More Mataranka

We were going to take of for Katherine / Edith Falls today, even hooked up the 4x4 ready to go, but the Spring water was soooooo inviting, and the day was so warm & relaxing, that we just lazed in the pool, caught up with some little chores and generally wiled away the day.

However we have sorted some photos and did manage to capture a couple of the termite dress ups, so thought this could be a bit of a pictorial diary today.

Doing it tough 

& doing it even tougher with coffee & scones

A couple of the more modest dressers amongst them

Never a dull moment, and always something different to see.  And we've only been on the road for a few weeks.

More soon xx

Mataranka Springs

So doing it tough here.  Morning swim at Bitter Springs the other side of Mataranka township, very hard to take in the crystal clear water, just below bath temperature, and with enough buoyancy to just float.  As if that wasn't good enough, had fresh scones & coffee in a delightful cafe in the main street of Mataranka for elevensies, then back to the Homestead for another swim.  Oh dear life is so tough :-)

There is a replica here at Mataranka Homestead of the Elsey Station homestead of Jeannie Gunn , the author of "We of the Never Never" - her story of being a young bride faced with the solitude and harshness of Northern Territory station life. I am in awe of what some of these women endured back in the day, as we swan about in our flash caravans with en suites & washing machines, towed by our air-conditioned 4x4's.  Now they really did do it tough, and we can only imagine the hardships they endured, AND they didn't wear shorts & T-shirts but voluminous dresses and tight corsets too. God love 'em!!

The park here is really worth a visit, not only for the delectable spring water, but settled here under the palms and gums we are visited regularly by kangaroos, who eat out of your hand, a magnificent sulphur crested cockatoo pecking at the sprinkler for a drink of water, grey birds I haven't identified yet, but are terribly noisy & greedy, and to top it off a magnificent peacock, who also eats out of our hands, (seeming to have a particular liking for almonds & sultanas) and who (like the one mentioned in Judy Hannah's post), spends the rest of his time staring at his splendiferous image in the shiny polished aluminium of our bull-bar. What a poser.  I am told there are several peahens around, and another male, but to date we haven't spotted them.  Our bloke is supreme, & makes a hell of a noise to boot !!

Last night, after dinner in our van,  we thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment provided at the Bar & Bistro; a Mum, Dad & two sons, travelling musicians from Willunga, SA.  We didn't recognise them at all, but they were fantastic & the boys, drummer & lead guitar, were exceptionally talented - lovely family spirit between them too.  There are some lovely people on the road !!

Because we went off to the Bitter Springs today without the van, we did manage to stop and take some photos of the dressed termite mounds so will post a couple of those later.  

It's been lovely to have a day just chilling today.  The temps are in the low 30's but we've had a nice breeze here under the trees and have been most comfortable.  Ready for more adventures if not tomorrow, then the next day.

Cheers !!





 

Tennant Creek to Mataranka

Haven't had much coverage for a few days, so a bit behind with the posts.  We have had an amazing few days meeting some very interesting people, at the same time acclimatising to the hotter temps.

This evening we are sitting under the palms & beautiful gums at Mataranka Homestead after having had a delicious swim in the hot springs here.  The water temp was perfect, warm but refreshing and an absolute oasis after the hot dusty road.  As I write Trevor is off with the mobile talking to NZ and showing them on FaceTime a visiting kangaroo who is just mooching about amongst the campers.  Excellent!! How cool is that?

There hasn't been too much to see on the road except the evidence of many bored drivers, who have amused themselves by pulling over and dressing the termite mounds in various kinds of apparel.
The garb has ranged from sweater, scarf & beanie at best, to a scant pair of knickers at worst.
Great entertainment for the passers by, although I have frustrated both myself and my dearly beloved by not being able to capture them on camera as we pass.  My reaction time is not what it could be in that regard, so I have now given up the pursuit.

Last night, our 45th anniversary, will remain a highlight of this trip I am sure.  Mid afternoon we pulled into the caravan park next to the Daly Waters pub which claims to be the oldest pub in the Northern Territory (and it certainly looked like it).

We were astounded at the number of vans, motor homes & camper vans packed into every available space in the paddock.  The park offered adequate if "rustic" facilities, but a cool shower after the dust and heat of the day was more than a blessing.

The pub was offering a Beef & Barra BBQ dinner, at a very reasonable price, and we had already determined to "eat out" for our anniversary.  They had 3 sittings for the meal, that's how many people were there, and we spent a very pleasant evening with a farming couple from Ceduna, SA taking the last sitting option, and staying on for the excellent entertainment.  Although I didn't catch the performer's name, he referred to himself as Chilli, and was a true blue Aussie bush poet-cum-singer, who entertained the crowd with yarns, poems & great Aussie songs.  Everyone had a ball, and it was fantastic value for money, both the food & the show.

So from our stop off at The Pebbles just out of Tennant Creek where we camped next to a Scottish couple, who make & drink their own whiskey, (in Australia) so no wonder they sleep well each night in the back of their Landcruiser.  Their camper trailer was just full of stores & their kitchen & their supply of whiskey.  Apparently the length of their trips depend on how long the whiskey lasts.

We picked the Pebbles as a spot because we could apparently get wifi coverage, and TV signal. Yay !!
The wifi was marginal, but enough to get our emails however the TV was a different story.  The lady a couple of vans away, assured us we could get at least 7 or 8 channels free to air.  Imagine the frustration when all Trev's attempts to tune it in resulted in "NO SIGNAL" !!  After some considerable time, of tuning and re-tuning it finally twigged that the aerial was not actually plugged in.  Offending aerial inserted in socket and hay presto crystal clear channels.  Just an embarrassed husband, but great TV!!

We will have a swim in the morning before heading to Katherine or thereabouts.  More later. Ciao.

Lawn Hill - Tennant Creek

Well here we are back on line, albeit marginally.  We are sitting in a free park at a place called The Pebbles, just north of Tennant Creek, with about another 20 odd vans.  A popular spot – particularly as there is some phone and wifi coverage.  Good old Telstra !!

The last few days have been quite an adventure, covering a lot of kms on some pretty corrugated roads, (thankfully without the van which we left safe and sounds at Camooweal), but not without its little hiccups.  Namely a blown tyre half way between Camooweal and Gregory Downs en route to Lawn Hill. We managed to change it and get to Gregory Downs and locate a trucking company where they thought they could fix it at least to get us out of trouble, however not so !! It was irreparable.  Long story short, we discovered that Adels Grove, where we were going, had the very tyre in stock & we could get it fitted there.  Thank you Lord !!

We had an amazing couple of nights there, great camping spot & our brand new tent was indeed easy to erect, and we even had a great fire so could cook a yummy stew in the camp oven.  Perfect weather, beautiful moonlight nights and lovely shady spot in amongst the tree for the daytime.

Lawn Hill, is indeed an oasis in an otherwise dry area.  Adels Grove,  10kms from the Gorge has a really interesting history.  Albert de Lestang bought the lease in 1930.  He was a French botanist who, commissioned by the government of the day, experimented with growing tropical trees & shrubs.  By 1939 there were 1,000 different species of trees growing there.   In the early 50’s the complex was accidentally burnt out. Albert was in his early seventies at this time, and he apparently succumbed to depression and a broken spirit, and died soon after in a home in Charters Towers.  A sad story, but some of the trees still remain although haven’t been tended over the years, and we were able to collect a few lemons from a large tree close to our tent.  The remnants of the fruit trees that were there years before.

The Gorge itself a short drive away, was spectacular, and after doing one of the “moderately difficult” walks, up a steep hill from the top of which we had great views of different parts of the gorge, we hired a canoe and paddled for miles through the gorge.  It was absolutely stunning, with calm deep water and towering red cliffs.  Trees growing from the cliffs amazed us, with their roots scrambling down the cracks in the rocks in search of moisture.  The couple of saltwater crocs basking in the sunshine by the side of the water added a bit of excitement to the mix, although we were assured they were fine as long as you didn’t disturb them !!!!  Who was going to do that ???  I did put my foot down about getting too close for a photo!!  Seen one croc seen ‘em all, I reckon!! (Would post photo's but wifi a bit unreliable tonight.)

Anyway it was a lovely day, and we certainly felt as though we had done our share of exercise for a while.  Surprisingly we both felt pretty good in the morning, with no sore muscles or any other ill effects, so we must be fitter than we thought.

On our way through to Katherine then Darwin over the next few days, but tonight we're enjoying another pleasant spot & have been chatting to some interesting people.  So many different stories & so many people on the road, can hardly believe the numbers.

More soon.

Mount Isa to Camooweal

Hi again.  Sitting in the Roadhouse Caravan Park at Camooweal, and preparing for our tenting expedition to Lawn Hill, which we are really looking forward to.  We will take off in the morning as soon as we are ready, leaving the caravan here, which will be safe and sound for a couple of nights.

We thoroughly enjoyed our two nights in Mount Isa, Saturday and Sunday.  Attended the Isa Community Church on Sunday morning, which was small but lively and typically AOG, with enthusiastic worship and an energetic preacher.  This time we stayed and had a cuppa after the service and met some interesting people.  Trevor talked to a lovely man from Zambia, who had been sponsored to work at the mine, and who came from the region of Zambia that we had visited with Immo & Louise a few years ago, so that was uncanny.   I talked to a lady who, with her husband, was on her way to a community close to Alice Springs to caretake while the managers went on holiday.  They had spent a lot of time in Papua New Guinea, and aboriginal communities were a whole new ball game for them.  She had some amazing stories of God's provision for them, and I found it really encouraging to talk to her.

In the afternoon we went to the Mount Isa Information Centre, where there was a display of fossils found in the Riversleigh area, north of here, and an extremely interesting museum and informative audio visual about the discovery & development of the Mount Isa Mine, the biggest, deepest & oldest mine in Australia, how they extract the copper, silver, zinc & lead and subsequently the growth of the town itself.

The first thing you see as you enter Mount Isa from any direction is of course the tall chimney stacks and the immensity of the mine itself, with its huge infrastructure seemingly brooding over the town.  As we learned in the presentation we saw at the Info Centre, the mine naturally permeated the lives of those who came to work there, either in the mine itself or in the other relative services, and the town was divided into Mine-side & Town-side.  The Mine-side dwellers considered themselves the more fortunate, as they had many services and benefits provided by the Mine, which the Town-side had to provide for themselves.  It sounded as though it was a relatively benign competitiveness between the people, but once the miners strike happened, the benevolence of the Company lessened somewhat, and consequently the people had to provide more services for themselves.

I think they said there were about 52+ different nationalities represented in the Isa, and therefore the community has grown up in true multiculturalism, providing a rich heritage of diversity amongst the townsfolk.

There is a lovely lake nearby, Lake Moondarra, which must be a wonderful spot to spend a day in the heat of the summer.  A great place for fishing and water sports.  No one in the water yesterday, but a few families of ducks and black swans were enjoying the calm waters.  A truly picturesque spot in an otherwise dry, dusty & industrial environment.

So now we have re-organised the vehicle, and will leave the caravan here while we take to the road with our camping gear and head for Lawn Hill, or Boodjamulla National Park.  We are booked into a riverside camping spot, with no generators or pets which promises to be shady, peaceful and a great spot to try out our new tent.  We plan to be away from the van for 2-3 days, and will no doubt be well out of Telstra range, so no technology or power will be a great getaway.

Apparently canoeing is the thing to do, and Trevor assures me we will enjoy doing that.  Several walks are also a must, so it looks as though it will be a time to catch up on the exercise that has been somewhat lacking for the past couple of weeks. With no power available, we will no doubt be having early nights & mornings too, so sounds as though it will be a very healthy few days.  Will let you know.

So will be back in a few days with tales of adventures in the bush, and boasting of canoeing prowess and the like.  We hope!!  Ciao for now.

Longreach to Mount Isa

The Apex Free-camp at Longreach was a sight to behold with 60+ caravans and motor homes filling the space, but there was room for all, and apart from a bit of wind and dust it was quite OK, and not far out of town.

We started the day with the Qantas Museum which was extremely interesting, and the explanatory video presentation using really old footage from the first inception of Queensland and Northern Territory Airline Services put everything in perspective and gave a great overview of the people, time & places where it all happened.

We then went over the road to the Stockmans Hall of Fame, which was equally well done and a great record & tribute to the pioneers of the region.  Some of the exhibits and video presentations were similar to that of the Qantas Museum, so we felt well informed by the end of the day.

We checked out the Stockmans Store, and a brilliant photographic exhibition in the main street, but the other attractions on offer didn't particularly appeal.  We filled up our day, then had another night with the  new lot of campers who descended upon us in their droves, taking up the spaces left by the morning's departees.  We decided to keep moving on west.  Setting off reasonably early we had a good look around Winton, and in particular spent a bit of time at the Dinosaur Centre.  Their collection of dinosaur fossils was amazing, and the way it was all pieced together with computer generated visuals made the "pile of bones" (2 different species they've named Banjo & Matilda), come to life.  It was well worth a visit.

The Waltzing Matilda Centre was our next port of call, where Banjo Pattersons immortal song is illuminated in a number of different ways, and particularly clever was a holograph exhibit using well known Aussies, to talk about the spirit of Australia.  Very cool.

Leaving Winton mid afternoon, we made it to a rest area just east of Kynuna.  It was a lovely balmy evening & we sat outside enjoying the ambience, and then the company of the guy in the van next door who was travelling alone and obviously desperate for someone to talk to.  We had a great nights sleep in spite of the three road trains we shared the space with, didn't hear them arrive or leave, but were well aware of their compressors at one stage when awake briefly.  Our neighbour however, didn't fare so well and was very grumpy about his lack of sleep, this morning.

The cool breeze during the evening was very pleasant through our open windows, but getting a bit stronger in the morning it created a bit of dust in the van which wasn't quite so pleasant.  But nothing a dustpan & brush, and nice damp cloth can't cope with.

So today has been a drive through McKinlay, stopping at Walkabout Creek Hotel of "Crocodile Dundee" fame, for the obligatory photo opportunity.  It was too early to go inside, but we met some fellow travellers out front and had a chat for a few minutes before continuing on to Conclurry and then through to Mount Isa, where we are now settled in for a couple of nights.

We'll try to go to church tomorrow, and explore the Isa a bit before continuing on probably on Monday.
From here we plan a camping detour to Lawn Hill, but haven't finalised where we'll leave the van or how long we will go for, probably 2 or 3 nights, but a chance to try out our new tent which will be fun.

Was warm yesterday, but cooler today & this evening.  More later - ciao for now.

Emerald to Longreach

Left Emerald at a reasonable time this morning, although most of the nomads in the park were long gone before we got our act together.  But we did enjoy a breakfast of eggs & bacon, and a non-pressured pack up before we headed off.

It was an uneventful trip, although we cannot believe the amount of road-kill on the side of the road.
We have never seen as many dead animals - not only roos, but a couple of pigs, some hares, and even a couple of emus.  Very sad !!

However, it has been a good reminder that they are out there, and not to be on the road at dusk or early morning.  Also very glad that we did go ahead of put the bull-bar on the Pajero.  We hope we won't actually "need" it, but it is reassuring to know that it's sitting out front.

We didn't stop off at Sapphire or any of the other towns that are renowned for their gems.  We feel blessed to have been exposed to the gemstones and fossils at Opals Down Under, and are not in the actual fossicking mode, with our eyes firmly set on the Kimberley & West Australian coastline.  Am sure we will have the opportunity to explore this region of Queensland on another occasion.

We did stop at Barcaldine and take photos of the Tree of Knowledge, the birthplace of the Australian Labour Party, and a memorial to the Shearers Strike of 1891.  Loved the pub in the main street too, called "Cuzzy Bros" it had a distinctive Kiwi feel, but was displaying maroon balloons, and obviously bracing for a good night for State of Origin rugby league.  Nice to see a trans-Tasman thing happening.

So now the maroons have won, and there will be a few happy Queenslanders around town tonight. Can't hear any celebrating around the park here - perhaps everyone is in bed already - or perhaps they're all from NSW ?

Stockmans Hall of Fame & the Qantas Museum tomorrow, then on to Winton and the Dinosaur fossils, before heading for Mount Isa.

Loving this temperature.  Was 28-30 earlier, but now lovely cool night for sleeping.  Goodnight all.

Rockhampton to Emerald

Well we did make it to dinner with Jeremy & Phoebe, and had a lovely evening.  Trevor recovered after a wee rest, thankfully, and was able to enjoy the delicious curry meal, as did I.

This morning after a couple of little jobs around town, we hitched up the wagon and set off West.
It was quite an uneventful day on the road, apart from having to drive through very thick smoke from an out of control grass fire, and encountering quite a few road works on the outskirts of Rockhampton.

Have never seen so many Traffic Control vehicles in one place. They virtually outnumbered the cars and trucks lined up - did seem a bit of an overkill to us, especially when there didn't seem to be an equitable amount of actual work happening on the side of the road to warrant it all.

We arrived in Emerald about 4.30pm after stopping off in Blackwater at the International Coal Centre.
It was interesting, although a number of the exhibits were away being upgraded, so didn't take us very long to go through.  Trev would have like to have done a mine tour, but times didn't work in.  He'll probably get another opportunity sometime, I hope.

Anyway we arrived at the Emerald Botanical Gardens free camp, and managed to find a spot in amongst the twenty or so other free campers in all their various vehicles.  A new experience for us, but we did manage to park the van without too much embarrassment.  Of course, arriving at that time of day everyone else had their chairs out, beers & wines in hands, eager to scrutinise the parking skills of those of us who hadn't got there after lunch.

We had read that there was a 260 million year old fossilised tree outside the Town Hall gifted to the town by BHP, and also an elaborate & Historical Trust listed wooden railway station on the list of things to see in Emerald.  So instead of joining the happy hour brigade we went for a walk, saw the above mentioned places of interest, and will consequently be hitting the road first thing in the morning.
Maybe tomorrow night it will be our turn to sit with drink in hand and watch the arrivals.  We'll see how we go.

(PS:  Have to say the vans next door tonight are of slightly better quality than our Rockhampton neighbours)

Cheers !!

Cania Gorge - Rockhampton

So plans are meant to change, right?

Instead of heading off to explore Carnarvon Gorge & then on to Longreach, the tentacles of "the real world" have reached out & tampered with those plans already.

Because of issues with the Titles of our rental properties in Toogoolawah we have had to detour to Rockhampton Land Titles Office to sort it out.  That done today, Praise God.

The trip here from Cania was pleasant and uneventful, but on arrival we discovered that every other man and his dog had descended upon the caravan parks of the town, and we were forced to the outskirts and a wee park behind a fish and chip shop, and so called Motel.

To say it is not very salubrious is a bit of an understatement, but there are kangaroos grazing in the paddock behind us, and the ablution block is tired but clean, so what more could we want.  Not quite Big 4 standard, but hey beggars can't be choosers.

This is the view of the neighbours from the kitchen window, so you probably get the drift.  To be fair the rest of the park is a variety of permanents and people, like us, who couldn't find anything else. The site next door is a bit of an extreme.

Note to self :  Pre-book a site when heading into a big town or city.

Anyway just to put the icing on the cake, we are due to have dinner with some old friends, Jeremy & Phoebe Fernando this evening.  But TR is at present prone on the bed with a bad case of vertigo, so that may not happen either.

Am I having fun yet?   Well actually yes - so far it has been fun, and I'm sure these little hiccups will soon be behind us and we'll head off tomorrow into the wide blue yonder.  Well that's the PLAN !!!!
Watch this space.

Day 3 - Cania Gorge

After a trouble free first day on the road,  & having spent the night in our first free camp just north of Gayndah, we pushed on at a leisurely pace to meet up with Pete & Judy Hannah at Cania Gorge.  We did however, stop off for a coffee in Monto on the way.  A very good coffee it was too.  I think we will be availing ourselves of coffee stops whenever we can, as no doubt they will be few and far between the farther north we go.  Not that we are anal about our coffee, of course !!

We found Judy & Peter in good spirits, but ready to move on after being here at Cania Gorge Big 4, for a month now.  Peter has been busy helping around the place, but Judy is very much ready to get on the road again.

We enjoyed a few drinks & nibbles before being treated to the weekly "fish and chips night", with special treatment and extras for the staff.  So after the plebs were served their take away orders, we joined the staff & ate in style in the camp kitchen.  We always knew it was important to "know the right people", and last night was proof of that.

The park here is lovely, and we have been treated to a bevy of cheeky native birds virtually eating out of our hands.  Kookaburras, rosellas, king parrots all vying noisily for the little titbits dropped from our tables, totally un-phased by the four of us plus Hannah's cat just inches away from them.  A friendly bettong joined us around the campfire too, and enjoyed a few almonds whilst having his photo taken.

A 10km walk this morning to the dam and back has dealt to the exercise regime for a day or two - as we probably will find it hard to move out of bed in the morning.  We are moving on in the morning and will have a rest day sitting on our chuffs in the car, in readiness for a day at the Carnarvon Gorge - where no doubt Trevor will find a track or two for us to explore.

Getting cool, and time to light a fire methinks.  Cheers for now.

We've finally hit the Road !!

After all the delays, and fiddling little things that kept cropping up, we finally left Fossils Down Under before lunch today 11th July 2013.  We made it to Gympie in time to have lunch with old friends Kerry & Di Townsend, and a lovely catch-up after a couple of years since we've seen them.

The van is towing well so the boss is happy, although the Pajero is not too keen on the hills - but we're in no hurry so not pushing too hard.

Tonight we are at a free-camp and Bijour Range Rest Area, just north west of Gayndah.  Quite a few other campers here - some of them sitting huddled around their fires, as is a bit nippy.  But we are choosing to stick to the van tonight and will have an early night.

Heading to Cania Gorge tomorrow morning and will catch up with Pete & Judy Hannah, friends from Goodlife Church.  Probably just stay overnight & head off on Saturday morning, because we are keen to get to Longreach.  Looking forward to seeing the places of interest there, in Winton and other stuff in the area.  Seems there is lots to see there, so will report in later.

So the first day went well, and we are looking forward to what's in store from here on in.  This is the first day of the rest of our lives !!!

Ozzy Odyssey

Well this is a first, so you'll have to bear with......

Having spent the past two months preparing the caravan, 4wd & ourselves for this long awaited & anticipated adventure, we have almost completed everything we need to do and, dare I say, we think we will be ready to leave on Thursday 11th !!

I do believe we are almost to the point where what is not in the van, or in a small corner of Immo's barn has been disposed of for ever, and therefore we are almost free of STUFF - (except what is stored in NZ of course - but that's another story)!!

In spite of our delayed departure we have enjoyed spending time with wonderful friends, as well savouring the occasional coffee at Mooloolaba. I guess there's not too many Coffee Clubs in the bush?
But we will replace that with a nice glass of red watching the sun go down, somewhere in the great outdoors.

Anyway - there's still a few things to do so I better get on with it.  2 more sleeps maybe ??????