Thursday 17^th August Charters Towers

This was a good place to wake up in. And, today, we did not drive at all. We had a shower, put the sheets on to wash, had toasted fruit bread for breakfast. And in an unhurried way set off back into town by bicycle. We pumped up their tyres at a service station; visited some op shops; had coffee at Salt Lane Cafe; looked at the Stock Exchange Arcade (where, for a while in the 1800's, the world price of gold was set); the World Theatre (because, in the 1800's, Charters Towers regarded itself as the centre of the world); and various other little things. It was a pleasant morning.

A morning which went on till 2.30pm, when we got back home again at last, and had a rather late lunch.

It was the usual fine, warm afternoon; and it disappeared – in dealing with the nicely dried washing, and loading on another web page, and this, and that, and the other. At 4.30 the daily “social sit around the campfire” began; we'd missed it yesterday, as we were out on our bikes. I heard some of the chat today, mostly fairly inane, and I wasn't tempted to join in. Neither were our neighbours here. Perhaps alcohol would have helped but it was too early in the day for me to consider any.

We had a yummy dinner, as usual, and finished up with a pineapple. Pineapples here are different to the ones we get back in Victoria. But the air tonight was tainted by smoke from the fire; we really don't like fires!

Friday 18^th August South of Belyondo Crossing

This morning, we had a brief walk on the golf course which is contiguous with this caravan park; before filling up with water, and driving out. Ten minutes to the north, to go on a Texas Longhorn Cattle Safari. This is the only large herd of these cattle in Australia, and the station has some American bison and African watusi as well.

We began with a talk and a video presentation, much of it about the history of these cattle in the USA, before morning tea and seeing the artificial insemination area and the (very large) cattle press; then into little jeeps to go out and look at the herd. One of his (now deceased) longhorns held the world record for width of horns, at 3.15m. (This has now been surpassed). We saw lots of cattle – they are very mild-mannered – and some watusi, and two bison. It was interesting, despite Mick, the proprietor, making lots of “Dad” jokes – which I got very sick of. But it was interesting to see how quickly evolution has adapted these cattle, descended from the original Spanish cattle landed in America some 500 years ago. (Though future (un)natural selection may be directed at increasing the horn span to secure more records.)

We left before anyone else, and went to a bakery in town for lunch; then drove out to see our last “sight” in Charters Towers, the “World” (a huge globe) and the Gold Rush mosaic mural. Interesting but unfortunately the mural and the vacant shopping arcade it's built on was all fenced off.

Then it was time to drive again, south along the Gregory Developmental Road – not hugely interesting, and fenced both sides – for ~250km south to Belyondo Crossing. Here, we started looking for somewhere for the night. It took ~ 25km, but nearing 5pm we've found a side track, not far from the road (but the road is not busy) outside the pocket-handkerchief sized Nairana National Park. Here, we've had to use the levellers (which we bought before we left home) for the first time, and they have worked fine. Phew!

Saturday 19^th August Pine Creek Road, near Rubyvale

Last night, we slept really well; for a change, we didn't wake until after the sun had come up. It was a really good spot for the night. We got ready slowly and it was 9am before we set off on the two hour drive further down the highway to Clermont. And passing not just cattle grazing properties (all we've seen for weeks) but some fields growing crops.

Clermont was sort of busy; in the final throes of its “Coal and Gold” festival. (It is the site of a large coal mine, whose conveyor belt we drove beside as we got close to town,) The tourist info / museum (3km outside town) was very busy, so we didn't stop; as a result, finding the centre of town was a bit difficult. But we did, and had a coffee in the back of a funny little dress / furnishings shop.

We went down to see the part of the festival in town – but it was not very exciting. Various stalls, some of whom were closing; so we drove over to the other side of Hood Lagoon and had lunch, and a walk around the lagoon; where we saw a rikali, and a turtle shell which I retrieved and washed out. Its turtle inhabitant had long since gone.

Where to? Not too sure. We drove 50km further to Capella. Is the road to Rubyvale sealed, or not? Various maps give conflicting advice. I asked at the service station, and was told that it was – so there we went. It was mid-afternoon by now, and time to find somewhere for the night. The road, as usual, fenced both sides; but we found a side road 25km short of Rubyvale; we think it goes through a native pine forest reserve, to a farm. So we are stopped in a quiet spot just off the road.

We had a short walk before dinner through the forest, bush-bashing our way back home.

And the gas ran out this evening – before bed, so it was no problem to swap the cylinders.

We are nearly down to the Tropic of Capricorn and the weather is getting milder. Though I haven't had to get long pants out again yet.

Sunday 20^th August Springsure

It was our coldest night for ages; though not yet bad enough to get out the winter doona.

We headed down the road to Rubyvale. Here, at 9am on a Sunday morning, not much was happening; but I found missed calls from Siddarth, and Alice. We'd been out of range yesterday evening. I rang, hoping it was not “Alice is miscarrying”; but no, it was Siddarth saying “I have a ring for Alice, and thought I should ask you first.” So I also wished Alice “Happy Birthday”, and I think that's what she'll be having!

Then – Rubyvale. Gem centre. We wondered where to go and ended up at the Heritage Mine, where we bought a bucket full of “wash” and sieved and washed our way through it, finishing up with a clutch of (very little) sapphires and zircons. We finished off with a nice coffee in the sun, before heading along through Sapphire to the highway, and along to Emerald.

Emerald is a big town – the capital of this region. We got a map at Tourist Info, went and bought some lunch supplies, and went to the Botanical Gardens to eat it. This was disappointing – gardens yes, botanical not that we could see, few people, and quite dry and dusty. But... lunch there nevertheless. Then into a big shopping centre; supermarket, fuel, new gas cylinder. All we needed now was more water; we went back into town and filled up with a tap at the library. We walked down the main street, but it was Sunday afternoon and anything of value was closed. We made ourselves a coffee and went to drink it in the Community Garden behind the library. A very nice spot.

Then south. Again. Down to Springsure, where we'd tried to stay, 30 years ago, at a lookout over the town. The area has become, since then, national park with no camping. For old times sake, I thought we'd go there anyway.

The road was gravel, and quite corrugated. The park entrance had a sign “High clearance 4WD only”. Alison was driving; in we went. Slowly. Till – late on a Sunday afternoon! – some rangers coming the other way told us the road was washed out ahead. Was it? We don't know. Alison and I were not communicating well and I went on a brisk walk ahead. I found no washouts but... was there value in doing this? I walked back, we turned around, and have camped just outside the park entrance. On our own, with no-one around, as we like it.

Monday 21^st August “Point of Interest”, south of Surat

Today ended up being a big driving day, though it didn't seem so arduous. Partly because we lacked a definite plan to start off with; partly because we got up early. We were on the road into Springsure soon after 8am; a brief stop there, it was on to Rolleston, where we went for a walk and ended up having coffee in the (cool) sun, in the park, from their volunteer-staffed coffee caravan there. It was very nice.

We then drove for two hours, stopping only to swap drivers, south to Injune. We saw a lot of sandstone escarpments, as we neared the Carnarvon NP turnoff; but they were very hard to photograph from the van, as trees kept getting in the way. We'd never been to Injune before; we found that, as with the other towns so far today, it was very small; pub, post office, small store / supermarket, petrol station, and some houses. We had lunch inside, another little stroll, and continued on south for an hour to Roma.

Roma was a big town, with a CBD extending over two or three blocks. We went to their big bottle tree (circumference of 9.62 metres) then parked in the supermarket (using only a single parking spot – the White House is really very small as motorhomes go) and went for a walk. An op shop, a coffee in a bakery, supermarket... and at 4pm left for the next hour's drive, south to Surat. Here our camps book has a “ticked” campsite, with showers!

We arrived. A “ticked” campsite it may be, but it was very full, and the showers were a kilometre away in the middle of town. Neither of us felt any desire to stay there, but we did want a shower; so we went and had one, and washed our hair, before driving out again feeling lovely and clean.

25km south of Surat there is another rest area. We drove there, looking for alternatives as we went. Fenced both sides – no luck. Until we were about 1km short of the rest area, and the sun was already down, where there was a turnoff to a “Point of Interest'. So we did a 5-point turn on the highway and went back there. It is a nice spot, with a tree, picnic table, and no other people. We had to use the levellers again, but that's not an issue – just reinforces that it was a good idea to buy them. In the fading light we went for a walk and found it was a staging post for Cobb & Co.

We have been fortunate in finding it, with the day having got so late before we found a spot for the night. We both feel warm, clean, and relaxed. No need for a shower before bed tonight!

Tuesday 22^nd August Narran River, 25km north of Hebel

We slept in today, and then had breakfast outside on the picnic table here – which was nice, but a tad too windy to be perfect. We got on our way and drove for an hour south to St. George, and found our way to tourist info. Here, the lady was very helpful; directing us first to a very good little op shop, open Tuesdays and Thursdays only, where everything cost $1; and then to a very good cafe. We have good impressions of St. George.

We sat at the cafe with our maps deciding where to go next. The vague plan had been Moree, and then New England, next; but the op shop lady said a friend had just been there and it was full of ferals. I'd decided that going Lightning Ridge / Brewarrina would be better, and – how do I persuade Alison? Fortunately, it turned out that she was thinking the same thing.

So we walked round town, bought some more provisions, and went down to the park next to the (huge) Balonne River; where we used the barbecue to make a Caesar salad with egg and bacon for lunch. (The quality of bread available here didn't tempt us.) Then filled up with fuel and headed south, towards Hebel.

This is a cotton area; there are bits of cotton lining the roads everywhere, and trucks with bales of cotton, and huge water storage dams. We stopped and made a coffee in Dirranbandi (there was a recommended bakery here, but it was closed) where one of the “attractions” is a tour of Cobbie Station – a huge cotton producer about whom I remember a program on “4 Corners” about their misappropriation of massive amounts of water. On seeing these dams I can believe it!

We did find a truck stop just outside Dirranbandi, where we availed ourselves of its showers.

Then, 30km out from Hebel, and with still 1½ hours of daylight left, we started looking for somewhere for the night; and fairly quickly found a good spot next to the Narran River – not flowing, but it does have pools of water in it.

We will be in NSW tomorrow; while it has got cooler, especially in the evenings, it is still warm to our way of thinking.

Wednesday 23^rd August Walgett

Another good night; there was a bit of road noise, but it was not too obtrusive. Another relaxed start, and we drove through Hebel – tiny, and we had no inclination to stop – and straight on, across the NSW border, to the opal mining town of Lightning Ridge. In NSW the cotton beside the road had gone, replaced with the occasional flock of emus.

There was a queue at Tourist Info here; we waited. We needed a map of town, and the location of a laundromat – we need to do some washing, but have no need of anything else a caravan park provides. So up into the main street – at least an hour's wait at the laundromat. Too long – so we went to the laundry in a nearby caravan park – which had the advantage of clothes lines to hang the washing on. We have clean sheets tonight and it is likely the next washing will be done at home.

We walked around Lightning Ridge. Not a big town; lots of opal shops. We supported the local economy in the supermarket and a cafe, before looking in an opal shop. Back to hang out the washing and have lunch, and back to the opal shop – where we bought both a lovely necklace and a moss agate bowl. I am a sucker for a discount!

By now, nearly 3pm, it was time to go the the artesian bore pool, 2km out of town. This ia a large circular pool with hot artesian water – at perhaps 40º. It was nice to loll in for a while, but then you had to get out and cool off. So after another shower there, we continued on to Walgett, 75km south. As we neared the town we looked for a spot for the night, again. And after the road being fenced both sides all the way, 10km out of Walgett we found a track leading down to the Namoi river. We found a good spot, went for a walk, and found a better one. And here we are.

Thursday 24^th August Bourke

After getting up to the coldest morning we've had for a long time - 9º - I put on my jeans. Too cold to persist with shorts. We drove into Walgett. It was before 9am, but the tourist info was open – early. We gave back some brochures, had a walk along the Tracker Halford trail by the Namoi River (we'd read about it, but hadn't been able to find out where it was till tourist info told us); quite nice but the river is very brown, with brown banks. Then a walk through town, a very good coffee, and we drove out the 1½ hours to the next town, Brewarrina.

We stopped by the river there for lunch, and a walk down to its historic bridge. It is a free camping area and, though far from full, it was filling when we drove out at 1.30pm, into town.

Brewarrina's big attraction is its Aboriginal fish traps – the oldest known man-made structures, at something >15,000 years old. You can do a tour of them; we'd been given the phone number in Walgett, and I'd rung, but there was never an answer. At tourist info here they said the phone number was wrong, and the next tour was at 2.30pm. So we went over to the Aboriginal museum and booked in. It was an interesting and worthwhile tour, and the fish traps – which are unmaintained – very clear to see. So are the multitude of fish in the river – unfortunately, now, predominantly carp.

At 4pm we drove out of Brewarrina, towards Bourke. Looking, as usual, for a site for the night; despite the promise of one 25km short of Bourke, there was nothing. So we drove into Bourke, and Alison directed me to what should have been a quiet dead-end street, but turned out to be a through route. So we drove down to the cemetery, and are parked outside the pet cemetery. We're having to be a bit more surrepticious here.