On to Alice Springs

On the road on Thursday we stopped at the Devil’s Marbles which we had passed on our previous trip but not stopped at because of inclement weather. No such issue this time it was 31 degrees when we stopped just before lunch to have a walk around. These rock formations are fantastic to see and the ones which have over thousands of years split in half quite incredible. We were really pleased to have the opportunity to see them close up this time.
We stopped at a roadside camp called McDouall Stuart Memorial on Thursday night. It’s only a short run to Alice Springs where we will stay for the next few nights.

Still at Camooweal

Yes, well we were moving on on Tuesday but that didn’t happen. We decided another sunrise and sunset couldn’t hurt so we settled down for another beautiful day and were not disappointed at all as the weather was even better. We were treated to the cattle staying only 25metres away from us grazing and having the occasional argument. Each day there was something different to see and enjoy.
As we travel we have kept in touch with the important stuff through the ABC radio as TV is sometimes not available. Warwick gave us a guide issued by the ABC with all the local stations throughout Australia listed and it has been a godsend. On Tuesday afternoon the local announcer and his producer were discussing how caravan travellers tend to slow down the traffic flow in the mornings when they are travelling to work. Why a van would want to be on the road at that time beats us, we’re just having a leisurely cup of tea to start the day but there you are. He (the announcer) was asking for comments from listeners about vanners so I couldn’t resist and actually got on straight away and was able to put forward our desire to see the country slowly but also not have a trail of traffic behind so we pull over or advise by the CB that we will move over as soon as practicable. I also couldn’t resist telling him of our misfortune in having a car and boat overtake us whilst we had done the right thing and breaking our window! So there I have had my say on Queensland radio as Sue from Shepparton! Warwick was proud (or at least said he was when he actually stopped laughing), perhaps now when we get home he will ring me for a weather report, a bone of contention we have! ** Suey was so good it is no wonder that she ended up with a son-in-law who is in radio. **
We celebrated my radio debut by toasting marshmallows by the open fire. Very satisfying! As a postscript, when we did leave Camooweal reluctantly on Wednesday we were travelling along enjoying the ride when a semi-trailer drew up behind us. Ian got on the CB and said we would be able to give him space to pass soon. He replied no worries and went past us soon after. I noticed the address on his cabin door was Shepparton so Ian told him we were from Shepparton too. He replied and asked if we were on the ABC yesterday as he had been telling his mates about us! See I’m famous! We had a chat and wished him well for his journey and continued on our way thinking not for the first time that out here is it a very small world!
We stopped at 41 Mile Bore which was a rest area 117km west of Barkly Homestead on the Barkly Highway and had a very pleasant evening sitting under the stars as the weather was still 28 degrees at 8 o’clock.

Our new Vehicle

Whilst we have good net coverage I have another photo to add mainly for Peter's benefit as he seems to delight in pointing out to us that we are having far too good a time on his share of the inheritance. This vehicle complete with boat and car on tow to run around town is the one we have ordered to take us to the next level of travel which we feel we so richly deserve. It should just about take care of his share of the inheritance we think. Happy days Pete, but one day you will be able to flog it on E-Bay!!!!

Sojourn in Camooweal

When we stayed at the WW2 site we talked to some other campers and were told of the free camp site at Camooweal beside the lagoon so we decided to make that our next stop on our crawl towards Alice Springs.
What a find! We are situated about five minutes from the thriving metropolis of Camooweal. We called in to the post office as there was a sign displaying “real coffee” and we were both hanging out for a cup of coffee and real coffee has become something we crave and critique as we travel. The staff in the post office were so lovely and the coffee fantastic, complete with a complimentary mini muffin! We were also able to vote there so that’s out of the way. Each of these remote Queensland Government Agencies has voting papers for every seat in Australia. What a nightmare for them but dead easy for us!
We drove on to the lagoon which greeted us with an abundance of bird life to enjoy watching. Just across the lagoon there are two at least eagle nests which are very busy feeding young and maintaining nests by constantly adding twigs. We also have a number of ducks doing their bum up fishing and brolgas walking along the edges fishing with their long beaks in the shallows. The brolgas have long legs which are jointed at the ‘knees’ so that they appear to be walking back to front. It sounds ungainly but they make very efficient fisherbirds. There are many other birds which we don’t know and we will have to pack our bird book next time as it has become quite a pastime for us now and very enjoyable. We’ve watched the sunrise from the van each morning although we did get out on the first morning and watch it from the bank. It was spectacular and we again realise just how lucky we are.
The town itself has a special charm and contains the drovers’ camp which is a microcosm of the stockman’s hall of fame at Longreach and the Longreach site has had some input from the people here. You would never know that the tin shed you drive past as you come into the town contains so much of the history of droving. As we sat back at the campsite on Saturday a car drove up and a man spoke to Ian assuring him first he wasn’t a ranger but that there would be free country singing at the drovers’ camp on Sunday afternoon if we wanted to come along. So off we went not really having any idea of what to expect. Behind the time doors was quite an amazing display of droving memorabilia and beyond the obvious old and some new trappings of droving is a room containing magnificent portraits of drovers which are added to each year by the same artist. Each year there is a drovers reunion here, next weekend actually but we’ll be in Alice Springs by then so they are starting to get organised and very excited about it all. We were treated to two hours of music which we really enjoyed and then a tour of the camp which was amazing. The portraits and murals were fantastic and the warmth of the greeting we received just made our stay. We know have a much greater appreciation of the life of the drovers and it seems just amazing to learn of the lives they lead and how they for the most part enjoyed the privations they endured throughout their times on the road.
We thought a drink at the pub was in order and even dinner, but alas no dinner on Sunday night! All is not lost however as we decided to stay another night because it just doesn’t get much better than this. So another couple of coffees, a relax by the lagoon and dinner at the pub on Monday night and off on Tuesday to …….. somewhere.

Photos from Mary Kathleen and on to Mt. Isa

At last after many tries I have finally uploaded the Mary Kathleen images, so will take the opportunity to update our last couple of days.

We proceeded from from Mary Kathleen to Mount Isa for the necessary repairs. We now have a new Anderson plug, (the thing that connects the car to the van for charging power which fell off and broke a few days ago). A new chair for Ian 'cos his fell apart and ..... a new window! Hooray, now when we check to see if the car is locked at night there is some point to it.

We've moved on to a World War 2 Airstrip 50 km NW of Mt. Isa as we slowly proceed to Alice Springs. We've booked in there for next weekend for the Henley on Todd which should be great fun.

Terry Smith Lookout to Cloncurry then Mary Kathleen

The rain and cooler weather have come to visit for a while. It rained throughout the night at the Lookout but by the time we arrived at Cloncurry it was just a lot cooler than we had been used to but I’m sure the sympathy level is pretty low from you all so I will just go on with our travel tale!
Cloncurry was as quiet as we remembered it, so an uneventful day passed as we caught up on the washing and charging up everything possible. We have been quite a while without power so it was a useful stop.
Last night we stayed only a short distance from Cloncurry at the Mary Kathleen free camp. This is a fantastic stop and is the remains of the township from the Mary Kathleen Mine which has had two lives. Firstly as a bauxite mine and then as an uranium mine. When both of these were discontinued the whole town was either lifted up off the foundations or sold off in what was reported to be the largest auction of its time in Australia in 1983.
What is left is a whole residential estate set out with concrete slabs where the homes, supermarket and every other building to make up a town once stood. The streets are asphalt and the main streets were two lanes still with the white lines able to be seen down the middle of the streets. We drove around the streets until we found a high spot where a previous camper had left a cosy fire burning and set ourselves up for an interesting stay.
We knew there was a cairn somewhere on one of the slabs and set out to walk around the estate and have a hunt for it. You can see Ian with the cairn putting back the information other travellers had left. There is a book to sign to share reasons for visiting and the opportunity to look at a plan of the estate and some other photos. Amazingly we had camped at the pre-school centre and also beside the swimming pool. Many of you will know Ian’s last areas of responsibility before he became a ‘feather duster’ encompassed Pre Schools and the Leisure Centre. As if staying in a ghost town isn’t spooky enough!!
The whole experience of seeing a town completely gone except for infrastructure is quite amazing but is surpassed by the magnificent country surrounding it all. We’re pleased it’s not still a mine because it couldn’t possibly look as beautiful as it does today. A daybreak photo doesn’t even do it justice.
Off to Mount Isa now for the window replacement and a couple of other maintenance issues.
Pete has been pleading for some photos of interesting buildings, really and truly Pete we are trying but it was never going to happen here! In fact the gremlins have struck and I can't seem to load our pics with the blog so I'll try another time.

Leichardt Lagoon to Cloncurry

We reluctantly left Leichardt Lagoon after calling in to Normanton to fill up with water and empty the toilet. Sorry for that detail but figure you might like to know that we do still have domestic chores even on holiday. Before someone asks as I expect they will, the “drop off” site and”pick up” sites are in different locations!
While Ian was filling up with water which is very rare to find a council offering a fill site, good on Normanton for sharing their scarce resources with us, I sat on the ground and sent the last three blogs. By the way can you believe some idiot was using the water to wash his car, water is as scarce as hen’s teeth and he wanted to wash yesterday’s dust off ready to accept today’s on his wet car!
There was a very neat picnic area but as it had a tin roof I couldn’t get good enough internet speed and would have been there a week as the queue grew for the water tap. Sending blogs takes me to a myriad of locations from sitting on the side of the road at night to today!
The country as we travelled today changed and we are noticing the first wattle we have seen so far, also a lot of heaths in many shades of green and grey. We have also seen patches of kapok trees with their bright yellow flowers which will form into nuts becoming kapok as they burst. We stopped a way out and managed to find one Ian could reach and took a photo beside our “patented applied for broken window cover” which works very well thank you. On a previous trip we had been told of the importance of Kapok trees to the indigenous people in discerning the change of seasons and we have noticed the change in them as we travel on.
Our stop tonight is a free camp at Terry Smith Lookout. Terry was the mailman out of Cloncurry servicing the Gulf properties for 41 years. Not a bad innings Terry, bet he knew some secrets from out here.