Next morning we are up very early as it is so hot and
humid so we venture into town to check it out and post Liam and Lilly’s
birthday presents. Chinatown is where all the Pearl shops are and there must be
30, with a few art and photographic galleries and the old RB pub. We must have
checked out every shop on one side of road and bought a gold ring in shape of
gorge which we thought was appropriate and in walls of gorge are 3 Argyle pink
diamond chips and 4 white ones. It is lovely. The photographic gallery has some
great pictures that would look good as wallpaper on a wall. Across the road we
found a very nice pendant in form of stairway to moon with a pearl as moon.
Unfortunately we went into pub for a cold drink and then wandered further down
the street to Shady Lane Café for lunch where I had the largest slice of quiche
ever seen. Heading back to the car we drove off to visit the Port and
Gantheaume point and forgot about the pendant. The point is where the lighthouse is and has the flashest keepers house. The tower that holds the light has been chosen by a pair of sea eagles to build their nest so it would have been interesting to put a camera up above and watch the chicks develop. Nearby is a man made pool where an early lighthouse keeper built a pool for his arthritic wife. Further down the cliff face are some dinosaur footprints. Fortunately for me they made some cement casts and placed them at the top of cliff for all to see.
Cable Beach was white, wide and long and has a lovely
grassy foreshore with a statue of the founder of Broome.
Friday
16th and J has to get new tyres on caravan – don’t know why it
couldn’t have been done before so I do housework!! We are booked into Willie
Creek Pearl Farm for a tour at 2pm so have lunch at Green Mango Café en route.
They had a divine looking fig cheesecake but unfortunately my spicy roast
chicken salad filled me up so I couldn’t try it. (Hope waistline takes note)
Our tour started off in gazebo where Paula (from Oakey) told us how pearls are
made and the biology of them. If there is an irritation inside gonads they can
produce a pearl without the ‘seed’ inside but it will be misshapen. Nowadays
pears are seeded with a small piece of mussel shell. Paula had a supply of
shells which she opened and proceeded to demonstrate the process. Pearl shells are seeded at 2 years of age and
harvested every 2 years until they are 10 when there is only a 20% chance of
good pearl inside. Then it was off to shell cleaning machine before a trip up
the creek to see pearl lines and learn about the cleaning system.
Each line is brought up to surface about every 2 months
where it goes through the machine to clean off algae and then backpackers
earning $11 hour get to check them for damage and disease. They take us across Cyclone creek to show us flatrock which is 9 meters above water level and goes under during high tide. The creek is so named because it is a safe anchorage during cyclones.
Then it was back to showroom to learn how to look after your pearls. I should have been wearing my broach and cleaning it with damp cloth not storing it away in the safe. Broome pearls are South Pacific pearls and there are freshwater ones from China and the black ones are Tahitian. They have a strand of pearls worth $100,000 on display and lots worth a bit less. The road here is in need of a grade as well so it is just as well we aren’t going to Cape Leveque which has 90klm of corrugations along it.
Saturday
has us back in town to see the pendant and the shop was closed until Tuesday so
we will have to hope that they do internet business. After reshoeing J we check
out the Mango Place which has some mango wines, and port made from mangoes,
rosellas, wattle seeds and lemon aspen which was so unusual we bought a bottle.
J had a mango beef pie for lunch and I had a salmon and green salad wrap and
both arrived on a plate by themselves. This is where I needed my fig cheesecake
but had to settle for a mango one which was quite nice. On our way back to town
we detour via the bird observatory which is 20 klm down another very corrugated
road and rather disappointing as there were only a few seagulls and some
puffins. None of the millions of shorebirds that were supposed to be there 2
hours either side of high tide showed up.
The area is rather spectacular with its red cliffs and
green water.They have been doing roadworks nearby and somehow moved the water tanker out here folded up the wheels and left it to do it's thing.
After a few hours resting in shade we head down to Cable Beach to
watch the sun go down. The idea was to go and see the camel riders coming in
but we had to go to a different spot and of course they were just a blur in the
distance.
Sunday
has an early start to get packed up and make it to church at 9am which we do,
and find a very lively morning- prayer service. They only have Holy Communion
on 2nd Sunday of month – can’t understand that rationale. The priest
seemed to think we should know his friends in T’mba – he was there in February
– so should realise how big the place is. The trip over to Derby is uneventful
and through flat scrubby country without a blade of grass to be seen, but we
did see some grey brahmans resting under what shade they could find. The Govt doesn't seem too concerned about highway 1 having several one lane bridges. Derby has
the dirtiest water imaginable lapping at the shore near port and we are told
that it is because the tides are so big over the mudflats they just keep
stirring up mud.
The
town is reasonably clean but very spread out – you almost need a cut lunch to
go from 1 shop to next. There are a few very modern new buildings but most are
on stilts or older fibro ones. The old goal is well ventilated – has wire
netting for walls!! Not so the Boab prison tree a few miles out of town – it is
huge and would have held quite a few people. They used to march aborigines in
chains up to 48 klms a day to Derby Courthouse and held them in the tree
overnight. Talk about man’s inhumanity to man!! But what a tree!!
Nearby
is the world’s longest water trough 125 metres long which was able to water 500
bullocks at a time. The water pressure from bore has dropped away so much that
it is now filled from windmill. This area was used by Army during WW2 and one
enterprising lad had a hole dug and sealed so that the soldiers could have a
dip to cool off. It is called Frosty’s pool and is nothing like our Frosty’s
pool!
Then it was time for us to go home and test out the pool
at CP which was very refreshing. The couple from Armidale who are here cleaning
and caretaking while owner is away joined us for a chat and then a woman who
has been cooking on Mt Elizabeth station joined in. She has wrecked the chassis
of her little van so don’t know what she is going to do but I wouldn’t be
driving it anywhere. Boab Trees are everywhere here and there were some wonderful specimens in town and thousands in paddocks along road.
Also in their millions are anthills - not the magnetic ones of north Qld or small ones of southern WA but these misshapen bulges which change colour between red or grey.
Monday 19th has us on the road at 6am
to go to airport for our helicopter ride out to the horizontal falls. John our
pilot is very chatty and helpful and has us croc spotting while taking in the
amazing scenery.
The area around Derby is floodplain and is covered with water at high tide and then it all disappears. Over the Robinson range is a bit scary but the view is amazing. John knows where a fresh water spring is so we check it out for crocs but manage to find one in water near a creek inlet. He soon disappears when we buzz him.
Coming over the range into Talbot Bay is spectacular and then you follow the creek around to a sheltered spot where the houseboats, pontoons etc are all moored.
Our helicopter is the 3rd one to land and then the 2nd sea plane touches down and comes into pontoon.
The whole setup is incredible we learn when descending to deck for a cold drink, and then it is don lifejackets and climb aboard a jet boat with 900hp motor for a nerve wracking trip to and through the horizontal falls. There are 2 gaps in rocks where the tide has to go through 4 times a day. We are told that the first gap is 12 metres wide and 80 deep and the second is 7 metres wide – the boat is 3 metres wide!! Holding on for dear life we make it through – and then go back again and again and again.
You
can see the water swirling around the end rock as you go out. The smaller gap
is still too dangerous – about 3 metres high so we leave it and go back to base
for bacon and egg breakfast. Then it is time to go swimming with the sharks.
They have a cage that you get into and don goggles and snorkel to watch the
tawny nurse sharks on other side of mesh wall. They are quite tame and come in
for a scratch and rub down before being fed pieces of fish but have 3” teeth
protruding so I don’t want to get too close.
Another
jet boat ride followed this time up Cyclone creek where we see the high tide
marks on rock walls and then flood tide marks further up. There must have been
some upheaval in earth to force these rocks into wavy lines.
This was much more my style gently cruising down river but
it was not to last we had to go back to see if no 1 falls had dropped to a safe
level – no but we waited around for 10 minutes and then through we go and back
again and again. Much to everyone else’s chagrin we then head back to mooring
to board our planes or copters and head home. John takes us up to 1000 feet to
show us a wider view of countryside but we get buffeted around a lot. It didn’t
seem to take very long to get back on ground and it was all over.
On our way into town we turn onto Gibb River Road and now
J can say he has been down GRR. GRR is 625 klm long and the sign post says it
can take 3 – 24 days to travel it.
There was nothing new at Information Centre
so we headed home for lunch and then curled up under air con to watch Wallabies
v Scotland match which proved to be stressful as it took a penalty goal right
on full time for us to win. Now we play Argentina next weekend in semi final
with All Blacks and South Africa playing the other one. Another dip in pool to
cool off meant we met a nurse manager from Nursing home who has been here for 5
months and lives in his camper trailer. Don’t know how he is going to survive
the wet season.
Tuesday
20th and we are off to Fitzroy Crossing to try to get a trip up
Geike gorge but like most tourist things they are all shutting down, however we
do find an aboriginal man who does cruises up the river in off season so at 4pm
we are off. The countryside is flat with stunted shrubs, small gum trees and
spinifex with the occasional mauve nulla nulla beside the road to add some
interest. Fitzroy River Lodge is a massive place with 110 powered campsites,
200 unpowered, motel rooms and lodges, and goodness knows how many safari tents
(tents with wooden floor above ground) but with so few tourists we have the
pick of sites and choose one amongst the wallabies. They are gorgeous, so small
and the ones with joeys peeking out of pouches are like dolls.
Our
touring starts at the ‘old crossing’ which is a low level cement crossing of
Fitzroy River with water on one side and gravel on the other and the old town
site on banks. When you see how high the new bridge is and all houses on stilts
there must be some water come down it.
From
here we visit the Crossing Inn which is quite a distance away and an old stone
building that has been added to considerably.
We have a chat to Billie while he counts his money (thousands in $50 notes) and then we are off. He gives us a running commentary on the gorge and its flora and fauna and aboriginal customs. Not far downstream we meet a 5’ freshie relaxing on edge of water and see an Azure Kingfisher flying in the trees.
The
rocks are amazing – towering red cliffs with white limestone coral eroded by
water into knife edged shapes. The reef is 1300 klms long and stretches from
here out to ocean and over to Wyndham. Billie gives us lots of interesting tit
bits about aboriginal customs and we learn that mum would have been called Zsa
by Shannon and J’s grandkids would call him gummy. You have a different name
for maternal line than paternal side.
The
water is so clear and not running fast so we got some wonderful reflections in
late afternoon light.
Coming back to camp we decide to go to hotel for dinner
and have some wonderful wild caught barramundie and a rhubarb & yoghurt
mousse which was totally unexpected from an outback pub. Our waitress had
tattoos everywhere and looked a bit rough but was very friendly and courteous.
As it was Liam’s birthday we had to wait around to talk to him but unfortunately Dad was home and had put Star Wars on tv so he wasn’t interested in us. We left to see what we could find down the Duncan Road which joins the Buntine Highway (!!) and ends up in NT. Heading down a dirt road that wasn't too corrugated we see a Willie Willie zig-zagging down the road towards us.
Coming into Old Halls Creek we see lots of stone monuments with a rock on top. These are markers showing you where businesses used to be. On 4th December 1895 David Carnegie reached Halls Creek Gold Fields from Kalgoolie with 12 camels and a dog among his companions. Look at the distance on a map and consider that he crossed 2 deserts to get here. It has been 40* for last week and it is only mid October!!
The Government Offices like most buildings were made of a spinifex/antbed mixture and are now housed under a roof to conserve them but you get the idea. They even made the fireplaces ornamental with some stones added to the mix.
We only went as far as Sawpit Gorge which has immense red cliffs towering above a gorge which had no water in it but would look great when it does.
Palm Springs did have water as it is fresh water spring fed. The old cameleers used to water their camels here and planted dates around the edge and they are flourishing to this day. It was a lovely cool spot with the water reflecting everything nearby. There were a few ranges on way with their red colours glowing in sun.
Thursday
sees us up and gone by 6.30am to climb Wolfe Creek Crater. It is 152 klm south
off the Tanami track so now I can say I have been on the Tanami, but not the 1076Klm to Alice Springs. S Kidman &
Co’s Ruby Plains Station took up 100klm of the road and their Caruna station
was at the turnoff into crater. The road wasn’t too bad and we could get up to
80klm in places but 40 was bone jarring in others. It is a short but steep walk
up the crater to an awesome view at the top. The crater was formed 300,000
years ago when a meteorite crashed to land. The crater is 850 metres across and 60 metres deepand
has a centre of saline tolerant plants where the rainfall collects and then
evaporates quickly. This is surrounded with a band of droughted grasses and
then the steep red sides make it a picturesque spot.
Unfortunately
the 40* heat and millions of flies make us head back down to carpark for
morning tea and the drive back to town. At the abandoned Wolfe Creek Station
there were a big mob of cattle in yards so guess mustering is underway.
Ruby Plains had a big mob of brahman heifers on the road
when we passed by but they were more interested in the little shade than us. We
were actually gone for 7 hours but I guess the actual driving time was 5 hours
+ climb, morning tea and 2 stops to let tyre pressure down and then pump them
back up again, to say nothing of 3 gates that had to be opened and closed each
way. We
didn’t get to go for our afternoon drive as the wet season arrived and lasted
till 8pm. It hasn’t rained a drop here since APRIL so today's showers were very
welcome.
There is a hydro electric station at Lake Argyll end that supplies all power to Kunanurra, Wyndham, Lake Argyll Resort and half of Diamond Mines requirements. It was a lovely trip through open country on one side and red cliffs on other until about halfway when the cliffs were on both sides and river narrowed. It didn’t seem too deep as you could see all the reeds growing in water, but our captain says that it averages 14 metres. There were a few freshwater crocs lazing in water and 2 onshore and several comb crested jacanas walking about on weed beds.
O’Keeffe House was fun to find but we eventually discovered it on banks of river. It was built with bush materials by the officers of Army stationed here in WW2 as a recreation hut and then it became the officers mess. After the war it became a family home and in 1960’s John O’Keefe and Sister Olive bought it. Olive flew with Dr Clive Fenton in 1930’s first in RFDS. The Katherine Icon is more my style = a 1 ½ times life size statue of Sabu Peter Singh a member of Wardaman tribe, skilled bushman, horseman and stockman. The statue acknowledges our courageous pioneer forebears and salutes those who currently work on the land and encourages others to cherish the challenges of tomorrow. It is much more memorable than the Durack one.
23rd After our morning tea stop where we
juiced the last of lemons because you can’t take citrus into Kimberley Food
area and a lunch break on road north of Warmun we arrive in Kunanurra. First
impression is very good over the dam wall and along riverside is a very wide
road lined with Boab trees and green grass. After coming through all the wide
red rock gorges they have 2 very prominent mountains overlooking the town and
we have chosen a caravan park between both and it is lush and green with mango
trees everywhere – pity they aren’t ripe but someone has decided that green
mango chutney would be good!!
The park like town is clean and tidy with some well kept yards and some not so. It is UNBEARABLY humid so I am melting under the air con so we stay put Friday afternoon and venture out on Saturday to find a grocer and have a look around town. There is a wide selection so business must be booming. Kimberley Fine Diamonds has caught my eye so will have to investigate here. Minima NP is next door to our camp and has some marvelous rock formations and several walks through the gorges. Someone has tried to do an aboriginal painting on a boab tree, 100 feet up the cliff.
We take a trip out Ivanhoe road to see some of the Ord irrigation farms and see mile after mile of sandelwood plantations, and a few patches of mangos. An elderly (90’s) couple came over for a chat and chatted for 3 hours without taking a breath so in the end I had to make an excuse so I could cook dinner. They came from Perth and go caravanning every few months and have seen lots of Aust. He has 4 kids and she had 6 and untold grandkids and great grands and can’t wait for the arrival of great great one.!!!!
Sunday has us chatting to a local copper after
church and he is full of info about what to see in the area. After a very quick
lunch we are collected for a trip down Lake Kunanurra to Lake Argyll dam wall.
The top wall was opened in 1963 to provide water for first Ord scheme and then
in 1972 Lake Argyll was formed which
gave a constant water level on Ord river between both walls and Lake Kunanarra
was named. Evidently they can hold water in Lake Argyll (up to 20 times Sydney harbour)
and release it by computer when farmers order it. From Lake Kunanurra it is
gravity fed into the main irrigation channels to flow downstream to where it is
needed. 
The park like town is clean and tidy with some well kept yards and some not so. It is UNBEARABLY humid so I am melting under the air con so we stay put Friday afternoon and venture out on Saturday to find a grocer and have a look around town. There is a wide selection so business must be booming. Kimberley Fine Diamonds has caught my eye so will have to investigate here. Minima NP is next door to our camp and has some marvelous rock formations and several walks through the gorges. Someone has tried to do an aboriginal painting on a boab tree, 100 feet up the cliff.
We take a trip out Ivanhoe road to see some of the Ord irrigation farms and see mile after mile of sandelwood plantations, and a few patches of mangos. An elderly (90’s) couple came over for a chat and chatted for 3 hours without taking a breath so in the end I had to make an excuse so I could cook dinner. They came from Perth and go caravanning every few months and have seen lots of Aust. He has 4 kids and she had 6 and untold grandkids and great grands and can’t wait for the arrival of great great one.!!!!
There is a hydro electric station at Lake Argyll end that supplies all power to Kunanurra, Wyndham, Lake Argyll Resort and half of Diamond Mines requirements. It was a lovely trip through open country on one side and red cliffs on other until about halfway when the cliffs were on both sides and river narrowed. It didn’t seem too deep as you could see all the reeds growing in water, but our captain says that it averages 14 metres. There were a few freshwater crocs lazing in water and 2 onshore and several comb crested jacanas walking about on weed beds.
Dylan was very informative and kept stopping to tell us
about a certain feature and good fun. If you look hard enough you can see a NZ horse on cliff face.
This rock feature with it's waterfall down centre is known to tour guides as Dolly Parton's necklace?
About 2.30pm we pull up at their riverside spot for afternoon tea (apple muffins, pumpkin scones, fruit pieces, tea/coffee/cold drinks) and we find lots of catfish in water nearby so some have fun throwing scraps of cake and scones in to see the feeding frenzy. We left the bottom dam wall at 4.45pm and zoomed back to Kunanurra with the 350hp motor humming. We had a photo shot as sun was setting and it is hard to get your head around being dark at 6pm. You have to realise that 42klm east we hit NT and put clocks forward 1 ½ hours. If we were down south near SA border the time would be 6.45pm.
Monday has us heading for Wyndham along the bitumen as the Ivanhoe crossing over river is closed for repairs. But that is ok the port area is very quiet and I can’t see where they would have loaded bulk cattle carriers that took cattle to Indonesia before Julia stuffed it up. We do find the 5 rivers lookout and can just make out where the rivers come into Cambridge Gulf. The King, Pentecost and Durack come in south of town and Ord & Forest on northside. The waters here are very muddy also but as we have found out from Derby east the soil is black clay so all tidal movements pick up mud and cart it back and forth.
Peter had recommended the café in New Wyndham so J had barra and chips and I had a barra burger and it was very nice but too big. Driving around town we find the rainbow dreaming statues in a park, and they were very good but there was nothing to tell us how, why or who!?
One sign we have seen around puts a smile on our dials.
On the edge of town they have a silhouette of cameleer and his camels and not far away is the Afghan cemetery. It isn’t very big but each plot seems to be – rumour has it that the lead camel was buried with his master when he died. I guess if you have trained a camel and he is used to you it mightn’t take too well to being led by a different person – something to investigate further when I retire.
Turning south we travel over flood plain for 15 klm before heading through rocky cattle country with some tiny new calves past Moochalabra Dam, which supplies Wyndham with water, to some caves with aboriginal rock paintings.
A few k’s further we cross the Pentecost river? and come to Boab prison tree. Not as large as one in Derby but we could see inside this one as it had a door hole and a hole in top.
Boab’s have a thick fibrous inside when young but it hollows out as the tree grows so by the time they are 500 years old they are empty inside. Back on the highway we decide to forgo the Grotto and head for home. As we reached the Halls Creek turnoff the sky in front of us was full of lightning and looked very misty. But we drove further and further into it only to realise that it was a dust storm and became very eerie.
35klms from town the rain hit and it was torrential – you could hardly see the road in front of car. I became worried about the awning and washing hanging under it but as we arrived it was all still there – albeit a bit damp. At least it cooled the air dramatically so we could sit outside in the breeze and then the couple from next door arrived for another chat so we heard their story over again. I gave up at 9pm and left them to it. It was just as well we had a big lunch because we weren’t having dinner. The air con has me freezing about 4am and by 6am I am hot and awake and wanting to be on move so it is nice to get to bed early.
This rock feature with it's waterfall down centre is known to tour guides as Dolly Parton's necklace?
About 2.30pm we pull up at their riverside spot for afternoon tea (apple muffins, pumpkin scones, fruit pieces, tea/coffee/cold drinks) and we find lots of catfish in water nearby so some have fun throwing scraps of cake and scones in to see the feeding frenzy. We left the bottom dam wall at 4.45pm and zoomed back to Kunanurra with the 350hp motor humming. We had a photo shot as sun was setting and it is hard to get your head around being dark at 6pm. You have to realise that 42klm east we hit NT and put clocks forward 1 ½ hours. If we were down south near SA border the time would be 6.45pm.
Monday has us heading for Wyndham along the bitumen as the Ivanhoe crossing over river is closed for repairs. But that is ok the port area is very quiet and I can’t see where they would have loaded bulk cattle carriers that took cattle to Indonesia before Julia stuffed it up. We do find the 5 rivers lookout and can just make out where the rivers come into Cambridge Gulf. The King, Pentecost and Durack come in south of town and Ord & Forest on northside. The waters here are very muddy also but as we have found out from Derby east the soil is black clay so all tidal movements pick up mud and cart it back and forth.
Peter had recommended the café in New Wyndham so J had barra and chips and I had a barra burger and it was very nice but too big. Driving around town we find the rainbow dreaming statues in a park, and they were very good but there was nothing to tell us how, why or who!?
One sign we have seen around puts a smile on our dials.
On the edge of town they have a silhouette of cameleer and his camels and not far away is the Afghan cemetery. It isn’t very big but each plot seems to be – rumour has it that the lead camel was buried with his master when he died. I guess if you have trained a camel and he is used to you it mightn’t take too well to being led by a different person – something to investigate further when I retire.
Turning south we travel over flood plain for 15 klm before heading through rocky cattle country with some tiny new calves past Moochalabra Dam, which supplies Wyndham with water, to some caves with aboriginal rock paintings.
A few k’s further we cross the Pentecost river? and come to Boab prison tree. Not as large as one in Derby but we could see inside this one as it had a door hole and a hole in top.
Boab’s have a thick fibrous inside when young but it hollows out as the tree grows so by the time they are 500 years old they are empty inside. Back on the highway we decide to forgo the Grotto and head for home. As we reached the Halls Creek turnoff the sky in front of us was full of lightning and looked very misty. But we drove further and further into it only to realise that it was a dust storm and became very eerie.
35klms from town the rain hit and it was torrential – you could hardly see the road in front of car. I became worried about the awning and washing hanging under it but as we arrived it was all still there – albeit a bit damp. At least it cooled the air dramatically so we could sit outside in the breeze and then the couple from next door arrived for another chat so we heard their story over again. I gave up at 9pm and left them to it. It was just as well we had a big lunch because we weren’t having dinner. The air con has me freezing about 4am and by 6am I am hot and awake and wanting to be on move so it is nice to get to bed early.
J decides to empty out the water tanks as they have a
foul taste and rubbery smell so we don’t get away until 11am on Tuesday to see
the Zebra Rock Gallery. They still don’t know how the rock is formed but it is
striped and very effective and very heavy. They had a set of bookends which I
was having trouble lifting and as for the cheese plate J wanted it would have
taken two of us to carry. I did manage some rock fragments for the grandies and
2 pendants for presents and a pair of earings for me. They are in shape of Boab
tree with zebra rock for the trunk – very cute. They didn’t have café open so
we had to come back into town for lunch at Wild Mango Café before doing the
usual shop for food. J had a greek lamb burger which he pronounced very tasty
and my spicy chicken quesadilla was lip smacking good. While walking through
arcade to chemist I spied a hairdresser with sign out so I also got my hair cut
which feels and looks so much better. It is now 3 months since it was last cut
so guess it was overdue. Kimberley fine diamonds took our breaths away with some
of the beautiful pieces on display. There were a few pieces under $3000 and a
few more under $10,000 but a lot were around the $30,000+ range. There were
diamonds through all the colour ranges – white, champagne, yellow and pinks
from the tiniest crumbs to 1 ½ carats. Some of the Boab tree pieces with a
diamond in branches were very stunning. I wish I had another $5,000 to spare
but will just have to save up. After a very exasperating hour I have been
unable to get internet to find a Mitsubishi dealer to service car so hope we
don’t have to go into Darwin for that. We have already done 15,000Klm and will
have put on another 3,500 by the time we get to Pittsworth. Also haven’t been
able to find the names of caravan park owners in Katherine so hope Doug rings
soon with the name of park Merv and Leona run.
Wednesday has us back on the water after a leisurely
drive down to Lake Argyle Resort, which is the remains of the workers camp when
they were building dam wall. Our host Greg was very knowledgeable (well you
would be after 17 years) and had us looking out for short eared wallabies in
one spot and common wallaroos in another. When the dam was ready to fill Harry Butler
and some local volunteers came down and set traps to catch the animals stranded
on islands and return them to mainland. He left 7 wallabies on one island to
see how they would fare. It seems that they have maintained the population to
what the area can support which is amazing. On the mainland they are preyed on
by foxes, cats and dingoes.
Then it was off to a spot where Greg has been feeding fish for a few years so they all turned up for some bread. The 7 spotted archer fish spit at you in order to make spiders and insects etc fall off branches into the water. It felt very strange getting spat at so I kept feeding them along with some trumpeter fish and shovelled nosed catfish. After some of us went swimming (water 30*) Greg drove about 500 metres to Crocodile cove!! There were several here including some foot long ones that would have been born last year. It seems that only 1% of eggs that hatch make it to adulthood. As far as salties go that is 1% too many in my books. All the ones here are freshies as salties can’t climb over dam walls.
The rocks and scenery are amazing and the colours so vibrant. We tour around part of the top half of lake and try to get some idea of it’s size – 21 times larger than sydney harbour at end of good wet season when nearly full.
We stop at a great spot to watch the sun go down and John & Sara go in for another swim – this time with tinnie and glass champagne. Those of us on boat had similar drinks but with nibblies. Sara is a locum doctor who is in town for a few weeks. She specialises in midwifery and is so tiny you could almost mistake her for a baby. I am sure Lilly is taller than her. It is dark by the time we make it back to boat ramp and then it is long drive back to caravan.
After a leisurely morning - well for J, I did the washing and housework, we checked out Hoochery, a rum distillery which uses local sugar cane to make several rums and liqueurs along with an american style whiskey. J paid his $5 for 3 tastings and pronounced them very nice especially the Spikes Reserve, which at $179 bottle would want to be. We didn’t buy any but did get some presents and some face cream for me next door at Sandlewood café. I don’t know whether it was the over spraying to test things but I got a fit of sneezes over lunch. It didn’t affect the lovely pumpkin quiche I tried though. You can’t drive to Kelly’s Knob Lookout and at 2pm with the temperature over 40* I wasn’t going to take an arduous 1.2 klm trek to the top so we 4WD around some sandy tracks looking at rock formations.
We tried to ring Lilly for her birthday but she is at swimming and will be going out to dinner so goodness knows whether we will rate a call. She finally rang at 8.30pm their time when they arrived home from dinner at a restaurant and we had a long chat. She seemed to like her knitted shoulder bag, so will have to try to find out what young girls are into more. She can now swim 100 metres which is very good and likes writing best at school.
Then it was off to a spot where Greg has been feeding fish for a few years so they all turned up for some bread. The 7 spotted archer fish spit at you in order to make spiders and insects etc fall off branches into the water. It felt very strange getting spat at so I kept feeding them along with some trumpeter fish and shovelled nosed catfish. After some of us went swimming (water 30*) Greg drove about 500 metres to Crocodile cove!! There were several here including some foot long ones that would have been born last year. It seems that only 1% of eggs that hatch make it to adulthood. As far as salties go that is 1% too many in my books. All the ones here are freshies as salties can’t climb over dam walls.
The rocks and scenery are amazing and the colours so vibrant. We tour around part of the top half of lake and try to get some idea of it’s size – 21 times larger than sydney harbour at end of good wet season when nearly full.
We stop at a great spot to watch the sun go down and John & Sara go in for another swim – this time with tinnie and glass champagne. Those of us on boat had similar drinks but with nibblies. Sara is a locum doctor who is in town for a few weeks. She specialises in midwifery and is so tiny you could almost mistake her for a baby. I am sure Lilly is taller than her. It is dark by the time we make it back to boat ramp and then it is long drive back to caravan.
After a leisurely morning - well for J, I did the washing and housework, we checked out Hoochery, a rum distillery which uses local sugar cane to make several rums and liqueurs along with an american style whiskey. J paid his $5 for 3 tastings and pronounced them very nice especially the Spikes Reserve, which at $179 bottle would want to be. We didn’t buy any but did get some presents and some face cream for me next door at Sandlewood café. I don’t know whether it was the over spraying to test things but I got a fit of sneezes over lunch. It didn’t affect the lovely pumpkin quiche I tried though. You can’t drive to Kelly’s Knob Lookout and at 2pm with the temperature over 40* I wasn’t going to take an arduous 1.2 klm trek to the top so we 4WD around some sandy tracks looking at rock formations.
We tried to ring Lilly for her birthday but she is at swimming and will be going out to dinner so goodness knows whether we will rate a call. She finally rang at 8.30pm their time when they arrived home from dinner at a restaurant and we had a long chat. She seemed to like her knitted shoulder bag, so will have to try to find out what young girls are into more. She can now swim 100 metres which is very good and likes writing best at school.
We have an interesting day on Friday as there are some
memorials along the road to stop and wonder at. The Beef road memorial near
Duncan Road intersection, is to honour all the work that went into building the
beef roads in the area and all the truck drivers that have the fun of driving
down them.
What the ?statue is all about is a mystery as the plaque has been removed. Not far away was a flock of 30+ red tailed black cockies with lots of young wanting lunch. They weren’t in the least disturbed when we pulled up under a branch to photograph them.
On the outskirts of Timber Creek our overnight stop, we found a cairn to Augustus Gregory and J decided that we would go down the road to his tree. It is a boab on banks of river that he carved the date onto when they left the camp here on 2nd July 1856 to head back to Adelaide. The road was very corrugated and we had the caravan on behind so it was even worse but we eventually made the 3.5 klm in 30 minutes and then walked the 500 metres to tree in much less time. It is a beautiful tree right on banks of river and judging by size of lettering it was a lot smaller 160 years ago, and was just starting to flower so I have seen a Boab flower - a lovely yellow one.
Whilst it is a lovely spot you would have to be on your toes the whole time as this is crocodile country with a capital C. We shift camp in Timber creek several times to get away from the flying foxes as there are hundreds in the trees and I don’t want to be washing the car and van to remove their droppings. This is another lovely spot right on creek bank with lots of trees and croc signs everywhere along with a flying fox across the creek.
As I am dying from summer cold J goes off to pool and meets up with an ex army bloke and during the conversation it turns out the Graham and Terri are good friends. An afternoon storm brings some much needed relief from hot humid conditions but it didn’t deter those two they just sat out talking till 8.30pm. Shortly after starting out on Saturday we came across the sign to Bulloo Station made famous by Sarah Henderson and you wonder if her daughter still lives there. It was closed for wet season but you can camp there – might be an interesting place if it doesn’t take 2 years to get down road! The Durack memorial was a bit weird and rather disappointing. To commemorate the overland trek that Nat Buchanan and the Durack boys did droving 7000 head cattle from Quilpie in western Qld to the Kimberleys in late 1880’s and all the work that they put into building up the area, they have erected a Bronco Yard Panel (Bronco is s…. American term).
The Army have a camp across the Victoria river with the Bradshaw bridge to traverse but we are only allowed to walk across it though you do get a great view of Victoria River.
The Buntine Highway memorial commemorates the completion of road through to Halls Creek and would be good for your shockies if it is anything like the first 30 klms that we traversed. But it has a very good etching of old time road train and made a useful spot to have lunch.
There are more rocky outcrops on the way into Katherine and several ranges to traverse but there is more grass than over Kunanurra way, and we see lots of grey brahmans resting under trees which are taller than those west. There are some very white bark ones with lovely maroon leaves, and some with pink bark just getting their new leaves. We couldn’t tell if they are like Boabs and lose their leaves during dry season to conserve water or if they had been burnt. Our caravan park is very shady with lots trees, palms and bamboo and a blue winged Kookaburra on light pole - now all we need is a breeze.
Maryanne informs us that it is best to do Gorge cruise early as it is getting too hot in middle of day so we book in for 9am, which will be fun after watching World Cup Final at 1.30am. The rugby was a big disappointment as we were never in it – the All Blacks were just too good from kick off. Then it was a short version of Macca in Gatton and we were off down the road to Nitmiluk NP and our cruise, which was very pleasant until we reached a riverblock and had to get out and walk 500 metres to another boat.
The river is so low at the moment that you have to walk two sections to get into other boats to traverse just the first 2 gorges. Last time I was here we boated the whole way and I don’t remember how many gorges we saw. Next time we will come at end of wet so we can take a plane or helicopter flight over the whole 13 gorges and see the waterfalls. As it was we could just see the black algae marks of where water used to come over cliffs. Occasionally they get a saltie come up the river during the wet and so have a trap set on riverbank. I think they have caught 6 in last 10 years.
One spot is called the Hanging gardens as there are lots of maiden hair ferns, palms, mangroves and paperbarks growing but where all the gorges meet there are similar plantings.
All the gorges were separated at right angles so if you are looking up one gorge there will be 2 at right angles and one directly behind you.
The first walk across rocks is via some aboriginal rock paintings that are 6000 years old and in very good condition, and on a very well formed path and boardwalk, but the second is over rocks and although it is only 50 metres it was hard on my poor knee.
Once again the rocks were majestic and it is hard to imagine what sort of force was used to push them out of earth at such angles.
A Boab near the carpark was out in flower and looked more spectacular than my photograph.
It was so hot that we decided to come home and have lunch in cool before heading out to Edith Falls. On the way in I found an amazingly round rock beside the road. It is hard to believe it would be man made. These falls are small but quite pleasant to swim near though J was sure that he climbed up the side and jumped in, until we met a ranger and had a chat and he told us that it would have been the second falls as there are 3 in park.
As I wasn’t up to walking 1.5klm for a swim or more to point walking back 1.5klm afterwards in 39* we opted for an icecream and chatted to some people from Victoria who have been living here for last 6 months as they make their way around country. We get a light shower as we head back into town to cool things down a bit. Having a chat to Val and Mark on road as they had been to Goombungee pub for birthday lunch and were doing a bit of exploring, we are invited to Doug’s 60th next Sunday but won’t make it back by then. It was quite pleasant sitting outside in breeze until the mossies or something decided to bite. Now I have some big red itchy sores on arms, legs and neck. They are the size of 20 cent pieces so am not real sure what it was.
What the ?statue is all about is a mystery as the plaque has been removed. Not far away was a flock of 30+ red tailed black cockies with lots of young wanting lunch. They weren’t in the least disturbed when we pulled up under a branch to photograph them.
On the outskirts of Timber Creek our overnight stop, we found a cairn to Augustus Gregory and J decided that we would go down the road to his tree. It is a boab on banks of river that he carved the date onto when they left the camp here on 2nd July 1856 to head back to Adelaide. The road was very corrugated and we had the caravan on behind so it was even worse but we eventually made the 3.5 klm in 30 minutes and then walked the 500 metres to tree in much less time. It is a beautiful tree right on banks of river and judging by size of lettering it was a lot smaller 160 years ago, and was just starting to flower so I have seen a Boab flower - a lovely yellow one.
Whilst it is a lovely spot you would have to be on your toes the whole time as this is crocodile country with a capital C. We shift camp in Timber creek several times to get away from the flying foxes as there are hundreds in the trees and I don’t want to be washing the car and van to remove their droppings. This is another lovely spot right on creek bank with lots of trees and croc signs everywhere along with a flying fox across the creek.
As I am dying from summer cold J goes off to pool and meets up with an ex army bloke and during the conversation it turns out the Graham and Terri are good friends. An afternoon storm brings some much needed relief from hot humid conditions but it didn’t deter those two they just sat out talking till 8.30pm. Shortly after starting out on Saturday we came across the sign to Bulloo Station made famous by Sarah Henderson and you wonder if her daughter still lives there. It was closed for wet season but you can camp there – might be an interesting place if it doesn’t take 2 years to get down road! The Durack memorial was a bit weird and rather disappointing. To commemorate the overland trek that Nat Buchanan and the Durack boys did droving 7000 head cattle from Quilpie in western Qld to the Kimberleys in late 1880’s and all the work that they put into building up the area, they have erected a Bronco Yard Panel (Bronco is s…. American term).
The Army have a camp across the Victoria river with the Bradshaw bridge to traverse but we are only allowed to walk across it though you do get a great view of Victoria River.
The Buntine Highway memorial commemorates the completion of road through to Halls Creek and would be good for your shockies if it is anything like the first 30 klms that we traversed. But it has a very good etching of old time road train and made a useful spot to have lunch.
There are more rocky outcrops on the way into Katherine and several ranges to traverse but there is more grass than over Kunanurra way, and we see lots of grey brahmans resting under trees which are taller than those west. There are some very white bark ones with lovely maroon leaves, and some with pink bark just getting their new leaves. We couldn’t tell if they are like Boabs and lose their leaves during dry season to conserve water or if they had been burnt. Our caravan park is very shady with lots trees, palms and bamboo and a blue winged Kookaburra on light pole - now all we need is a breeze.
Maryanne informs us that it is best to do Gorge cruise early as it is getting too hot in middle of day so we book in for 9am, which will be fun after watching World Cup Final at 1.30am. The rugby was a big disappointment as we were never in it – the All Blacks were just too good from kick off. Then it was a short version of Macca in Gatton and we were off down the road to Nitmiluk NP and our cruise, which was very pleasant until we reached a riverblock and had to get out and walk 500 metres to another boat.
The river is so low at the moment that you have to walk two sections to get into other boats to traverse just the first 2 gorges. Last time I was here we boated the whole way and I don’t remember how many gorges we saw. Next time we will come at end of wet so we can take a plane or helicopter flight over the whole 13 gorges and see the waterfalls. As it was we could just see the black algae marks of where water used to come over cliffs. Occasionally they get a saltie come up the river during the wet and so have a trap set on riverbank. I think they have caught 6 in last 10 years.
One spot is called the Hanging gardens as there are lots of maiden hair ferns, palms, mangroves and paperbarks growing but where all the gorges meet there are similar plantings.
All the gorges were separated at right angles so if you are looking up one gorge there will be 2 at right angles and one directly behind you.
The first walk across rocks is via some aboriginal rock paintings that are 6000 years old and in very good condition, and on a very well formed path and boardwalk, but the second is over rocks and although it is only 50 metres it was hard on my poor knee.
Once again the rocks were majestic and it is hard to imagine what sort of force was used to push them out of earth at such angles.
A Boab near the carpark was out in flower and looked more spectacular than my photograph.
It was so hot that we decided to come home and have lunch in cool before heading out to Edith Falls. On the way in I found an amazingly round rock beside the road. It is hard to believe it would be man made. These falls are small but quite pleasant to swim near though J was sure that he climbed up the side and jumped in, until we met a ranger and had a chat and he told us that it would have been the second falls as there are 3 in park.
As I wasn’t up to walking 1.5klm for a swim or more to point walking back 1.5klm afterwards in 39* we opted for an icecream and chatted to some people from Victoria who have been living here for last 6 months as they make their way around country. We get a light shower as we head back into town to cool things down a bit. Having a chat to Val and Mark on road as they had been to Goombungee pub for birthday lunch and were doing a bit of exploring, we are invited to Doug’s 60th next Sunday but won’t make it back by then. It was quite pleasant sitting outside in breeze until the mossies or something decided to bite. Now I have some big red itchy sores on arms, legs and neck. They are the size of 20 cent pieces so am not real sure what it was.
O’Keeffe House was fun to find but we eventually discovered it on banks of river. It was built with bush materials by the officers of Army stationed here in WW2 as a recreation hut and then it became the officers mess. After the war it became a family home and in 1960’s John O’Keefe and Sister Olive bought it. Olive flew with Dr Clive Fenton in 1930’s first in RFDS. The Katherine Icon is more my style = a 1 ½ times life size statue of Sabu Peter Singh a member of Wardaman tribe, skilled bushman, horseman and stockman. The statue acknowledges our courageous pioneer forebears and salutes those who currently work on the land and encourages others to cherish the challenges of tomorrow. It is much more memorable than the Durack one.
Knotts’ crossing is the site of original settlement and has a low level river crossing which had water flowing over it so don’t know how you got to Darwin during the wet in days gone by. We sat there watching some divers fishing in the white water at base of crossing – they were having a lovely time but must have been paddling furiously underwater.
Nearby is a stone pylon with 50 foot steel tower that has a twin 400 metres away on other side of river and it was to bring the overland telegraph line across river in 1871. They were still in use until 1967. We couldn’t see the other pylon as the trees had grown well but you could see which direction the line went.
With so much work going on up here they have to pull out
all stops to get the work done!
Tuesday 2nd is Melbourne Cup Day so we head
out reasonably early for Mataranka and do get organised but can’t get satellite
to work so listen to race on radio, and then magically the satellite starts
working. We are staying in Bitter Springs caravan park and can walk out back
gate (20m away) and down road 500 metres to the thermal pool. Unfortunately
there is a 5 year old there who has to stir up the water and all algae comes
loose and floats down on top of you and it looks and feels grotesque. The water
is about 30* and not uncomfortable and quite refreshing when you get out wet. J
borrowed some goggles and snorkel and went downstream looking for turtles and
fish. I wasn’t putting my face into that water even if it was very clear. We do
spend 1 ½ hours in water cooling off before heading back to camp, where we were visited by a gorgeous little wallaby. He must have been a pet as he is so tame and ate an apple out of my hand and then cleaned up some lettuce leaves. I'll bet he has a very full tummy!
Elsey Cemetery was renovated by some soldiers in
1944 and is still being kept in order. They found the bodies of some of
characters from “We of Never Never” and reinterred them here so it is a special
place. There are several unmarked graves here and one of an aboriginal woman and another of a baby. There is a simple cross near Anneas Gunn's grave where there is also a plaque for Jeannie.
Mataranka
has several of the characters in sculpture in town park and an enormous anthill
that looks like a castle.
We didn’t think much of museum as it had a few old bits
and pieces from war years but most was rusted and broken. We went through a
good summer storm on our way out to Mataranka Thermal pool but it passed over
fairly quickly and we could sit in pool and listen to thunder in distance.
These pools are lined with rock and cement and don’t have so much algae
floating by but there were millions of little red flying foxes in trees and
lots of their faeces drifting down. The water flows out of springs at rate of 30,500,000
litres per day so you have to really work at staying in one spot. It was also
very refreshing in the sultry weather. As it is nearly wet season most of
tourists have gone and there are only a few people in parks and towns so it is rather
good in that regard.
From Mataranka to Renner Springs to Barkly Homestead to Camooweal is 900klm of monotony. 450 klm of it has been burnt so the red soil had a black covering in places with black sticks or blackened trunks to trees and brown or grey leaves left on some of them. The other had some bits of grass to Barkly when it became all grassland. It reminded me of a few lines of a Ted Egan song -
From out on Barkly Tablelands and across to the Vrd
They've got some bloody good drinkers in the Northern Territory
The picture above was taken outside the Pink Panther Pub in Laramah - we will have to stop there one day, along with the Daly Waters Pub and Newcastle Waters Ghost town. As it was 10am when we went past Daly Waters we didn't stop this time and as it was 42* we skipped NC waters too.
Every creek or river we crossed was a rocky ditch so the few cattle we saw had to walk a long way to troughs to get a drink. The first day to Renner springs had about 5 cars overtake us and we didn’t see any road kill at all. This is a major highway between 2 or 3 capital cities. We went into Desert Hotel in Renner Springs for dinner and they produced a HUGE meal. I ordered fish and salad and was given 2 pieces of fish and a salad that would have fed 2 people. Needless to say I went to bed very uncomfortable after leaving heaps on plate. Surprisingly they had a pear cider which I haven’t had for months because most places in WA didn’t stock it. The hotel has baseball caps stapled to ceiling as it’s decoration and people have written messages over walls and ceiling which made for some interesting reading.
It was the same as yesterday driving to Threeways where we turned left and GPS told us we could turn right in 1443 klm.
We had 1 truck and 2 cars overtake us and found 3 dead cows and 2 roo carcasses, and only had radio National to listen to, so couldn’t hear the cricket. So much for a busy highway! After you leave Barkly there are a few hills to climb out of Tablelands and then you come across a sign telling you that you are entering Lake Eyre Basin via Diamantina and Georgina river systems. Lake Eyre seems like a million miles away and probably is ! Once again we had 1 B triple and a panel van overtake us until we stopped for a cool drink at Avon Downs and 2 B triples and 3 cars went by. The sign boards here told us that us that the original settler had trouble with horse thieves and cattle rustlers so nagged the government to station a policeman here and the current one lives across the road.
The property has been owned by AA Co for many years so that probably explains why there hasn’t been a tree for 50 klm except along creek beds which are few and far between. We saw a few horses in one paddock and 3 goats on side of road but no cattle. Both Renner Springs and Barkly have lovely swimming pools and lots of green grass and shady trees to make the places very inviting. We reached Camooweal at lunchtime and checked out some of the town murals while refuelling. Someone here definitely has a sense of humour.
The wind picked up on route to Mt Isa so van wobbled
about a bit but it was another uninteresting journey but at least we had the
cricket on radio, to Sunset Park where we stayed 2 years ago. Mount Isa doesn’t seemed to have changed much
either.
Sunday morning had us going to church to another Morning
Prayer Service which was very casual and disorganised, and then down town to
find Brumby’s for some bread as lunch will be the scraps of everything as we
are out of food. The Irish Club Hotel is advertising Sunday Roast so let’s hope
so or dinner will be a tinned affair. I can’t even make a quiche as we have no
eggs. Today is Doug's 60th birthday and we have just heard that J's niece Bree has given birth to another daughter Piper Jewel and both are well. I have no doubt she will be doted on by her 2 big sisters Eliana and Scarlet. Kaye and Ian have had a new grandson and daughter over last 2 months and now have to wait for their other child Jackie to give birth and I thought she was due first.
After wishing Doug a very happy 60th birthday we head down to Irish Club Hotel for dinner and it was very nice. The club is very stylish and classy though there is nothing to tell you what to do as you enter the restaurant but have to order meals at register and collect them next door. It wasn’t bad value either -$20 for roast and dessert. There was roast beef, pork, lamb and chicken with veggies, gravy, apple sauce and mint sauce and individual pavlovas with strawberries and cream and chocolate mousse – all very nice. As we were checking out the bars, gaming room and bistro Ross rang from Wondai to chat to us about housesitting so we have another booking.
After checking out their Light Horse Memorial – a horse and soldier made from old car bits (I want one), and their wineglass water tower – not only is it for water pressure but to help cool down the artesian water; we head for Richmond through more open flat country.
One is a skeletal one the other a fibreglass model – both are huge. We also see a Kronosaurus that is at Richmond and a giant ammonite. They have a video running on how Porcupine Gorge was formed and it was fascinating how the different layers of rock were laid down and when we went out and saw the tiny little Porcupine creek that caused the gorge you had to wonder.
The museum was also well put together and had another video on life in the area. J bought a new leather hat for $47 to replace the one he lost in WA and claims it feels very comfortable. There are 2 giant windmills at each end of rotunda in main street – built in 1912 and 1916. The giant Comet windmill nearby is number 11 of 15 built – they are 11m across and must pull up some water.
They have 3 Pterosaurus sculptures on roof and a life sized flying one on a pole in park, an Ammonite sculpture on wall made from windmill parts, Darby a large wall sculpture of a Muttaburrasaurus made from junk materials and Mutt a lifesized fibreglass one who welcomes everyone to town.
Then it was time to argue with chemist as he says we haven’t got right paperwork to get gout tablets, even though we have a script with 4 repeats left. He sends us across the road to doctor who tells us we can have an appointment on Saturday! We give up and head to FJ Holden café for the biggest burger I have ever seen (for 1 person) which I don’t eat. Why people think that you need a meal that size I don’t know – it all goes towards obesity doesn’t it. Instead of working it off we drive out to Porcupine Gorge on a very bumpy road (bitumen). They have small plaques along the roadside telling you the story of what happened there.
Mailman Corbet met his maker when slain by hostile aboriginals in 1886 and Simpsons Pinch was where a Cobb & Co driver used to speed up on the vertical drive?
Porcupine Gorge was inspiring with its’ steep sides and small streambed winding through the bottom. How Pyramid Rock was formed must have been an act of God. After viewing the video earlier we had to check out the walls to see if we could see the 7 different layers of rock - no - must be the trees hiding the colours!
We are getting better at leaving early and hit the road at 8am today and it is just as well as the road to Torrens Creek is a nightmare with its waves. Prairie is a small town with a horse on roof of hotel, and another large windmill in park.
The book says that we have 24 klm of dirt to start the Aramac road but it was actually 34 klm of corrugations or sand and took 80 minutes to traverse – needless to say it was a very welcome respite when we stopped on side of road for lunch. We had passed a big mob of cattle eating on road side – don’t know what they were getting it didn’t look like there was much vegetation to me, and certainly no nutrition in it – with about 20 newborn calves. They were so small and cute I hope their mothers have some milk. The roos dead on side of road were joined by cattle that had died in paddocks and road reserves and there were too many.
Across the road is smallest drive-in theatre, but it looks as if it is still working which is a first.
Then it was on to Alpha to see their murals and have lunch. The locals were very friendly and chatty, but we couldn’t find all 40 murals so don’t know where the other 30 were hiding. It is another lovely ‘cool’ town with gardens and big trees along the road so you could get some shade.
Hey - Leave some for me
Mulgildie has a Bunyip statue in town and a kangaroo going to school!
After wishing Doug a very happy 60th birthday we head down to Irish Club Hotel for dinner and it was very nice. The club is very stylish and classy though there is nothing to tell you what to do as you enter the restaurant but have to order meals at register and collect them next door. It wasn’t bad value either -$20 for roast and dessert. There was roast beef, pork, lamb and chicken with veggies, gravy, apple sauce and mint sauce and individual pavlovas with strawberries and cream and chocolate mousse – all very nice. As we were checking out the bars, gaming room and bistro Ross rang from Wondai to chat to us about housesitting so we have another booking.
Monday 9th has the car going in for it’s
15,000klm service at 18,000ks. We have now done 200,000klm in 4 years we have
been on road – it is no wonder my back is stuffed. I can’t wait to get back to
Brent in Toowoomba to put me back together again.
It is familiar territory driving through the
ranges to Cloncurry and then it is flat open country to Julia Creek where we
stop for lunch at pub. The chef meets us at door and tells us about how he
missed breakfast because of heroin – very suss/strange/weird – but my chicken
wrap is very nice and J has a huge steak sandwich. The Info centre has used 4
old railway fettlers’ cottages to house their information boards and audio
tapes of life in district and they were well restored. The cutest little Julia
Creek Dunnart is in another section and he was very busy running everywhere. He
is fed at 10am and 3pm so I don’t know whether he thought it should have been
dinner time but he kept coming out to see us. They are very small - 3” body and
3” tail and store fat in their tails for lean times. All this for $2 – beats Mataranka
hands down. 
After checking out their Light Horse Memorial – a horse and soldier made from old car bits (I want one), and their wineglass water tower – not only is it for water pressure but to help cool down the artesian water; we head for Richmond through more open flat country.
Many paddocks had no grass whatsoever including one owned
by Stanbroke Pastoral (according to sign at gate) but we didn’t see many
livestock. Several places had young heifers on road reserves that weren’t in
too bad condition but anything that was a bit older was very poor. Our plans
are thrown into chaos when we find the only caravan park is closed for month so
we have to head for Hughenden at 4.30pm. J ignores the GPS telling him how to
go to Alan Terry CP which we later discover is very nice; and we pull into one
on highway that has very narrow sites, no shade and no personality!
Wednesday and we leave early to explore Flinders
Discovery Centre with it’s lifesize replicas of Muttaburrasaurus.
One is a skeletal one the other a fibreglass model – both are huge. We also see a Kronosaurus that is at Richmond and a giant ammonite. They have a video running on how Porcupine Gorge was formed and it was fascinating how the different layers of rock were laid down and when we went out and saw the tiny little Porcupine creek that caused the gorge you had to wonder.
The museum was also well put together and had another video on life in the area. J bought a new leather hat for $47 to replace the one he lost in WA and claims it feels very comfortable. There are 2 giant windmills at each end of rotunda in main street – built in 1912 and 1916. The giant Comet windmill nearby is number 11 of 15 built – they are 11m across and must pull up some water.
They have 3 Pterosaurus sculptures on roof and a life sized flying one on a pole in park, an Ammonite sculpture on wall made from windmill parts, Darby a large wall sculpture of a Muttaburrasaurus made from junk materials and Mutt a lifesized fibreglass one who welcomes everyone to town.
Then it was time to argue with chemist as he says we haven’t got right paperwork to get gout tablets, even though we have a script with 4 repeats left. He sends us across the road to doctor who tells us we can have an appointment on Saturday! We give up and head to FJ Holden café for the biggest burger I have ever seen (for 1 person) which I don’t eat. Why people think that you need a meal that size I don’t know – it all goes towards obesity doesn’t it. Instead of working it off we drive out to Porcupine Gorge on a very bumpy road (bitumen). They have small plaques along the roadside telling you the story of what happened there.
Mailman Corbet met his maker when slain by hostile aboriginals in 1886 and Simpsons Pinch was where a Cobb & Co driver used to speed up on the vertical drive?
Porcupine Gorge was inspiring with its’ steep sides and small streambed winding through the bottom. How Pyramid Rock was formed must have been an act of God. After viewing the video earlier we had to check out the walls to see if we could see the 7 different layers of rock - no - must be the trees hiding the colours!
Heading
back to town we find a whistling bore – they suspect that part of bore has
collapsed but not completely closed off the shaft – but you can stand next to
it and hear it whistle. Nearby were 7 horses but only 2 wanted to have their
photos taken.
The
cattle next door weren’t going to get up for anyone – they had found some shade
amongst the stones and were staying put – they were so skinny probably couldn’t
stand up in the 40* heat.
On southside of town is Mount Walker with 6 lookouts.
They give you a panoramic view of the countryside for miles. The road up is
very steep and what I would call near vertical so I guess the old horsemen didn’t
take their coaches up here. It would be top spot for sunset drinks on a clear
evening but as we have had 30 spots rain on windscreen (just because they
washed the car at its’ service) and it is quite cloudy we head home to see if
sky clears over next 2 hours.
We are getting better at leaving early and hit the road at 8am today and it is just as well as the road to Torrens Creek is a nightmare with its waves. Prairie is a small town with a horse on roof of hotel, and another large windmill in park.
The book says that we have 24 klm of dirt to start the Aramac road but it was actually 34 klm of corrugations or sand and took 80 minutes to traverse – needless to say it was a very welcome respite when we stopped on side of road for lunch. We had passed a big mob of cattle eating on road side – don’t know what they were getting it didn’t look like there was much vegetation to me, and certainly no nutrition in it – with about 20 newborn calves. They were so small and cute I hope their mothers have some milk. The roos dead on side of road were joined by cattle that had died in paddocks and road reserves and there were too many.
There was dirt with very little grass most of way until
about 50 klm from town when we started seeing water in holes beside road and then
there was a green pick in hollows. When we booked in at Council they told us
that they had had 85 mls last week so the country recovered quickly. Evidently
Barcaldine had 6 inches so it will be interesting to see the country around
there tomorrow.
The green grass near Barky was wonderful – we
haven’t seen native grass this colour since we left Brookton. All the creeks
had muddy brown water in them instead of being completely dry. After refuelling
we headed east through more greenery until the scrub became thicker and the
grass disappeared totally. Jericho is a lovely little town with green lawns and
gardens in parks and an amazing sculpture garden telling the Bible story of
Jericho. It is very well done for such a small town, so someone is quite
artistic.
Across the road is smallest drive-in theatre, but it looks as if it is still working which is a first.
Then it was on to Alpha to see their murals and have lunch. The locals were very friendly and chatty, but we couldn’t find all 40 murals so don’t know where the other 30 were hiding. It is another lovely ‘cool’ town with gardens and big trees along the road so you could get some shade.
The long trip east to Emerald was fairly boring and all
the orange orchards I saw 35 years ago have gone. There was one big PH orchard
on road into Fairbairn Dam which is now called Lake Maraboon! But that was all
we saw. It was a real exercise to get the van into a site they are so small and
our drawbar was sticking out onto the road so it was just as well that the
place was fairly quiet, but we had a spot on fence overlooking water so that
was picturesque. The bloke next door tells us that there are lots of red claw
in the lake. Saturday was a lazy day not driving anywhere – but as the cricket
was on from Perth the afternoon was spent in front of tv, when not outside with our feathered friends.
Sunday
15th has us heading south to Springsure and the wonderful Virgin Rock.
Sadly we had traffic behind us and nowhere to pull over so I haven’t got a very
good photo. I think Springsure has grown since I was here last and looked nice
and green and clean.
We
stopped in Rolleston for morning tea and a stretch and it is another pretty
little town with a wonderful old home in process of being renovated. It wasn’t
as green as Springsure but has had more rain than Julia Creek.
It is all new country through to Moura where we stopped
for lunch. There is a large excavation near town that could have once been a
coal mine but I am more inclined to think it was a limestone quarry as the
walls were very white and chalky. There was water in all creeks and green grass
everywhere and the cattle changed from scrawny brahmans to Limousin/Santa/cross
in good condition. Biloela has also grown dramatically and we only saw the
western side of town. As we turned south there was a truck on side of road
selling mangoes for $20 tray so we stopped and picked up 12 huge R2D2. They
aren’t quite ripe but I put one in salad for dinner just to try them. Now I
have to wait for them to ripen properly!!! It seemed to take forever to get to
Cania Gorge but maybe that is because the situpon was getting tired of being
satupon. The caravan park has turnstile access to NP so we will be able to do
some bushwalking. It is lovely and cool and shady with big gum trees and green
grass so a much welcome change – then it started spitting rain which cooled it
even more and was so refreshing. The locals thought so too when they descended for dinner. There were hundreds of rainbow lorikeets as well as other brave souls. We went to sleep listening to gentle raindrops
on roof too.
Hey - Leave some for me
Monday has us making some bread so we don’t have to drive
into Monto and it wouldn’t rise because it is so cool. My new improvisation is
to put it in vanity with some hot water so we’ll have to see how that works
out. We can’t believe it is trying to rain and about 23*. This is first day
that the temperature hasn’t been over 35* since we left Cervantes on 8th
October, and most days have been 38* – 45* - I’ll need to put on a jumper soon!
As the rain is getting heavier our bushwalking has been put on hold and as we
have no phone and hence no internet we can’t ring Nancy to see if she wants to
meet us either, so will have to curl up with a book. The last 2 books were both
wonderful reads. The first is “The Only Kayak” by Kim Heacox where he writes
about the pristine wilderness of Alaska and how you can become one with nature
if you let yourself. The second book is an autobiography by Ayaan Hirsi Ali who
dared to speak out against the violence and discrimination shown to her fellow
moslem women and who was endangered by doing so. After the massacres in Paris
on Saturday you have to stand against all violence and indoctrination of
Islamic people. It is hard to imagine why you would think that killing yourself
and whoever else is too close by is going to change the world. Most people who
know the Koran don’t condone such violence and Ayaan points that out very
vividly in her book. Now I am reading Bryce Courtney’s book “April Fool’s Day”
about his youngest son Damon who was born with haemophilia and ended dying from
aids on 1st April. What I have read so far is a big indictment on
medical professions’ holier than thou attitude to their patients, and one
person’s positive outlook on life.
Tuesday dawns cloudy but pleasant enough to eat
breakfast outside where a male King Parrot comes in for a chat. After sitting
on the table and not finding anything edible he flew over to the chair next to
me and sat there chatting away to his partner in tree above. The Apostle birds
aren’t as friendly as those at Lake Maraboon but there are plenty of them. We
bid them goodbye and head into Monto to refuel and fill fridge and it decides to
rain so we didn’t get to see the artwork in park this time but will have to
come back this way. I manage to find some scraps of material in craft shop for
$2 but she didn’t have any Mr America prints and the only Lion ones were $14.50
panel, so I might have to resort to one of those. We will see what we can find
in Springfield. 
The rain cleared as we neared home so we continued on to
Cania Dam and found it nearly full. They have some lovely green shady spots
down on waters’ edge with lots of big shady trees with fluffy yellow flowers –
will have to find out what they are, as well as some spectacular Jacaranda & Poinsiana trees. We stop at the Picnic area on way back and
chat to Ranger who is here painting amenities block and doing repairs. There
were 2 bulls with the cows and calves on road when we returned and they were
the best conditioned animals we have seen for some time. Turning on telly to
watch the end of cricket we learn that Mitch Johnson has announced his
retirement to take effect at end of today, which is sad but I guess he is
probably feeling every ball nowadays. He gets to take 2 wickets in his final
session before the match is drawn. We will have a new team for the Day/Night
Test in Adelaide next week so it should be interesting. Another storm comes
over which makes everything nice and wet but sounds good on the roof.
Wednesday dawns nice and sunny too, but no one
comes to share our breckie. J makes some bread which we have for lunch before
heading west. Unfortunately Hurdle Gully road is closed to the lookout so we
head further south to Abercorn and Wuruma Dam – never knew it existed – but has
been here since 1972 and is a lovely spot with lots of caravans parked on
water’s edge. It is nearly full too so they must have had some rain that ran
water or has it been full since last summer? You would have to be lucky to get
in here first go – the place was packed. Taking the dirt road we wind our way
through lovely green hillsides with water in hollows but not much in creeks.
Mulgildie has a Bunyip statue in town and a kangaroo going to school!
There has been a painter working here for last two days
and he finished the possum while we were out. It looks really good and is a
great match for the kangaroo and Koala on 2 other buildings.
Thursday
19th and we hit the road for a shortish drive through Mundubberra to
Wondai. Mundubberra has shed most of the scars of 2013 flooding and has some
new rest areas and towns signs. One I particularly liked was an aboriginal
design with the countryside reflected inside the circle.
Wondai
was much the same and hot as we couldn’t get a spot in their tiny caravan park
so had to stay in free camp at old railway station. At 6pm we walked up to our
house sit to see where it was and if we can get the caravan in – doubtful but
will see. They seem nice people and have a lovely deck overlooking the 7th
hole of golf course so we will spend some time there I’m sure. On our way back
to caravan we stopped off at Hotel for a pizza dinner. Fortunately we chose some
stuffed mushrooms as an entrée because the pizza took 40 minutes to arrive and
we were the only people in restaurant. I hope they were packed outside in beer
garden. The chicken and mushroom pizza was very tasty so I would like to return.
We wandered around town on Friday morning before heading off to Bell where we
decide to stop at park for lunch. Sitting in shade shelter chatting to Barb who
informed us we weren’t having lunch with Jamie on his birthday as he was going
to Melbourne with friends for the weekend; I saw a sign asking people to check
out the murals in Catholic church across the road. As we didn’t have far to go
we wandered in and were amazed at the detail and colour of the paintings. In a
church in a tiny little town (few hundred people) it is a credit to them all.
On leaving we saw a sign for their Biblical Garden and were totally blown away – they have some very artistic people in Bell. The garden depicted several stages of Jesus’s life and had a selection of statues and mosaic paintings amongst the plantings. A Barbed wire Christ on cross was also very well done. We have recommended this place to MU and Happy Wanderers and will continue to do so as it is well worth a visit.
Wednesday had us back in Tmba to see the osteo specialists about J’s knee. We waited 30 minutes for the most arrogant, unfriendly doctor who had a quick look at xrays and his knee and then left for 5 minutes. Coming back he stuck a loooong needle in behind his kneecap and said have some physio and come back on 2nd February. He was just as offhand as Leo Zeller who was positively rude. Of course we didn’t get the correct form so DVA won’t pay for any treatment.
On leaving we saw a sign for their Biblical Garden and were totally blown away – they have some very artistic people in Bell. The garden depicted several stages of Jesus’s life and had a selection of statues and mosaic paintings amongst the plantings. A Barbed wire Christ on cross was also very well done. We have recommended this place to MU and Happy Wanderers and will continue to do so as it is well worth a visit.
We arrived at Doug’s late afternoon to be greeted by Dixie
and 4 little dogs who were all very excited to see us. Chris is a gardener as
there are plants everywhere. They arrived with Chris’s son Alec and Jake and it
was lovely to meet Chris as she is very nice. John helped unload a freezer and
then we sat and chatted for hours each day until Tuesday when we left for the
Lions Club Meeting. As it was a social night they had invited Clifton to join
the trivia quest and we had a great laugh at how little we all knew. Our table
ended up coming 3rd and 4 points behind the leaders which wasn’t too
bad. Saturday we headed over to Milmerran to see Beris and catch up on all her
news. She is still the loveliest person and spoiled me with a container of
mulberries for our Christmas lunch. How the time flies when you are with
someone interesting and all too soon it was time to head back to CP before dark
and we made it through scrub while sun was low in sky so didn’t have it in our
eyes.
Even though Jamie wasn’t there we went to Brisbane on
Friday and had lunch at Springfield Lakes Hotel with Barb and it was lovely to
see her again. My roasted beetroot, feta and pine nut salad was very moreish and
then it was off to meet Katherine and Chris our home owners for Christmas house
sit. They seem very nice and have a little boy and baby girl to take to England
to Nana and Granddad. The cats don’t seem a problem but getting the tablets
down necks might be fun until they like us. The dogs are boisterous so I’ll
take the old one if we go for a walk. Then it was off to our $195 night Motel
to freshen up before Tyler’s graduation ceremony. Of course we had to sit at the top of centre
with 30 steps up, but it was a fantastic auditorium. The 2 primary school
captains were emcees for the evening and were brilliant for 12 year olds. The
head of junior school gave a interesting short speech but the Head of School
should have realised she was talking to 5-8 year olds and kept on waffling on
for hours! Then the Pre-schoolers came on and sang a song and recited a poem
which was most enjoyable, as was the grade 3’s ensemble who played the violin.
Each grade sang a song and did a poem and they were all very talented. The
night was a credit to students and teachers alike.
After a lazy start we headed off to Cambooya to catch up
with the Frost’s and had a long chat to Bill & Yvonne along the way. They
were heading back from Penny’s before leaving for Sydney on Tuesday. The boys
had all grown over the year and Thomas the most. Steve and Tracey have had a
better year but still have no resolution on the house problems. Steve has had
to lay some wood on pool deck so they can get around it to clean it and
actually get in. The builders went around the verandah on last day and sanded
back the pain on uprights in a wanton act of vandalism – it is a pity you can’t
photo it and put it in paper to warn others. We believe Wes Daniels has no
stopped building and is selling used cars – certainly wouldn’t trust him there
either. Steve & Tracey have quotes for $280,000 to repair damage (on a
$340,000 brand new house) and the QBBS will only pay out $200,000 so they have
to sue Wes to get rest of money. Of course he is disposing of assets so the
company doesn’t have to pay. As Frosty had got his days wrong we will come back
tomorrow to see Paul & Joy.
Sunday 29th and we have Holy Communion for the
first time since 9th August in Brookton. It was lovely to
participate in the service at St Andrew’s with Garth and chat to old friends
before once again heading over to Cambooya where we had a lovely lunch chatting
to Bluey and Joy who are thoroughly enjoying their housesitting and travelling.
Frosty had excelled himself with the food and had a lovely cob loaf stuffed
with red onion, tomatoes, parsley, light sour cream and cream cheese. All too
soon we had to leave for Pittsworth and the Lions Club Christmas Party at Eliza
and Rodger’s home. Once again there was plenty of food, friendship and cheering
as the Australians won the Day/Night Cricket test in Adelaide. There had been a
storm during the afternoon but the evening one waited until we were back at
Wilma and Lindsay’s. Chatting over breakfast was shorter on Monday as we had
an appointment with David who heaped praises on us for low blood pressure but
not on weight gain. J has an appointment with surgeon on 23rd
December to check out his knee so now we will have a drive to T’mba in
Christmas traffic. Then it was off to Highfields to check out Ros’ new home and
it is lovely. She is working on the yard and has some help from Tim who spends
2 nights with her as he works in T’mba 3 days week. She is looking forward to
having 19 for Christmas to christen her new home.
J spent the next few days electrocuting Doug’s place by
installing 5 new lights and replacing or fixing 6 others and then turned his
hand to plumbing and installed a new tap over laundry tub, so hopefully he has
made life easier for Chris. I dug out some gazainas, pig face and daisys from
lawn and paths and planted them around a new garden behind our caravan. Chris
has really got the place growing and it will be great to see the orchard as
well in a years’ time. Not only has her dog Coco had 4 puppies but the chooks
still in Warra; have had lots of chickens that will have to come over when the
hen house is finished. Her cows arrived while we were there so she is slowly
moving in. We gave them Jenny’s number if they need a Marriage celebrant, but
think they need to get rid of some baggage first.
Friday 4th has us moving over to Cambooya so I
hope they don’t get heavy rain over New Year as we will need to get the caravan
out to go to Wondai. The next few days were spent chatting to S & T and J
helped building shelves to put goods onto in shed. S has decided he wants a new
car and has chosen an XR8 which at $60,000 is madness. If he goes ahead and
buys one there will be trouble as T is not happy about spending that amount of
money when they have the house hanging over them as well as the future of Acland
mine which will be decided next May, so hope sanity prevails.
Tuesday 8th and we pack up the car and head to
Brisbane for our house sit. As I have come down with the flu I am not very
sociable and terrified of giving this wog to the littlies, so head to bed
early. Barb comes over on Wednesday for a chat and very nicely brings some
flowers and 2 very large mangoes. They are Honey Gold’s and very sweet.
Katherine & Chris and entourage leave for the airport and the place
quietens and we head out to feed cats and give 4 their Prozac. It is to be
hoped that they get to like us soon as I ended up scratched and it was an ordeal
to get the tablets down necks. Spike spat his out several times so he needed 4
goes. We haven’t seen Megz who is supposed to eat in wardrobe so hope she is
safe.
Thursday 10th is an easy day with us shopping
in morning and watching cricket until 3.15pm when we venture out to watch boys
have their swimming lesson. Tyler is very good and practised diving afterwards
while Liam had his class. Liam is also doing well and should be able to float
if he ever falls into water. He was less shy today so must remember us from the
Graduation night. Tyler always greets us with a big hug and kiss, I just wish
Liam would let us give him a hug – I think he needs some. Giving cats their
pills was much easier tonight but we are still missing Thomas and Megz. We head
to bed and have Tiggey and Basil on bed with us and Spike in cat box. When we
wake on Friday Boris is on bed and others have all gone!!
Friday night has us over at Jindalee watching Tyler at
Little Athletics. Liam is watching out for us and comes over for a hug which is
lovely. Tyler’s shotput is quite good but his running is much better. His first
long jump would have been over my head and after that he forgot to jump.
Darren
couldn’t stay 5 minutes for Liam to see Santa because he had to pick up
Shannon! But Tyler rang his bell and got a gift before heading home with
Grandma. During the course of evening Tyler told me that mummy was in Army !!??
very interesting statement.
At church on Sunday we meet up with several people who
have been there for years and the locum who seems very jovial. Monday we start
on the hand puppets that the boys want for Christmas. Tyler asked for a Lion
and Liam is getting a Zebra. Being small they are a little tricky but turn out
well in the end. After school Barb brings the boys over for afternoon tea and
they have fun patting the cats and feeding the turtle and riding around on
Oliver’s wooden trike. We go back to swimming on Thursday and notice a
Chinese/Malaysian restaurant and a Greek one so will have to check them out
sometime. The cats have all become very friendly and Megz is eating in wardrobe
and a little happier. We haven’t had any problems with them so everyone is
allowed into house and they all seem to want to sleep with us.
We have a trip to Cambooya to collect Steve who has talked Trace into letting him buy an XR8 – this one is a demo and only $30K. We have lunch at Bull & Barley and my bruschetta was very nice, and then head to Ipswich to collect the car. It takes 2 hours to do the paperwork!!! And take delivery, but eventually J goes for test drive and we can go home. Steve thinks that they have swapped wheels as he is sure that the rims were in better condition and one tyre doesn’t match the rest. I would think that he would have checked out such things when buying it, but Bremer Ford were very rude twice when he spoke to them so we won’t be recommending them to anyone.
We have a trip to Cambooya to collect Steve who has talked Trace into letting him buy an XR8 – this one is a demo and only $30K. We have lunch at Bull & Barley and my bruschetta was very nice, and then head to Ipswich to collect the car. It takes 2 hours to do the paperwork!!! And take delivery, but eventually J goes for test drive and we can go home. Steve thinks that they have swapped wheels as he is sure that the rims were in better condition and one tyre doesn’t match the rest. I would think that he would have checked out such things when buying it, but Bremer Ford were very rude twice when he spoke to them so we won’t be recommending them to anyone.
I sent in name and phone number to local Ipswich paper to
win 2 tickets to see Suffragettes when it opens on Boxing Day and surprise - I
won. So on Thursday when we went to Ipswich to have lunch with Bill and Yvonne
we eventually managed to collect them. J said they were at Council office and
they were at Events office in Mall so we walked around Ipswich before a lovely
lunch at the Indian restaurant in Darcy Doyle Place. We all had separate dishes
as the men like theirs very hot, but still most enjoyable. Our lemon rice was
very yellow but not too tangy.
Saturday the 19th marked 50 years since John
Thompson conducted his first service after being ordained the day before and
Drayton actually got together and held a service at St Mary’s and lunch
afterwards. The service was typically JT full of amusing anecdotes and the
readings from 50 years earlier. It was wonderful to catch up with so many
friends and I managed to have a chat to Tom, Barb F, Pam G and Adrienn M along
with Ken and Bev from Zillmere. There was a good turn up of priests and we
spoke to David from Millmerran and Ray C.
Sunday the 20th we have arranged to meet Leiba
& Brian for lunch at Redland Bay and get a lovely surprise when we arrive
to see Aunty Miriam looking very well and Malcolm, Elaine, girls and
grandchildren there also. Our extended lunch is spent exchanging news. Kristina
has 2 children Jack (2-3) and Maeve who is 6 months. Anita is heading for Scotland
in April to finish her masters’ degree. Karl and Chelsea are still in Canada
and have a little boy about Jack’s age. Afterwards we followed Malcolm to
Wellington Point to Aunty Miriam’s new home for coffee. It seems a lovely
complex and she is well cared for and looking so much better than we saw her at
Christmas 4 years ago. At 95 she is so much better than Mother was. Malcolm
& Elaine have bought a house at Dickie Beach Caloundra and he is still
working part time.
Shannon had trouble with her Christmas lights so we went over to see if J could fix them and he did. We all walked down the street admiring everyone’s display and then sat out on patio talking for 3 hours – nothing was said about the Army.
Shannon had trouble with her Christmas lights so we went over to see if J could fix them and he did. We all walked down the street admiring everyone’s display and then sat out on patio talking for 3 hours – nothing was said about the Army.
Wednesday had us back in Tmba to see the osteo specialists about J’s knee. We waited 30 minutes for the most arrogant, unfriendly doctor who had a quick look at xrays and his knee and then left for 5 minutes. Coming back he stuck a loooong needle in behind his kneecap and said have some physio and come back on 2nd February. He was just as offhand as Leo Zeller who was positively rude. Of course we didn’t get the correct form so DVA won’t pay for any treatment.
Shannon isn’t coming to Christmas lunch as Jamie will be
there but has promised to come over at 2pm. She is behaving more like Bob every
day, you wonder whether she is thinking about what she is doing. So we have a
lovely morning chatting to Jamie about his hopes and wishes for future and
enjoy our lunch of prawns & mussels wrapped in bacon with salmon tartines
and kumara tartlets for entree. Fresh prawns with cold roast turkey, festive
potato salad and crunchy summer salad with J’s pickled watermelon nearly filled
us, but had to leave room for pavlova baskets with passionfruit curd and fresh
blueberries and raspberries and Christmas Icecream. All too soon Jamie left so
that Shannon could come in and Barb could see the boys, but she preferred to
stay drinking at Gemma’s. Then sent a message saying she had the best Christmas
ever because she didn’t spend it with her extended family = she might have thought it but why put it into words?
She did turn up on Boxing Day so we could have a second
gathering and enjoy the boys opening their presents. After lunch I asked her
for third time if we could have lunch or coffee so will see what happens.
Tuesday sees Barb & I flying over to Indooroopilly to see the movie "Suffragette" but had to pay as they wouldn’t accept free tickets on Cheap Tuesday?? It was a very thought provoking movie and well acted. The women running around today thinking they are getting a hard time have no idea what a hard time is. We had to fly home afterwards – couldn’t possibly stop or slow down so I don’t end up a nervous wreck. We do manage to make arrangements to have lunch on Thursday before our visit to Beauty Parlour.
Tuesday sees Barb & I flying over to Indooroopilly to see the movie "Suffragette" but had to pay as they wouldn’t accept free tickets on Cheap Tuesday?? It was a very thought provoking movie and well acted. The women running around today thinking they are getting a hard time have no idea what a hard time is. We had to fly home afterwards – couldn’t possibly stop or slow down so I don’t end up a nervous wreck. We do manage to make arrangements to have lunch on Thursday before our visit to Beauty Parlour.
Once again we made it to midnight on 31st
December and watched some exciting fireworks from Sydney. You do wonder though
how they can justify spending 7.6 million dollars on fireworks! Do hope Lyndsay
& family enjoyed them in England – they get to see them at a respectable
hour 2pm. New Years’ Day was a quiet one with no sport on tv so we watched some
videos. Saturday was spent chatting to Maureen and was a lovely day catching up
on all her news. Received a phone call from Barb on way home saying Shannon
wanted to have lunch – 3 days before we leave she doesn’t want to have lunch
with me but with everyone!! It will be an interesting afternoon. WE check out the local Malaysian restaurant and have some more very nice food.
Monday bought Barb around to tell me that I was an
embarrassment and that Shannon is upset – Guess what she isn’t alone. We spent
most of day cleaning house and packing up only to learn on Tuesday morning that
Katherine & Chris were on a later flight and wouldn’t be back till
Wednesday morning so we sat around watching tennis all day as the cricket in
Sydney was washed out.
Katherine & Chris arrived home about 9.15am and had a
lovely time if a little cold, in England and had a good flight with the 2
little children. We headed into Laidley to see Bill & Yvonne but they
weren’t home – car was though – so we went to Eagle Rock Café for a cup of tea
before heading to Cambooya to drop off food. Frosty was home with boys chipping
weeds out of driveway but we managed to get away in time for my appointment with
Brent then we checked out camping stretchers at Rex Burrell. They do have some
rated to 150kg for $99 so will have to pick up two before we head to Fraser
Island. Bec gave me a summer haircut and it is very short at the back.
Thursday had David ringing very early to wish his father
a Happy Birthday but there was nothing from his kids. Once again his mother
sent an sms – couldn’t possibly ring and speak to him in person. At least
Murray rang and spoke to him. Since none of Grandkids could be bothered to ring,
sms or send a picture or card I think we will can buying Birthday or Christmas
presents for any of them. Steve spent day on his new toy – an old tractor with
ploughs and slasher – so Trace has new garden beds across the front of house
and down drive way. She will just have to wait for grass to die before planting
them out. Steve's tractor is more modern than the one in park in Wondai.
They took us out to dinner which was lovely of them. Seasons in the Ambassador Motel is an upmarket Restaurant with a pleasant enough atmosphere. Our waitress was a bit rude to start off but improved as night went on. I had ocean trout which was very nice and then opted for lemon curd tart which was over done with extras. Marscapone icecream was light on and had some wispy white stuff wrapped around it. Then there were 3 meringues and some raspberries. Trace and I had 2 small glasses of Squealing Pig Sav Blanc and the boys a couple of beers, whiskey and bottle red wine and the bill came to $313!!! My meal certainly wasn’t worth $78 so we won’t be back there. J spent Friday morning chatting to Frosty while I packed up and we stopped in Pittsworth to drop off hampers and some goods for Lions Club, then bought a pie and sat eating them across from the ruins of Tatts. There was nothing of building left to say what it used to be. It is so sad to lose such a lovely old building.
Then it was a long trip over to Wondai where we visited the RSL on Yvonne’s recommendation and were not disappointed. There was a massive queue so we waited 55 minutes for our meals but they were worth it. I asked for prawn cutlets without chips and got 2 extra prawns. J’s coral trout was pronounced lovely too. They have help yourself salad and vegetable bars which had a variety of foods all fresh and tasty. Those two meals were $12 each and we got change out of $10 for a schooner of beer and little bottle wine. So we ate out for less than $50 and they were comparable meals.
They took us out to dinner which was lovely of them. Seasons in the Ambassador Motel is an upmarket Restaurant with a pleasant enough atmosphere. Our waitress was a bit rude to start off but improved as night went on. I had ocean trout which was very nice and then opted for lemon curd tart which was over done with extras. Marscapone icecream was light on and had some wispy white stuff wrapped around it. Then there were 3 meringues and some raspberries. Trace and I had 2 small glasses of Squealing Pig Sav Blanc and the boys a couple of beers, whiskey and bottle red wine and the bill came to $313!!! My meal certainly wasn’t worth $78 so we won’t be back there. J spent Friday morning chatting to Frosty while I packed up and we stopped in Pittsworth to drop off hampers and some goods for Lions Club, then bought a pie and sat eating them across from the ruins of Tatts. There was nothing of building left to say what it used to be. It is so sad to lose such a lovely old building.
Then it was a long trip over to Wondai where we visited the RSL on Yvonne’s recommendation and were not disappointed. There was a massive queue so we waited 55 minutes for our meals but they were worth it. I asked for prawn cutlets without chips and got 2 extra prawns. J’s coral trout was pronounced lovely too. They have help yourself salad and vegetable bars which had a variety of foods all fresh and tasty. Those two meals were $12 each and we got change out of $10 for a schooner of beer and little bottle wine. So we ate out for less than $50 and they were comparable meals.
Ross & Linda showed us around their menagerie and
gave us our jobs before heading off to Harvey Bay and we settled in to watch
the tennis and cricket and pat Buddie who has taken up on my footstool or under
my feet. It was great when Nick and Dasha won the Hopman Cup for Aust and then
Roger made it to final in Brisbane. Bill had told everyone at church that we
were coming up here so we were warmly greeted there on Sunday morning and have
been invited out for coffee on Wednesday morning. After lunch we went over to
Nanango to meet Peter & Sandy and put their fears at ease. Spent 2 ½ hours
chatting to them and meeting their fur babies – 3 huge fluffy German Shepherds.
We will enjoy that farmsit as they have wonderful 360* views over the hills and
valleys and only 1 other farm in sight. Coming home through Murgon we found
several wineries to visit and taste test. Dusty Hills was recommended to eat at
so we will be there at lunch time. Bandit and Milo were nonchalant when we
arrived home but Buddie was beside himself with joy.
Tuesday has us in Kingaroy buying a foot massager and
trying to get an appointment for J. Not having the correct DVA form they will
charge us so of course J won’t do that. Hopefully the dr in Tmba will fax the
form out so he can get some treatment tomorrow.
Wednesday morning and we head over to Lyn & Peter’s
new home which is lovely. They had help with the building of it but have done
all the finishing themselves. Peter is in middle of building storage in
wardrobe when we arrive but we get the idea. They are a lovely couple and we
end up spending all day talking to them and have to dash off at 3.30pm to get
to J’s physio session. I wander down the street to a craft shop and check out
some lovely bits and pieces – it’s just as well we have no room for anything in
the van because I could buy lots. The rest of week passes with the only mishap
being when I went for a swim and couldn’t get out of pool. Now I have a huge
(6”) bruise on right leg where I collided with side of deck. J goes down to
Toowoomba on Saturday to help out at Bunnings BBQ and seems to have a good time
chatting with everyone. It rains on and off all day in Wondai so I get to relax
in front of tv watching tennis. January is not a good time for doing things
with so much good sport being televised.
Sunday sees us going to Dusty Hills Winery where they
have some lovely wines and duck on menu for lunch so we have to stay and enjoy
their sparkling shiraz on deck looking over grapevines and surrounding
countryside. It was very popular that weekend and I can understand why. The
duck was divine, it literally melted in your mouth and the accompanying
vegetables done to perfection. We will return!
John spent monday helping Peter build their front porch
and steps so now he can add working with tongue and grooved boards to his
resume.
Bailey William Calder entered this world at 10am on Tuesday 19th and is well loved by his family. Both he and Narelle are well which is the main thing after the troubles with Zahra & Jayden.
Wednesday had Peter & Lyn paying us a visit and we had a lovely dinner on back deck with the small breeze cooling us off. I was tempted to get a pork roast but fortunately decided on lamb from local butcher as we discovered Lyn can’t eat pork. Once again had a great time chatting and laughing with them.
Bailey William Calder entered this world at 10am on Tuesday 19th and is well loved by his family. Both he and Narelle are well which is the main thing after the troubles with Zahra & Jayden.
Wednesday had Peter & Lyn paying us a visit and we had a lovely dinner on back deck with the small breeze cooling us off. I was tempted to get a pork roast but fortunately decided on lamb from local butcher as we discovered Lyn can’t eat pork. Once again had a great time chatting and laughing with them.
Heading off for a drive on Thursday we turn at Tingoora
and wind our way through the countryside until the car stops and J says he
hopes we have a flat tyre as it isn’t driving well. After checking that all
tyres have air at bottom he opens the bonnet and surprise surprise – we have no
power steering fluid. This is the second time in 4 months, so we turn Katrina
on and take shortest road back to Wondai. On ringing the Mitsubishi dealer in
Kingaroy we learn that they are busy but if we bring car in they will try to
have a look at it. J heads up to local garage to put some fluid in and it runs
out quicker that he can pour it in. We call Mitsubishi in Adelaide who get the
local RACQ man to tow us to Kingaroy. J gets to walk around town for 3 hours
before he is informed that they don’t have hose in stock and it will take 3
days – guess what we leave here on Sunday – after a few choice words and the
thought of having to pay a motel for 3 days accommodation they put in a Pirtek
one and we are back on road. Talk about giving service!!
We spend Saturday morning cleaning up and packing our
gear away and just as J goes into shower Ross & Linda arrive home. We have
got our dates mixed up so hurriedly empty the fridge and connect up van and
move over to Peter & Lyn’s for the night. Lyn has nearly finished the
decorating and the house looks very stylish. Her grey/red and white rug in
lounge really ties the room together. Instead of painting the feature wall maroon
as she planned it is a darker blue and looks great. Another good night was had
chatting and laughing before I fell into bed exhausted.
After church on Sunday we bid everyone farewell and
promise to return and head to Dunmore. As we were approaching Bell the heavens
opened so we stopped at shop for lunch – with 20 other people. Our burgers were
great so we know why it is such a popular spot. All 6 dogs greeted us very
loudly at Redlands so we know we were missed. We spend the next week cleaning
the pool and getting the ph right with several trips to Pool shop in Dalby
thrown in. It is lovely and crystal clear and great to swim in when the
temperature is over 35*. We help out wherever needed and when Chris’s 2 poddy
calves are brought over to house yard and tied up near our van we get to be mum
and give them a bottle twice a day.
We get a storm nearly every afternoon which cools the air down and gives all the plants a drink. The calves were a bit miserable having to lie in water that night.
We get a storm nearly every afternoon which cools the air down and gives all the plants a drink. The calves were a bit miserable having to lie in water that night.
Chris & Doug go over to Warra and bring back 30+
chooks so now we have a collection of sussex, silkie cross and some yellow
chooks to feed and keep safe from Coco and Beau. My owl is coming on nicely and
has the background finished so I have to decide whether to do owl in same
stitch or reverse it as the feathers face down not up.
Saturday 6th has us up early to do IGA BBQ in
Pittsworth and it is a pleasant morning and not too busy so I get to chat to
Mim & Wilma before we join Dave & Jenny and Doug & Chris at the
Brick for lunch and have a very enjoyable time chatting to them for 2 hours.
It started raining on our way to Millmerran and rained all way back to Cecil Plains but we had only had 10 mls at the farm. Sunday has us replacing all rotten boards on pool deck but they didn’t get nailed down – why jobs can’t be finished I don’t know.
Tuesday night is Lions meeting so we join them for a business meeting we they discuss all the barbeques that have to be cooked over next few weeks, the YOTY quest and Garden Club’s request for help handing out brochures and mud maps. This is followed by their market day on 17th April. We should be able to help out on 2 occasions before we head to Sydney.
It started raining on our way to Millmerran and rained all way back to Cecil Plains but we had only had 10 mls at the farm. Sunday has us replacing all rotten boards on pool deck but they didn’t get nailed down – why jobs can’t be finished I don’t know.
Tuesday night is Lions meeting so we join them for a business meeting we they discuss all the barbeques that have to be cooked over next few weeks, the YOTY quest and Garden Club’s request for help handing out brochures and mud maps. This is followed by their market day on 17th April. We should be able to help out on 2 occasions before we head to Sydney.
Janet joins us for lunch at Angelos where we have a
lovely time chatting and catching up on her news. William and girls are moving
to T’mba so she will be able to help out more and not have to travel to Mt
Gambier so often. My Asian Chicken Salad was very moreish and J ordered a tasty
cheese burger with onion rings. Arriving home we start packing up in the cooler
air before joining Doug & Chris for farewell meal.
Our morning gets completely messed up when I turn on the
hot water pump and water flows out under the van. On inspection we find that a
fitting under the bed has split and once again everything is wet. The funniest
part was J getting stuck under the bed and unable to get out. I managed to get
struts undone but couldn’t get the one on my side out of bracket so had to find
Doug to get help. Of course I forgot to take a photo of the two of them trying
to get him out. Afterwards the bed is dismantled and we discover that if you
unscrew the top boards you can sit on mattress and work on problem. After
visiting several shops in CP and Dalby we finally managed to get a new part
that wasn’t the correct size but could be filed down!! I had to go to chemist
so we went across road to Coffee Bean Café for some lunch where we ordered a
burger and chilli wrap and then waited and waited and everyone around us got
served including the ones who came in after us. After 30 minutes J went to ask
and was told they forgot us!! And we would have to wait another 30 minutes so
we left and walked up street to Subway, ordered, ate and were on our way within
20 minutes. We won’t be back to Coffee Bean. Back at the farm it was a joint
effort to get part fitted and us packed away again. We have another joint meal
and bid Chris farewell again before bed. After breakfast with the dogs we bid
Doug farewell and head west through Tara to Condamine where we have lunch
beside the river which would have been lapping top of van during 2011 floods,
but today was a trickle over fish wall under bridge.
We arrived in Taroom late afternoon and found the caravan park closed. A quick reckie on phone found the Polocrosse grounds allowed campers so we camped among the paspallium for the night. The showers were very nice as we could stand and soak up the pleasure after 3 weeks of very short showers. The was a far bit of truck noise all night as we were near the Leichhardt highway and it would have been nicer if grass had been slashed so you could see where you were walking, so we decided to move on next morning and thought we would go into Glebe Weir and see what it was like. And it is lovely, the grass has been mown and there was one other camper van and some locals waterskiing, and only $7 night for a powered site. We set up camp facing water and get to listen to it crashing over the weir and some wonderful sunrise and sunsets.
We arrived in Taroom late afternoon and found the caravan park closed. A quick reckie on phone found the Polocrosse grounds allowed campers so we camped among the paspallium for the night. The showers were very nice as we could stand and soak up the pleasure after 3 weeks of very short showers. The was a far bit of truck noise all night as we were near the Leichhardt highway and it would have been nicer if grass had been slashed so you could see where you were walking, so we decided to move on next morning and thought we would go into Glebe Weir and see what it was like. And it is lovely, the grass has been mown and there was one other camper van and some locals waterskiing, and only $7 night for a powered site. We set up camp facing water and get to listen to it crashing over the weir and some wonderful sunrise and sunsets.
A local stops for a chat on Sunday and tells us
that the water level will rise soon as there has been heavy rain in Injune
where Dawson river starts, so hope we don’t get washed away. The couple in
camper go back to nearby farm where they work during the week and two more
caravans arrive. One couple are on their first day of grey nomading and the
other are from Shark Bay WA who are heading to Tasmania on ferry on 6th
March. They want to see Toowoomba, Warwick, New England H’way and Canberra on
way so it will be quick stops. They have 3 weeks in Tassie before having to
head home to work, but have the travel bug and will be saving to set out again. Tonight we see the moon just above the sunset which doesn't happen too often.
Tuesday has us on our own in van with air con on as the
temperature was over 30* by 9am and was heading for 40*. We get a call from friend
of Sandy and Peter in Nanango whose house sitter cancelled last night and who
needs someone to sit from 21/3 to 23/4. A call to Paul & Joy followed to
see if they were free then and we have a catch up with them and hope to see
them while we are in Childers as they are in Gladstone and heading to
Bundaberg.
