12th September 2011: Home again... for a while

It's a beautiful morning in Forbes, but cold! had to move Honey off the doona she has been sleeping on for the last two months. We needed it on our bed last night - as well as the sheet, the cotton blanket, the woollen blanket and the throw rug...

During honey's morning constitutional I had a chat to yet another motorhome, towed Suzuki happy owner.

Could not find the Caltex/Woollys fuel, but filled up, and we are off. ETA Mulwala about 1400... Offered Maz and egg McMuffin at West Wyalong, but could find a Maccas!!! Nor at Narranderra but stopped there for a coffee.

The Newell Hwy is a pleasure to drive this far south. Still the odd road train and B-double but nice wide road with solid edges. We will be back this way in a week on our way to the surgeon - but in the Golf.
Cut across throughout Berrigan to the Barrooga Mulwala road and we are home again.
The council still hasn't finished the other roundabout, but it is marked out with paint. The slab for the new house next door is being boxed - and is huge.

In the 63 days since we left the bus has covered 8800 kilometres, used 1600 litres of diesel costing $2400 and we have spent $1140 on caravan parks... So at that rate next year's around Australia is about $4200 in fuel!

11th September 2011 - Forbes

Today makes two calendar months 'on the road'... or day 63 of 28! But now we are bolting home - for now. So goodbye St George. A few corners on the way at Noondoo (turn West) Dirrambamdi (turn South), Hebel (turn 90 to south east) stopping 4 times (on Sunday) for roadworks! We are back in NSW after 6810km in Queensland.

Next Place of interest Lightning Ridge - only 4km of our path. Did a loop of the shops... and there is a market on. Good chance to walk the dog  - and exercise our numb bums! Bought some second hand books - no opals. But there were lots for sale from a few dollars to thousands!!! (The little yellow sign says Lightning Ridge...)

Walgett for fuel. Nothing open - except one servo? Every door and window we saw has serious security screens... Ah yes, I remember the riots of not so many years ago. Guess it hasn't changed much. We didn't hang around.
Finally the road has improved not as many undulations and no road works. Coonamble and then my favourite name Gulargambone!! Isn't that magnificent for a town of 500...
We hit the Newell Hwy at Gilgandra and suddenly it's better... a real road. (it's rubbish further north but from it its a relative dream to drive). We will continue past Dubbo to Parkes... or Forbes.
Yep Forbes looks good - a free park in town away from traffic; the Lions Park. We arrive just after 5. Order a pizza and park next to the small lake along with a dozen others. So far so good. And the pizza is good too.
435km to home - tomorrow.

10th September 2011 - St George

It's Saturday (I think - I'll check- yes it is...). Filled with fuel at 16c off! Finally!!! Off 600 km to St George. No point in pushing on another 100km or so theres not much there...
So much roadwork that we are starting to look forward to NSW where they don't bother repairing the roads...
So Gregory Highway - Dawson Highway and Carnarvon Highway. Were tempted to detour to Carnarvon Gorge but an extra 90+km round trip... Next time. It's not going anywhere...
Roadworks Rolleston to Injune. Yep, one lane with lights and/or people every second k - or so it seems. And every second or third vehicle going the other way between roadworks is "oversized" meaning little 2.4m wide busses don't fit on the bitumen... Hard work over the whoop de doos... big rolling corrugations twice the wheel base of the bus. So after the front wheels leave (or nearly leave) the ground. the back wheels pitch up making a harder landing at the front axle. Bottomed a few times - and you can't see them coming.

Stopped at Injune for an (in house) coffee and snack. Refuelled at Roma. Now at St George. Shouting ourselves a van park in town ($23!!) In walking distance to Pubs Chines Cafe and RSL. We are out to dinner really soon.
Tomorrow via Lightening Ridge to Dubbo... (600km) or further if we can...

9th September

We have decided to go home! We need to see second oldest son Don who has had a bit of medical attention, and now Helen. She is now in Melbourne's St Vincents Hospital for surgery today. At least in Melbourne she is close to the children and grandchildren. There will be a queue of visitors before she knows it.
We will track as near as direct as we can. Skirting Mackay for Nebo, Moranbah Clermont and aiming for a modest 500 km to Emerald for the night.

The shortcut around Mackay ended up being a slow-cut; hilly and twisty with lots of roadworks - averaged about 50kph... Anyway eventually made it to the Peak Downs Hwy then the Gregory Hwy (we left the Gregory Development Road at Charters Towers)
We have stopped for tonight at the Emerald Botanic Gardens free rest area (between a highway and railway... again).

Only 1750km to go!

Tomorrow we will continue south on the Gregory until it turns into the Carnarvon Dev Rd to Roma then St George - 600km.

8th September 2011 - Ayr, Bowen, Airlie Beach - EMERGENCIES, heading home.

Well we hit the road at 8AM ish. Saw the big snake/serpent going through Ayr. And the big Mango in Bowen - nagged by (business) phone calls so stopped at Bowen for morning coffee break and ring back. And found a Wooly's Fuel so got to use our 12 cpl (cents per litre) off on 3/4 of a tank!!!
We were aiming to check out the Flametree van Park at Airley Beach but had made no booking. (There are no free camp spots on the serious tourist coast in QLD). Drove through to Shute harbour where the end of the road meets the boat ramp.

The Flametree is actually about midway between Airley Beach and Shute Harbour - and blow me down backs onto the Whitsunday Airport/ Airpark. It is a private airpark with lots of sightseeing helicopters and even Cessna Caravan floatplanes in a magnificent setting. So we checked in for one night. If we can use the buses to Airley Beach shops/central (quite a hub) we might hang about for a day more (Next G is good!!!)

Settling down for the evening Maz rang home (best mate Helen McColl) to talk to Helen as promised. Not there! She's in hospital following a chainsaw accident. Her right hand is badly damaged... she is on her way to Albury to await (micro?) surgery...

7th September

We have been for a serious walk this morning. Trudging through the sand on the 'long-cut' to the beach. Finally came back and went along the road to Lynch's Beach - low tide.

Honey had a hysterical run around. Love the spinouts on the fast corners. She will be buggered for the rest of the day (as will we).

Next G is tragically slow so the CASA PC with VPN will be a waste of time... what a shame! We both have books to read being avid book traders and bargain hunters. And the weather is perfect! We have decided to stay another night and aim for a spot at Airlie Beach tomorrow, just because we haven't been there. No free camps and only a few dog friendly caraparks ...

6th September

Well aside from the airport and the busy road there was a railway somewhere nearby... We checked out, that is redeemed our $10 key deposit... and headed for town. Parked at the ferry depot for $5 and walked down to Reef HQ to look around til Rean was free. About 1015 she rang to tell us she'd had been booked out in her absence and was busy from 11 AM til 3PM. Fortunately we were only 5 minutes away, so she came down for a chat and a hug. Great to see her, looking fit and well and enjoying her real job (Manager Ports and Shipping, Environmental Assessment and Management, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority - how about that for a title).

We then pressed on to the Townsville Hospital to find Paul. Saw a Woolys on the way so stopped for a re-supply.

Paul has had a tough trot, and now has a bit of plastic artery in his left leg. He is very sore... Visited for an hour or so, letting partner Kerry go and have a rest at her brothers.

So by 3PM we were getting out of town, and had decided to find somewhere to stop around Ayr or Bowen. So here we are at Alva Beach, about 16km on a deadend road, north east of Ayr, on the coast. Nice place and quiet. Had a beer with the new neighbours from the Mornington Peninsula. Tried in vain to get the satellite aligned!!! NextG is iffy. But getting not bad DTV from Townsville, so we a right for news and Spics and Specs!

Dukka flavoured lamb 'steaks' and salad followed by strawberries and Fench Vanilla ice-cream for dinner. So it's alright with the world, once again!

5th September 2011 - Townsville

It's day 56 - 8 weeks into our 4 week trip... Woke up - several times - this morning. We parked on the edge of the public truck park abutting the Mobil - BP roadhouse; so until about midnight various road trains were swinging past - within one metre (!!!) to line up for the fuel. A couple of wide loads had stopped for the night so others had to circle them. Anyway then slept well 'til about 6AM.
Actually had concern the evening before when a triple deck triple trailer cattle train stopped next to us - full of beasts. Asked the driver whether he was staying - because if so we were NOT. 300 tramping beasts next door, no way! He was having a feed and a shower and pushing off so we relaxed and put up with the potential stampede next door. Anyway be warned if you stop there. The photo is before it filled up...

Once up all was well. The toilets and showers were free and over priced... well it's an outback truck stop after all. The driver of the oversized rig next door had a problem with a wheel bearing on a triple axle trailer. Chained up the hub and removed the wheels, well he still had 30 pairs of wheels left..! Anyway had nowhere to put them but on the drawer bar of a trailer. Ever tried lifting a 22" wheel and tyre a metre off the ground - I offered to help, accepted with relief. Now I need a shower, but I'll wait.
Took honey out for a last minute walk after our coffees and teas. Found a tick on her throat when we got back. Had latched on but not dug in. Honey pulled away so I accidentally pulled the tick off. Doesn't seem to be any bits left behind so put antiseptic on the throat and will watch it. The tick might have jumped ship from the cattle truck... But they are everywhere up here and this is the season...

130km to Townsville. Hospital friend Paul is due for surgery at 0830 for several hours so probably best to visit tomorrow morning. We will go via the flash new Townsville hospital to check out parking. There isn't much - our size!!!

Can't connect with former colleague Rean til tomorrow evening, so will find a place to stop for the night. No free camp we can find within 20+km of Townsville so it looks like a caravan park...

Checked into one of the few dog friendly's in town, well Garbut near the airport and next to the highway. Another noisy night by the looks. But will do some work and get a really long shower... and see how we go.

4th September 2011 - Gregory Development Rd to Charters Towers

Bedrock Village - The cooler nights on the tablelands - and 'savannah' make for better sleeping, but the million birds around all wake up really early... We set off from Mt Surprise at 9AM via fuel stop and the toilet dump point. We have decided to go via the Gregory Development Rd and headbutt the road trains!

It's 50km back along the Gulf Development Rd/ Kennedy Hwy/ Route 1 (I can't work out what its called) and past Undarra to turn right onto the Gregory Dev Rd. Missed the Oasis Roadhouse at the Lynd junction. Its off our track a few km. Stopped of a coffee at Greenvale and took a picture of the Three Rivers Hotel... which is apparently subject of a Slim Dusty song??? What would we know about that! They have ripped up the railway along there and the Nickel from the mine is on road trains...

The only big vehicle drama on the way was an opposite direction pair of  5.5 m wide mine trucks on loaders. Yes the road is only 6m wide. Radio is great; the three pilot vehicles all talked to us. We got off the road. Bugger; should have taken a photo!

As we headed south towards Bluewater Springs we decided to head to Charters Towers for tonight and Townsville tomorrow. We passed a free camp 42 km north of CT which was huge and with lots of campers and kids swimming in the Fletchers Creek (#285 in Camps 6). We ticked that for next time. But are headed for the Mobil Roadhouse a little west of CT (#287 in C6). Turns out it is bi- all the signs but one say BP!!! Maz picked it; I missed it.

Anyway after buying fuel and seeking permission to stay we went into town... the only places open were the hotels and bottle shops fortunately. Had a few beers that were not XXXX or XXXX Gold. "It's about quantity up here NOT quality."

So we are settled at the back of the truck park which means road train park and will venture to the Roadhouse for a feed in a while. Cheers, after 400 km, its beer o'clock

3rd September

Inspite of not being able to organise a trip to the Undarra Lava tubes (from here) we will have a day off relaxing - even more... Spoke to Des and Sandra who have made it to Karumba on schedule. The wind is south easterly so it is hot. That is pushing 40... but a dryish heat...

Spent a fair bit of time getting the journal into this blog the last few days, so today have started to post a few of our photos. Hope you like them. I will continue to edit the older posts, adding photos, so check back a bit if you like...

We will head east or south east tomorrow. Probably brave the Gregory Developmental Rd to The Lynd and Greenvale (subject of the Slim Dusty song...). By brave I mean confront the 5 trailer ore and cattle road trains; 50 m long. The road is only 1.5 vehicles wide for quite a way with a drop at the edge of the bitumen... Or back to Millaa Millaa and Innisfail where Maz can endure the windy steep road. Aiming for Townsville in several days.

For lunch we had a wrap with meat and salad - and the chutney we bought with the Barra. Not hot she said... but is certainly SPICY!!! Might have to drink a bit of pool water...

Only TV here is on satellite so we are ready to watch the Swans a bit later. Just a few beers on standby...

2nd September 2011 - Ravenshoe > Mt Surprise @ Bedrock Village

Bit of a slow start today... Nice coffees a bit of toast. Yacked away some more. Tony and Helen will be away for next July (at son, David's wedding) and asked if we would be interested in house sitting, or using their place as a base. Timing is right so it's the start of a plan for for 2012.

The road outside is being prepared for seal and the workers are back, so we set out the long way back to Malanda ( a few km longer but scenic...). Thought about the Millaa Millaa waterfalls circuit - but will save it for next year! next stop Ravenshoe, the highest town in QLD at 3000 feet.

Checked out the Railco Museum corner, where free camping is supposed to be allowed... the only (very old) sign there said no camping.... Grabbed Barra and chips for lunch from the highest cafe in QLD... Took a photo in front of the highest pub in QLD (and had a look inside the Tully Hotel Falls - old but neat).

Past Inot Springs, Mt Garnet and Undarra NP we have arrived at Bedrock Village, Mt Surprise mid afternoon and booked for 2 nights.
Unfortunately they cannot do a half day Undarra Tour tomorrow and the full day is a bit long to leave Honey - although they provide a pet minding service (which is why we are here). As Des described is is very tidy organised and friendly. We will have a Ukelele practice day tomorrow. Meanwhile will try some of the Barra we bought for Dinner - while we watch the footy!!
Great win for Geelong. Great as in absolutely superb, bit of fish too.

1st September 2011- off to Malanda / Glen Allen, the Sanders place.

Well 9Am we are off. Actually with hugs and kisses (on the cheek) with Sally, Pete and Phillip... Straight to Mossman to the BP depot for fuel at $1.48, we decided to shop later. So, climbed to the tablelands... Up through Rumala and Julaten and past a sign saying Barra $12 a kilo - did a U-turn ASAP. Lovely lady admired the bus and sold us some Barra, chutney and eggs... Great looking fish (real Barra has the grey 'veins' through it). Gave the Sanders' a heads up and ETA - after lunch!

Stopped at Coffee Works at Mareeba. Interesting place with coffee tasting, history and big trinket shop - and incorporates Chocolat World!!! But importantly had a very good drink of coffee. Bought some local coffee ground on the spot for our espresso machine, plus a sample of a different local coffee with macadamia flavour!!!
Passed the Military Museum - cos it was closed, Check out the free park, the Memorial Park. Lots of space but it is the remains of an old army camp and a group has put many many rocks in rows with plaques of  various (mainly army) units and those that did not return. Quite a place in the middle of nowhere (well, the middle of not much...)

Decided to shop at Atherton which is the 'big smoke'. Parked outside Wooly's in a Caravans only spot, Bus is the same thing really and the only big vehicle park around, Steep slope so park brake and in gear... Grocery shopped til we dropped. Off to Glen Allyn!

The Sanders corner is surrounded by Nerada tea plantations (which is  now foreign owned, of course). It's a great quiet spot, and only a few km from Topaz - which is the wettest place in Australia. 60km back up the road at Mareeba they boast 300 days of sunshine. Malanda area is much higher 2500 feet... and very green!

Had a great evening, helping to drink Tony and Helens remaining wine (after the kids had visited for a while and nearly cleaned them out). Heard about all the travel since retirement. And they are off to a Jeep gathering after we leave... then OS to see the kids and next year for an OS wedding!!!

Gave honey a last chase of the Brush Turkeys and bed!