The Gypsies Progress - Queensland Trip 2008

The start of 2008 (June really) and our first trip in out new 5th Wheeler.

Our new rig

Hopefully this is the first of many instalments to come.  We have just completed a lovely leisurely week at Tin Can Bay.  Played in the Sunday golf competition, terribly, but what can I expect after only 1 game in 6 months and after the shoulder operation.  I was a bit stiff afterwards.  It is a lovely course and was in good condition.  Julie's niece, husband, and little girl arrived on the Monday and stayed for two nights.  They were lucky as it started to rain the day they left, and did so for the next two days on and off.

The weather cleared Thursday morning which allowed me to play 9 holes that afternoon.  Julie and I both love Tin Can Bay and we may spend a bit more time there in the future.  The night before we left, Friday night, I took Julie out for her birthday.  It was a lovely restaurant just up the road from the caravan park, and they have the best seafood chowder I have ever tasted. 

We arrived in Hervey Bay today (Saturday 21 June) at about lunch time.  We are staying in the yard of the people we bought our rig from, they are very hospitable and were glad to see the rig, which they had made.  They have a huge house on a half acre at Dundowran, which is just north of Hervey bay.  We plan to stay here until Tuesday.

(Friday 27 June)  Our first night's free camp was at the Calliope River rest area (pix). 

 Calliope River & Rest Area

 This is a lovely spot on the banks of the Calliope River, where you can stay for 48hrs.  It has flush toilets, on the upper level with lights on all night.  There was 32 other rigs of all sorts there that night, and you could have put another 35 rigs in, the camp area is that big.  The river is salt and I have been told that it is possible to catch fish in it.  Had our first camp fire since our trip in 2007.  As Julie said now we feel we are really on our way and enjoying camping.  The Bruce Hwy. from  Apple Tree Creek to the Gladstone turnoff is in a shocking state, very rough and bouncy with heaps of hills.

It was a short run from the Calliope River to Byfield State Forest, about 200klm.  There are three camping grounds in the State Forest which are accessible by conventional vehicle, the one we are in, Red Rock, (pix) is one of the few in the state to allow pets, but they must be on a lead at all times. 

 Byfield National Park - Red Rock Camp Ground

 Byfield National Park, which is next door, has a couple of camp grounds, but you need a 4x4 to access them.  We will be staying here a week, bushwalking, relaxing, and camp fire cooking.  This is the first place where I have had to back our rig in.  Very pleased with how I went, lucky I had a bit of room.   This camp ground has plenty of water, boil before you drink, lots of shade trees, big sites with either a fire pit or a wood B.B.Q, and flush toilets.  Like all National Parks and State Forests in Qld., you have to bring your own firewood.  So far the weather has been really great.

As most of you know we are travelling with our cat "Kinky".  Whenever he is out of the van he is on a lead.  We generally take him for a walk every day, when we can, but we soon found out that he loves lying on one of our chairs.  This became a nuisance when we wanted to sit down, so we went to "The Warehouse" in Rockie and bought him his own fold up chair.(pix).  Do you think we spoil him??

 Kinkie in his chair

Tuesday 1 July.  Well tomorrow we leave this lovely place and am going to spend Wednesday night in Rockhampton catching up with some friends.  Yesterday we drove to one of the other camp grounds, Upper Stony, where there are some lovely bush walks as well as some very good campsites.  You have to book ahead for this camp ground as it is very popular as it has a beaut big swimming hole.  It also has a hugh and very nice day use area, so it would be very popular in the summer months.  We did two circuit walks, about 5k in all.  They were very nice as one of them followed the creek and passed through patches of the Byfield Grevillia, and Byfield Fern.  Both these species only grow in this area.

After Rockhamption, our next stop will be St.Lawrence, another free camp, however I believe you can get hot showers for a small fee.  Anyhow here we are at St. Lawrence.  (Sunday 6)  Arrived on Thursday 3 July.  It is a good free camp spot with flush toilets, good drinking water and $1 in the slot for hot showers. (3 minutes)  We didn't know how long we would stay as we weren't sure what was here.  It is a big camp area with some lovely walks out into the wetlands where there is a myriad of water birds of all types.   There is informative signs through out the area.  A short drive from the camp you come to a tidal inlet where you can catch good Flathead on the rising tide. 

 St.Lawrence Wet Lands

As it turned out there is a big Polo Cross competition this weekend with teams coming from two to three hundred kl. away.  All the campers were invited to join in the social side, so we decided to stay all weekend.  Last night there was a roast dinner, with desert, for $10.  The bar was open with cheap drinks.  After dinner there were Mud Crab races, which you could bet on, followed by a mini casino.  They also raffled the mud crabs after the races.  We watched the Polo cross for most of the day, and boy were some of the "A" grade players excellent horse persons.  They even had junior competitions, with some players as young as 8.

This afternoon we are thinking of going to "barefoot bowls" at the bowling club.  Neither of us has ever bowled before.  Doesn't matter, it should be fun.  For dinner tonight there is a sausage sizzle $2.50.  Great weekend, with very friendly people.  We will move on tomorrow, Monday.  Another advantage of having the Polo Cross competition here, was that they turned off the money in the slot for the showers, so we all got free hot showers as well.  (Bonus)

Monday 7 July.  As it turned out we didn't go to bowls but went for a drive instead.  About 4am it started to drizzle so it was a wet camp we had to pack up.  A lot easier in the 5th wheeler than in the camper trailer I can assure you.  Rained 90% of the way to Proserpine where we stayed overnight.  What a rip-off place that park was, wont go there a again.  Over priced with only mediocre amenities.

Yesterday, after a short day's travel with rain most of the way, we stopped at this "Mountain View Lake" holiday park just out from Giru.(Pix)  A really lovely spot at the base of a mountain and national park with plenty of room.  Big drive through sites with Power and all the usual for just $16 per night.  We will move on to the rally at Townsville tomorrow where we will stay til at least Monday.  We don't know where we will head after that.

Mountain View Holiday Park

 

Well what a hectic social life we have been having lately.  Firstly at St.Lawrence, which I told you about, now at the rally in Townsville .  Every one is so friendly, and when they knew it was our first rally they really went out of their way to make us welcome.  Happy hour starts at 4pm, you then go back to your respective rigs for dinner, with after dinner entertainment starting at around 6.30pm.  Saturday evening most of us (over 200) went to the local RSL where they put on a great dinner and show, All for the princely sum of $12 per head.  There are about 180 rigs here of all shapes and sizes.  We are one of 6, 5th wheelers.  Some of the motorhome busses are hughmungus with a lot of the larger motorhomes worth in excess of $500,000 plus the car and trailer they tow. 

                                                 Some of the Rigs at Townsville

While we have made a lot of friends, there are a few who will stick in our mind.  Two of these are Peg and Ray.  They drive a 35ft bus towing a car trailer.  The bus has a bit of age on it, but the thing I admire about them is that they are both 84 and she has had a small stroke last year.  The bus is their home and they have been on the road for over 20 years.  A remarkable couple.  Every one is trying to talk us into going to Mareeba for the "Christmas in July" rally, but I don't think so at this stage.  While here I played golf in the Saturday competition at the Willows course.  A very friendly place with a forgiving course, though a lot of bunkers.

There is a HF radio club rally after this so we will stay on for it for a few days.  It goes up til next Monday morning.  At this stage I don't know if we will stay the whole time, but we are now going to Innisfail for a few days to see the Hendles and Rod & Meg.  After that Charters Towers (eventually).

Friday 18th.  Well the clouds have finally started to clear up, after 4 days, so I shouldn't have to use the generator today to top the batteries up.  Life is pretty relaxed at present and we are enjoying the warmer weather.  Just using a sheet at night, but that is what North Qld. is all about.  This rally is a lot more casual than the previous one with just social activities from 4pm onwards, with a break for dinner.  Julie is currently playing disc bowls with a group, and I did some GPS exercises this morning.  Very interesting.  Other than doing the washing at a Laundromat and the food shopping the other day, things have been easy.

                                                     Toomula Beach Rest Area

Tuesday 22nd.  We finally left Townsville yesterday in drizzling rain and it is worse today.  We only travelled 60k to a lovely free camp at Toomulla Beach.  It would be a nice spot with long walks on the beach except for the drizzle.  You can supposedly stay here for 48 hours, but if you work it right this can be extended to at least 4 nights.  Arrive Friday afternoon and leave Tuesday morning.  As these free camping areas are run by the council, the ranger only visits Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  His visit is completed by mid afternoon.  Then on the Tuesday you move to the next one up the road for another 3 or 4 free nights.  At nearly all these places there is flush toilets and drinking water, with 99% of people using Solar or small generators to keep the batteries topped up.  There is always campers here so you are not alone.  There are about 15 rigs at this one at the present time.  The only downside at this place is that the 'phone reception is very poor with a lot of dropouts.  Oh well you can't have everything.  Tomorrow we will move on to Liverpool creek a Japoonvale for 2 nights, then 3 nights at Innisfail before returning to Townsville.

Thursday 24th.  As we were passing through ElArish, we thought we would call in and see some friends.  Peter and Gail Smith, ex ElArish auxiliary fire-fighters.  We ended up staying the night in their front yard and having dinner with them.  We were pleased to stop as it really started to rain heavy as we approached Tully, which didn't surprise us.  Some things don't change.  Thank goodness it had stopped by this morning, though every where you go the ground is still sloppy.  Had a very short drive to Liverpool Creek rest area at Japoonvale (22kl).  We were here just after 9.30am.  We will spend the night here as it is a lovely spot with some relatively dry ground.  Very clean flush toilets, tables, water and wood BBQ, and of course best of all, free.  Another nice surprise, a pie van called in at lunch time.  Sam's Pies, a name we knew well when we lived in Innisfail.  It is still very overcast and I believe we are in for some more rain.

Innisfail from the Hendle's

Bob & Julies Australian Odessy 2007

Well we are finally underway, (May 2007)

Day 2 and we are already settling into the swing of things.  Yesterday (our first day)  we arrived at the Bill Gunn weir on the edge of Laidley after an easy trip.  This is a large camping area with free power and hot showers (bonus).  It is on top of a hill overlooking the dam, not much water in it though, you can stay here free for 2 nights.  We will move on tomorrow to meet up with our travelling companions at Layburn.  This is about 40k S.W. of Clifton on the New England Hwy, half way between Warwick and Toowoomba.  It will be interesting to meet for the first time and get to know them.

Julie at Bill Gunn Weir

Monday 7 May.  Met Winston and Joanne. He is about 18 months older, and she 18 months younger than I, a really lovely and easy to get on with couple.  Had a nice night around the fire the first night as a getting to know you exercise.  Travelled through Goondiwindi the next day with a stopover in that town for some things we both did not bring.  A lovely place with all you need in the way of shops.

Wednesday 9 May.  Well our friends have already left us, my deodorant must not be working.  Actually they received some bad news late the night before about their daughters health, and they have had to rush back home.  It was very sad as we all seemed to be hitting it off really well.  If things work out with their daughter they will try and meet us in Alice Springs.  We will just have to wait and see.  In the mean time we will push on by ourselves, however I don't think we will be alone as there are a lot of travellers and a lot of campers at each place every night.

Sat 12 May.  We arrived here in Cunnamulla yesterday.  It is surprising how green the country around here is, they have had some good rain in the last month.  As you can guess there is not much to Cunnamulla, but we had to stock up as this is the last place to get provisions for the next couple of weeks.  We are staying in the show grounds with several other travellers.  $5 per night for power, hot showers and flush toilets.  This is the first we had to pay since leaving home.

Cunnamulla Fella

Every so often you run across a little gem of a place.  The stop before here was at Nindigully, 2 days & 3 nights we spent.  Right on the banks of the Moonie river, (full of water)  good fireplace, plenty of wood, picnic tables, free hot showers and flush toilets, absolutely fabulous.  I hope you are all following our progress on a map.  The next stop is Noccundra.

Sun 13 May (Mothers Day).  After we left Cunnamulla we passed through Eulo where they have a date and fig farm.  They make date wine, but the "Sticky Date Liquer" was fabulous, bought a bottle for a special occasion.  They also had fresh, dried, and preserved dates and figs.  Bought a packet each of the dried ones.  Set up camp on the banks of the Wilson River at Noccundra.  It is about 500m from the pub where the toilets and hot showers are, quite a ways to run if you get caught short.  There were 3 other campers in last night.  The country has remained green and in great condition, though the further west we go the worse the flies have become, sheep country.  We have started to wear our fly vales and we are glad they disappear at night.  Going to do roast lamb shanks in the camp oven tonight.

Tomorrow we hit our first dirt road about 100k out.  From then on it is all dirt for 100's of K's.  We are planning to camp on the banks of Coopers Creek at the "Dig Tree".

Wednesday 16 May.  Well the best laid plans of mice and men etc.  The night before we were to head to Innamincka they had over an inch of rain and all the roads were cut, so we had to backtrack through Thargomindah and went on to Quilpie.  Lovely scenic camp spot beside a lake 5 K out of town.  No facilities here but very picturesque, hot showers in town. 

Lake Houdraman

Not sure which way we will go now.  I will try and ring Innamincka tonight.  If the roads are still cut we may try going through Birdsville and down the Birdsville track.  If that option is out we will probably head up north to Mt Isa and across that way and reverse our travel route.  We will try to keep you posted, but 'phone reception out here in limited.  So far we have really had a great trip and met some wonderful people.

Well the decision has been made.  We are now planing to reverse our trip and go up through western QLD via Longreach, Winton Mt.Isa etc.  We had a few relaxing days here at Lake Houdraman, Quilpie, and were planing to leave this morning.  That was until it started to rain late yesterday afternoon.  Light rain all night and if you know anything about black soil country you don't move anywhere until it dries out.  Luckily I had just finished cooking a leg of Lamb when it started to spit.  It has not rained since about 6 this morning.  Hopefully we may be able to move tomorrow morning.  There is another car and caravan here, they may have to wait a few days as they are not 4X4.  It will depend on how quick it dries up, hoping for some strong sun.

Saturday 19 May.  We had no trouble leaving this morning and went into Quilpie for a free hot shower before we moved on to Windorah.  A very remote camp spot on the banks on Cooper's Creek, however there is lovely flush toilets and water and there are several other campers.  The couple next to us in a caravan had been there 3 weeks.  We could stay a few days but I don't think a few weeks.

Monday 21.  A nice uneventful trip from Windorah through Jundah, Stonehenge and into Longreach.  Staying at the free camp spot on the banks of the Thompson River about 5k out of town.  Went to town today to do some washing, shopping and a shower.  Also this is the first place we have had 'phone reception for about a week.  Last night there were 34 other rigs in this camp spot, mostly Motor homes and Caravans.  The caravan next to us had a campfire last night and we had about a dozen people, one of the ladies had a banjo, it was a great night.  Out of the dozen or so people there were 5 ladies travelling solo in their units, the oldest being 76.  They were driving either Hilux pop tops or small Winnebago's.  None of them would have been under 60, they all free camp and are enjoying every minute, you have to take your hat off to them.

Stockman's Hall Of Fame - Longreach

Wednesday 23 May.  Went to the "Stockman's Hall of Fame" & the QANTAS museum today.  The "Hall of Fame" had some really good parts but overall a bit disappointing.  The QANTAS show was much better, especially the 747 tour. I have had a yabby trap in the Thompson overnight and got 2 really big yabbies.  Not an overly strong flavour but quite nice anyway.

At the QNTAS Museum - Longreach

Friday 25. Arrived Winton yesterday after an easy run, one of our shortest days.  Free camp behind the North Gregory Hotel with hot showers and flush toilets.  Would you believe we are camped beside the same couple who had the camp fire that we were beside at Longreach!  We are enjoying Winton and went to the "Waltzing Matilda" centre today.  As far as we are concerned it is a much better display then the "Stockman's Hall of Fame".  Plan to leave here tomorrow and take two days to get to Mt.Isa.

Mt. Isa

Sunday 27. May.  A bit crowded last night as there were 21 rigs at the back of the hotel.  Travelled further yesterday than I first anticipated so we made Cloncurry.  Stayed at a place called "Wal's Camp".  $8 a night, we were the only people there.  After a short drive (120k) we arrived at MtIsa before lunch at the Moondara Caravan Park.  First actual caravan park we have been in this trip, and at $20 a night without power there wont be many more if I can help it, we are staying 2 nights.  One of the main reasons we are staying here is so Julie could see her niece Lauren, who came around this afternoon.  As this is the last large centre we will be in until Kununurra W.A. we will do some major shopping tomorrow.  I also need to go to a bank.  We are planing to see Lauren and Brady tomorrow afternoon for a B.B.Q.

Julies niece Lauren

Well we crossed into the Northern Territory yesterday morning, it was an extremely hot day for travelling.  The day finished with a severe thunderstorm, luckily it went around us.  We camped at a place called "Wonarah Bore", this is about 200k over the border and in the centre of the Barkley Tablelands.  The Tablelands is a vast flat area with hardly any trees so you can see for miles, something a kin to the Nullarbor. 

 It is a great cattle growing area and we were luckily to see a cattle drive with 6 stockmen on horses driving what would have been 4 to 5 hundred head.  There is nothing at this campground except a water bore, shelter shed and fireplace, very remote.  At least having our Porta-Potty with us allows us to stay at a place like this.  We are staying on here today and again tonight.  Last night there were 17 rigs in for the night, so far there is 6 here already and it is only 1pm.  Amongst the rigs that were here were an elderly couple in a Hiace pop top.  He was 90, she was 83, and they didn't even have a toilet.  Being in the middle of nowhere the sky at night is spectacular. 

 The road from Mt.Isa to Camooweal is now terrific, the best we have been on so far, a far cry from what is was like in 1991.  Today is quite cool and windy so we will move on tomorrow to Banka Banka station where we can get hot showers, a distance of about 300k.

Banka Banka station

Banka Banka station, which is owned by the Kidman family.  What a great friendly place, they open the "bar?" for a few hours each afternoon/night.  Light beer $2; heavy $3, they recon the cheapest beer on the highway.  Wish the fuel prices were as cheep.  I paid $1.09c a lit for auto gas at the threeways, unleaded was about $1.70  Today is Friday and it will be our second night here.  So far I have picked up $35 worth of work sharpening knives, considering it only costs $12 a night for hot showers etc I am well ahead.  One of the ladies who run the place has spread the word and thinks that some of the other station people are coming in tomorrow with more work for me.  If that is the case we will stay another day.

We continued our journey on Saturday and went up the Stuart Hwy' to Dunmarra where the auto gas was so much cheaper at 89.9c per lit.  There we left the bitumen and drove 184k along a reasonable dirt road to Top Springs.  All that is there is a pub with a camp ground.

Well our run of disasters happening on out trips has continued.  We had travelled about 140k along this dirt road when the chassis gave away under the Rodeo.

This is U shape, not a U turn

Here we are in the middle of no where with a broken car.  I couldn't pick up a satellite on the phone so tried the UHF radio working my way through the channels.  We were lucky and picked up a helicopter about 50k away.  He told us to change to duplex channel 1 and call Victoria River Downs, which we did.  The wife of the manager then drove a round trip of almost 100k just to see if we were all right.  Another traveller from Victoria offered to tow our trailer into Timber Creek for us and leave it at the garage or police station.  At this stage we have no idea if that has happened as we can't contact Timber Creek.  We then had to limp the car over 45k back to Victoria River Downs (VRD), travelling at 30k and stay the night here.  The people here were very good and put us up for the night, fed us, and wouldn't take a thing for it.  We are now waiting for a truck, which they have organised, to load the Rodeo on and take us to Katherine.  There we hope to get it fixed.  How long it will take is anybodies guess.  When we get to a 'phone reception area, we will ring a few people.  Naturally we are upset, however if they can fix and reinforce the chassis we will continue our trip as we still have time on our side.  All we can say is that this is just another little speed bump in the highway of life.  This makes 3 disasters now, hope this ends it.

VRD is a hugh cattle property belonging to Heytesbury Beef.  It is 8905 sq km. or about 1,000,000 acres.  Altogether Heytesbury Beef own 3 stations in the "Territory" totalling about 32,579 sq km. This is over 4,000,000 acres. Almost the size of Britain.  VRD's largest paddock is 668 sq km.  The largest paddock they have on one of the other stations is 2,355 sq km. That would hold a few cows.  If my memory serves me correct the "Holmes a Court's" are still or have been tied up in the ownership. At one time VRD was much bigger and was the largest single property in the southern hemisphere.

The saga continues, remember that truck that was to take us to Katherine?  Well we were about 78k from Katherine when the truck  blew a compressor, no brakes.  So we unloaded the Rodeo and limped the last bit into Katherine.  Arrived at about 5.30pm after starting our day at about 9am.  Man what a long day.  Arrived on Monday, and will be here until at least next Friday.  We are in the same caravan park that we were in, in 1991.  Tuesday they pushed the chassis back into place enough so we could drive to Timber Creek to retrieve our trailer.  Much cheaper than the $1500.00 we were quoted from a retrieval company.  Even though it was nearly a 600k round trip, the cost of fuel was only about $120.00. 

Katherine Hot Springs

Well the progress bit is not happening.  Today is Wednesday 13 June and of course we are still in Katherine.  Hopefully the car will be back with us Friday afternoon.  We have a few options that we need to consider now. 

Option 1 is to return to QLD. and take a different route back home.  While we will see different places and still take our time, it will be disappointing to have got so far and have to turn back.  Even if we pay to have the chassis reinforced it is not recommended that we take the Rodeo over the rough roads. When we get back home trade the Rodeo in on either a Toyota or Nissan single cab 4x4, and do this trip next year.

Option 2. Trade the Rodeo in on a good late model 4x4, of the type mentioned, here in Katherine and continue our trip.  This would save us the expense of reinforcing the chassis and also the cost of returning next year.  We have been looking around and have seen a late model Nissan Patrol 4.2 turbo diesel, ex government, with a few extras.  We can't make a decision as yet as we can't show the Holden dealer our Rodeo so we don't know what they will offer as a trade.  Only time will tell, so we may be here in Katherine for another week.

Hot Springs Swimming Area

Even though we are stuck in the caravan park, there could be worse places.  It is a very large park with plenty of shade, and even though it is quite a walk into town, it is very handy to the hot springs which are absolute fabulous.  There are some long walking tracks, fairly flat walking, which I am doing quite regularly which is good for me.  Being a caravan park there is always travellers coming and going so new people for Julie to talk to all the time.  We have met some really lovely people.

The last few days have been very overcast with today cold, windy and bleak.  Luckily in the early part of our stay the weather was perfect.  Received a phone call from the people that started the trip with us about 8 weeks ago, Winston and Joanne.  Remember they had to leave us after only 2 days to return to their sick daughter?  Well they rang from the Barkley Homestead and said they would arrive in Katherine Saturday afternoon.  As they have had 8 days of solid rain everything is wet so they will need Sunday to wash and clean everything.  We will leave here Monday morning, exactly 3 weeks after we arrived.

There has been a lot of unseasonable rain up here, with Kununurra receiving over 60mm over night cutting all the dirt roads. Hope things dry out soon.  As I have said to Julie "I will be crying tears of blood if after buying the Nissan to continue our trip only to find out we can't do the Gibb River road because of freaky weather".  At least we wont be in that area for another 4 or 5 days.

"It is not the destination you remember the most but the trip getting there", or something like that.

Timber Creek Crock

We left Katherine with heavy hearts, like hell, and drove into heavy rain at Timber creek, this did not look good.  2 nights at Timber creek and by the second night it had stopped raining, however all the reports coming from the Kimberley's were not good.  We crossed the WA border on the Wednesday and stayed at the Kununurra show grounds for 2 nights.  $10 a night which is not bad.  We left there on the Friday and went up to Wyndham to have a look at the 5 rivers lookout.

Port at Wyndham

 

  We free camped Friday night before we started out on the Gibb River Road.  I had checked with the local authorities Friday afternoon and was informed that the Gibb River Road was open to all traffic under 3 tonnes.  Taking our time from Katherine had given the road time to dry out and allowed the eager beavers to flatten out all the ruts.

Maggie Creek Rest Area

Our first 2 nights were at EL Questro Station, this was Saturday & Sunday.  It was too expensive and we would not do it again.  EL Questro station has created what they call a "Wilderness Park"  $15 a head to enter, permit good for 5 days.  Then it cost $15 per head to camp, use of facilities but no power.  Staying two nights therefore cost $90.  Unfortunately all the gorges on the east Kimberlies are on EL Questro station, and the nearest place to camp outside the station boundary is 60km away.  They also restrict entry to all gorges and springs etc. to the morning so the tour coaches can have an open go after 12pm.  We are glad we did go but it certainly leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

EL Questro Gorge

Monday 2 July.  Our friends left us this morning at EL Questro, we don't think they realised how much time we wanted to take seeing things, and also how restrictive having a dog with them was.  The parting was sad as we had got on well together.  They also had to be back at Scott's Head by middle of August, if they had of kept going they would have had to leave us in the near future and getting back to NSW would have been a lot further.  This way they can take there time getting home.  We will miss them.  We stayed at Ellenbrae station that night and again tonight (Tuesday) and plan to move on to the Drysdale area tomorrow.  This camp ground is a bush camp with donkey boiler for showers but flush toilets. 

Ellenbrae waterhole

 There is a magnificent swimming hole near the camp with plenty of timber for a fire, it is nice to relax today and catch up on this e-mail.  Some people do funny things, we passed a chap wading across the Durack river with his push bike on his shoulder.  When we arrived here there were 3 young ladies, in their 20's, riding their bikes across the track.  Don't forget we are talking about 600km of rough dirt road, and having to ford flowing rivers.  Boy will they have something to tell their kids about.

Plain's Creek

Wednesday 4th.  We turned off the Gibb River Road today and started up the Kalumburu road.  It became immediately obvious the deterioration in the road surface.  We found a nice overnight camp beside Plain's Creek.  Nothing there except a lovely creek.  As there was no one else, our bath became a skinny dip in the creek.  The next day we stopped at Drysdale River Station where we topped up with fuel before moving on to the camp ground at the King Edward River, (toilets provided). 

King Edward River Crossing

View at our camp - King Edward River

 We decided to make this our base for the next few days as we had a fabulous camp spot right on the river bank, no crocks here.  The next day, Friday, we did the run up to the Mitchell falls.  What an horrific road.  2 hours to do about 80km, then a stiff 1.5-2 hour walk to the falls, then the same back with 2 bone jarring hours return drive.  Very tired that night. 

Mitchell Falls

Today is a leisurely day with some washing and a visit to a very impressive aboriginal rock painting site just down the road.  Plan to leave tomorrow and camp on the banks of the Gibb River.  We will stop at Drysdale River Station and make a couple of phone calls from the pay phone.  By the time you get this it will be quite a large letter as we wont be able to send it until I have 'phone reception, probably after the Gibb River Road has finished.

Gibb River Camp Area

3 great nights on the banks of the Gibb River.  We were only planing to stay two, but a caravan, off road??, came in beside us with their 'fridge breaking out, so we stayed another day so I could help this bloke fix his 'fridge mountings.  Went in to Barnette River Gorge, worth the rough drive in.  Arrived yesterday, Wednesday 11 at Mount Barnett Roadhouse and Manning River camp ground.  Very busy here.  The walk to the gorge today, Thursday, was quite rugged but the waterfall and swimming hole was worth it.  Will push on tomorrow.

Manning River Falls

Friday 13 arrived at Silent Grove in the King Leopold Ranges Conservation Park. On our way here we went into Galvan's Gorge.  Defiantly the best we have ever seen, it even had some aboriginal rock drawings. 

Galvans Gorge

 On Saturday we drove and walked to Bell gorge, another great place.  As we were back from our walk by mid-day we decided to pack up and go to a spot we were told about 20km down the road as it was too crowded at Silent Grove.  What a great free camp the spot turned out to be.  A place called "March Fly Glen", no march flies, it had toilet, tables, B.B.Q., Fireplaces and was beside a creek with water and heaps of shade. There were 7 other camps by night fall. 

Bell Gorge Falls

Sunday 15.  We left our lovely camp spot heading for our next destination, Windjana Gorge.  On the way we went in to Lennard Gorge.  It has to be the most spectacular gorge we have seen, not the nicest, that goes to Galvin's gorge.  Just before we turned off to Windjana Gorge we crossed the Lennard River, and would you believe there was a pie van there selling Tea/Coffee, Pies etc. 150km east of derby.  He was doing a roaring trade.  Windjana gorge is completely different to all the other gorges we have seen.

Lennard River - Windjana Gorge

  The Lennard river has carved a passage through the Devonian reef.  This is an ancient coral reef from the Devonian period some 360 million years ago when most of Australia was underwater.  The river is one of the best spots in Oz where you can see fresh water crocodiles and get up close and personal.  In a space of about 200m I counted over 60 and you could approach to within 3m to 4m of them on the river bank.  We stayed 2 nights in the national park camp ground.

Fresh ater Crock - Windjana Gorge

Tuesday 17 we left and called into Tunnel Creek.  What a magic experience that is.  You walk through this tunnel which the creek has carved through the mountain, a distance of about 750m.  It is pitch dark and you are wading through water up to your knees.  Naturally you are carrying a torch so you can see the stalagtites and mites, bats, fish and shrimps that live in the cave, as well as showing you the way. 

Inside Tunnel Creek

 Except for another 80km of dirt road that is the end of the Gibb River road and Kimberly experience.  Are we glad we braved the rough and dusty road? Too right we are! it was one of those things that if you love the vastness and the bush of this country you should not miss it.  The gorges were fabulous and the ruggedness was awe inspiring.

So here we are in Fitzroy Crossing, the first telephone contact we have had for about 3 weeks.  Hope you enjoy reading about our adventures as much as we do experiencing them.

  At long last we bid farewell to Fitzroy Crossing and travelled 185km to Mary's pool which is about 3/4 way to Hall's Creek.  A very large free camp ground well off the road where dozens of people stay every night.  Long drop toilets and fresh water crock's in the river and millions of Corella's in the trees during the day.  Arrived at Hall's Creek about 10.30 the next morning.  After filling up with fuel, the first since Broome,  we went out to the China Wall. 

China Wall - Near Halls Creek

This is a white quartz formation rising up out of the ground in some places over 6 metres.  We then travelled 45km from town along a dirt road to Palm Springs, a fabulous large spring fed water hole fringed with palms along the Duncan road. 

Palm Springs camp

 Stayed 3 nights and there was always someone else camping there as well.  As well as a great swimming hole, the spring water was magic to drink.  While we were here we went to "Saw Pit Gorge" just up the road and found some great isolated camp spots along the water holes.  

Palm Springs Water Hole

Saturday 11 August.  We started our treck across the Tamani road (desert) last Monday.  What an experience.  1060km all told between Halls Creek and Alice Springs, 900km on dirt.  It took us 3 nights as we like to travel slow and enjoy the experience.  Let me reflect back and tell you how we went.

Wolfe Creek Crater

We started at the Halls Creek end in W.A.  The first day we went to Wolfe Creek crater.  This is a meteorite crater, the second biggest in the world, and was created about 300 million years ago when a meteor hit earth.  It is in the middle of a hugh flat plain and the sides rise up from the surrounding area about 75m. 

Inside the Crater

 Standing on the top looking down in to it was an awesome sight as it is still deeper than the surrounding plains. The national park camp ground is about 2km from the crater where we stayed that night.  The next morning we moved on towards the NT border which we arrived at lunch time. 

W.A. & N. T. Border crossing on the Tamani Road

 About the last 90km before the border was pretty rough with big pot holes.  It is an unusual experience to cross the border and loose 1.5 hours in time.  Instead of being 12.00, it was now 1.30pm.  From the border on, the road was fairly good for a bush dirt road and we pulled into Rabbit Flat late in the afternoon.  Well what can you say about the most remotest roadhouse in Australia and possibly the world.  $4 per night each, plus another $3 if you wanted a hot shower.  Diesel and petrol $2.10lit.  What a frontier type place with bars on all the windows and several strategic gun ports to keep the indigenous population at bay.  Nice camp ground though.  Rabbit flat is in the middle of the Tamani desert.  You have not seen the stars and night sky until you have camped in the middle of the desert.  The temperature dropped to 0 that night.  Another interesting day's drive saw us arrive at Tilmouth Well which is only 190km from Alice Springs.  All through the country we had been travelling were cattle stations and Gold mines.

As we arrived at Tilmouth Well the day before my birthday, some people we were travelling with and us had a birthday dinner at the Roadhouse restaurant.  Except for 6km of dirt the rest of the road into the Alice was bitumen.  What a change from 3 days of rough dirt road.

Some people told us it was a boring trip with nothing to see.  All I can say is they must have been travelling to fast or they had there eyes closed.  The scenery kept changing regularly, we saw wild camels, dingo's, heaps of Wedge Tailed Eagles, Bustards, and every time we stoped for a cuppa there were plenty of small birds and lizards.  We loved every minute of it.  We even saw a couple of people riding their bikes.  The couple we travelled with said they must be super fit, I say they must be super mad.  Day time temperatures were in the 40's, with below 0 at night.

So now a few days rest in the Alice, the car serviced and we plan to leave here Monday 13, Shane's birthday.  We are off to other remote areas on the edge of the Simpson desert then down the Oodnadatta track. Can't say when we will catch up with you again.  Some have asked me what does it feel like to now be an "old aged pensioner".  Well I don't feel old, but the pension part is pretty good.

 East MacDonnell ranges

Our last day in Alice Springs saw us travel to the East MacDonnell ranges.  Not many people go there as most of the tourist stuff is in the western MacDonnell ranges.  This is a pity as there are two areas there that deserve a lot more time than a day visit.  We were so impressed that we plan to come back and spend a few days at each place.  The first is Trephina Gorge National park, the second is Arltunga.  There is a complete old ghost town there that requires at least 3 days to cover properly.  I got some great photos there.

Police Station - Arltunga

After leaving the Alice we only travelled 100km to Rainbow Valley Conservation Park.  This is in the Simpson Desert, but the sunset on this rock formations leave Uluru for dead.  The NT government certainly welcome tourists and provide great facilities for a very nominal price to camp.  $3.30 per person.  Free gas hotplates and BBQ's, well constructed fire places with cooking plates, tables and clean toilets, and in some places good drinking water.  Some of the other states could take a leaf out of there book.

Rainbow valley Sunset

Tuesday 14 August we moved on to Kings Creek Station.  This is a cattle station that caters for tourists and other than the resort, it is the closest camping to King's Canyon.  To get here we travelled 100km over a fairly rough dirt road.  The Ernest Giles road, named after the explorer.  Today, Wednesday, we went to King's Canyon.  Julie didn't have a very good night and didn't feel like the 6.5km rugged trek around the rim of the canyon.  This was a pity as I rate it as one of the best walks I have ever done in terms of scenery and diversity of terrain.  Took about 3 hours, and rugged in places, but well worth it.  The next day we had an uneventful travel to Kalgara which is the last township in the NT heading to Adelaide.  Spent the night there.

Kings Canyon - North Wall

Friday 17 saw us start the last long leg of our rough section.  We won't see any more bitumen now until Qld in about 2 to 3 weeks.  Travelled due east from Kalgara to Finke on the best dirt road so far, taking a detour in to the Lambert Centre on the way.  (The dead centre of Australia) 

Julie at the Lambert Centre

  Finke was a station on the old Ghan line and a big cattle centre.  Now it is an Aboriginal community and not very inspiring.  About 180km later we arrived at Mt Dare station in the Simpson desert.  Had a look at their camp ground, drank a cup of coffee and decides to push on to Delhousie Springs 70km further down the track.  You definitely know you are in the desert here, a strong cold wind blew across the vast endless plains but still millions of flies.  Other than the fabulous springs which bubble hot water up to the surface at a rate of 160lit per minute, you wouldn't come here.  The springs form a big water hole which is great for swimming, and at a constant temperature of 34 to 38 degrees it is delightful.  Just on dusk the flies disappear and the temperature drops considerably.  Great for sitting around the camp fire.  Tonight will be our third night here and we will leave in the morning.  Today we went to the old Delhousie homestead, now abandoned ruins.  What ever possessed anyone to come here in the first place is beyond me, as the area has a lunar landscape as far as the eye can see.

Delhousie Springs - Simpson Desert

Monday 20 to Friday 24 August.  Well what can you say about the Oodnadatta track.  It is the most barren, desolate, unhospitable section of road we have ever travelled. (Luckily the road surface was quite good for a dirt road, you could travel at 70/80km comfortably.)  Having said that it was one of the most enjoyable trips I have ever done.  You see the road closely follows the old Ghan rail line, and if you are a railway buff or are into historic buildings then this trip is a definite must.  Every 30 or 40km there is an old abandoned station building or siding, all made of stone and in various states of disrepair, or steel railway bridges.  You can also do a couple of side trips, some up to 22km, to old abandoned overland telegraph stations.  These were a community in themselves and followed the line of springs north.  Some of the buildings are in excellent condition, all made of stone, with the community consisting of several buildings including their own police station. 

Peake Telegraph Station

 One station even supported a copper mine with smelter.  We spent hours exploring these ruins.  The first night on the track we stayed at Algebuckina bridge, where there is a hugh steel rail bridge and lovely water hole.  The next night was at Coward Springs where we got lovely hot showers, the first for days.  But of course we had to pay for this.  The next night was at the "Elsewhere Hotel" in Lyndhurst, the bottom of the Strzelecki track. Luckily Lyndhurst doesn't rely on bore water so we filled every container we had with good town water.  While on the track we had to buy drinking water, a first for us.

Algebuckina Water Hole

The first half of the Strzelecki track was very desolate and boring until our night camp at Montecollina Bore.  From there on the desert changed from gibbers to sand and was covered with wildflowers and we saw a lot of wild life.  Driving over the dunes, some red, some white, was an experience with a different view each time.  Today is Saturday and I am at present sitting on the banks of Coopers Creek water hole under the shade of a hugh river red gum.  This is on the Innamincka town common, very relaxing.

Camp site near Coongie Lakes

Monday we went up to Coongie Lakes national park 106km NW from Innamincka.  We were planing on staying at least 2 nights in this pretty area, however there were no camp sits available so had to backtrack 20km to another waterhole.  We spent just one night there and returned to Innamincka and moved on to the Cullyamurra waterhole 14km out of town on the road east.  Today is Wednesday 29 August.  We plan to leave tomorrow and cross back in to Qld and stay at the "Dig Tree" site for a couple of days.  Unfortunately the weather has started to warm up and with that comes the flies, 100's of them which makes things unpleasant.  Thank god for fly vales.  The night's are still cool for sleeping though.

Cullamurra Water Hole - Innamincka

Had one night at the "Dig Tree" camp site.  The history surrounding this place and it's significants to Australia is overpowering.  every where you look out here you see the hand and name of S.Kidman, we all know who he is.  One of his properties covers most of the Oodnadatta track, Anna Station.  It is bigger than Belgium and half the size of England.  We only stayed one night at the Dig Tree then pushed on further east.  100km east from the Dig Tree the bitumen starts.  What a great feeling to be on a smooth surface once again after over 2 weeks of dirt roads.

Friday 31 August we arrived back here in Quilpie and am again staying at lake Houdraman.  this completes a gigantic circle of a fair proportion of our continent.  In 4 months we have travelled through western QLD, NT,WA,SA, and back into QLD again.  What a fabulous trip of a lifetime.  We will be back home in about 2 weeks, even though we could make it in 3 days.