All done and dusted in a morning. No other casualties. All wine glasses, wine bottles and eggs intact.
So while Dez had a bit of R & R, I headed to town for a wander. Only the second time we haven't been joined at the hip. Bit strange.
The Todd River. Pretty much dry all the time. The water actually flows underneath!
The Mall! Yes, Alice has a Mall! But don't get too excited. Tried to get a coffee on Friday afternoon from a cafe at 2.30 pm and they were closing!!!
No afternoon coffee :( lucky I found another one still open :)
They got the PO-leeeece everywhere! They get to ride their dirt bikes through the Mall!
Adelaide House. First Outback Hospital.
A look around the Flying Doctor Centre. Very interesting.
How 'bout that. The medical kit from 1958. What a great year!
Not a great photo, but it shows how the telegraph equipment was run by peddling.
Communications room in the early days.
Also had a look around the shops and did a bit of Bevy shopping for my birthday :)
Spoilt morning! My very favourite brekky. Pancakes, maple syrup, bacon and a black brew. Yum Yum. Dez even did the washing up :)
Hit the road for a big big driving day, once Dez did some fine manoeuvring out of the camp spot. With excellent guidance from Verity and moi !
We have already "done" this drive, so only a couple of points of interest to show, not previously blogged.
Well there is the Big Pineapple, the Big Banana, the Big Prawn, the Big Mower, but at Aileron Roadhouse they have......the BIG ABORIGINIES,
Complete with the accompanying Big Goanna!
A stop much anticipated was the Devil's Marbles. Mind boggling and spectacular!
Big day - 680 klm - and ended up at Barkley Homestead, on the Barkley Highway, heading east.
Set up on yet another lovely patch of dirt, and headed into the Roadhouse for my birthday dinner. Staffed by more foreign backpackers with no customer service skills! At least the steaks were great. And you will all be pleased to know Dezziz rare steak was just that! Whew!
On the road again. We have got packing up and down to a fine art. First photo opportunity of the day........Welcome to Queensland. Thank you N.T. for the amazing waterfalls, gorges, plunge pools, birdlife, swimming springs, breathtaking landscape and brilliant roads ( well the bitumen ones) ! It has been an adventure. No thanks for the flies and the Apollo and Britz driving foreigners.
Who needs a tripod, when you've got the car bonnet?!?!
A typical lovely picnic spot. One of the many, many we have used!
Red, red dirt as far as the eye can see.
A sign said Cattle Crossing. We have seen that sign so so many times, but this time it was right. Caught in the middle of a muster. It was great! And a cowgirl!
Brekky in Camooweal, refuel in Mt. Isa, and decided to head down the Diamintina Developmental Road. And it certainly needs some developing!
You don't see that everyday? In the middle of nowhere seems to be the place to get rid of your old bike?!?!
About 70 klm's out of Mt. Isa we could see a massive cloud on the horizon. Haze? Brushfire? Getting closer.....Dust Storm!
The land is so incredibly flat and dry, and the wind so strong, that's what you get. So we drove to Boulia for two hours battling strong winds and the dust storm. It was an adventure for sure.
Sunset through the dust.
Arrived at 6.00 pm and the wind was howling. No way we could raise the camper, so had a night of luxury at the local Motel! Our own bathroom, T.V. Big bed, lounge, everything! Felt like the Sheraton ha ha!
Have never appreciated good old fashioned country service sooooo much!
Next leg, Boulia to Winton - 360 klm. A fabulous outback drive. Lots of super flat country which is spectacular in its own way.
We even had five minutes of rain.
It was quite a novelty.
Then out of nowhere the most amazing hills, or, jump ups, as they are called.
Dezzi lovin' it!
Stopped for a "wee" break at this roadside rest area. It was hilarious. It had a fence and a turnstile. Go figure?
Halfway along and came to Middleton ( fancy it being called that), and the Middleton Pub. WOW, You wanted the epitome of the outback pub, and this is finally it. We almost didn't stop, but needed a break. So so glad we did. After all this time, we found old mate Lester and the Mrs. True Blue Auzzies! A great steak sanga, a cup of black instant, and a beer, topped off with plenty of yarns, we loved it! Lester was a treat in his t-shirt and stubby shorts, minus his top teeth, and the Mrs was just as typical outback. Not a backpacker within cooeeeee :)
Lester debating with Dez if it was gunna rain. The verdict? Nah!
Dez loves these bumps of grass.
Overnight in Winton. Ten bucks to camp behind the pub. But not "our" pub. Across the road to Tatts that we loved last time. Another great publican and great food. Also caught up with the Collins family who showed us around at the start of the trip. A very jolly night.
The Collinses - Graham, Brendan, Rhianna and Janelle. Salt of the earth, great people.
These parrots were so sweet. All smoochy!
Couple of galahs keeping a sharp eye on our lunch.
For all you Labor Party faithfuls, there it is!
Overnight at a freecamp at Tambo. The best freecamp yet. Set back 500 metres from the road on the banks of, albeit, a dry river. It was soooooooo peaceful. And more wildlife than any of the National Parks.
You can just make out Dezzi with his trusty fly swat. He would have been lost without this the whole trip.
Pretty!!
Wallabies.
Kangaroos.
And at least three possums, two of which had babies on their backs! So cute. We only fed them celery and corn cobs. Two of them had a fight for supremacy at my feet!!!
And plenty of birds, too.
Next morning, coffee pick up from......
Dodged the emu crossing the road, who didn't know which way he wanted to go ha ha!
To the right.
No, no, to the left.
Next night back to Charleville, which was our first main stopover at the start of the trip. Didn't get to go to the Cosmos Centre last time, because it clouded over. Not tonight! It was great. No photos obviously. We were looking through a telescope.
Had a look at Venus. Which we found out is that bright evening star. M6, which is a globular cluster, and can't be seen without a telescope. Very pretty. Tucana 47, which is another globular cluster and consists of 100,000-120,000 stars. Very, very pretty. And because the moon was almost full, we looked at it. Fantastic to see it so clear, and all the craters. A great night.
Brekky and coffee fix at Fat Freddy's - the best take away anywhere.
Checked the Road Atlas for a destination, and decided on St. George via Cunamulla. About a 420klm day. Not much to report but plenty of wild goats and crazy emus.
Well......until a typical Queensland storm decided to develop!
Quick check of the free camps book for an overnight stay. Nindigully Pub looked good! Got there the same time as the rain, like everyone else. What else to do but have beers and dinner 'till the rain passed.
Pouring rain...haven't seen that for a while. What a novelty.
What a great pub. The second true blue Auzzie pub in a week. Everyone was in high spirits because of the fun of the downpour. The wind and rain finally let up, and we could raise the roof on the Eagle and get some sleep. We woke to beautiful blue skies. This would be in the top three of free camps!
Morning view. The free camp is HUGE! We had a sleep in, so almost everyone was gone. Except the mob of 5 vans from Caboolture !
Great pub.
On the banks of the Moonie River.
Looks good now, but it was mud puddle city last night!
The bar.
Thumbs up. On the road again. Another check of the Road Atlas and decided on Moogerah Dam via Goondiwndi for our last few days! Hopefully do some fishing and catch some yabbies. They both have been elusive all trip :(
It has been quite a week, and we have covered a lot of road and seen some country. Fantastic!
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