Emerald Qld 21 July 2019

Emerald Qld 21 July 2019

Aren't we supposed to be in Carnarvon Gorge? Yes, well we got away from Roma in good time and made it up into Injune safely where the instructions are to fill up the fuel tank before going into the gorge. It was here that we discovered the caravan door had basically smashed its way onto the wrong side of the door jamb , inside the van, and wasn't coming out anytime soon. It looked like if I could remove the three striker plates from the door jamb, that would allow the door to come back out, but, all my tools are in the van, aren't they?

Fortunately a Good Samaritan had a full tool kit in the back of their truck and we could get the plates off easily enough, only to reveal bits and pieces of broken plastic door lock parts. I was able to secure the door after a fashion with gaffer tape and an occupy strap, but not good enough to lock up and leave for hours at a time while we went walking into the gorge. What to do? Find the only cafe in town and drink coffee and consider our options.

Now, Injune is a very nice little Queensalnd town, where 'little' is the operative word, so staying here and expecting help wasn't one of the options. Our only two real options were to go back the 90km to Roma or go on the 300km to Emerald. After consulting the inter web, Emerald seemed like the better destination, so I added some more tape and set off, stopping only at Rollinstone for lunch.

Fortunately we had booked a place in one of Emerald's van parks and soon found ourselves parked up and heading to the pub for a well earned refreshment. I had taken a few minutes to pull the door apart and inspect it thoroughly before reassembling it with the best of the bits, so that it now works like a door at lease. We'll call the local van-man later and see if he has any bits, failing that I'll order them through CaravansPlus.com.au and have them sent to Cairns.

Ah, the joys of caravanning!