Charters Towers, Qld 30July2022 490km

 Charters Towers, Qld 30July2022 490km

Big long day in the saddle, pushing six hours, only stopped briefly for fuel at Clermont, no point in stopping anywhere else, almost like being in the real outback.

We started out early enough from Rubyvale and headed the back way to Capella, which is on the main road. When I say main road, I mean the Gregory Development road. It may have been the ubiquitous dirt track with a thread of tar up the middle once, but now its bitumen all the way. Well, there is one bit between Clermont and Belyando Crossing that would be better if it were dirt. 

Speaking of Clermont, the plan was to refuel there as it was another 370 to CT, with only the Belyando Crossing roadhouse in between, and as you can't guarantee that they will have fuel, the smart move is to fill up first. The servo was coming up on the left we slowed to maybe sixty to pull into the very big and long dirt approach to the pumps when just as we are about to leave the bitumen we both realised that there was something of a disconnect between the two surfaces, probed; y about a 200mm drop to be precise. We landed hard but apparently unscathed. Then we approached the pumps, but some clown had parked exactly a car width out form the pumps and wandered off to talk to some random truck driver. We bailed out and after a bit of fluffing about, got fuel further into town and hit the road again. Hit the road! Its like being on the end of a jack hammer for an hour so. Very tiring. 

But, lives little events jump up to keep you awake, don't they? We had come up to a gaggle of vans doing 85. they were well enough spaced and we got past the first two with not drama. As we approach the rear of the next van, lining him up for an overtake, a transport pilot coming the other way warned us of a wide load. Ok so no big deal, you’ve over to the fog line and keep going, well most normal people do. Not this clown, he hit the brakes and swerved half of the road and in a mad panic nearly lost it completely, and damn near wore 4 tons of Ford and Nova up his backside for good measure.

So we made it to the Crossing, but the thought of these people passing us was too much and I kept the hammer down.

More excitement. Another clown waiting at the exit from the roadhouse decided that they had better get out in front of us, because we were obviously going to go so slow. Grr. We rounded him up and even though he accelerated to 115 as we pulled out to pass, we went by anyway. Fortunately the road from the Crossing to CT is really good and we had a safe an uneventful last 100k or so into one of the best van parks in Queensland, the Big4 Aussie Outback Tourist Park.

Amused ourselves by doing some washing, some shopping and later, some snapping of sunsets, or more precisely, that lovely deeper afterglow that you get. Here’s my effort. 

Sunset. Charters Towers Style

Sunday. Our day off. Sat around doing nothing. Got to Woolies too late, it had closed, as had everything else that may have been open. Hey, this is the country life, chilled and relaxed. You just have to be wired 24x7.

Strolled out to the Tower hill and had another little poke around the bunkers and took some snaps. When you stop and look across the side of the hill, they are everywhere, but you daren't walk to them, you could get bitten by a snake or blown up by a 80 year old bomb or fall down a mine shaft. 

WW2 Bunker, Charters Towers

One of them had this video playing. You were supposed to be looking through the forward window of a B50 bomber as it flew there flak and cloud and then, the highlight, the screen set into the floor behind you came on and you could see the bomb-bay doors open and then the bombardier yells "Bombs away" and the doors shut. The pilot give a cheerio to his crew and heads for home. Apart from clouds and flak, the view never changes.

"Bomobs away!" "Roger that" "Tallyho chaps"

Cape Peron WA, Woodman Point WA, WWII, Bunkers, Munitions dump

Cape Peron WA, Woodman Point WA April 30, 2015
First off today was the mucky business of getting some replacement tyres for the Ford. All I will say is good on Beaurepaires, who responded first and had by far the best price.

We went exploring after that, over to the Rockingham foreshore which has been all tarted up with cafes and apartments and boardwalks and things, quite pleasant actually, and then around to Point Peron where we took some snaps from the lookout suspended over the cliff face. It's interesting in that the whole place was flooded after the ice ages and since then the water has receded, leaving islands and sand dunes building up all over the place. Rockingham is build on one of those sand-dunes, as is everything else on the west coast.

Point Peron WA

Point Peron WA

Point Peron WA

Jutting out from the coast just up the road, is a really long bridge that runs out to Garden Island, which is where HMAS Sterling, the biggest Navy base in Australia is located.

Back at the van park, I went exploring the Woodman Point National park, which is all around us. I am struggling to find any definitive history, except that the first building was a quarantine station built in 1890 and used as such on and off until 1980. It may have also been used as a POW camp during the wars. There is plenty of evidence that the area was used as a munitions (bombs, bullets, explosives and the like) for many years as well, but also ending in 1980, which is when the Sterling Naval base came into operation, and had its own munitions dump. There are at least 3 railway lines running into it, and there are the remains of at least 10 bunkers and store rooms. The bunkers appear to be solidified sandbags all stacked nicely and Bristol fashion as you would expect from an Army type place, and inside the bunker is (or was in most cases) a store room. I guess the idea was that if one of the store rooms blew up, the bunker walls would contain the blast and prevent blowing the whole place up! Here are some pics:

Bunker. Woodman National Park WA

remains of railway carriage. Woodman National Park WA

Bunker. Woodman National Park WA

Bunker. Woodman National Park WA

End of the line. Woodman National Park WA

Headquarters! Woodman National Park WA

There are two bunkers you walk past along one road and then you come to a fence. On the other side of the fence is another bunker, except this one has been done up and turned into the games room in the van park. Kinda nice, i reckon

Bunker, aka Games room. Woodman Point Caravan Park WA