Judy & Brian Tour Oz: June 2014

Monday, June 30, 2014

Banka Banka / Mataranka NT

No post yesterday, Banka is one of those lovely places where they don't have power, phones or internet (and definitely no freddos, still looking).

What they do have is peace and quiet, the best natural spring water in copious amounts and a lovely 2km walk to their own billabong. The billabong was much fuller than last year and naturally some snaps were taken:

Cudjenbra Billabong, Banka Banka NT

It's not what you think! My shirt was donated to make a nice little cushion for someone with blistered bleeding feet, dodgy knees and a hip quickly freezing up! Cudjenbra Billabong, Banka Banka NT

Cudjenbra Billabong, Banka Banka NT

Move Over! I'm coming round! Banka Banka NT

Banka Banka NT

The top of the ridge trail to the 'bong. Not for the faint hearted! Banka Banka NT

Banka Banka NT

Everything looks better by moonlight. Banka Banka NT

But wait, there's more....

Up and at it early today, got a long way to go. Pulled out at 8am and drove north for 2 1/2 hours, pulling in to Dunmarra Road House for a refuel and a coffee and snack.

We’ve been here before, but the food supply seems to have gone off, all they had was instant type coffee from a machine and two egg & bacon toasties, which we ate with gusto. Well i did anyway, driving with a buffeting wind on your back quarter can be tiring at best.

We were just sipping the last of the coffee when a truck driving looking fellow approached the machine and started to fill up his take-away mug. We put 2 & 2 together and figured he was from the dirty great road train parked out the front pointing north. We bolted for the door and got on the road first, and had a really good run for the last 210km leg up into Mataranka. Using our local knowledge, we got onto 'our' site, No10, which is probably the best in the park, booked our spot for dinner in the restaurant (they grow their own barramundi) and headed for the Bitter Springs spa.

Ah, two hours in lovely warm water floating down and walking back. Fabulous. Might sneak another one in early tomorrow!

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Brunette Races, Brunette Downs NT

Well, here we are finally. From Barkly Homestead it's 130km on a development road (rough bitumen wide enough for 1 car, rougher dirt either side), then turn right and 10km down a wide gravel road.

First impression is that it's not much to look at. It just a bunch of vans and trucks and utes parked off to one side, then the racecourse itself, which is a few tin sheds and a track about 2km long.

The first race had 3 horses, the second had 5. Judy picked the winner by sheer good luck (it was skill! JB comment )and picked up $57. The races themselves are really amateur staff, although some of them actually have Registered Horses.

They also had a Calcutta thing which i know nothing of but its something like a sweep, and they had a few races where they 'sell' the horses. This was odd. Each horse gets auctioned to the highest bidder, Some went for nearly $2000! Then they have the race and whoever 'owns' the horse takes the pot. Now there were about three horses obviously better than the others, all owned by the Lake Hart mob, who proceeded to buy them all. Obviously they won and took the pool, poor sods who bought the also rans just lucked out - then they did it again a few races later.

Anyhow, some of the ladies present were dressed up which added some colour to the show, and they had a pretty good range of food and drinks, so it was a pleasant enough day out.

We stopped on the way out and i took these 4 snaps of the landscape. Spotto anything! Brunette Downs Road NT

When another car comes the other way, you get off the road, White knuckle ride. Brunette Downs Road NT

Artwork, I guess. Brunette Races NT

Judy Getting set on the 2nd race. Brunette Races NT

Fashion on the field. Brunette Races NT

The Winner! Brunette Races NT

Beer shed was a winner. Brunette Races NT

Ezy Jack winning a race. Brunette Races NT

Friday, June 27, 2014

Barkly Homestead NT

Yeah! Crossed into the Territory this morning. By way of a welcome the landscape opens up into huge, vast treeless plains, stretching into forever where they meet the bluest clearest sky you will ever see.

It's only a step of 270km from Camooweal to Barkly, so even though we left latish we arrived earlish - before lunch. Mind you the 1/2 hour time difference and The Rig rolling along effortlessly at 110kph might have helped. I think we saw 1 roadwork, and that was before the border.

Judy had been told by the people here that it would be busy, get in early to avoid a disappointment. Well at 1130 when we rolled in, we were the first ones here! Take your pick of spots, spoiled for choice. So we plumped for the same one we had last year. Going to have a quiet arvo and then off to the Brunette Downs Races tomorrow.

As an aside, I should relate the sad tale from Camooweal last night, it will stand as a reminder to all other travellers that you need to take care...

Last night, after dark, a van parked up near us. The lady with the van was pretty upset, her husband had been hitching the van up out at the free camp at Avon Downs (about 70k west of Camooweal) when one of those anti-sway bars slipped out of its cradle and took his toe/s off. In agony, he drove the rig into town and went to the First Aid place they have. They took one look and called the RFDS to come up from the Isa to get him and go back to hospital. She was left alone and had to get a stranger to bring the van in and park it, then some more strangers (us) to help her hook up the gas / water / electricity. She had no idea what to do, or what they would do with hubby. All she could do was sit and wait till the morning then call and see what was going on. If he stays in hospital, or goes to another hospital, she's stuck. Can't drive the rig (it's a biggish truck / van combo) and there's probably only 1 bus a day either way. So, take care out there, it's a bigger country and more isolated than you might think, sitting here in our air-conditioned comfort zones.

Anyhow, here's a few more snaps from 'BH' :

Barkly Homestead NT

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Camooweal Qld

Left the ‘Curry and kept heading west, first stop the Isa (116km) where we topped up on some food things, and then kept going right across to Camooweal (180km). Being creatures of habit we went straight to the BP Roadhouse park where we stayed once before. Someone was in early and took our spot! Oh well, plenty more to choose from.

Made ourselves some lunch before walking up the road to the Post Office and then to the Camooweal Pub. You all hope its the last time i mention this, but good old Williamson features Camooweal Pub in one of his songs, something to the effect that all the old cockies and drovers are sitting around having a beer and swapping yarns, one of which is about ‘the drover who’d come from the Kimberly run, Fitzroy’ etcetc. Well we both imagined a really old style country pub and just thought we drop in and drink up the atmosphere. Well how wrong could we be? It’s just one corner of the original pub and its sterile i reckon you could eat off the floor. The only ones there were the French backpacking barmaid and two of her mates. In reality, its no longer a pub as such and is now the Office for the van park in behind, and just happens to have liquor licence. Looks like the locals have shot through.

We had a cold drink anyway and then set of out the other side of town to find the legendary Camooweal Bilabong free camp. It’s just over the bridge heading west, then turn off down next to the river. The river at this time of year is dry, but t has left behind a sizeable billabong. The track leads along the rivers edge and you just keep going until you find a break in the nose-to-tail rigs. Then pull in, open up and you have an instant waterside holiday house. No facilities of any kind except garbage bins, but even Judy reckons she could stand a night there. Must keep it in mind. Almost as many birds as Kakadu, but no crocs, they all hope!

Camooweal Billabong

1/2 of the 50 odd campers at Camooweal Billabong

The other 1/2

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Cloncurry Qld

Out of van park, turn right, drive west: 247 km to Julia Creek. Few bouts of road works at the 70km mark. OK it was one lollipop zone and 5 traffic light zones over 12km, but who’s counting. But hey, as John Williamson says, ‘we’re further out, in Julia Creek’ Now this is a nice little town, has a nice friendly feel to its one street and almost no shops, not even a proper cafe, which closed 3 years ago. We went into the info centre, which is perhaps the nicest one we've seen, mainly to cop a look at the endangered Dunnart, of which only 11 exist. They were thought to be extinct until rediscovered here at Julia Creek in 1991. They have a special display area and enclosure behind glass (it’s only tiny, like a mouse) but we saw nothing. It was suggested that it had just had a bellyful of flies and had scurried into its hideaway to sleep it off.

We forwent the coffee and continued on the 140km to Cloncurry, or as one truckie to another called it, the curry. Now i’m pretty sure i’ve said some harsh things about the curry in past trips, but we pulled into the Oasis van park anyway. It’s pretty huge, but the other park, a Discovery, is rumoured to be exclusively for the itinerant workers, of whom there are thousands. Once we got set up, we revisited our ‘favourite’ bakery in town. It’s not really our favourite, but being the only one, and knowing that they run out of pies etc at lunchtime we scooted on over there. We managed to get the last mushroom pie (sorry plain and potato sold out early) and a pastie. They are pretty good pies mind you, but the place was packed and they had zippo to sell, just like they did the last two times and it was only 1pm!

We filled up the rig with diesel at some exotic price and went down the road to the museum, which was pretty good, full of Bourke and Wills stuff (they wandered right by here, dont know how they missed the place) and a few relics from the Mary Kathleen mine, which is out toward the Isa and where they dug uranium out of the ground for years and years before it got its yellow card, excuse the pun (a dad joke, i am unrepentant)

At the museum you get two for one, so we took the option and went to the the John Flynn museum as well, which is pretty damn good i reckon. The bloke, his church that fully supported him and all his mates are the true legends of pioneer Australia.

Anyhow, its happy-o’clock and we have been instructed to attend the charity snag sizzle, so we’d better go, eh?

1/4 scale model of first Flying Doctor aeroplane. Cloncurry Qld

Cloncurry Qld

Our van park is behind that sign in the middle. Cloncurry Qld

Aint they cute? Cloncurry Qld

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Richmond Qld

Heading west from CT, Hughendon is 245km, Mt Isa 773. We chose Hughendon. Two and half hours later we pull in to the sleepy little village. The road is dead straight and mostly flat. Country spreads out for miles and miles into the shimmering distance. In between CT and Hughendon, is Balfes Creek, Homestead, Pentland, Torrens Creek and Praire, none of which is bigger than one or two rundown looking fibro shacks and maybe a hotel. Why are they here? I'd love to stay and find out, but we must press on. Two and a half hours is about my limit, my knee hurts and I'm starting to lose concentration. Hughendon is a most welcome sight and we make the most of it by having a leisurely lunch at the FJ Holden cafe (how could we resist, and besides, its the only cafe in town) before setting off for Richmond, which Judy had cleverly called ahead to book us into the only van park. When we arrive at about 3, it's pretty full already. The point is that there’s lots of nothing in between the towns, so it's an obvious place for all road wanders to stop, so we did.

Filled the truck up at the only diesel bowser in town and did some washing. Oops. Big mistake, huge. The bore water has stained all the whites especially Judy's best top.

Wandered up to investigate town. even walking it took less than 20 minutes, but to be fair that didn't include the 10 minutes for coffee at the Kronosaurus Korner (I dunno, something about dinosaurs and old rocks). We failed to pay the $16 a head to do the 1 1/2 hour audio self-guided tour of the dino-museom. Sorry to all those that love these things, but they leave both of us dead cold.

Anyhow, we've sat and drunk wine and watched the sunset, so here's your snaps-de-jeur:

Talk about time standing still.... Given that its 12:30! Hughendon Qld

Hughendon Qld

Interesting shade shelter for weary pedestrians. Hughendon Qld

Inside the FJ Cafe. Hughendon Qld

You'd think the memorial was to the highest decorated Australian soldier from WW1, Lt Col Henry Murray, but no, it commemorates the tarring of the highway in 1972. Richmond Qld

Replica of a colonial cottage. Richmond Qld

replica of a dinosaur. Richmond Qld

Iron Boat. Richmond Qld

Monday, June 23, 2014

Charters Towers Qld

We left Airlie Beach early and headed north, first to Bowen and then Ayr, where we took our first break. We were back on the Bruce of course, but surprisingly it seems to have survived the road works and is quite an easy drive. One thing that is noticeable almost straight away is that the landscape is changing; we are now in country reminiscent of the outback, huge, wide totally dry river beds, rocky outcrops and fringing mountains. About 30km north of Ayr we took a left turn toward Woodstock, bypassing Townsville and saving ourselves about a 100km and an hour. As we drove along this beautiful valley we slowly started to realise that we had in fact been down here before; last year when we stayed in Townsville and took a big day trip down tho every road. From Woodstock the road opens up and is wide and smooth, giving us a pleasant run through to our destination.

With John Williamson's song of the same name ringing in our iPod, we did indeed make it into Charters Towers, not quite in two hours and not through Townsville, but hey, why spoil a good yarn with facts!

CT, or Gold City, was a major gold mining area of the 1800's and while the town itself isn't as grand as Ballarat or Bendigo, it's certainly impressive in its own right.

Quite a bit of the old town's buildings have been preserved, the best one of which would have to be the Australian Bank of Commerce, which now forms the entry to The World Theatre, a world class theatre out here in the bush. The town scored the name The World as during its heyday, the locals claimed that anything anyone wanted from anywhere in the world was right here, hence The World. We had a poke around, Judy did her bit to keep Millers Australia solvent, and then we made a visit to the Venus Gold Battery, which was operational up until 1972.

Tried to get up to the Towers lookout but the road was blocked from both ends. Shame, I would have liked some panoramic snaps of the town.

Back at the Big4 van park we did the right thing and took a stroll over to the happy hour, where our hosts were handing out pizza slices and nibbles. Funnily enough we met some people who we last saw tripping around the 3 pubs tour at Lightning Ridge a few weeks back.