6 August, Tambo – We drove the 100km south to Tambo. Along the way, we were held up by a group of drovers pushing a large herd of more than a thousand cattle down the road. Traffic stopped in both directions and we were surrounded as they were pushed across the road. It was fantastic watching the skill of the stockmen, rounding up stragglers and nudging those that tried to take advantage of the lush grass on the side of the road. It took around 15 minutes to clear the herd to the point we could proceed but we were almost sorry. The droppings on the road showed the herd had been moved over a kilometre down the road.
We had looked forward to staying in the little town of Tambo ever since we saw an edition of ABCs Back Roads which featured the little community of 300. Besides the friendly and optimistic nature of the residents, the two things that attracted us were the Teddy Bear Shop and the Chook Races.
The Teddy Bear Shop was started up by a group of women at a time when wool prices were really depressed and they felt they needed to bring in some alternative income. Now, their fame has spread afar, and they make and sell a range of pure wool teddies, even receiving orders from overseas on occasion. They conduct teddy making classes where people can make their own. We only looked and admired, having disposed of large numbers of fluffy toys on the move out of Dowerin last year. We haven’t got the time to look after them anymore.
The Chook Races are the brainchild of Ben, the publican of the Royal Carrangarra Hotel. They have run since 2015, and every night between April and October, he does the same thing. He draws a good crowd every night, amazing since there are two hotels in such a small town. He runs 10 chooks, each a different colour (courtesy of food dye). Each one is auctioned off to the highest bidder. Ben has a wonderful spiel and is an entertaining auctioneer. At the end of the race, the owner of the winning chook receives half the total pot, the other half going to “Little Windmills”, a hospital based charity for children. The chooks are encouraged to do four laps of the circuit by chasing a remote control car carrying a pot of worms and mince. Some lose interest, some sit and wait for the last lap, run the wrong way and are disqualified. It is a real hoot. One guy bid successfully on three chooks, outlaying around $600, and not winning. The winner picked up over $700. Since its inception, the races have raised over $100,000 for charity.
Of course, after the races, most people stay on for a meal, so the hotel cashes in, We had barramundi, chips and salad and shared a good night with a couple from Brisbane. We even managed to walk back the kilometre to our free camp spot down by the river and find our van.
7 August, Augathella – Every day we seem to find a destination roughly 100km down the road. That is far enough for a day, conserving fuel and ensuring that we don’t get too far south into the rain belt too quickly. Augathella was listed as a town on the banks of the Warrego River with good fishing. Alas, that proved seasonal, with only a couple of small puddles left in the river bed. However, camping opportunities along the banks were numerous and we could easily walk into the little town.
The 1950s story “Smiley” was written in Augathella and apparently based on real people. They make much of the Chips Rafferty film and the library runs showings. It was closed when we were there so we had to miss out. So sad! We stopped at the butcher, and read that the same family had run the business continuously since the 1950s. We bought some chops.
The town’s motto is “Meat Ant Country”, a reference to the name of the local football team. It has gained traction, with a giant meat ant sculpture dominating a park. Other than that, Augathella proved an excellent place for an afternoon sleep.
8,9 August, Charleville – After the last couple of tiny towns, Charleville represents a regional centre, with a population of around 3000. We booked in to a caravan park, after an extended time off-grid camping. The Bailey Bar Caravan Park offered a camp oven stew with pudding and damper on Sunday nights so we settled for that. It proved to be an older park, in need of a revamp, but clean and functional.
The tourist guides sing the praises of the local bakery, the Heinnemans Bakery, with mouthwatering pies and top bread. We headed there, to have a treat, but were very disappointed to find a big crowd and almost all pies sold, and it wasn’t even midday. Our diets saved, we returned to the van to watch the football on TV.
We headed out to the Ward River to try fishing, failing with the first location because there was no water anywhere. This area has not had the rain that the country further north has had and it al has a dry appearance. Eventually, we found a good stretch of water where the Quilpie Road crosses the Ward River and enjoyed some good fishing, not landing anything but getting bites and losing a good fish close in.
The wind came up and blew very hard from the north so it would have been a great day to be driving south. Fortunately, it abated slightly as evening fell and so the camp oven and damper meal was not affected. About a dozen people took part and we enjoyed some really superb rich stewed beef with mashed potato and damper. For sweets, we were served up an amazing apple cake and custard. It was real bush cooking but very well done. The old owners have been doing this several times a week for thirty years and have become a bit of an institution. It was great food, good company and one of the warmer evenings we have experienced for ages.
Charleville is an unexciting place, after some of the town further north. It seems to shut down at noon on Saturday and even some of the tourist things were closed for the weekend. It didn’t worry us too much because we are just about over going to museums and outback displays.
10 August, Warrego River – We spent the day at a small campsite on the Warrego River. The river was low, with some algae outbreaks, and we caught nothing at all. Still, the solitude was great, with no other people camped near us and only a couple of other cars sighted during the day.
11,12 August, Wyandra – After a huge drive of around 60kms, we reached the tiny town of Wyandra, with a reported population of 75. Amazingly, it also has a school, with a listed 4 pupils, and a police station. The Post Office/General Store/ Caravan Park is the quirkiest we have yet struck. We simply had to stay for a couple of days, particularly with the Warrego River offering some bait wasting opportunities.
The check-in to the caravan park took quite a while, because the shop staff were so busy with a big line of travellers who had stopped to sample the famed Devonshire Teas. The poor kitchen staff were going flat out. We were shown our spot in the park. We were between two fenced sites, catering for dogs off leash, a first for us. The ablutions are straight out of an outback movie, corrugated iron with lots of built in air-conditioning. All around the park and out the front of the shop are pieces of bric-a-brac, along with old pieces of machinery, and signs about everything, mostly humorous.
In one corner of the property, there is a wooden structure that serves as a bar area, and a big communal fire pit. The bar opens at 5pm and the system is simple, write your name and drinks on a slate, serve yourself, and settle up in the morning. The same goes for food. Menus are passed around over drinks and payment is made the next day. It is all like a big honour system. It is a very social place.
We tried fishing on the Warrego River a couple of times, catching a nice Eel Tailed Catfish on one day and nothing but an unlucky turtle the next.
From here, our next stop will be across the border in NSW, marking the end of the Matilda Way. It has been a huge learning experience for us, and, despite teaching kids about the importance of the huge inland river systems and the Great Artesian Basin, it is impossible to fully appreciate the significance of both until you experience it. There is not only a significant population living from the bounties the land offers, there is a distinct culture in outback Queensland, that has much to admire. People are so friendly and so proud of their towns. We will miss it.
20 July, South of Mt Garnet – It was almost sad to leave the little caravan park at Mt Carbine. The manager was so friendly and helpful in storing our van and keeping food cold for us. We were on the road by 9am and headed south, officially the start of the long slow trip home to Perth. Our drive took us through Mt Molloy, a very pretty little place with quaint buildings and a beautiful tree lined main street.
We had planned to fill with water at Mareeba, but the line of caravans was long and we estimated about an hour’s wait, so we pushed on to Atherton, finding a RV friendly tap in Tolga. The traffic around Mareeba and Atherton can be quite heavy and we were happy to get on the other side of these towns and headed towards Ravenshoe. The road between Atherton and Ravenshoe is extremely winding with terrifying drop offs on one side of the narrow road. Christine had drawn the short straw and the drive exhausted her, while I got to appreciate the amazing views. At one point, we passed over the highest road in Queensland.
Ravenshoe is a very beautiful rural town, once an important timber town. The main trees sought were red cedar and silky oak. A sign at a memorial to the trade proudly proclaimed that timber from Ravenshoe was used to create the speaker’s chair in the UK House of Parliament. A more modern standout is the bakery, which has an adjoining large outdoor seating area. It was well patronised and we only just resisted temptation.
Another incredible attraction was the caravan park, surely one of the quirkiest in the country. It is run by volunteers from the local steam train preservation society and is spread around the old train station and marshalling yards. There are lots of carriages, a whole steam train in working order and beautiful passenger carriages. All this and right in the middle of town. All proceeds go to the train maintenance fund. We were very tempted to stay, but we had nit really gone far enough for the day, so after a good walk and appreciation of the town, we continued south.
We passed through Mt Garnet and further on, stopped at a road side stop at the junction of the Kennedy Hwy and the Savanna Way for the night. By sundown, the gravel pit we were camped in was full of vans.
21 July, Hughenden – We had a 340km drive along the Kennedy Development Road. All bar 10km was sealed and generally in good condition. Around Lyndhurst Station, a couple of creeks flowed strongly across the road, not deep enough to worry us, but a big enough flow to require caution. At one of them, a motor cyclist had come off his bike in the river and drowned it. Fortunately, there was another caravan there and the couple were going to give him some assistance.
Nearing Hughenden, we stopped at Porcupine Gorge, a very large and spectacular gorge viewed from the top. What makes it really interesting is that there are three distinct layers to the gorge. The top layer is mostly basalt; the surrounding area being composed of relatively recent volcanic layers. As the river carved out the gorge, it eroded through two old sandstone layers being past river layers.
At Hughenden, we were lucky to bag a spot in the large free RV camp on the edge of town. Tourism numbers are starting to pick up as we go south. Talking to others, it might be necessary to start booking ahead as we go, something we don’t want to do, but may have no choice.
Hughenden is a neat little town with some buildings with character. It has a genuine “outback” feel about it. I loved the idea of covered parking in the middle of the street, very useful with summer temperatures often exceeding 40 degrees. Hughenden is also the start of the dinosaur country, many large fossil deposits having been discovered in the triangle of Hughenden, Longreach and Winton.
We enjoyed evening drinks and a chat with two other couple from the Riverina around Wagga Wagga.
22 July, Winton – We anticipated an early arrival in Winton, with a drive of only 217km. However, we did not anticipate the state of the road. Instead of hopping along at 90km/hr on a flat relatively straight road, we were reduced to 65-75km/hr because of the lumpy nature of the road. The surface itself was not too bad, it was the fact that the road was just a bitumen surface laid on top of the underlying soil, with no raised base to provide some stability. The surrounding country is mostly black soil plains, which moves as moisture content changes. The road was really bad.
There are only two towns between Hughenden and Winton, Stamford and Corfield. Neither had anything of interest about them. The thought of living out there was quite off-putting.
On approach from the north, Winton also appeared to be a very ugly place, with transport equipment and light engineering works scattered around fields of junk. However, the town itself is quite a picture, especially the main street, with some lovely old hotels and an old general store said to be the best preserved building of its type in Australia. The huge “Waltzing Matilda Centre” dominates, with its modern rammed earth structure.
We were still early enough to secure a spot in the Tattersall’s Hotel Caravan Park, a small but very convenient park right in the middle of town, with most sights within easy walking (not to mention a good pub across the road).
Once settled in, we walked down the main street, taking in the ambiance. Anywhere but the main street, Winton can only be described as ugly. The main street is one of the best rural streetscapes we have come across. It is busy, has some lovely old buildings and simply drips history. It is one of two towns to still have an open air theatre (Broome is the other one). During the day, you can just walk in and soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the museum depicting the past glories of the silver screen.
We visited the Waltzing Matilda Centre, a magnificent modern building, the old one burning down in 2015. The centre is mainly dedicated to Banjo Patterson’s Waltzing Matilda, written at a station nearby and first performed at the North Gregory Hotel in Winton. It is hard to imagine how a large museum can devote itself to a single song, yet it succeeds. The outside parts of the exhibition are devoted to Winton’s past and has some wonderful displays of materials and tools of times past. We loved the experience and spent a lot of time soaking up the extremely informative background notes. Christine was particularly taken with one exhibit that let her be a disc jockey, playing different versions of Waltzing Matilda spread across a very wide set of genres, from marching bands to rock music. It was interesting to see that Patterson himself was paid the princely sum of £5 for the lyrics, a fact he reflected on when departing Australia as a war correspondent to the Boer War and the troops were all singing Waltzing Matilda as they departed. It was a long visit, but incredibly rewarding.
Wandering back along the street, we felt compelled to sample the offerings at the Tattersalls Hotel, sharing stores and experiences with another couple who had spent time working in Port Headland and were now travelling. They too had suffered the horrors of the road from Hughenden.
23 July, Winton – In the morning, we drove the 24km out to the “Age of Dinosaurs” Centre. The Winton area contains the most important dinosaur fossils in Australia, both skeletons and footprints. The centre has been set up to record and display the discoveries. It is set along a long broken ridge called a jumpup, and the buildings have been specially designed to fit in with the landscape. Much use of rammed earth has been made.
The first tour was through a large exhibit which showed an ancient river edge that had been covered and fossilised, retaining a wide variety of footprints, including those of some huge sauropods and some tiny carnivorous creatures little bigger than chickens. There were also turtle tracks and crocodile claw marks. The whole 100m long slab of rock had been lifted from a creek in the area and relocated to the centre, removing it from harm and degradation from the elements.
Following that, we headed down the canyon walk, along a steel boardwalk and following the edge of the ridge. There were a lot of sculptures depicting the dinosaurs that have been found in the area, and the cycads and conifers that still exist today from Cretaceous times could be seen growing. It was very well done. Who doesn’t love dinosaurs?
We dropped back to the van for lunch before heading out to fuel up and check out the Musical Fence, a display of musical instruments constructed from junk. I displayed my total lack of drumming skills and made a couple of dull resonating sounds using the wire fence. After a bit of shopping, we dropped the car back and walked the main street agin, checking out Arno’s Wall. Arno was a local character who built a long stone wall filled with junk treasures from the town tip. It draws a lot of tourists and is a great piece of quirky fun. Then we picked up a shrimp trap for catching some prawns to use as bait in the river systems here and further south.
After a bit of a nap, we headed out to try the fishing. The closest hot spot was the Long Pool, on the Western River system. We were shocked at just how many people were camped out there, only a few kilometres out of town. It was so crowded, I started to wonder if we would find a spot with river access. When we did get to the water, we found lots of signs posted saying the water was contaminated and fishing was banned. The cause of the contamination was campers emptying toilets into the water. How sick. The whole “off-grid” camping thing is going too far at times.
We drove out a little further to Mistake Creek. There were a few camped there, but no contamination warnings. I managed a few small prawns in the trap and one good bite, but no fish. Nothing’s changed.
We have loved our time in Winton. It would be easy to stay on, but Longreach calls.
25-30 July, Longreach – Our developing issues with coolant loss from the radiator needed addressing. It was obvious that it was leaking from the heater system behind the dash because the passenger side carpet was getting quite wet. We had not noticed this for some time because it is covered with a heavy rubber mat. We booked it in to Longreach Motors for analysis. The result was not good, there were quite a few issues with the cooling system, and they needed addressing for the long trip home. Time was going to be an issue, because sourcing the parts may well take a week. Therefore, we committed to staying in the Longreach area for a week or maybe more, travelling no more than 100km out to Barcaldine and making use of some of the bush camps around while we waited. Later, after receiving a ridiculous quote of $5,000 to $10,000, we went to Hain Motors for a second opinion. They had similar time constraints but were great to work with and laughed at the quote from Longreach Motors. In the end, they fixed the issue to the point where they were very confident of us travelling back to Perth and eventually getting more done. The only thing will be we won’t have a heater on the way home. The bill was $300, a far cry from Longreach Motors.
We took advantage of our time here to soak up some of the tourist offerings, Longreach being one of Queensland’s premier destinations.
Stockman’s Hall of Fame – this outstanding facility is on the edge of town and consists of three parts, a film providing historical background to the stockman’s work, a museum display and a live performance. The film was both informative and entertaining. For the museum, we each received a lanyard and receiver with headphones. As we moved around the displays, the unit detected where we were and provided the appropriate commentary. There were a lot of personal stories from local identities. The display covered the life of the stockmen and women, the rural life of the district, the RFDS and the social life of the region. A leather worker had a display making an Australian stock whip, a unique design that incorporates a handle, or “stock”. Hence the name.
The highlight was the live display. The presenter and his wife worked us through the features of good stock horses and pack horses. The bond between him and his horses was very clear to see and the extent of trust from the horses was illustrated when he sent his stock whip cracking within a few inches of their ears and they didn’t flinch at all. He had some wonderful working dogs and the way they worked a small flock of sheep in a very confined space was amazing. The blend of information and humour that was woven through the show made it an outstanding performance.
Silver-Tails Rail Sunset – We booked a sunset rail trip on a pair of 50 year old diesel rail cars. After a welcoming champagne, we set off back on the line towards Winton, receiving an interesting commentary about the enormous Thompson River floodplain, which only a few months earlier this year had been nearly 10 kms wide and covering all the rail line and bridges. With the evening approaching, the wildlife was out and about. The emus were numerous, but the kangaroos were in plague proportions. It was fascinating to have kangaroos bounding alongside the train at a matching speed and watch the powerful legs work away.
We each received a golden tray with three amazing canapes, to keep us happy along the way. At the Darr River, about 25km out from Longreach, the train changed direction to run back. A very talented guitarist and vocalist entertained us as we rattled our way back to civilization, the setting sun creating some postcard scenery as we crossed rivers and billabongs. It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours.
Fishing on the Thompson River – Bill and Mary had managed to hire a pontoon boat equipped for fishing on the Thompson River, just out of town. We had both tried fishing from the shore, Bill catching a lovely 50cm yellow belly, but I, as usual, caught nothing. The pontoon boat was well set up with a BBQ and fridge, so we made a picnic day of it, taking some steak and sausages. It was a wonderful afternoon, the river so peaceful and calm, the temperature ideal and the fishing at least productive. I was lucky this time, catching a yellow belly, two sleepy cod and a small sooty grunter. Unfortunately, the others missed out. We watched the paddle steamer ply the river, loaded up with tourists, all waving and probably wishing they were fishing instead of listening to the commentry. The owner of the pontoon is going to buy a couple of dinghys to hire out, after a lot of interest. At $150 for 6 hours, I think his pontoon boat is a bit cheap, especially as it is licenced for 6.
Longreach Streetscape – The town is bigger than Winton but with an equally interesting streetscape. It is so good to walk the main street and pass a saddler, dropping in to absorb the beautiful smell of new leather. There is often the clip-clop sound of horses, as Cobb and Co coaches ply the streets. Longreach was a major centre for both passenger trade and freight, prior to the coming of the rail line. There are a couple of shops specializing in station clothing, with some amazing fleece lined checked shirts on display. The Merino Bakery is a famous drawcard, which we somehow managed to avoid succumbing to, other than a packet of bread rolls.
QANTAS Founders Museum – Despite Winton being the place where the first Board of QANTAS met, the hub of the early company was Longreach, flying south to Charleville and north-west to Katherine. The museum on the outskirts of town looks impressive, but we decided we had spent enough on attractions, and we are rather “museumed out”. We gave it a miss.
30-31 July, Barcaldine – It was a simple 107km drive east from Longreach to Barcaldine. The road was mostly good, except for the last 20km, where the dreaded wavy surface returned. The only town along the way was Ilfracombe, a small town whose main attraction is the famous Lynn Cameron Machinery Mile, a remarkable collection of over 170 pieces of vintage machinery lining one side of the road for a mile. There are early graders, rollers, diggers, ploughs, balers, trucks, workshop tools and a 1917 Ruston Proctor Tractor. It is quite a sight and makes a lot of caravanners stop in the town.
Barcaldine is remembered as the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party, formed as an outcome of the great Shearers Strike of 1891. The shearers camped nearby and met under a ghost gum in the main street to plan their campaign. The tree became known as “The Tree of Knowledge”. Unfortunately, some unknown person poisoned the tree in 2006. The dead remains have been treated and preserved, housed in a huge “sculpture” of timber canopy. A direct descendant, named the “Young-Un” was propagated from the tree before its poisoning and grows in the grounds of the Australian Workers Heritage Centre in the main street.
The streetscape is the equal of Winton and Longreach, with four old hotels showcasing things. Historical plaques reveal that most were burnt down between 1890 and 1930, something we found to be common in the outback rural towns. It is probably due to the use of kerosene lamps and candles, as well as dodgy electrical wiring.
We did little other than walk the streets and read the large volume of signage describing the historical buildings or sights. Bill and Mary came to us for lunch, on their way back to Longreach from Shandonvale Station Stay. They had had an amazing time and we were sorry that we hadn’t joined them at what appears to be an outstanding place to visit. It being the end of their trip, they gave us their left over food, filling our larder to the point we had to start up the car fridge to cope. Even better, they left us with a big bag of cooked red claw crayfish. They were prolific in the river at Shandonvale.
1-2 August, Lloyd Jones Weir – We relocated to a weir on the Alice River, a tributary of the Barcoo. This is a donation camp, although there was no donation box when we were there. The toilets are amazing, the equal of many ablutions on paid caravan parks, with flush toilets and running water basins. No wonder the place is often packed out. We managed a good spot which gave a good combination of sunshine for the solar panels and shade for comfort. It is a nice place to chill out, fish in the river (nothing caught but wonderful atmosphere) and watch the weekend football matches that we cared about. We need to do more of this, travel slowly and sit more. It is still too cold to head too far south.
3-5 August, Blackall – The road south to Blackall was beautiful, one of the best in Qld, for half the 107km, then the lumpy, bumpy and wavy stuff returned. We pulled in to Blackall and headed for the $10 a night camp along the edge of the Barcoo River. This is a wonderful camp, with numerous potable water taps around, toilets and a dump point across the road and an easy walk into the main street. We parked up near a beautiful sculputre of a wedge tailed eagle on its nest.
Blackall is famous for being the home of the “Black Stump”. Not always black, the stump was used as a major surveying mark during the big mapping of outback Qld in the 1870s. It was not black originally, but got that name after a bush fire. These days, the black stump has been “petrified”, preserved as a Bicentennial project.
It also played a part in the formation of the Australian Labor Party, with the first workers union being established here during the Great Shearers Strike.
The abundant warm artesian water means that the town has a spa and swimming pool. This one is a beauty, a full 50 metre pool with lap swimming, a sloping beach entry, two spars with bubbles, and a range of temperatures to suit all preferences. It has to be cooled from the 56 degrees that comes out of the ground to a toasty warm 38 degrees. We lazed around, swapped yarns with the many other travellers in the pool, and partook of the best icecreams in the country, fantastic huge cone servings chosen from a large flavour choice all for $3 a serve. Blackall is worth visiting just for the spa.
There is an amazing museum called Ram Park. Besides the usual collection of old things, they have assembled some wonderful buildings from around the region, the railway station and school from old Yalleroi, a station homestead and the old Blackall Rail station. There was some incredible stuff to see, but the highlight was the old curator, Stuart. We weren’t sure how old he was but his body certainly displayed the rigours of a life in the saddle. He has made sure that a great deal of the exhibits still work, ancient old engines that still start, pumps that can push out volumes of water, and wagons that could still cart freight. Stuart’s commentary was not for the faint hearted. It was so politically incorrect it was wonderful. He sniped at people for not keeping up, he referred to older women as the CWA brigade, he rubbished any guy with a grey beard. It was fun, but also the most informative thing we have experienced on our travels.
An old rail car ambulance, which serviced the district for many years.
From 1906 to 1978, Blackall had a wool scour works 4kms out of town. Part of the attraction of Blackall for the location was the 56 degree artesian water, a perfect temperature for washing wool. Its closure, not only did it represent a loss of employment, but it also was a significant loss of history. A group of locals set about restoring the old works and getting it back to a working museum. The steam boilers still work, and are cranked up a couple of times a week. The old single cylinder steam engine still works, and is the same make and model as those we saw in London’s Tower Bridge. It is the only steam powered wool scour left in the Southern Hemisphere.
The mechanical ingenuity of the process line, which takes the wool and cleans it of vegetable matter, impurities and excess lanolin, is a sight to behold. It has over a kilometre of belt to drive all the machines. However, the thought of being a worker here in the 40 degree heat of summer is just crazy in today’s terms.
With little real optimism, we went out to the 5 Mile Pool on the Barcoo River to do a spot of fishing. It was very slow, and I only used 3 prawns for bait, losing one of those on a snag. However, I did catch a 32cm yellow belly, big enough to give us a couple of fillets for tea. Despite the slow action fishing wise, the setting was very pretty and relaxing.
From Blackall, we commence our journey south, technically on the way back home, but not in any hurry. We leave behind the rivers of the channel country, that all drain into Lake Eyre and vever actually reach the sea, to return to the Murray-Darling drainage system. The wonderful inland river systems of the Eastern States are sadly missed in Western Australia and have contributed so much to the character of what outback Queensland is today and has been in the past.
30 June- July 2, Townsville – With a need for a few replacement caravan parts, we drove from Charters Towers to Townsville. We played the watching game with the fuel levels, having decided that we had enough fuel to get there, but forgetting that the sub-tank only had 20 litres in it. When we realised, we thought we could get a bit at the Burdekin Duck Roadhouse, but it was under renovation. As it was, we had no issues, but I always like to be over-confident.
The Flinders Hwy was a far cry from the rubbish roads of the Inland Way, smooth, and, in our case, mostly down hill. The traffic was heavy but there were regular passing lanes.
Once in Townsville, we parked up in the Townsville Gateway Caravan Park and after refusing to stay next to a guy that had spread over on to our site and let his dog crap everywhere, we settled in under a huge mango tree.
After lunch, we set off to find some parts for the caravan. Mysteriously, the inside of the door handle had snapped last night as I was closing it. If we didn’t have tools in the van, we would have been trapped inside. Luckily, a pair of grip pliers did the job. The other part we needed was a new base for the table, the bad roads almost sheering ours off at the clamp. We drove across Townsville to where most of the caravan parts places were. The first one had the handle we needed, but not the base, and the second just shook their heads. A bit of Googling revealed a small job welding firm just around the corner. We tried that, and the guy gave it to a worker, handed it back about five minutes later better and stronger than ever. He didn’t want any money. If we were carrying cash we would have forced a donation to the staff Friday drinks but that doesn’t work with a card. Once back at the van, I fitted the table in ten minutes and the next hour or so was spent figuring out how to fit the handle. We eventually succeeded after much Youtube watching.
Townsville is now a city of around 200,000, grown from the 130,000 when we were last here in 1990. The infrastructure has grown with it and the traffic is quite manageable with some well considered motor-ways and by-passes keeping the heavy trucks out of a lot of areas. In 1990, there was the one high rise hotel, now there are many multi-storey buildings dotted around the CBD and a magnificent huge sports stadium. One section of town was getting ready to host the V8 Supercars in a week or so and we drove past the tracks and temporary stands being erected. However, the essential tropical town character remains with the beautiful old colonial stone buildings complementing the new.
We spent a day on Magnetic Island, only about 8kms off the coast. It is Townsville’s Rottnest, except we enjoyed it a lot more than we like a day trip to Rotto. For a start, the return high speed ferry set us back $28, rather than nearly $100 for Rottnest. Once there, you can use the bus system to get around the island for an all day payment of $1, or 50c each trip. The food outlets were free enterprise, and not monopolised by a board as it is on Rottnest, so food options were plentiful and well priced. The ambience of the place is “laid back” in the extreme, even in the middle of school holidays. The buses were crowded, but no one pushed or complained.
We bussed over from Nellie Bay to the beautiful Horseshoe Bay. As a developed beach, it is easy to compare it to others in SE Asia or Sri Lanka. It looked similar, with enormous strangler figs and pandanus palms lining the beach. But the comparison stopped there. No hard sell beach lounges, no trinket sellers parading up and down, no massage offers. Just families swimming inside the net-protected beach area with life guards on watch and others sitting in the myriad sidewalk eateries. We loved it. The water temperature of 22 degrees didn’t temp us, but we were happy to watch, and indulge in some of the best fish and chips for many years. Picnic Bay was much the same, with families fishing off the jetty, surf life saving classes going on practicing sea rescues with inflatable boats, and people just chilling out. Magnetic Island is a winner for us. We might have to come back for a stay.
A walk around the historic old part of the Townsville was very picturesque, with the famous “Strand” having a number of very grand colonial buildings and the lush green Anzac Park opposite. The Museum of Tropical Queensland was a bit underwhelming, despite the imposing structure on the edge of the wharf area. The most interesting exhibit is devoted to the wreck of the Pandora, the British frigate that was sent to the South Pacific to capture the mutineers from the Bounty. They only ever caught a few, before hitting a reef in the Torres Straits. Much 18th Century naval material has been retrieved, along with a vast collection of stone weapons and artifacts from Tahiti, expanding knowledge of that culture as well. In the main foyer of the museum, the bow of the ship has been erected in full size and the deck plan laid out on the carpet, giving the idea of the size and scope of the ship. The rest of the museum was largely a sad collection of dead animals.
3 July, Halifax – Queensland’s Bruce Hwy has a terrible reputation and soaks up a big part of the budget. However, after the rigours of the inland route, we found it a real luxury. With numerous passing lanes and pull-over sections, we had a stress-free drive, despite heavy traffic. Our trip took us through Ingham, a reasonably large place and certainly very busy. Sugar cane is king around here and the land is filled with light rail tracks to service the little cane trains that seem to run everywhere. Most of the cane fields are in full bloom at present, with long fluffy stalks of fine flowers. It is quite a sight.
About 130kms north of Townsville, we pulled off on the road to Lucinda and stopped at the little town of Halifax on the Herbert River. Here, the town has established a free park, asking for shopping or donation in the town. We had to select a site carefully, because some parts were still boggy after the last rains.
We strolled around the town and made a couple of purchases at the SPA Supermarket. The town has two pubs, one did not appear to operate. The other was very new inside, suggesting renovations. A very noisy group was enjoying a few drinks on the footpath outside. Next to the pub was a cosy looking little place decorated with music memorabilia and having a small band area in one corner. Outside, a caravan sold snack like take-aways. It all looked quite inviting.
After lunch we had yet another lie down, resulting in a deep sleep. On waking, we found we had neighbours all around us, some quite close. They proved to be Queenslanders making their annual pilgrimage to the Cape area, having family in Weipa. They gave us lots of good tips about the journey north.
The lady from the snack-food caravan came down and did the rounds of the campers, spruiking her place for dinner. We decided to have a beer at the pub and follow it up with something “bad” from the caravan. We’d give the promised karaoke a miss though. At the pub, we learnt that the renovation was down to a big flood in February 2025. The water had come through the pub about half a metre deep and stayed for 15 days, soaking up through the clay brick walls. After a long fight with an insurance company, the renovations are well underway. We enjoyed a very pleasant couple of drinks with a NSW couple. Meanwhile, the noisy group from the afternoon were still at it, the birthday boy looking well under the weather.
The snack-food van was excellent and we destroyed our diet and still had a box of chips to take home. It was all in the name of supporting local business.
4-5 July, Hull Heads – Another 110km hop north along the coast took us through Cardwell, a lovely beachside town at the northern end of the Hinchinbrook Channel. Then we turned off the Bruce Hwy again and drove out to Hull Heads, at the mouth of the Hull River. There is no town as such, just a collection of houses and a volunteer coast guard base. They run a campground to raise funds and we settled in to a very beautiful site. Preparations were underway at the coast guard base for a big party, to celebrate and commission a new patrol boat. A crowd of 200 or so was expected and so we anticipated a noisy night, but things were over quite early and all very civilised.
As usual, the fishing, normally very good, was proving quiet. I added my name to the list of people who fished without success. In fact, the only thing I saw caught in the two days was a small spotted sting ray. The scenery almost made up for the lack of bites. The river, the mountains covered in forest and the islands offshore, including Dunk Island, made for a beautiful location. The second day was wet, with rain most of the morning, yet it was still warm and very pleasant.
6-7 July, Atherton – We drove a few kilometres into Tully, past a huge sugar refinery belching steam and smoke into the air. Bananas were also in abundance as well as a few herds of cattle. Before Innisfail, we turned inland along the South Johnstone Road to begin the climb up into the mountains of the Great Divide.
Progress was fine for a while and we reached the Mamu Rainforest Skywalk. This beautiful area of rainforest has a long, raised metal walk platform that gives access to the forest canopy, as well as a cantilevered viewing platform providing amazing views of Mt Bartle Frere, Qld’s highest. Hundreds of metres below, the North Johnstone River hammered through the gorge. At the end of the walk is a high tower that gives more amazing views out across the rainforest covered slopes. The walking trails are through incredible forest, with giant staghorn and birds nest ferns hanging off moss covered trees. The tree ferns reached enormous heights. Cassowaries had been seen in the area recently and one couple ahead of us reported a sighting, but we missed out and the iconic bird remains on our “never seen” list. It was a spectacular walk.
After Mamu, the road seemed to head upwards for a very long way. I started to think the climb would never stop, but then we went down for a couple of kilometres, which was a bad thing because it simply meant we had to climb up again. Finally, after much heavy work, we reached the Atherton Tableland, and, while far from flat, at least gave some relief to the really big hill climbs.
We settled in to a caravan park on the edge of the town. We used our stay in the caravan park to do the washing, fill a gas tank and stock up ready for the push up to Cape York. There were a few interesting sights on offer around the district, but these were left unvisited as steady persistent rain settled in. It rained through the night and all the next day. Atherton itself held little appeal, with dull and untidy streetscapes and terrible traffic, with attendant parking problems.
8-9 July, Mt Carbine – With the rain continuing, we headed off to drive north, and hopefully, into dryer conditions. The traffic was very heavy, mostly coming towards us, but still creating issues for those who wanted to pass us. By Mareeba, both the traffic and the rain had eased considerably and we started to relax and enjoy the scenery. The western edge of the Great Divide was on the right, with just a few isolated mountains to the left. When we dropped down off the Atherton Tablelands, the country became drier, with areas of open woodlands and dry grass dominating.
We stopped for morning tea at the Rifle Creek Rest Area, just north of Mount Molloy. This beautiful overnight rest area was nearly full of caravans and camper vans, with a few Jucy Vans as well. It was very popular, and no wonder, because it had hot showers and lots of good shade. Christine admired the large number of young men who were too “hot” to wear a shirt.
Our final stop for the day was Mt Carbine Caravan Park. This place had rave reviews and offered free storage of caravans for those people heading to the Cape. It is a charming place, spread over such a big area that you are not all pushed together, as in some places. Mt Carbine’ s reason for existence is a tungsten mine, currently operating with the new importance of rare earths in the World economy. The first mine was established around the time that the horse Carbine won the first Melbourne Cup, and the miners felt it would bring luck to use the name. Over the years, it has opened and close many times.
We used our time in Mt Carbine to prepare the car for travel to the Cape without the van. Everything needs to be questioned. We don’t fight about things, but I keep the pressure on.
10 July, Musgrave River – The road north was excellent, mostly across the Mt Carbine Tablelands before descending from the Great Divide for a while and through the plains of Lakelands and on to Laura. The drive was easy and we relished the chance to open up a bit without the van following along behind. The fuel economy was a delight (well that’s relative because it’s a Land Cruiser) and fuel prices remained sensible.
Not far out of Laura, we stopped at Split Rock, the site of a rock art gallery. It was only a 300 metre walk to the overhang, but that was up a steep incline, with stones as steps. Fortunately, the worst of it had a handrail, or I would have had to go on my own.
The gallery was quite good, but we have been spoilt a bit from living in the Kimberley, where some of the Wandjina galleries are truly spectacular. On the way up, we passed a group of around twenty coming down. They were part of a “tag-along” group where everyone drove their own vehicle under the supervision of a guide. We were to see them often along the way. Keeping everyone happy would be a huge job.
We had lunch under a mango tree (avoiding the parts housing a fruit bat colony) and chatted to a few of the tour group. “He goes too slow and keeps stopping for morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea etc”.
We pushed on to the Musgrave River Roadhouse to camp for the night. By this stage, we had had a few sections of unsealed road, but they were freshly graded and very smooth. Just before the roadhouse, we passed an incident that had police and ambulance in attendance. Later, we watch the RFDS helicopter land to upload a motor bike rider that had suffered some bad luck. There are a surprising number of people headed to the top on bikes, including one cyclist. You have to be tough.
Our camp set up went smoothly and proved comfortable, although a tad cold, as we are tropical but still well inland. After a beer at the bar, we headed back to our camp to watch the display nearby when the proprietor fed a group of eight freshwater crocodiles. He laid strips of meat across a piece of poly pipe to hand it out. If any got too close to him, he gave them a little tap with the pipe and they slid back.
11 July, Bramwell Station – We covered about 250km through the town of Coen to lunch at Archer River Roadhouse. By now, there was more unsealed than sealed sections, but all the roads were excellent. The traffic was quite heavy, with caravans making up about a third of the travellers. Although people are saying taking a van to the “top” these days is easy, they still suffer little bits of damage and certainly fill with dust, despite whatever systems people use. We were happy with our decision to leave the van behind.
Bramwell Station is a very successful tourist operation. The bar/restaurant does a set three course dinner every night for $45 and all 100 seats are regularly booked out. They provide some commentary and live music as well and so it is very popular with the tour groups. We stayed for a couple of drinks and chatted to a couple of girls who had been on the road since last September. We swapped lots of similar experiences and really enjoyed the evening. We headed home for a rather late dinner.
12 July, Alau Beach, Cape York – From Bramwell, we had two choices, straight ahead up the Old Telegraph Track (OTT) or head in a big eastwards arc up into the Great Divide and down again to reach the Jardine River Ferry crossing. It was actually a “no choice” decision. We looked at the OTT and it was barely the width of the car. Along its route were some horrific creek and river crossings. We are too old for that sort of thing, and so we set off along the Bamaga Road. The days of the graded roads were behind now, we saw no more in the way of road works and the corrugations gave us a beating in places.
The vegetation varied between open woodlands with towering eucalypts, to low scrubby heathland and the occasional patch of dense rainforest. There was everything and it was very beautiful. We reached the Jardine River Ferry at 12:10, to find they had shut down for lunch. No guide book or other information mentioned that, and no one else seemed to know about it either. At least we were first in line, a good thing because at 1:15 when they reopened, the line behind us was huge.
Across the river, a beautiful new road was being made, but we weren’t allowed on that, and smashed our way along the detour. Eventually, we reached a big bitumen highway for the last few kilometres into Bamaga. We had no bookings or firm ideas. The most popular place is Punsand Bay, closer to the tip, but it books out way in advance and we did not want to commit. We went to the supermarket and were shocked at how well stocked and relatively cheap things were, having had experience of remote communities that Elon Musk would battle to shop in. This one lacked for nothing, and there were more in some of the communities scattered around the Cape.
We researched what was available and drove out about 7kms to the little community of Umagico and Alao Beach. One look and we were happy, lovely grassed sites, a sand beach with rock outcrops, water taps and basic old, but clean, ablutions. A bonus was a swimming pool. The people were friendly and so we booked in for a couple of nights.
Once set up, we were bushed, so lay down for a kip. Just as we did so, the five family group next to us arrived home and their kids hit the pool. The noise was pretty bad. I can handle kids having fun, but I hate the ones that scream at every interaction. They had three of those kind. To be fair, the noise subsided around 7:30, but only because they had all gone for a walk. When they came back, most of the kids went to bed, but a few remained to keep going for another hour. They were normal enough people, there was just so many of them.
13 July, Alau Beach – The plan for the day was to get to the “Tip”, for a photograph with the old sign that proclaims the end of the continent. After all, it is the whole reason for coming up.
We drove along the coast to Seisia and then on through Bamaga to the Croc Hut, a famous outlet for Cape York merchandise. We bought a couple of shirts and a magnet. We are not usually too big on the tourist stuff but we needed something for the “photo shoot”. The next 20kms or so to the very top were mostly single land track through very dense rain forest. It was the heaviest forest I have seen in Australia, or anywhere for that matter. There were huge trees, vines, thick understorey and the occasional beautiful butterfly, including the famed brilliant blue Ulysses Butterfly.
At the end of the track was a car park with a beautiful coconut palm lined beach. The lady at the Croc Hut had told us we would have a bit of a walk over the rocks. Nothing looked obvious and there were no signs. We asked one guy who was making himself a coffee at the back of his car and he told us it was too late tide wise to walk around the beach the 400m to the tip, we would have to go up and over the rock outcrop. Out came the hiking sticks and we set off on yet another brutal climb. Several times we wondered whether we would make it. The upside was that the views were spectacular, especially from the cairn at the top that showed were 3526km from Perth. Encouraged by another group that said they had come along the beach behind the mangroves, we pushed on down the rock to finally reach the “tip”. We had our photos taken, took some for another group and set off to find the secret back way behind the mangroves. It was a 400m mostly flat track with a few small rocks. Bugger!
By the time we had driven home to camp we were wrecked, skipped the pool and crashed. Even after a kip, we were still zonked so we had another lie down to fully recover. We must be getting old. Still, we had done it! Reached Cape York.
14 July, Thursday Island – It was an early rise to have breakfast, drive 15 minutes to Seisia Wharf and catch the ferry to Thursday Island. We had purchased a round trip and bus tour package at $105 each. The ferry trip was on board a large and comfortable catamaran that hopped along at a good 18 knots. The Torres Strait contains over 270 islands, of which a mere 17 are inhabited. Thursday Island has a long history as a key administrative centre for the region, providing defence support, quarantine and customs facilities. Once the home of a thriving pearl industry, the island now acts as a service hub for the whole tip region and the islands beyond.
The ferry trip was interesting, the boat having to negotiate a series of narrow channels to reach TI, which is nestled in between a number of much larger islands. TI was chosen as the centre because it has a good deep water harbour. However, there is not enough room for an air strip, that being on nearby Horn Island.
We had a couple of hours to wait for our bus tour, so we did a slow walk along the foreshore, stopping at a lovely foreshore café for a coffee, which proved to be exceptionally good. There were a lot of disused buildings in evidence, but otherwise, the main street looked prosperous. We had both expected something like some of the WA or NT remote communities, but this was nothing like them. We saw happy people everywhere, and were greeted as we walked the streets with a beaming smile and “Hello”. The shops were well stocked and the prices looked to be typical of any rural town rather than a remote community.
The bus tour time arrived and we set off, under the direction of the driver, a local lady. Her knowledge of history was extraordinary, and she managed a continual informative spiel while driving the bus. We stopped at the battery up on a hill overlooking the town. It housed five 6 inch naval guns, placed in position for the Great War to counter possible German aggression. Only one was ever fired at a ship that failed to identify itself before being found to be a friendly. Underneath the fort was a complex of tunnels to deliver powder and ordnance, now transformed into a museum covering the history of the island. The guns themselves were spiked in the 1920s. but left in position and no doubt looked impressive to Japanese surveillance in World War II.
The island cemetery was reminiscent of that in Broome, with a large Japanese section housing the graves of the many Japanese divers who perished in the dangerous pearl diving operations.
After the bus tour, we went to the Grand Hotel and enjoyed a wonderful feed of barramundi and chips. We joined a couple who were visiting their son who was working on the island and had a good yarn.
The trip home was very relaxing and we both dozed a little. The day was a highlight and gave us some insight into the whole Torres Strait Island life and some appreciation of what it means to be a Torres Strait Islander.
15 July, Bramwell – During the night, the rain came. It was not heavy, certainly not by the standards here during the “wet”, but it was persistent. It was our first experience of rain with this tent, and we found that it had two issues. It let a few drops of water through. The water pooled in one part of the roof and needed emptying every thirty minutes to avoid collapse. I got little sleep until around 2am because I had to keep getting up and lifting the roof to drain the pooled water. Christine claims she was awake every time I got up but I think she was dreaming.
Finally, morning came, with only light drizzle. Everything was soaked, and we worried about the state of the road. Weather reports suggested only 8-10 mm overnight. We had a National Parks booking for the Eliot Falls Campground so we debated whether to pack up and risk it or stay another day and try to dry out. Eventually, we packed up and set off.
The first 50 kms or so were quite wet and the car got a good dose of mud covering everything. However, the road was firm enough and the rain had flattened some of the corrugations. As we progressed south, we drove through a couple of areas of quite heavy rain, but eventually drove into fine weather, and back to the bad corrugations. The road was generally in worse condition that on the trip up, with all the extra traffic taking its toll.
We had a bit of a queue at the ferry, sitting behind a truck carrying a van that had suffered a nasty suspension failure, making us very glad we had left ours behind.
We crossed the Jardine River Ferry and pushed on to the Eliot Falls turnoff. The track was only 8km, but we counted every one, with the speed limited to around 20km/hr. It was tough going. Finally we arrived at our camp for the night. We weren’t overly impressed. The camp sites were very variable and ours was one of the least appealing. We walked the 800m or so down to the falls themselves. They were interesting, but far from spectacular. Further more, they looked unappealing from a swimming point of view. We made the decision to ignore our booking and push on. Making National Park bookings and not using them is a major annoyance in the travelling community, but it is caused by the crazy booking system itself. You MUST book before hand, yet no internet exists at most sites. It forces people to book on spec. In this case, there were so few people there that it would not cause any issues, other than our loss of $15.
We drove south to Bramwell, putting the worst of the unsealed roads behind us. Rather than staying out at the station, we camped at the roadhouse, where the facilities are very modern and well maintained.
16 July, Musgrave River – We had an easy drive down to Musgrave River, stopping at Coen for a pie lunch. We ended up camped next to a young farmer couple from Victoria. He had just finished making and fitting out a camping canopy for his Land Cruiser dual cab ute. It was a superb job and we were very envious of it. Drinks at the bar and more swapping yarns with one of the workers who remembered us from our way up rounded out the afternoon.
17 July, Cooktown – With very little unsealed road left, we picked up speed and drove through Laura, and Lakelands to Cooktown. I was surprised at how dry the bush is right up to within a few kilometres of Cooktown, imagining an area of rainforest like Cairns. Obviously, the rain shadow effect of the mountains keeps the rain down, whereas Carins at least has a bit of a coastal plain. Cooktown itself is a pretty little town on the Endeavour River, and the site of where Cook careened the Endeavour to effect repairs after hitting the Great Barrier Reef. There are some marvellous old buildings in the main street. For some strange reason, the speed limit in the main street is 60, and they have forward angle parking. Backing out is a nightmare, with locals rushing through as you slowly inch out, blindsided by the large 4wds parked around you.
We tried to buy a cask of red wine, after the liquor restrictions of the Cape area, but found that local rules restrict sales until after 4pm. We filled the time at a car wash, getting the worst of the mud off the car. Then it was back into town and picked up a cask.
We stayed at a caravan park on the edge of town, carved out of a small patch of rain forest. To our horror, the cask was well and truly “off”.
18 July, Mt Carbine – As we left, we dropped back to the hotel with the cask. Fortunately, their rules allowed us to exchange because we had already purchased, and we set off with a new cask with an older use by date.
As we powered up the mountain range out of Cooktown, I saw that we were overheating badly. This is a rare event. Pulling over, there was nothing immediately apparent, but the radiator did take quite a bit of water, and things settled down. We couldn’t see any leaks, so we decided to push on, with Lakelands only 60km away. Fortunately, we had no further issues, but we will monitor things more closely in the future.
After a stop at Palmer River Roadhouse for fuel and lunch, we arrived back at Mt Carbine and our van. There were two more sitting next to ours. We hitched up, parked up and began the long process of transferring food and other stuff. The caravan fridge needs a good 12 hours to get cool, and there was quite a bit to do, so we booked two nights in, giving time to organise and do some much needed washing.
From here we will commence the journey south and then west to the Winton-Longreach area. We are very glad that we took the time to do the Cape. It is a real experience, one that is easily shared with other travellers. Apart from those travelling to Weipa for work, most people on the road are tourists and there is a real sense of comradeship at the camp spots, with everyone swapping experiences or places to go. Cape York is definitely not just about the destination. It is the journey.
15,16 June – St George – Overnight in Boomi, the number of trucks passing by increased ten fold. From the odd one, we suddenly had a near continual stream of livestock trucks, road trains loaded with baled cotton, general freighters and grain carrying B-doubles. The noise didn’t worry us, but we were concerned that they would be on the road as we drove north to St George. Fortunately, they seemed to be on the Mungindi to Goondiwindi pathway, so we avoided them as we travelled north. This was a good thing, because for 36kms, the road was terrible, extremely bumpy, large potholes and on one lane in some places. Fortunately, we only met a couple of vehicles and we had room to get off the road. Eventually, we turned on to the Barwon Hwy, and things improved a lot.
Our route took us through cotton growing country, and it is on a big scale. There are vast black soil plains, mostly loaded up with plastic wrapped rolls of raw cotton. The ends of the rolls are open to the elements, so when they are transported by truck, the sides of the road become covered in little cotton balls. They are everywhere. The harvest was back in May, so now the fields are ploughed clean ready for the next sowing in September. Cotton demands large amounts of water, and huge irrigation ditches crisscross the country, feeding water down from the Balonne River in Qld.
St George is a very pretty town spread along a couple of streets and small housing developments. The industry is very much agriculture support. Most houses are typical “Queenslanders” built on stilts to manage the frequent flooding conditions. Jacarandas are a common street tree and for the first time, we feel as though we are actually moving to a warmer climate.
We booked into the River Gum Park on the river banks, a park that has some of the best Google Reviews we yet seen. No wonder, the manager greets every guest like a long lost brother. By evening, the place was full. We spent a couple of very relaxing days there, trying a bit of fishing. The area has a huge reputation as a fishing location, with Murray Cod and Yellowbelly being the main targets. However, those in the know say that fishing is poor when the water is muddy after big rains. Needless to say, the water was muddy. I caught nothing. There is a nearby vineyard, totally unexpected this far north and west. We managed to resist sampling.
17 June Warroo Bridge – 50kms north of St George is a free camp at the Warroo Bridge, where the Roma Southern Road crosses one of the many creeks and rivers flowing into the Beardmore Dam. There are many beautiful campsite along the river, only just accessible now as the muddy conditions from recent rains slowly dry up. The many signs of major boggings in heavy black soil shows why it is not the place to be in rain.
Being camped right on the river bank, there was no excuse not to fish. However, nothing changed. I caught nothing. The water looked fishy, there was plenty of fallen timber to give cover, I had the time, but still, same result.
18 June, Surat – Another short 70km drive north to the little town of Surat. Here, the local fisherman’s re-stocking cooperative runs a donation-based camp at the bridge over the river, with toilets, potable water and a dump point. It was well patronised, with a few dinghies in evidence, although the only fish I saw caught was a carp. One of the locals told me that things would pick up tomorrow, when the wind gets out of the east. He said, “Wind in east, fish are least.” Fishermen can come up with any excuse.
I mentioned to the local guy about seeing a large number of dead bony bream when camped at Warroo. He said they had come from Surat, there being thousands of stressed fish a couple of weeks back when the river flooded right up to the top of the bridge. The flood water is very low in oxygen and results in fish deaths.
The town was once a major staging post for Cobb and Co, and a wonderful free museum is set up in town. The coach was licenced for 14, and pulled by a team of 7 horses. Amazingly, the last run through Surat was in 1924. Boab trees are also a feature of Surat. They have obviously been planted, because they are not endemic to this area. Still, they seemed to be thriving. (I later found out they are native, but not a true boab like the ones in the Kimberley). Like much of the whole Balonne river area, Surat had horrific floods in 2010,11 and 12. We heard on a radio interview that much of the area is uninsurable, which means houses are unsaleable. I think it is time the Government went back into running an insurance company to service some of these towns.
19 – 22 June, Roma – With rain forecast, we decided to book into a caravan park for a few days, do the washing, get the car serviced and so on. We had been recommended the Roma Gun Club, a couple of kilometres out of town, with a comfortable caravan park at very cheap prices, and a bar and restaurant thrown in. We haven’t been booking ahead, with traffic quite light, but we lucked out at the Gun Club. It was all booked. The lady there suggested the Big Rig Park, so we back tracked. As we drove through town, we noticed that every motel had “No Vacancy” signs up. We managed one of three sites left at the Big Rig and found out was due to “The Rugy Races” a festival that combines Rugby Union with Horse Racing. We have no interest in either sport.
We set up, and with the rain still holding off, walked across the road to the Information Centre and beyond to the “Sculptures in the Park” exhibition, and amazing display of sculptures, mostly created from metal junk, covering a wide range of Aussie topics. The skill and artistry on display was staggering, even better than Cottesloe’s “Sculptures by the Sea.” This was a true highlight, and all free. My personal favourite was a huge goanna, but there were almost too many “wow factor” pieces to make a choice.
By the time we had done the shopping at Woolworths, the rain had started, which kept us in for the afternoon. What else was there but to have a kip?
Our time in Roma was entertaining, often watching the comings and goings of all the young people who had descended on the town for the Rugby Races. There are lots of 4WD utes around bearing P Plates and cowboy hats and boots are very much the fashion statement. Quite a few young groups were housed in swags, pup-tents and maybe a gazebo. We had to laugh at one group of girls who had a cabin opposite us. They spent over half an hour adjusting details and taking selfies, followed by more adjustment and more selfies. What do they do with all these photos of themselves?
We are within walking distance of the main shopping areas so we took a walk down the street. The main street is lined with “bottle trees”, a local species that look almost exactly the same as the Boabs of the Kimberley area, but are a separate species altogether. Along with the beautiful “Queenslander” houses and the lush green lawns, the bottle trees made for a very pretty town.
On Sunday morning, a miniature railway runs in the park across the road from us, running a 1.5km ride across the river and around the reserve. It was a beautiful morning, fine and warm, so the park was full, with two kiddies birthday parties running and the trains running. It was a very heart warming scene.
We also inspected an old slab hut, built in the early 1900s. It was made fronm a frame and walls of Australian Cedar hand cut with an adze. The cedar is termite proof and so the building survived the rigours of the bush to be relocated in Roma in 1980. The family had nine children, although where they all slept is a mystery, with only one bedroom in evidence.
We got the car serviced, thankfully with no major nasty surprises, giving us a good clear run for the rest of Queensland.
23,24 June Carnarvon Gorge – I have always wanted to visit the iconic Carnarvon Gorge and National Park because of the spectacular photographs that have been published. It managed to live up to the hype.
Camping in the National Park itself is only permitted during school holiday periods, but there is an excellent caravan and camping area right on the edge of the national park. As soon as we drove in, across a flowing crystal clear creek, we found the place enchanting. The camp ground is huge, yet still packed out. There are a lot of activities for children scattered around, a nice bar and café, and a very basic little shop at reception. The camp kitchen and communal areas are excellent, the first time we have seen gas fired pizza ovens supplied.
Over the two days, we took three different walks, none too strenuous. The main gorge walk is a bit beyond us, at over 20km, but the shorter walks were sufficient to appreciate the beauty of the gorge. The gorge walls are sandstone, towering high above the creeks that have carved them out. At times, it is hard to make out the walls, so thick is the tree canopy. There are massive towering Sydney Blue Gums and lots of livingstonia palms and cycads. The creeks are very clear and flowing well, despite the otherwise dry conditions in the surrounding countryside. This area is one of the few parts of Queensland to have experienced a dry autumn.
Within the camp grounds, the creek is home to a few platypus, but we failed to spot one. It remains on our list of unsighted native wildlife, along with cassowaries and lyrebirds. There are quite a few kangaroos and wallabies around, the wallaby being the pretty faced wallaby with a beautifully marked face and a tail longer than the rest of its body. They have no fear of humans at all and hardly move as you walk by.
The reputation of Carnarvon Gorge is well deserved and is a must visit for people in the area.
25 June, Springsure – With reluctance, we left Carnarvon Gorge. It would have been easy to stay on although the sore legs probably needed a rest from the hiking. We drove on north, across some really terrible roads. If this is an “A” road, I’d hate to see the “C” roads. We have gotten pretty good at securing everything in the van by now but we still get surprises after roads like this. We stopped at the little town of Rolleston to refuel, and found a lovely coffee van set in a beautiful park. Caravans were crowded around, so the owner was doing well, with good reason because the coffee and apple cake were both excellent.
The road skirts the western edge of the Great Divide, and occasionally crossing a spur of the ranges, meaning a climb and a winding road down. It also means that there is no shortage of interesting scenery. .
We reached Springsure, and settled at a free camp spot 3kms north called the Virgin Rock. Here, a huge rock outcrop on the escarpment has a natural grotto containing a formation that has been likened to the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. We could see the likeness. At night, the rock is lit with some floodlights, producing a beautiful display
26 -27June, Sapphire – Queensland roads are really starting to get to us. It is not enjoyable to drive while being thrown around over the most appalling surfaces and peppering the highways with “Rough Surface” signs is hardly a fix. We even drove across a newly resurfaced road today that still tossed us all over the place. I will never complain about WA roads again.
We drove through Emerald, stopping to go to Woolworths. Emerald is quite a big place, and is a hub for vibrant agricultural and coal mining industries. It is the gateway to the gem field areas where precious stones are found in the creek beds in abundance. Howver, Emerald does not get its name from the green gem, but rather from the colour of the pasture in the rich ground surrounding the town. It certainly is rich, and we saw huge areas of hay crops, and sorghum for cattle feed.
Emerald marks the crossing of the Tropic of Capricorn, and the hope of warmer weather. Some rain was forecast, which we could handle, but the cold starts to the day have gone on a bit long.
The horrible road took us to the gem fields, through Anakie and then to Sapphire, where we booked in to the Blue Gem Caravan park for a couple of nights. It is hard to call Sapphire a town. It is really a scattered collection of shacks and sheds, with a few proper buildings and a public swimming pool. The layout is informal to say the least. Mounds of dirt are everywhere, marking a current or past gem mine. Wrecked caravans are almost more common than cars.
The most common business in the town seems to be gem cutting and gem sales, mostly sapphires, but also zircons, rubies and topaz. There are a lot of gem fossicking parks, where tourists buy a bag of gem bearing dirt, hire a series of sieves and sort through to find the stones of gem quality. For the casual tourist to go onto the land, even in one of the many public fossicking grounds, requires a licence and an accurate knowledge of what is available. Most opt to pay $20-$50 for a bag of dirt at a gem park, where the licence is not required.
We watched several families pour through their sieves, to be rewarded with some good sized dark blue sapphires. The guy camped next to us said that he sends his off to Thailand, where the average stone can be cut for around $10. It is good fun for the kids and fills in the day. At one gem park, they offered coffee, scones with jam and cream and a small bucket of dirt for $20. What a bargain. The gem shops have a huge array of cut gems, both set and unset. There are also fossils in abundance and whole crates of pieces of petrified wood.
A mere five kilometres down the road is Rubyvale, another gem town. It seems to be better organised and even has a bit of a recognisable main street with a small supermarket.
28 June – Llanarth – Driving north from Sapphire through to rejoin the Gregory Development Road in Clermont, did not bring a better standard of road. In fact, we battled most of the day with truly terrible road surfaces, often being reduced to around 70km/hr to avoid being thrown around too much. Every time we stopped and entered the caravan, we found different things strewn around or broken. We lost a coffee mug, and a ceramic cup that had housed stationery.
We stopped for a break in Clermont, a small town which services both local coal mines and agriculture. We chose to stop at a park with a lagoon. The first thing we noticed was the smell. A couple of Port Jackson fig trees in the park were home to a huge colony of fruit bats. They are called little red fruit bats, but there was nothing “little” about them. According to the sign, they are migratory and due to leave around now. I have never seen so many in one place. The smell was appalling.
The terrible road continued beyond Clermont, occasionally giving relief for 20kms or so with a new road, before returning to the bone jarring surface. We passed through a roadhouse at Belyando Crossing, refuelling with no other options before Charters Towers. Then it was north for another 70kms or so to park up for the night in a gravel pit in the area called Llanarth, along with three other rigs.
29 June, ChartersTowers – In the morning, we heard strange noises outside, and a peek through the blinds revealed a herd of twenty cattle right outside our van, some rummaging through the remains on a campfire looking for goodness knows what. It wasn’t long before some noticed that we were looking at them and the herd galloped off into the bush. The good news was that we had our first morning without a heater on for many months. The tropical air is starting to work.
Once we were sure the surroundings were clear of cattle, we packed up and were on our way, across more bad roads, but some good roads too. It was an easy 135km run into Charters Towers.
We were last here with the kids in 1990 on a around Oz trip. One of the things that fascinated us was the incredible old-world charm of the main street, filled with beautiful buildings from the turn of the Nineteenth Century. One shop stood out in our memories, a drapery shop that had a central system of money collection. When you purchased something in the shop, the assistant would put the money into a little capsule and use a strong elastic device to propel it to the centre of the store on a wire. The money taker would put the change and receipt into the container and shoot it back down. It was wonderful to watch. Finding the drapery to see what it was now was a priority.
The shop proved easy to find. The outside was largely unchanged, all the signage advertising cloth, work clothes, woollens etc. The difference was, it was a K-Mart. Inside, the familiar parts of the old store were retained, except of course for the payment system. The rest was K-Mart. Oh well. Progress is progress.
Many of the other old buildings were empty. The cost of bringing them up to standard while under strict heritage laws is prohibitive. The town retains much of the charm we remembered, and is functional enough, but it must be a struggle. Not everything “old” is worth saving. It is still easy to see signs of what the town was as a bustling goldfields centre in 1890, with 27,000 people and the only city outside of a capital city to have its own stock exchange.
Charters Towers is still worth a visit. Back at the park, we took advantage of the fact that they provided a dedicated gas fired pizza oven in the camp kitchen. Christine prepared a couple of beauties and in a proper pizza oven, they were amazing.
Tomorrow, we head to the coast, to Townsville, mainly chasing a few caravan parts that have failed us. It marks the end of the Southern and Central Queensland part of our journey and the start of the Northern part.
7 June – Wongarbon – We drove north around 180kms today and stopped at a little town called Wongarbon, just shy of Dubbo. Technically, we have left the Central West and are now in the North West Region of NSW.
Dubbo is a big sprawling place and we have spent some time there before so we figured a pub stay out of town would do. The Tavern has parking over the road for free, with an expectation of patronage. Having dropped the van off, we headed in to Dubbo to pick up a few things and to swap a gas bottle. Then it was back for a kip, followed by a couple of drinks and a wonderful pizza at the pub. It was pretty quiet, but the publican said that things have been quiet since the fuel crisis, with fewer caravans on the roads and people watching their pennies.
8 June – Gilgandra – Another short move north to Gilgandra, and another pub stay, this time behind the Railway Hotel. It’s a good system, meaning that the money you would spend at a caravan park gets spent on hospitality. Gilgandra is a small town but with a main street with lots of different shops and a few pubs. One of its claims is as the birthplace of the Australian “Cooee”. It seems that a Great War recruitment drive started here in 1915 with 35 men marching all the way to Sydney and calling “Cooee” as they passed through towns, ending up in St Martins Place to a rousing reception and 240 men recruited.
CooeeNot on a Sunday it seems
June 9 Warrumbungle – We drove further north to the Warrumbungle National Park. Here we were to meet Coral and David, friends from Kalumburu days who live in Newcastle. The Warrumbungle is an amazing area with fantastic mountain formations, formed when a huge volcanic eruption thrust through an ancient sandstone bed, pushing the whole lot up. When the softer sandstone eroded, it left the hard granite volcanic cores, producing some wonderful formations. The camping areas and walk trails are superb. We had a beautiful campsite, power, amazing large modern ablutions and an interesting information centre.
Coral and David arrived with the rain. It was forecast as heavy for the next day, but we had little on the first day. We spent time catching up, enjoying some great food. There is never a shortage of talk when we are together.
June 10 – Warrumbungle – The expected heavy rain held off, giving us the morning to do a walk. Here, there are some serious walks, both in terms of length and climbing, but we chose a relatively easy walk to Tara Cave, only 3.5km return. The cave was used as a shelter by aboriginal people and was a tool making site, with many splinters of quartz from stone chipping in evidence. Also, there were some flat sandstone slabs that bore the deep marks of many years as sharpening stones. We just made it back to camp before the rain started, increasing steadily throughout the afternoon. We all enjoyed a rest, Coral and David having had a heavy work schedule at their bush shack, before getting together for lots more socializing and excellent food.
The rain continued throughout the night, to the point where I began to wonder about the creek crossings in the park, all of which are marked “subject to flash flooding”.
June 11 –Warrumbungle – We slept late, the rain continuing. Coral and David eventually braved the rain and packed up, a return to Newcastle on the agenda. We farewelled them, thrilled to have caught up again. Then we looked at each other and asked, “Do we need to leave?” We booked another day and settled in for a lazy one. The rain did not stop until after 1pm, the creek rising to the point where it was just below the crossing. I took a long walk after the rain stopped, following a firebreak through the forest. At one point, there were four kangaroos standing on the track in from of me. They didn’t budge. I even had to weave between them, and they simply watched me walk by. They have absolutely no fear of humans here. Another amusing resident in the park is the apostle bird, so named because they tend to live in social groups of about twelve. They are keen on getting campers to feed them, something highly discouraged by national park authorities. However, every now and then, they decide that “there is food over there”. And all the birds descend on a camp, arguing with each other, looking for crumbs and setting of a cacophony of chirping. Then, suddenly, they are gone, moving to another spot.
The creek when we arrivedThe creek when we left
I walked when the rain finally stopped, spending a lot of time scanning the tree tops for koalas. Finally, I got smart, and “Googled” koalas in the Warrumbungles, to find that they were almost wiped out in the big fires of 2013 and are still a very rare sight as the population slowly recovers. I gave my neck a rest after that.
June 12 – Narrabri – We drove out towards the east, to Coonabarabran. The park road going eastwards is a lot steeper and more winding than the one from the west that we had used to come in. The poor old rig just managed in places, but at least the traffic was light so we didn’t hold anyone up. We stopped at “White Gum Lookout” for some amazing views across the ancient volcanic cores that make up the Warrumbungles to the flat plains beyond.
Coonabarabran was a pretty little town but we pushed on through and headed up through the Piliga Forest to Narrabri. The Piliga Forest is the largest woodland reserve in NSW and when you find yourself driving for around 50kms through it, you appreciate its size. The woods are particularly attractive, with a good variety of trees and understory. I found myself comparing it to New Zealand, where we were disappointed at just how much of the native forest had been cleared or replaced with pines.
At Narrabri, we stopped at the showgrounds. Much of the really boggy ground was starting to dry out, but it must have been bad a few days ago. We have loved using showgrounds, being cheap, safe, and a chance to socialize with others. This one, however, was very much in use with horses being left there, or being exercised. With the horses came the flies, the first bad flies we have encountered since WA. We didn’t do much in Narrabri apart from some shopping, and a few minor running repairs to the water fill pipe. The fill pipe for one of the tanks had parted, and I found that the previous owner had repaired it using an inner sleeve and tape to join to halves. The only problem was that they had used a cardboard tube as the connector. I have no idea why it lasted this long.
13 &14 June – Booni – From Narrabri, we drove 190km north through Moree and on to the little town of Booni (pronounced Boon-eye). This little place is intensely proud of their village, despite having very little. They are part of what is known as the “Artesian Trail”, where thermal bores have been made into spas and hot pools. We were going to stop at a caravan park in Moree that has four pools of different temperatures from 29 to 39 degrees, but the reviews of the management and tiny cramped sites put us off. Instead, Booni offered camping right next to the spa at $25 for a powered site, a communal firepit at night, a co-op with coffee and snacks throughout the day and very friendly people.
We stayed a couple of nights, spending time soaking in the spa and pool. The spa has lots of bubbles, two forceful jets that do a great job on a bad back and water at around 40 degrees. You are warned that 15-20 minutes is the maximum time at that temperature. A shallow “kiddies” pool is around 33 degrees and a 25m lap pool a respectable 29 degrees. There is lots of lounging around, socialization and good cheer.
Booni is very close to the Queensland border, so the next stop will be in another state. The weather forecasts are for mid-twenties, and we are finally able to wear shorts throughout the day.
18 May – Our flight from Christchurch went very well, with incredibly clear weather as we flew over the Alps. Mt Cook, Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier were all clearly visible, making up for the lack of visibility due to rain when we drove down the west coast. We seldom fly Jet Star but the experience was excellent, with fast check in, surprisingly good coffee to wash down a delicious ham and cheese toasty, and more leg room than we often get. We arrived at Melbourne about 15 minutes early, but the weather was bad and the cloud low, so we were forced to do three big lazy circles before landing.
Having nothing to declare, we were out of the airport quickly and looking for a DiDi ride to Diggers Rest. We didn’t realise that DiDi is treated just like a friend doing a pickup at the “kiss and ride” so we wrongly went to the “Taxi/Uber” rank. Once we realised, we had to do a sprint to the right area and got there just as our ride appeared. The guy drove a bit fast for my liking, the first bad ride we’ve had with DiDi, but we survived and were soon with our car and caravan at the storage yard.
The car was reluctant to start. The battery was fine but I think the fuel injection system drains when left for a long time. Eventually, it fired and we were on the road north. We had identified the Macedon Caravan Park as a short drive (35km) with mixed reviews. There was nothing mixed about it, All the 1 star reviews were on the mark. The grass was so long you would get your trousers wet walking around the van. There was a lot of mud and slush visible and it was hard to tell whether some of the vans were derelict or lived in. We left and kept driving north along the Calder Hwy to Castlemaine, and booked into the park next to the Botanic Gardens. As soon as we backed the van onto the site, the rain began, and persisted for another 4 hours. Welcome back to Victoria.
19 May – The day started with fog, but soon cleared to reveal blue sky. We did some washing, relying on the day to warm up so we could have a good walk of the town in the afternoon. We were last in Castlemaine in 1990 and remembered it for lovely streetscapes and stone buildings with amazing wrought iron filagree railings. These are all still present but here is a general appearance of shabbiness, with a fair bit of paint required. The town looked prosperous enough, with a big variety of shops and services, just in need of a scrub up.
The Botanic Garden was pretty, with all the deciduous trees in full autumn glory. The season is about a month behind New Zealand and is probably at its peak. Some of the Oaks and English Elms are huge making a lovely avenue as an entrance.
20 May – A fine day today, actually giving some solar power for the first time. Our trip took us through Bendigo to Echuca, on the Murray River. We love Bendigo, with its grand stone buildings, colourful street trees and historic tourist tram. Just a drive through the centre of the city was so beautiful.
At Echuca, we set up a little out of the town centre at the Rotary Park on the banks of the Campaspe River. Here, self contained RVs and caravan can park up for a $10 / night donation. We spent a frustrating afternoon trying to fix a misbehaving rear camera on the caravan. It entailed a trip to Supercheap Autos, another trip to Bunnings, and still not positive outcome.
The Rotary Park is also home to the Campaspe Model Railway Association. IT runs a large complex of lines, little railway stations, crossings, a big locomotive turntable and storage shed. Unfortunately, it only runs on the first Sunday each month. It must be a wonderful sight when in full swing.
Look them up on Facebook
The model railway station
The Campaspe River
21 May – First stop today was yet another trip to Supercheap Autos to source another fix for the camera on the caravan, one that will work this time. Then we drove into Echuca Historic Port area. This has to be one of the best free attractions anywhere in the country. To just stroll around the old wharf (actually a reconstruction), read all the informative signage and watch the paddle steamers do their thing is wonderful. There were two steamers operating, carrying tourists on river cruises. The little Canberra came steaming past the wharf while the larger Pevensey was casting off. The Pevensey was the boat used on the TV series All the Rivers Run. There were quite a few other boats moored up, including the Adelaide, reported to be the oldest wooden paddle steamer still operating in the world.
Having satisfied our historical needs for a while, we drove across the bridge into NSW to check out the opposite town of Woama. We hoped that the old wharf might be also worth exploring but there seemed little sign of it, so we left NSW again and drove back across the bridge. We drove into the Murray River Reserve area to check out some potential camping spots. They proved very beautiful but the recent heavy rains had taken its toll on the roads and open spaces, with huge mud holes and ruts in abundance, too much for the caravan.
Back in camp, we finally fixed the caravan camera issue then had a bit of an afternoon kip, before joining some others at a picnic table for an evening drink and swapping of yarns. We hope that there will be a lot more of this as we head north and the weather warms. It is always funny the way everyone starts off with big introductions and name swapping, fully knowing that we will all forget the names almost immediately. It doesn’t matter, it’s fun.
22 May – It took a lot to get out of bed this morning, the 2 degrees being a barrier. The diesel heater had to work overtime. Before setting off, we nipped out to the shops, it being easier without the van on. The pack up process was complex, because we were in a fully self sufficient camp ground, meaning that we had to dump our grey water and black water before leaving. We filled up our water tanks as well, the next location not having any facilities. For all this, the Rotary asks for a $10 donation, a real bargain.
We drove about 80kms north to Deniliquin, on the Edward River, a tributary of the Murray. Just out of town there are camping areas in the Murray River National Park, which are advertised as “free” but require a $6 booking fee. We had some issues accessing the park because there were road barriers in place. A call to NSW National Parks did not reveal anything, they knew nothing about it. While we were on the phone with them, a woman pulled up next to us and explained how the local schools had a cross country meet on and had put cones and barriers in place to guide runners. Problem solved, we drove around the barriers and found some of the most beautiful camping locations we have encountered anywhere. The river is flowing well, the area is a magnificent red gum forest and the choice of spots is endless. We chose a location above the river banks with a wooden table and bench and no overhanging red gum branches. They are not known as “widow makers” for nothing. Part of the afternoon’s entertainment was watching the runners jogging past.
Camped on the Edward River outside Deniliquin
Camped along the Edward River near Deniliquin
The bird life was terrific, the river hypnotic, and the serenity soothing. I chatted with a couple on a small houseboat who had managed to catch a few nice murray cod. I tried a bit of fishing, after buying a NSW fishing licence of course, but didn’t manage so much as a bite.
During the afternoon, we both changed into shorts for a while, the first time in over a month.
23 May – Another peaceful day in Deniliquin. We went into town, toured around a bit, did a bit of shopping and very little else. The town is one of the first we have seen on our travels that is showing signs of decline. There were many shops up for lease. We saw a Café named “Frank and Beans”, which was full to capacity, including the al fresco tables. We thought it must have been something special, until we walked town and noticed that almost every other eatery had folded. Either “Frank and Beans” was too successful or it it the last man standing.
The highlight of the day was watching the Eagles give Collingwood and Pendlebury a big scare on his much vaunted 433rd game. As is so often the case, the umpires gave Collingwood a lot of latitude. In other words, we were robbed.
24 – 27 May,Hay – A relocation day, driving 120kms north to Hay. The road continued to follow what is called “The Long Paddock”, a 100m wide road reserve for stock movement that stretches 610km from Wilcannia on the Darling River south to Echuca on the Murray River. It is well maintained and still gets used today.
The road also traverses the Hay Plain, a Nullabor like feature with only a few lines of trees where the odd creek crosses. It was strange to see so much open space after the closed-in mallee forests of the Murray River precincts.
We set up at the Hay Sandy Point Campground, a free camping area on the edge of town. This is a really beautiful place, with some of the biggest red gums we have ever seen. They must be many hundreds of years old. Of course, they are best avoided when setting up, as many a caravan or car has been destroyed by falling limbs. The camp sits alongside the Murrumbidgee, a very majestic river, and wider here than the Murray at Echuca. Rain is forecast overnight, so hopefully, it won’t get too muddy.
Hay proved to be a very pleasant town to stay in. The camp grounds, were superb, among the best free grounds we have experienced. The only down side is wet weather. In heavy rain, the clay ground would become untenable and the access road dangerous. Thankfully, despite forecasts, it didn’t rain while we were there.
There are three museums of interest in Hay. The most fancy was the Shearer’s Hall of Fame. It was interesting enough and very well done but was probably of more interest to people who knew something of the gun shearers it celebrated. The most interesting part for us was watching a video of some of the cooks talking about their life.
Shearers’ Hall of Fame
Steam engine used for running a shed
The Old Hay Gaol left us rather depressed. Opened in 1880, it had a varied life as a gaol for the town, a temporary hospital, an internment camp during World War II, but the most upsetting use was as a prison for young girls deemed beyond hope during the period 1961 to 1974. The girls, aged 13 to 18, were part of a riot at Parramatta Prison and Hay was set up to be particularly hard in order to manage them. It was upsetting to realise that this occurred in our lifetime.
The Hay Railway Station is a magnificent building, and fully restored, but sadly, the rail line has closed. There is a museum set up in a couple of goods carriages to celebrate the Internment Camps at Hay during World War II. They held both “foreign nationals” and also prisoners of war, including some Japanese.
We spent three days at Hay Sandy Point Campground. I gave the fishing in the Murrumbidgee a good try, but caught nothing at all, not even the much maligned carp that are said to infest the entire Murray Darling System.
27 – 28 MayGriffith – We moved on to Griffith. There are two main routes from Hay, the Sturt Hwy being the most direct and mostly hugging the southern side of the Murrumbidgee. The night before we set out, the television news carried an article about the budget failing to supply money for the much needed repair of the Sturt Hwy so we were cautious. It only took about 7km to call it quits, turn around and head back to town, to take the Mid Western Hwy which runs north of the river. The Sturt Hwy was terrible.
For about 70km of the 130km trip, we drove through very flat featureless salt bush plains, with only occasional buildings or flocks of sheep. As we got closer to Griffith, the farmlands increased, with large orchards, mostly oranges and mandarins, wineries, including well known ones like De Bortolli and Penfolds. Griffith is well known as one of the ‘food bowls’ of Australia, the Murrumbidgee irrigation and abundance of wide flat land being two important factors.
Griffith is also home to the largest concentration of people of Italian extraction, the farm lands being widely taken up by immigrants after World War II. The city is highly regarded as a food destination with many famous Italian restaurants. We even saw an IGA Supermarket that promote itself as an Italian IGA.
Unfortunately, we found little to like in the town itself. There is little in the way of architecture of merit, the town sprawls and the CBD seems to consist of several separate shopping centres, divided by major roads, meaning that driving from place to place is very necessary. The original town was laid out by Walter Burley Griffin in 1914. He was the famed town planner who designed Canberra, and the same circular road pattern exists in Griffith. It is no more successful here than it is in Canberra.
We stayed a couple of days in the Griffith Tourist Caravan Park, that was neat and clean but appeared to rely on the itinerant far worker trade as much as tourism. It was a good chance to catch up on washing and cleaning.
29 May – Ardlethan – We relocated about 100km east to the little town of Ardelthan. Having a population of around 300, it has no major claim to fame other than a strong link to the origins of the kelpie breed of sheep dog. What attracted us was the free accommodation in the main street, opposite the IGA and next to the Bowling Club, which had meals on a Friday night. It being my birthday, we decided to have a night out. Even better, power can be had via metered boards at $2 for 12 hours.
We joined a few others who were taking advantage of the free stay, spent a few dollars at the Op Shop and the IGA, before having a delicious meal and a couple of drinks at the bowlo. We enjoyed the company of a couple of Victorian caravanners at the bowlo. It is great how small towns do this, bringing in some travellers who would otherwise pass by.
Ardelthan represents the end of our time in the Riverina. It has become obvious that a “Riverina” identity is quite strong, and extends across the boundaries set by the state border along the Murray River. Way back in the early days of Federation, there was a move for the Riverina for succession. It never really got serious and went away with the coming of the Great War. What has surprised us as we move around the NSW part of the Riverina, is the predominance of AFL over NRL football. I had always thought that NSW is a Rugby state, but no so in the Riverina and western parts. Every major recreation ground we saw had AFL goal posts. A bit of research confirmed this observation.
All in all, our time in the Riverina has been very positive. It is a part of Australia we could easily live in.
April 8 – We left Penong after a two day stay, the second day being almost total rain throughout. The locals are loving it; we are over it. Our route took us through Ceduna and the quarantine inspection. We had done all the right things, par-boiling veges, leaving fruit at the fruit exchange in Penong Caravan Park and eliminating leafy greens. The man was happy with out efforts and we proceeded into Ceduna to replace the things we had disposed of at the Foodlands. A second stop was made at Baldies Fish Outlet out on the fishing boat harbour for a dozen fresh Ceduna oysters. We bought them unshucked so we could eat them at our leisure as we travelled. They were so big that sharing 6 at a time made more than good enough entrée.
We stopped for lunch in the tiny town of Poochera, where there was an interesting historical display set up in a park. There was a little shanty dating from 1920 and made largely out of flattened kerosene tins. It must have been unbearably hot in summer and a leaky sieve in winter.
Then we pushed on to Kimba, in the heartland of the Eyre Peninsula. Kimba is far more prosperous looking than our last visit in 2018, with most shops full, lots of cars in the streets, and an upscaled RV free camp at the rec ground that many say is the best in Australia. Last time, it consisted of one area for around 10 vans and access to some sports ground toilets. Now there are three separate areas of vans and a new dedicated set of toilets, as well as a large open camp kitchen. A donation is encouraged and we were happy to pay. By evening, the place was full. Our oysters were delicious.
April 9 – From Kimba, we drove east to Port Augusta. Love this drive, passing Iron Knob and then watching the Flinders Ranges grow as we approach Port Augusta. We have been to Port Augusta many times so didn’t stop, moving on to the little town of Port Germein for lunch.
We have not been to Port Germein since 1990 and then it was very close to being dead. There was a tiny general store and an attached caravan park. The boys spent most of their time in the store playing pool on the coin fed machine, having figured out how to jam something in the coin slot and get free games. The general store is derelict, but the rest of the town has had a re-growth, with a couple of restaurants, a pub that looked like it had received a make-over, and a few curio and art shops. We stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant that had a road-side stall and ordered a delicious Pork Bahn Mi each for lunch.
Port Germein was Australia’s busiest grain port in the 1870s and there is a 1.6km long jetty that serviced the ships. There was a claim that it was the longest timber built jetty in the Southern Hemisphere but the Busselton jetty at 1.68km is actually longer.
After lunch we left Highway 1 and climbed the ranges to the town of Gladstone, somewhat smaller than its namesake in Qld. A series of small towns followed before stopping for the night in Yacka, on the banks of the Broughton River. They have a delightful little community-run stay for eight vans for only $20 a night, with power and hot showers. What a bargain.
The town had very little in the way of open shops but had some delightful old stone buildings and a historical walk guide available in the main street. I loved the old mechanics store that still advertised itself as a Holden dealer. There were a couple of old FJ Holdens inside.
10 April – We had a really beautiful drive today, despite the generally overcast and sometimes rainy weather. With all the late summer and autumn rain, the Clare Valley was picturesque with rolling green hills, freshly seeded pastures and the amazing vineyards. Our drive took us through Clare, Auburn and then to Kapunda. The small towns in the Clare and Barossa Valleys were so pretty, with their lovely old stone buildings and the tree lined streets all showing autumn colours of every hue. We drove through Nuriootpa and Angaston before descending down a steep pass out of the Gawler Ranges to the Murray River Port of Mannum.
We had lunch in Mannum, admiring a couple of paddle wheel river boats and watching the car ferry ply its trade across the river. We have stayed in Mannum before and it is a great spot to spend some time, either on the river or exploring the amazing 19th Century streetscape.
From Mannum we headed on the Murray Bridge and crossed the river, before moving on to Tailem Bend and on to the Dukes Highway. Here the traffic was insane, mostly heading towards Adelaide. Being a Friday, and the AFL Gather Round hosted by SA, many thousands of people were driving from Victoria to Adelaide or the Barossa for football. The Dukes Hwy is largely composed of passing lanes, spaced every 5km or so either side. The traffic coming towards us was bumper to bumper in places.
We stopped at Coonalpyn, the Hotel offering free van park-ups behind the building in return for a meal or drink purchase. We enjoyed both in the company of Wayne and Lou, a couple from Geelong, who had parked their van next to ours en-route to Adelaide for the Hawthorn-Bulldogs game. It was a case of good prices, good food and good company with secure accommodation thrown in. A win all round.
11 April – The traffic on the Dukes Hwy had lessened significantly in the morning and we drove south through Tintinara and Keith. We left the Dukes Hwy at Keith and took the road towards Mt Gambier, through Naracoorte and on to Penola. We drove through the beautiful Coonawarra wine district, which dates back to the 1890s. We had earmarked a free recreation reserve just out of Penola as a place to stay for a couple of days. It had excellent reviews and proved to be a lovely spot, with an attached arboretum. However, after setting up, we found that all the rain had soaked into the local black soil, which turned into a clinging mud, caking shoes and even thongs. I had been into the van once before I noticed and there were big clumps of black mud inside. It was going to make life unbearable. We packed up again and headed back into Penola and booked into the caravan park, happy to pay for a mud free existence. The afternoon was spent inside with the heater on as the temperature fell, the rain continued and the winds reached near gale force. The weather is not treating us well.
12 April – Today was a rare day, exploring without the caravan behind us, giving us a lot more freedom. Hopefully, after our trip to New Zealand, we won’t be travelling to a timeline and we can do a lot more exploration of places we visit.
We drove back north to Naracoorte. The area is famous for its extensive cave system, over 200 in total in the National Park. Many present as little more than a hole in the ground, opening up once below the surface. As such, they have acted as animal traps over hundreds of thousands of years, providing palaeontologists with a perfect cross section of South Australian fauna back to the days of the mega fauna. Fossils of large marsupial lions, giant echidnas, large wombat type creatures and giant kangaroos have been uncovered. There is a walk through display showing these animals in a forest environment. We took a tour down into the Alexandra Cave, an extensive system that has yielded a treasure trove of fossils. The walls and roof are made from the limestone of an ancient seabed and many shells could be seen in embedded in the roof dating back 5 million years. The cave had some beautiful displays of stalactites and stalagmites.
After the cave exploring, we drove into Naracoorte itself, finding a very pretty town with lots of shopping and eateries lining the three main streets. It looked to have everything one could ask of a small rural town. A special feature was a swimming lake, a large pool up to two metres deep with an artificial beach, floating platforms and picnic areas. It was created in the 1960s and was a wonderful variation on the usual Olympic sized swimming pool for a town situated away from the coast.
Returning towards Penola, we pulled into the tiny hamlet of Coonawarra and visited the Wynns Winery for a tasting session. Wynns is one of Australia’s best-known labels and sells all over the World. We had a tasting of six excellent wines along with a platter of cheeses, dried muscatel grapes and an amazing cabernet paste, like a wine gelatine. We pretended to understand all the things we were told about the tannins and soft palate of the wine but just enjoyed quaffing them down and eating cheese. We bought four bottles of wine to carry with us and went home to watch the Eagles lose again and have an afternoon kip.
13 April – Another day of travel, another day of rain and cold winds. We just never get any sunshine. Our trip took us across a C grade road from Penola to Casterton, which meant crossing the border into Victoria. The road was winding, narrow and very bumpy until we crossed into Victoria, when it widened and the surface improved. Unfortunately, that was last decent Victorian road for the day. The problem lies with the surface. They tend to be nice and wide and they cut out as many hills and valleys as can reasonably be expected, but the only solution to a bumpy surface or huge potholes is to erect a sign saying “Rough Surface” There are a great many of these signs. This applies to A, B and C grade highways.
Casterton was a very pretty town with some delightful old buildings. Coleraine was similar, set amongst rolling hills with large numbers of grazing sheep and cattle. The roads carried a lot of livestock trucks, which came roaring up behind us at speed.
By Hamilton, a regional centre, we were in need of fuel. We drove the length of the town and every fuel outlet was on the wrong side of the road, mostly guarded by a median strip. By the time we had got through the town we hadn’t managed to get fuel. We had enough to get by, it was just frustrating.
On the eastern edge of Hamilton is the Sir Reg Ansett Museum, dedicated to the Ansett Airways company. Reg Ansett began the story when he bought a Studebaker car in the 1930s to run a taxi service. This soon turned into a bus service. However, the Federal Government of the day decreed that no service would be licenced where it competed with a rail service. So Reg sold oranges to the passengers and provided the trip free, getting around the law. This turned to an air service, using a Fokker he imported. He later relocated to Essendon Airport and the rest is history, leading up to the eventual collapse of the over-expanded company in the early 2000s.
We watched a terrific video of the history, made after Reg Ansett’s death in 1981 when the company was moving into international flights. The museum had a great collection of flight attendant’s uniforms, models of the planes that Ansett flew, Reg’s original Studebaker and a Fokker of the same model that he started the airline with. The original was destroyed in a fire at Essendon. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and it evoked many memories for us.
We finally found fuel in the next sizeable town of Mortlake. The Victorian regional towns don’t seem to have the roadhouses on the outskirts like many other places. Fuel stations are often in the middle of town and difficult to get into with a van. There is also a severe lack of rest areas along the highways, especially noticeable after the abundance of facilities in South Australia. Sorry Victoria, do better.
We stopped for the night at a tiny town called Derrinallum which allows donation based camping around its rec ground. We like rec grounds. There is usually someone else staying, have some facilities and flat ground. It was very pretty, overlooked by the nearby Elephant Rock, a 150,000 year old volcanic core. The volcanic rocks that scatter the area have been used to create a beautiful network of drystone walls in the surrounding farmlands.
14 April – We woke to yet another sight of fog and drizzle, par for the course around here. The awful roads were still the norm as well and we bumped and bounced our way 100km south to Geelong. Geelong is a city with a road system based on square grids which means long straight roads and traffic lights every coupe of hundred metres. The locals seemed used to it and showed a patience that you would never see in Perth.
Our caravan park was the Geelong Caravan Park on the banks of the Barwon River, a few kilometres down one straight road to the CBD and waterfront. We set up the van and hit the laundry, to clear the backlog prior to packing for New Zealand. Alas, the park was upgrading and although there were washing machines available, there were no dryers. It would take a week to dry anything in the weather we were experiencing so we headed out and tracked down a laundromat. We also had an appointment at a pharmacy to get the latest flu jab in preparation for sharing an aircraft with a couple of hundred other people.
15 April – We had planned to go into the central city today but the weather was dismal, regular light showers and cold winds. Instead, we drove to some shops to ensure that supplies of non cold goods were right for our return from NZ in a month and to seek out a few other bits and pieces. It was a strange day, changing into shorts one minute, then back to long pants the next. The weather just can’t make up its mind.
16 April – We awoke to the news that the oil refinery at Corio Bay, just a short distance away, had a serious fire over night, placing a large area, including us, on a “watch and act”. We knew nothing and slept on, although Christine did hear sirens during the night. By morning, the fire was still burning but the danger reduced. It will further affect the supply of fuel,
First stop of the day was a local skin clinic to check out a small “thing” on Christine’s back. The doctor was fairly certain it was harmless but because it had appeared so suddenly he nipped it off and sent it for analysis.
We drove to Queenscliff to catch the car ferry to Sorrento and drive to see Azba, Mike and Everly in Mt Eliza. In hindsight, it was a similar cost to driving, given the tolls, but a train might have been better. The ferry is very efficient and comfortable but at $200 the round trip a tad expensive. The morning was a rare blue sky day and warm enough that we sat beachside at Sorrento and had lunch. By three o’clock, the rain was back, along with lightning and some heavy falls.
We loved catching up with Az, Mike and Everly again. Their house is largely finished now and the landscaping is really starting to take effect, with trees maturing and the overall effect coming out.
17 April – Much of the day was spent preparing our back-packs for New Zealand and finishing up last minute chores to ready the car and van for a month’s storage.
18 April – We hooked up and drove 100km north to put the car and van in storage at a place in Diggers Rest. We got a DiDi service to take us to the Diggers Rest Station and then trained to Melbourne, where we had booked a “Luxury Escape” at the Stamford Plaza in Little Collins St. It certainly wasn’t our usual type of accommodation. Outside, was Giogio Armani, Yves St Laurant, Chanel, Rolex and lots of other places we couldn’t afford to even look at. We even got our room upgraded to a suite like room, with kitchen, spa bath and two huge TVs. The kitchen was good because it meant we could bring food in.
Christine had forgotten her hiking poles so we set off on a tram journey to Richmond where the K-Mart was listed as having some at an amazing $14. They proved more than adequate, just as good as our much more expensive set left behind. We returned, bought some heat up meals at the local IGA and had a couple of beers at the place next door called 7 Alfred. Despite its swank appearance, it did happy hour $7 beers.
19 April – We had a hankering for a Singaporean style Kopi and half-boiled egg with Kaya toast breakfast, and figured Melbourne’s cosmopolitan population would supply one easily. It proved difficult, with one nearby that didn’t open on a Sunday and another a reasonable walk from Victoria Markets. A couple of tram trips and a walk later we were seated outside Myth Café in near freezing conditions enjoying “Set A” with Kopi. We were in Asian heaven. A sign apologised for being out of pandan for the kaya but whatever the substitute was it was still excellent. Some people would baulk at the thought of eating half cooked eggs but with a touch of soy sauce, running kaya toast with its thick sweet kaya filling through the egg is divine.
We walked back through Victoria Markets, marvelling at the sight of a forty metre line for the doughnut van. Inside the van, six workers hand twisted and moulded doughnuts while others filled the cooked ones. It was fortunate the line was so long because it made avoiding the temptation easier.
We found a Chemist Warehouse and a Jaycar for some things on our “needed” list and trammed back to the hotel.
After a rest up, we set off once again on the tram, catching the vintage circle line #35 to rattle out way around to Marvel Stadium in Docklands for the North Melbourne vs Richmond AFL game. We did a walk up ticket buy. We sometimes suspect that the online ticketing tries to sell you seats they can’t otherwise get rid of. Instead, we asked for General Admission tickets to Tier 3 for $18 concession. The lady said we could have front row on Tier 2 for the same price and we scored great seats at a saving of $98 compared to online. Go figure!
The match was not a high standard, but very enjoyable, as was the plain Four and Twenty pie that we had to have. The least enjoyable thing was all the American style music and light shows when goals were kicked. AFL doesn’t need that crap.
To get home we took the easy way, a tram straight up Bourke St, along with many, many others. We got out and settled in to the Udon Izakaya Maedaya, a Japanese eatery that advertised a $12 Beer and Karaag special. The Karaag is beautifully coated and fried chicken and the beer was a pint of excellent Kirin beer. What a bargain. We also tried a curry bread, a deep fried dough ball filled with sweet curry. We headed home with some bags of take-away as well.
22 April – Up early for a flight to Aukland, we tried an interesting looking restaurant just down the road for breakfast, but we arrived before the owner, so we resorted to the Hotel breakfast, at least opting for a continental instead of the big buffet. Then we donned the back packs again and trammed down to Southern Cross to catch the Sky Bus out to Tullamarine. All went smoothly and the new automatic immigration machines and improved security scanning helped things enormously.
The flight even proved a good one, as we flew Air New Zealand (we booked Virgin but they partnered us to Air NZ), scored exit seats with endless leg room, got the full meal and wine service when we thought we had to pay for snacks. One of our better flights.
3 April – We headed off out of Esperance on Good Friday. The rain eased as we headed north and we revelled in the ultra light traffic flow, given the public holiday. We didn’t go too far, stopping at Bromus Dam near the old settlement of Dundas. The well constructed dam was built in the 1920s to service steam trains. It now acts as a large free camp ground.
Bromus dam – Dundas
4 April – We drove through Norseman turned east and on to Balladonia, where we faced our first fuel over $3 a litre. This is a sign of things to come as the fuel crisis continues. The Government cut in fuel excise will take a while to apply out in the regional areas. The weather was at least fine, which allowed the flies to come out in force. The whole area between Norseman and Ceduna has had repeated heavy falls of rain over the last few months leaving a carpet of grass and lots of insects out in force. The butterflies are beautiful too, from small blues to large yellow swallowtails and the bright orange monarchs. We settled for the night at the Caiguna Blowhole camp. The blowhole is a small vent to an extensive cave system. When the wind blows from a certain direction and pressurises the cave, the blowhole acts as a vent.
5 April – Another day of driving today, taking us through Caiguna, Cocklebiddy, Madura, Mundrabilla and Eucla. We had our moment of fun at Mundrabilla when we had to wait for a car to exit the only ULP pump that suited our situation. The car was empty so we waited for the driver to come out of the shop. And waited…and waited. Finally, a woman appeared with hands full of treasures and got into her car. We waited…and waited. Eventually, I flashed my lights. That produced action and she eased out. We gave a cheer. She gave us a mouthful. We laughed and started to pump. The angry lady wasn’t finished. She had turned around to come through again and harangue us with something about spoiling Easter. We quite cheerfully told her to “piss off”.
The traffic is still light, especially heading east. The overnight stop was at the start of the magnificent Bunda Cliffs, 13km into South Australia. It would have been beautiful to sit outside and admire the view, especially with the light winds, but the flies were unbearable, even with fly nets on. As each campsite fills up with caravans and motorhomes, people just slam the door shut and remain inside. The popular campsite custom of gathering for “fivesies” just doesn’t happen. I hate flies.
6 April – We ticked off the rest of the actual Nullabor today, driving to Penong, the start of the SA farming country. After a few nights “off-grid” we opted for the Penong Caravan Park, a lovely little park that we have stayed in before. A feature is the “vege swap” basket in the laundry so people who are headed in to Ceduna and the quarantine can donate their vegetables to those who are heading west and have a night or so to eat them before hitting the WA quarantine.
Penong is also home to the “Windmill Museum”, a collection of working and static windmills, including Australia’s largest, a big Comet brand. We planned to wander down to the pub for a beer but the rain arrived as evening set in.
7 April – The day was set for rain all day and rain it did. The plus side of the rain is that the flies go and hide somewhere. With time up our sleeve and attracted by the prospect of a day without driving, we chose to stay on and relax. Relax, we did, Christine started a new jigsaw, I wrote this stuff and we generally did very little. We have only 60kms to Ceduna, marking the traditional end of the Nullabor crossing. From here on, we will work our way down through SA towards, Geelong, to park up and prepare for the trip to New Zealand.
Softball State Championships U14, Waverley Softball Centre, Melbourne, Victoria
This was to be Kelsie’s third championships, following Canberra and Birisbane in previous years. This time, it dovetailed perfectly with our annual trip to the Australian Open tennis so we organised an AirBnB house in Glen Waverley to share with Tevor, Emma and Ashton, close to the Waverley Softball Centre and reasonably convenient to shops and train. We all travelled on the same day, us on Virgin and Trevor on Jetstar, but managed to land in Melbourne within a few minutes of each other.
We had organised a hire car for the week from a cut rate mob call Goldstar, which proved to be a bit of an ordeal because an airport pickup actually meant getting a shuttle bus out to the back blocks of Tullamarine to get the car. Despite the delays, we still managed to get across town some 40 kms, find the house, settle in and do some shopping for food before the sun went down in this crazy land of day-light saving. The house was a very 60s style place with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, which proved very comfortable despite being rather light on for essential items such as wine glasses and teaspoons. I am not sure how they advertise the place as sleeping 8 and then provide only 5 forks and 2 wine glasses.
Each day revolved around the softball fixtures. Our first day was an opportunity to explore Melbourne, with two late games scheduled, so we drove to Glen Waverley station, parked and took the train in to Richmond. It was Day 2 of the AO Qualifying Round so we all settled in to watch a few matches, including a bit of Leyten Hewitt’s son Cruz, do a bit of shopping in the AO Shop and generally soak up the atmosphere. Trevor and Em left to get some time to themselves while we took Ashton across the rail line to the MCG to the Australian Sports Museum. The display highlights many great moments in Aussie sports, with a big focus on the role of the MCG itself. Ashton revelled in the hands-on activites and sports quizzes, and showed off his expertise and knowledge of all things sporting (like his father). At he end of the museum time, we caught up again with Tevor and all travelled back on the train in time to change into softball support clothing and head to the first matches.
Trevor, Emma and Ashton went back later in the week to do the tour of the MCG and a BBL Match. Ashton even managed a photo with Gillchrist.
At the softball, WA had solid start, with a narrow 1 run loss to NSW Country and a big 19-4 win over ACT. It is wonderful to see Kelsie adopt a leadership part, playing at short stop. It is a great group of girls and are fortunate to have a talented coaching team.
As the week progressed, fortunes fluctuated, with losses to NSW Metro, a frustrating draw against Qld Country and wins against Victoria, SA and Qld Metro. The match against Victoria was clinical, resulting in a mercy walkoff at 17-0 and we managed a win against Qld Metro without a base being gained. A very disciplined effort.
On the Friday night, the team and supporters gathered at the Wheelers Hill Hotel, a beautiful setting overlooking the Dandenongs, to socialise together. Most of the parents have found accommodation nearby in Glen Waverley. We hardly recognised some of the girls out of their softball uniforms and relaxing in “civies”.
With the round matches over, WA was placed a very creditable 3rd, one place up from 2024 and two places up from 2023. The team has built well since Kelsie has been playing.
The first of the finals was a semi final against SA. It was a nail biter, with SA getting a solid start against us of a couple of runs and holding it for the first few innings. Eventually, WA followed up with a big innings, including a big three base hit from Kelsie, and squeeked home by a single run to claim a spot in the Preliminary Final.
The Preliminary Final went very well with a convincing win over NSW Navy, our nemisis in past competitions. Our pitcher, Gracie was the difference. No team can get a handle on her. During the round games, pitchers are restricted to three innings, but in the finals, there are no restrictions. The coaches managed her well, bringing Jade in when we had a comfortable lead, then bringing Gracie back for the final innings to make sure of it. Kelsie had a cracking two base hit and another run scoring walk. The team was Grand Final bound against the other NSW team, NSW Sky.
However, the weather looked bad. Thunderstorms were forecast, something that shuts down all outdoor events these days. The radar showed a large mass moving east through Melbourne. Later, we found that Melbourne received 25mm of rain in 30 minutes, causing considerable local flooding.
We all huddled under shelter and watched shade shelters crumble in the high winds and heavy rain that soaked the ground and made the diamonds resemble shallow lakes. Organisers hoped for a start around 5pm so the girls packed up and headed back to the their hotel to try and dry the equipment out. We decided to abandon the match and head into Melbourne to our new location for the Australian Open, and to live-stream the game later, if and when it happened. It was sad to miss, but with more rain on the radar we were not sure of the outcome.
As it happened, the rain eased enough to allow play around 5pm, once the lightning threat had disipated. Both teams would battle with wet and slippery conditions, especially the pitchers. We got a good live-stream up in our apartment, thanks to Softball Victoria and settled in to watch, not supremely confident because our girls had already played once whereas NSW Sky was fresh for the day. We got off to a shakey start, finding oursleves 3-8 down after two innings. Then a brilliant 7-1 third innings set up an amazing 1 run win.
The girls were over the moon, as were the supporters. Kelsie, as Captain for the game, went up to present the medals to her team and accept the trophy. Despite an uncharacteristic below average batting performance in the early matches, she continues to shine as an on field leader and adapts to the needs of the team. Her batting in the finals certainly came good when it was needed. Great job Kelsie.
Week 2, 13-19 January – Australian Open
Our apartment is really well located, at 220 Spencer St, right opposite the Skybus terminal at Southern Cross Station, making for an easy leave at the end of the week. It is a studio apartment on the 38th floor with all the necessary things, except a decent mattress. Why people leave sagging dead mattresses on beds in rentals is beyond me, it colours the whole review and rating when a couple of hundred buys an acceptable mattress from Ikea every year if needed. There was a sofa bed offering but they are terrible to sleep on so it ended up with the sofa bed mattress on the floor each night. Not ideal but the location makes up for it.
All around the neighbourhood are eateries, mostly Asian of some form with a great many Vietnamese and Korean. In the evening, the air is full of the smell of sesame oil and Asian spices. We have two choices to get to the tennis, walk down Spencer St to Flinders and ride the #70 tram to the gates, or walk a short distance to Bourke St and tram to Swanston, followed by a walk down Swanston then follow the Yarra along Princes Walk. The latter is more walking but much more pleasant than fighting the crowds on the tennis tram.
We did well on Day 1 (Day 2 of the Open) just buying a ground pass and getting in two magnificent matches with Aussies playing on Court 3. We saw both Tahlia Gibson and James Duckworth score much needed first round wins.
Day 2 we had seats in John Cain booked, but elected to go back to Court 3 to watch Emma Raducanu down 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. It was an excrutiating match, with neither player holding serve much at all and both sets going to tie breaks. Then we headed to John Cain to see Taylor Fritz demolish fellow American Jensen Brooksby.
Wednesday was wet, which we didn’t know when we allocated it a non-tennis day. We spent the time wandering the shops, with lots of cheap clothes on offer at the Spencer Street Outlet Centre. In the afternoon, we headed to Docklands to catch the Banksy Exhibition. It is the largest privately owned collection in the World and was brilliantly displayed, each collection supported by video explanations of what had inspired the pieces or collection. I loved the “Dismaland” display with its Disney take-off of a chaotic theme park. The entire display was incredibly funny, thought-provoking and imaginative, all in one. The sections devoted to Banksy’s Ukraine and Gaza visits were particularly poignant and a reminder that the bad things aren’t going away anytime soon. Banksy’s work simplifies what politicians make so hard. Just fix it.
On our last day of tennis, we headed to Court 14 to watch the talented team of Kimberly Birrel and Olivia Godeke defeat a pair of Serbs in the women’s doubles. The great thing about the outside courts is being able to sit right up to the court and feel the power of the shots up close. The Aussie girls were the under dogs so their delight in winning was felt by the crowd and it was fun to be sitting only a few seats away from the families and coaches. It was a far cry from the big arenas. We stayed on to watch the Aussie men in Blake Ellis and Thomas Fancutt take on some higher ranked opponents but sadly, they couldn’t match the efforts of the girls. From there we headed to John Cain to see Elena Rybakina easily defeat 17 year old Iva Jovic, a possible star of the future.
On our final day in Melbourne, we took the train down to Mordialloc, a seaside location on Port Phillip. Azba, Mike and Evie drove up from their house is Mornington to meet us and we had a good catchup as well as an amazing seafood meal in the Tommy Ruff Fish Bar. This place certainly knows how to serve fish and seafood at reasonable prices. Christine’s seafood chowder was a standout dish. Az and Mike are keeping well, busy as always, and nearing the completion of their home build, a long term project. It is always good to catch up and follow their life’s journey.
It has been a two week stay for us, but seems longer. It was a very relaxed time and the move back to central city for the tennis was a good one, better than staying out and training in as we have done for the last few years. The vibrancy seems to have returned to the city, after the Covid exodus, and it is fun just to move around and discover hidden gems in the many laneways and malls. We may be back next year but who knows. A lot depends on the Softball and other adventures.
We headed to Melbourne for the annual bout of the Australian Open. Melbourne does the event so well that it is hard to say no. The organisation is amazing, the tennis fabulous and almost everything is affordable, except for the drinks of course. We chose to fly Virgin and found it much changed since Covid. The positive is that the flight left on time. However, the food offerings were very limited and very poor value for money. The entertainment system is a WiFi based bring your own device, whcih it always was, but it used to work. Ours didn’t doing everything except allowing a press on the PLAY button. Luckily, we had brought our own downloads. The Skybus from the airport to Southern Cross Sation still works well and we were soon on the train to our accomodation.
We organised an AirBnB in Murrumbeena, south of the city and only a 300m walk to a train station on a line that took us direct to Richmond station for the tennis. It was a basic place, a little small, but having all the neccessary things for comfort. The biggest issue is with Murrumbeena itself. The place is dead. There is no supermarket and most of the shops are shut, even boarded up in some cases. It is a mystery as to why it is like this because the next train stop down the line is Carnegie and supports a bustling and vibrant restaurant and cafe strip that is never empty. We had to walk about a kilometre down the road to shop.
We organised three days of tennis, booking tickets in the John Cain Arena for each day. John Cain is excellent value, because reserved seats on the ends which are in permanent shade are only a little more than a day pass. Between that and a selection of matches on outside courts that don’t require booking, we saw many of the Aussie stars in action along with some big name international players. It was excellent tennis.
John Cain Arena
Kia Arena
In off tennis days, we wandered around Melbounre, had lunch at Mr San Ramen (a favourtie), travelled down to Mornington on the train to catch up with Azba and Mike (and Evie of course) and caught up with Simon and John in Brunswick. A highlight was going to an iMax version of the Queen Rock Montreal Concert of 1981. It was a memorable experience.
Mr San Ramen
No visit to Melbourne ever fails to impress. The transport system works a treat and is cheap, the food offerings are amazing and so varied that every taste is satisfied, while the organisation of sporting events is superb. The weather is usually the downside, but we were lucky and had mostly mild temperatures with only one day of rain.
Train Trip Melbourne to Canberra
With Week One of the Australian Open over, it was time for us to relocate to Canberra for the U14 Regional Softball Championships, starring the gorgeous granddaughter Kelsie. We shunned air travel and opted for the XPT daytime train Melbourne to Sydney. It does not stop in Canberra but gets close in Yass, with a one hour coach transfer to the nation’s capital. The trip was wonderful, with good scenery, a comfortable train, and a buffet car for snacks and meals. The trip takes 8 hours, quite long by world standards but there are frequent stops along the way. We added an extra 80 minutes due to a delay shortley out of Melbourne when someone had stolen the copper wire feeding the signals. We had to wait for two oncoming trains before proceeding at a slow speed for 20 kms. Despite the long journey, we were never bored, watching the scenery glide by, dozing a little, or watching some downloads. The train is 40 years old and lacks such things as wifi or usb charging ports. Fortunately, we were prepared and had charging pads and fully charged laptops. The ride was smooth on the Victorian side, less so once into NSW. At one point, passing throough some hilly country and climbing up, the train passed through a tunnel, then looped around and passed back over the tunnel again a couple of times as it gained altitude. It is a trip we could recommend and much better than flying if time is not an issue.
The coach transfer from Yass to canberra Central was not so comortable, with hard cramped seats and no noticeable suspension. At least it was only an hour so we were soon in Canberra and into an Uber for transfer to our AirBnB house in Hawker. The house was chosen for its closeness to the Hawker Softball Centre and its ability to accomodate us, Trevor, Emma and Ashton, as well as Simon and John who were flying up from Melbourne. Trevor and Emma arrived shortly after us and we gathered some supplies from the nearby Woolworths before settling in for the night.
24-28 January – U14 Regional Softball Championships – Canberra
The first day was a rest day for us spectators while the team settled in and familiarised themselves with the diamonds. The team is staying in cabins in a caravan park somewhere, so contact is limited to a few brief moments after games, just as it should be. Coach coaches, family watches and supports. Trevor and Emma met up with Rob Keane, a friend from high school days and now living in Canberra who offered the use of a car for our stay, an offer we gladly took up, the public transport being ordinary at best. We organised to retrieve the car while the others headed out to cover some of the ‘must see’ attractions in Canberra, something we did not need to do because of previous visits. The car would be particularly useful because the shops, although close by, are at the bottom of a steep hill, requiring a tough walk back carrying supplies. Simon and John arrived around midday and settled in, our group complete.
The rest of the week was all about softball, with each day revolving around the scheduled matches. Trev and Em and Ashton managed a few more sights in down times and we did take one trip into town, finding it just as dead and dull as we have in previous visits. The softball was great fun, the standard being so much higher than the normal club matches. Kelsie was brilliant, fielding very well at 2nd base and more than holding her own with the bat.
Trevor summarised each day on his Facebook posts.
Day 1. Great day from the girls – took NSW Sky down to the wire, going down by one with a series of great defensive plays. They got the bats going in game 2, winning by 10 over ACT. Great to see them putting what they’ve learnt in their training into action on the diamond! Kelsie was clean in the field and had a solid day with the bat, particularly in game 2!
Day 2. Another 1-1 day, with a great win over SA as we got on top of their best pitcher early with some power hitting. A loss to NSW Navy was a good learning curve, and the girls will be stronger having faced some quicker pitchers. Kelsie has a great hit to RF but was caught, a mixed bag at 2nd and a rest for the majority of the NSW game. Sitting 4th after day 2 with VIC and QLD Metro to come on Day 3!
Day 3. Began with a win against Vic, although not overly convincing. Then played a great game against QLD Metro, but going down by one, 7-6. It leaves us needing a win against QLD Country tomorrow and NSW Sky beating SA to make the top 4. The girls will give it everything. Kelsie’s had a great day with the bat, and was flawless in the field. She has also destroyed two socks and plenty of bark off her knees and elbows as her compulsive sliding and diving habits continue…
Day 4. Great victory today, and things fell our way! We are into the minor semi (3vs4) tonight at 7pm EDST (4pm WST), with the prize a spot in the preliminary final tomorrow! Kelsie was great in the field at 2nd base, and did her bit with the bat. Had a nice hit that was caught at CF.
Unfortunately, we lost the Elimination Final against Queensland Metro by a narrow margin, putting us out. THe girls played a terrific game and Kelsie excelled, taking two amazing catches and a couple of excellent takes at 1st Base. The girls can be rightfully proud of their performance across the carnival. The parents and families certainly were impressed with the dedication and effort of all the team members.
Australia vs South Africa – Women’s T20 International
With a lay day to to not making the Preliminary Final, we took the chance to go to the cricket at Marnuka Oval. With a small crowd of around 2000, good seats were easy to find and excellent value at $20. Unfortunately, the cricket was not so good, with a lack lustre performance by Australia and an easy win to South Africa, their first after a 6-0 head to head. It was a relaxing day, compared to the tension of watching close fought softball matches all week.
29-30 January – Train to Sydney
With the softball over, we all went our different ways, Trevor and Em to Perth via Sydney, John direct to Perth on the same flight as the team, Simon to Melbourne on the Sunday and us to Sydney via the Southern Explorer, run by NSW Railways. It is a four hour trip through the Southern Highlands and offeres some scenic delights. There are vast areas of woodlands, beautiful farmlands and a number of quaint small towns, as well as a couple of regional centres such as Goulburn and Bowral. It was a comfortable and enjoyable trip, and not overly time consuming when one takes into account the requirements of air travel and the convenience of finishing the trip at Sydney Central Station, only a short walk from our accomodation. We stayed at the Wyndham Hotel, which features rooms with a kitchenette, allowing basic meal preparation. It is very well appointed, if not a tad small, but is very well located witht the Museum underground station 300m away.
Once settled in, we headed out to catch the underground to Circular Quay for a ferry to Manly. When in Sydney, fish and chips at Manly is a must do, and the perfect weather made sitting by the water at sunset enjoying a feed a wonderful experience, except for overeating. When will we learn that one serve shared is enough for us these days?
The next day was a full day to sight see. It started out wet, but the weather steadily improved and gave us plenty of time to walk. We followed a chain of parks, starting at Hyde Park, and followed through the Royal Botanic Gardens on a series of pathways that would lead us to the Opera House. The BOtanic Gardens are a must visit location in Sydney, with beautiful plam groves, garden beds and ferneries. At one point, we passed a bench and there was a very classy looking Italian leather handbag lying abandoned. There was no one around so Christine guarded it while I set off to find a staff member for help. I soon found a gardener, who radioed for a ranger. Hopefully, someone’s bad day would turn out for the better.
As we neared the Opera House, I was stunned at how small it looked. However, it turned out to be an illusion caused by our elevated approach, and once down at ground level, it assumed its imposing look once again. The walk around to Circular Quay was crowded with tourists from a large P&O cruise ship in port. We stopped at a cafe to have an iced coffee and watch the passing parade. We had planned to catch the ferry to Parramatta, just for the ride and to see the sight of the middle and upper harbour. By the time we got to the correct wharf, we found we had over an hour to wait, so we grabbed a kebab (shared this time) for lunch while waiting. A check of the timetable revealed that the trip to Parramatta would be 3 hours return, so we changed instead to the ferry to Pyrmont Bay (Darling Harbour) via Luna Park and Balmain. The views were spectacular, and at $2.50, would have to be the best value harbour cruise anywhere in the world. We just stayed on the ferry and returned to Circular Quay and an underground back. A wonderful day.
Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour
Luna Park from the ferry
Opera House from The Domain
Royal Botanic Gardens
Sydney’s famous ferries
Museum Underground
Fish’n Chips at Manly
Manly Sunset
This has been our fourth visit to Sydney and our best, even though very short. Every other time has been hot or we have had somewhere we had to be but this time we got to just walk and and sit on ferries. The central streets of Sydney hold little appeal. The open spaces, beaces, parks and harbour are all delightful.
Tomorrow, it is a flight home. It is an easy train ride from Museum Station to the airport with our backpacks at a civilised time of 10am so things are working out well. Hopefully, the flight won’t be cancelled. Note: THe train to the airport took about half an hour, including the walk, and the plane was on time. We caught a train to Kinglsey to get home.
After the cave exploring, we drove into Naracoorte itself, finding a very pretty town with lots of shopping and eateries lining the three main streets. It looked to have everything one could ask of a small rural town. A special feature was a swimming lake, a large pool up to two metres deep with an artificial beach, floating platforms and picnic areas. It was created in the 1960s and was a wonderful variation on the usual Olympic sized swimming pool for a town situated away from the coast.
Our apartment is really well located, at 220 Spencer St, right opposite the Skybus terminal at Southern Cross Station, making for an easy leave at the end of the week. It is a studio apartment on the 38th floor with all the necessary things, except a decent mattress. Why people leave sagging dead mattresses on beds in rentals is beyond me, it colours the whole review and rating when a couple of hundred buys an acceptable mattress from Ikea every year if needed. There was a sofa bed offering but they are terrible to sleep on so it ended up with the sofa bed mattress on the floor each night. Not ideal but the location makes up for it.
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