Banana, the town and Shire of Banana obtained their name from an old yellow Bullock by the name of "Banana" whose work attributed to settlement of the area, just after leaving the town and heading for Biloela we recalled that we had been this way before having taken the left turn and headed towards Gladstone.
The road Biloela was not to good even though it was double lane bitumen, it was rough and very narrow along the way; we were to notice plenty of Emu's and they did not seem very perturbed by our presence, we were climbing all of the time and many gear changes were required though the scenery, given it was only farmland, was good and it was obvious that they have had plenty of rain in the area which has assisted their crops and green grass for the many cattle we were to see.
We finally reached the top of the mountain range and even though Biloela was still some 15 kilometres away the Callide Power station and its huge cooling Chimneys were very prominent on the landscape. Then we arrived at Biloela where found the business district very compact.


Welcome to Banana	Replica of "Banana" the Bullock	Plenty of Emu's

We went straight to Woollies and fueled up with diesel at $1.31.9 cents a litre and then parked up and then went and stocked up with groceries from Woollies, then on to Crazy Clarke's, Dick Smith, Millar's and Super Cheap and then went for a walk around the old part of town.
We came across the best example of a bottle tree (Boab) that we have seen in the many hundreds we have seen in several states, no doubt it gets plenty of moisture where it is placed in the Apex Park thus is very green in its trunk and canopy.
We headed off towards Monto and the road again was winding itself up through ranges and past many cattle farms with a few cropping extensively. There are plenty of gum trees and large species at that though we did not see any timber mills along the way.
We stopped at the small village of Thangool had a quick look about and then back on the road and still climbing, we intended to park up for the night at a rest area some 60 kilometres further up the road.
The climb is the steepest to date and we finally arrived at our destination which turned out to be a nice small rest area with toilets and a commanding look out over the countryside, we could see Monto which is our destination tomorrow. There were to be four other happy campers come in for the night. We settled in and due to the rain last night the previous campers had left plenty of wood, the fire took some getting going due to the wet wood though we were successful.
Liz had made a pot of soup so we placed that on the fire to slowly simmer while we sat under the sheltered table and seats and read.
Today we did not have a happy hour just tea by the fire and when the evening chill came in we went inside and listened to the radio and the football before retiring to bed.
Kilometres travelled 159


Main Street Biloela	Flourishing Bottle Tree

Saturday the 29th
There were a few latecomers in last night into the rest area, one Caravaner arrived about 10pm and pulled out at 4am; sure must be in a hurry. This morning due to being on top of a mountain I wasn't to keen to go for my walk, I finally relented and walked about 500 metres down and then back for the climb was a 1in 6 gradient; quite steep.
Had breakfast packed up and we were on the road at 8am bound for Monto, the road down off the mountain was steep and the exhaust brakes and foot brake was required to slow us down especially along the bends, the first town we came to, Mulgildie consisted of a pub and just a few houses in a farming area. The pub was advertising a roast lunch for $4.50 no doubt to attract the tourist dollar, being to early for lunch on we went climbing again and there were plenty of cattle and crops even on the undulating and sometimes steep land.
We finally arrived at Monto and the first thing we saw after the sewage plant was the water reservoirs that had beautiful murals painted on them and then we came across a farming museum showing off the old implements of the past including many old tractors, bullock drays and horse drawn farming implements, all very well set out with good detail as to the history of the machinery and the area surrounding Monto.


Morning on the Mountain	Our campsite on the Mountain	Mural's on Water Storage at Monto

We then went into the business centre and the information centre that was unmanned, there was a video playing giving details of the town and its surrounds all very well done. We then walked up past a very old pub that would have to be hundreds of years old by the look of it, then of course the shops and though there was a IGA we refrained from going in looking for specials for the cupboards are all stocked up with tucker. We then went into the Pensioners Book Shop and purchased a few more books to add to our collection which no doubt we will read before we arrive home.
Then we moved on and again we were still climbing, though the road was good and the scenery was excellent with plenty of cropping and cattle to be seen, it has been some time since we have seen sheep. We arrived at Eidsvold at lunch time and had a look about, it would appear they have a large aboriginal settlement thereabouts looking at the amount of building they occupy in the main street as offices etc.
We spoke to one of the locals who suggested we stop at the show grounds for he often sees caravans parked there and there is power and hot showers. We did not need any further advice prompting we just drove out and set up behind the cattle yards so we could not be seen from the road and plugged into power.
Liz did the washing and hung it up and I washed poor old Digger who again copped all the road grime from the wet roads, this is its six wash and the Motorhome has had only a couple of buckets of river water sluiced over the rear and at the moment it looks very grimy.
We had our showers and have opted for a cold tea with the temperature at 4pm running at 25 degrees with just a hint of humidity, we can only get the ABC on television; so football is out for I do not feel like setting up the satellite dish just to watch football, instead we will watch Dr Who and see what happens or just read.
Kilometres travelled 99


Old machinery Monto	Old pub at Monto	Murals at Eidsvold

Sunday the 30th
A very cold night, the temperature had dropped to 10 degrees when I hopped out of bed at 6:30am, put on my woollen gloves and then off for my walk, the road was undulating and at times quite hilly so I took the lazy way out and just walked for 45 minutes.
After breakfast I looked at the motorhome and noted the road grime that had built up over the past months, so while Liz took Digger to go to the Laundromat to do the bed cloths etc I decided to wash the motorhome with buckets of water.
The road grime was horrendous and took some shifting with plenty of detergent and muscle power, it took nearly an hour to do the job and have the motorhome look half presentable. This is the first time in 3 months that the motorhome had been washed to this extent.
I put a clothes line for the washing up and then it was time for lunch, during lunch I picked up a couple of broadsheets and straight away noticed that the information contained within was quite reactionary which could be expected from the deep north and when the bloke came around to see what we thought I pissed him off very quickly.
Needless to say that the newspapers where chucked into the rubbish with no thought for further distribution as the bloke wanted.
We then decided to go for a walk around the business centre of Eidsvold; firstly we crossed the bridge which has a very unhappy Burdekin River flowing underneath or should we say that the river was very stagnant with little flow.
We walked around the Business Centre and we were somewhat surprised to note that most of the town was closed for the weekend.
We strolled around and took a few photo's and then arrived at the only pub in town. We decided to have an early happy hour and somewhat surprised how much money go through their poker machines, we were to witness quite a few of the people playing the pokies going to the ATM for further funds, sad really.
We had discussions with the local people in the bar and then after a few more beers we moved back to our campsite and continued our happy hour and then it was time for our evening meal.
We were to have the fish that we caught in the Gulf of Carpentaria. I thought that the spotted mackerel would not have been much chop, I was surprised to find that it had plenty of taste.
The night was closing in and the temperature was dropping quickly which means that we will have a heavy dew or frost in the morning, we are currently watching television and will read when we go off to bed. Another good day before we move on in the morning.


Welcome to Eidsvold	Bridge across gardens	Liz at the happier hour

Monday the 31st
Out for my walk and on return stopped at the R.M.Williams Australian Bush Centre Site and photographed the replica of the bush centre building and the bill board advertising the forthcoming construction thereof. We had our showers and then breakfast, it has been a pleasant couple of days especially the bonus of free power; the locals that we met were all friendly and of course steered us to the showgrounds. We then hit the road bound for Kingaroy, which we should arrive at some time after lunch.
The road was winding and hilly with heaps of gear changes which will mean our fuel consumption will be up on previous figures, we were to see plenty of farmland and cattle. It didn't take long before we were in Gayndah and we noticed the "Big Mandarin" that is also the booking office for the caravan park, it being a small town we drove around and took photo's of the old buildings and noticed it was a service centre for the farming and cropping industry and then back on the highway bound south.


Bush Centre Replica	Sign indicating future construction	Big Mandarin at Mundubbera

We dropped into Gayndah and parked up and went for walk, the buildings were once again very old and one old store advertised that they still had the "Flying Fox" overhead change dispenser the only one still in operation in Queensland. Then into the op shop then into the food store for Tomatoes $1.49 per kilo, three avocados for $1.50. As we were walking up the street as we went past the Service Station and a bloke with a trailer load of Mandarins told us to grab a bag and help ourselves for they were going to given the to the cattle. The reason being they were slightly imperfect, we couldn't find anything wrong with them and they were real juicy.
This area advertises itself as the citrus capital of Queensland and we were to see heaps of citrus orchards which had plenty of irrigation and fruit still on the trees, then we went and had a look at the old museum that houses old machinery and several old cottages and a bakehouse and Saddler all very well done and entertaining.
Our next stop was at Ban Ban Springs which basically is a roadhouse with several cropping farms, we were to meet up again with people we met at Dawson Creek and the old bloke still hasn't had his satellite television turned on yet by Optus, the only advice I could give was to persevere. I went to a roadside stall and purchased a full pumpkin for fifty cents and then we were back on the road towards Kingaroy.


Machinery display Gayndah	Old Cottages Museum	Aboriginal painting Ban Ban Springs

The road was getting worse with plenty of breaks in the bitumen and it made the journey very bumpy, we seemed to be climbing all the time, we were to see Piggeries and Deer farms. Then we made the turn onto the Morgon Road which will cut over fifty kilometres off the trip, the only problem was that the road was narrow and at times I was down into third gear on some of the hills. When we arrived at Morgon the local abattoirs were working and the smell was obnoxious, this appears to be the main industry of the town and then we arrived at Wondia.
We stopped at the information centre which was one of the best we have seen to date and the theme is the timber industry and the displays are so life like you feel that you are part of the static displays.
They also have a wood turning shack where you can watch the various types of turning taking place and we noticed they had young people there also teaching them the ropes.
Then onto Kingaroy and along the way we were to see plenty of red soil not unlike Scottsdale though looking richer, yes we were to see crops of peanuts. When we arrived at Kingaroy we drove through two sets of lights the first in months and the sky was looking ominous so we decided to seek out our camp area some ten kilometres the other side of town and settle in and come back tomorrow to explore the area, the population is advertised as 12,400 residents. When we arrived at our area for the night it was starting to sprinkle even so we lit a fire which we did not spend much time beside due to the weather, so we came inside out of it. We now have full digital television and all the channels that are available in this neck of the woods, so needless to say that is what we will do tonight.
Kilometres travelled 262


Loading Logs onto Dray	Working logs with crosscut saw	Bushman's Humpy

August section Diary

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