Back o' Bourke & beyond

After voting in Cunnamulla (hasn't it been an interesting week of politics!) we headed south towards Bourke. Vince had heard of a good place to camp called Kidman's Camp north of Bourke so we travelled along a dead straight road with lots of emus in paddocks and arrived just after lunch. We unpacked the tent which was still sporting lots of Innamincka mud and set up the annex as we planned to stay a few nights.

The camp didn't disappoint with a great camp kitchen and some interesting travellers to talk to. Vinnie found some bait and grabbed the fishing rod and yabby trap, and drove down to the river to fish. No luck. Not even a bite after 2 hours. He put his energy into cooking tea. Vinnie outlasted all campers when he stayed glued to the TV when the election results came in.

The weather started to come in and we were glad we had changed our planned route as many of the dirt roads were being closed. I rang Cathy McWilliam, former colleague from St Joseph's in Alstonville, who moved here when hubby Paul got a job in Bourke with Country Energy a couple of years ago. We organised to meet up the following day.

In the meantime Vince was chasing fishing spots in the Darling so we explored the weir and other spots to find a fishing venue. Cathy had recommended the Back o' Bourke Exhibition Centre so we thought it would be a good day to explore indoors. We weren't disappointed. it was excellent. I particularly liked the way poetry was an integral part of the display, especially the poetry of Lawson and Will Ogilvie. The Centre has only been opened for 12 months and it is technologically superior to any other display we've seen on our travels. Well worth the visit.

Where we were staying was about 10km out of Bourke "Northy" as the locals called it and it was a lovely park with lots of trees. Unfortunately the raindrops off the tree dropping onto the tent kept us awake for most of the night as the rain continued to fall. The park was becoming boggy, but not as boggy as the Bourke cemetery where we went to pay tribute to Fred Hollows. We could have spent ages in the cemetery except that the puggy clay mud was adhering to our walking shoes and we were growing taller by the minute! There is quite a history of Afghans in Bourke, even a mosque in the cemetery!! Not quite like the mosques in Doha, Luke!

There was a paddle boat in the river so we took a tour of the river, which had apparently risen a metre in the past week. The boat was a replica of an old boat that used to operate in the river last century. It can travel in less than a metre of water, but hasn't had to do that this year. I had the brief joy of putting the car into 4WD as we slid our way back to the caravan park.


We had a wet pack up and decided that a cabin in the caravan park at Moree might be a good strategy for the next few days. (no it's not cheating, it's called sanity!)

We bypassed Lightning Ridge and decided we would come back on one of our days in Moree. At $64 a night, we reckoned it was a bargain. The park had its own mineral springs, at 38C, it was blissful. We've been managing 2 spas a day so far.

Lightning Ridge was a 500km round trip & although interesting, not worth the extra days travel back over roads already travelled! I was amazed at the shacks that have sprung up on the outskirts of town, apparently there are no council regulations on dwellings on opal claims. Like Coober Pedy, I can say we've seen it but have no plans to return any time soon.

Our trip is coming to an end. It has been a wonderful journey and I continue to marvel at the immensity and variety of townships and landscapes in our marvellous country. I feel very thankful for this opportunity to explore a small part of Oz and we are already talking about our next trip taking the road less travelled. Our mantra of "No regrets" has allowed us to make changes and amend plans as the need arose and we have certainly met some interesting people and seen some great travelling rigs. The tent has served us well and the few nights in cabins has saved our sanity, it's not a bad way to travel. The Plenty Highway, Oodnadatta track, Birdsville, is calling us. Roll on retirement.......(Insert Vince's reply here).

Of winds, mud and 4WDriving

We lay in our sleeping bags in Copley and listened to the wind gusts as they buffeted the tent. The fly wings flapped and made such an incredible racket that we had little chance of sleeping, then the rain came....."Oh oh (or words to that effect) says Vince, I think we'd better consider plan B". With the next 1000km on dirt, we were not keen to get stuck at Innamincka for the next week. We looked at weather predictions and made up our mind to limit our stay in Innamincka and move on to Cameron's Corner and Tibooburra as quickly as we could.

We set off up the Strzelecki track and the clouds darkened as we got nearer to our destination. We had showers all day. We arrived at Innamincka in fairly good time as the track was in reasonable condition for most of the trip.

For the princely sum of $5 we set up camp on the town common and drove back into town and paid $2 for a shower, as we had decided to shout ourselves tea at the pub. What a great meal. Simply the best pub meal I've had in a long time. I was interested to learn that a tourist was keen to pay his bill the night before in case he needed to leave at 2am!!

It continued to rain & as we hit the sack, we were again making plans for an early exit after visiting the Dig Tree. That added 120km to our trip so we were keen for an early getaway in case the roads closed.

"Come on, let's get organised it's time to go" was my wake up call. "It's still dark" was my sleepy reply. To no avail, Vinnie was convinced that we were going to get stuck so we were outta there! Our shoes were caked in mud as we walked around to pack up so we were imagining how much mud was going to be on the car tyres.

We actually had to wait 30 minutes for the fuel station to open. After paying 183c/L for diesel we implemented plan C, which Vinnie had discussed with a fellow traveller who was as keen to escape as we were. No Cameron's corner, no campfire in the common, no fishing in the Cooper, no Burke & Wills gravesites (road was closed), hit the mud & head to Queensland.

The road was ok at first, but as we headed down the aptly named Adventure Way, road conditions changed dramatically. We slid, fishtailed, and wobbled our way down the track to the Dig Tree thinking we must be the only crazy people out here but there were some campers and a few vehicles that followed us in. We read every monument we could find - it truly was amazing to see this place after reading all the stories about it in the "Dig Tree" book. We were pleased to be able to tick at least one of our outback boxes in visiting this place. But Burke was right, it really is in the middle of nowhere. We had basically travelled 500km in to see it, then a similar distance back out again.

The Dig Tree

Of course, because we were keen to read lots, all the vehicles left before we did and we were left with a very greasy tyre-rutted road. At times the truck had a mind of its own and Vinnie was forced to drive very slowly in low 4WD just to keep the car pointed in the direction we wanted to go! It was a bit scary at times but Vinnie handled it well (I think he liked the adrenalin rush, some people get all the fun!). It was a very long day in the car - 8 til 5.30 so we made another (wise) decision to try to find a cabin for the night.

Vince inflates the tyres after we come off the dirt, note the blobs of mud on the mirror and windows!

We bought fuel at Thargomindah, and if it had been a bit more inviting I reckon we would have stayed there but we settled for a bag of chips as we hadn't had either breakfast or lunch & then continued to Cunnamulla as the rain continued to fall. As we pulled over to take a photo of some fleeing emus, a car passed us and I joked that they would probably beat us to the caravan park! Guess what, they did!! And they took a cabin! Fortunately the manager of the park was very helpful and found us a cabin in town. It felt like the Penthouse suite of the Grand Mercure! It was blissful. Sheets, a comfy chair, television!! I really felt like I had escaped from the desert. We were incredibly muddy and my hair felt like straw. It's a good thing I haven't had access to a mirror for a while! I was feeling very weary but I think Vinnie was still running on adrenalin, either that or he was so pleased to be able to watch TV again. I was long asleep when he came to bed. We plan to wash and explore the town tomorrow before we head to Bourke for a couple of nights. We've booked the cabin for 2 nights, oh the space....

Lake Eyre & a bush camp

We left Coober Pedy without a backward glance and drove with anticipation towards William Creek where we had booked a two hour flight over Lake Eyre. It was quite an interesting drive with the environment constantly changing as we drove further south. In places the road was quite smooth and we could travel at 90km/h, in other spots it was clear why the road had been closed only two weeks earlier as there were deep tyre ruts and the road was quite rough. Our speed was reduced considerably. We decided our timing was pretty good because if we had been here two weeks earlier, we would not have been able to travel on these tracks.

We were only able to book the 1pm flight as the 11am was booked out so as we only had 160km to travel, we took our time and stopped at any interesting spots along the way. The old Ghan Railway (short for Afghan & named after the Afghani camel drivers who helped to build it) was decommissioned in 1980 and there was evidence of settler camps all along the route. It would make a great bike track we decided, just couldn't use it for 8 months of the year due to the high temperatures - 52C highest recorded.

The William Creek pub was a gem, I had the best cappucino and gluten free bickie in the middle of nowhere!! It was a really friendly place and we decided we could come back here for an overnight stay on some future trip.

Off in the plane, I was placed in the last seat at the rear, which was fine with me because you know which part of the plane usually survives the crash don't you? All jokes aside, I did enjoy the take off and I really feel privileged to have seen Lake Eyre at its best. Although some of the birdlife has moved on we did see nesting pelicans and pied stilts. Mind you, by the time I got the camera ready, we'd flown over them!!

The pilot reckoned that the Lake would probably be empty again by January and he flew us over the Cooper and pointed out some spots where you could catch Yellowbelly. That's Vinnie's next aim to catch yabbies and yellowbelly in the Cooper, otherwise why would he have bought a yabby net in Mitchell??And why have we been carrying a fishing rod all this way without getting it wet? The flight ended and we jumped in the car having to drive a further 80km to make camp at a little place called Coward Springs.

We went off road to check out another historic site and came upon a couple of campers who had set up

This sign was not encouraging but did prove prophetic!


for the night. I'm not sure whether it was the inviation to share a bottle of Clare Valley red, or the plea "Hey mate, you don't happen to have a yabby trap with you do ya?" that clinched the deal but we decided they seemed like ok blokes so we joined them at their campfire and Smithy as we came to know him, popped the yabby trap in the dam and hoped for entree. Wishful thinking perhaps...or just having a bit of fun. We set the tent up with little fuss and were ready for our first bush camp of the trip. Yes, we finally get to use the shovel! I won't elaborate on that one!!

Turns out, his mate Jason was a dab hand at making damper so the blokes shared their food and wine and Vinnie cooked up a big steak & eggs on the bush barbie. What a great night! I'm not sure whether I could do a couple of nights on the run, but I certainly appreciated the simplicity of a night (almost) under the stars. The blokes had swags and they had a visitor in the form of a dingo sniffing around their heads at some time during the night. He actually pinched one of their bowls! I'm glad there was a wall of canvas between myself and the dingo!

Yes Smithy caught 2 yabbies but we weren't keen to eat them for brekkie so we freed them.

We packed up early the next morning and drove towards Lyndhurst where we planned to spend a couple of nights. We called into Coward Springs and it too was a lovely little camp ground with a mineral spring. We had a quick dip in lieu of a shower and continued on our way.

Lyndhurst was a tiny little hamlet with a very dusty looking campground so we fueled up and decided to head to Leigh Creek which looked a bit bigger on the map at least. We didn't quite make it there as we drove into Copley, we looked at the caravan park and decided it was good enough for a two night stay.

The pub was a great little pub as well and obviously the hub of the town. The menu looked inviting so we decided to eat out (not making a big dent in all that cryovacked (?) meat in our frig!)

The next day (today, I think it's Tuesday), we got on our bikes as we have got into the habit of doing after a few days in the car. We rode to Leigh Creek which seems to have been manufactured by the local coal mine. Vinnie made the comment that it seemed to "lack heart" because all the buildings were built in the last 30 years. We rode out to the local dam - again built to service the coal mine. It was full to the brim, reflecting all the rainfall they have had over the past few months. The wind was blowing a gale and Vinnie was anxious to get back to check the tent, as we nearly lost the annex when the wind was strong at Coober Pedy. We rode back into an incredibly strong headwind. Fortunately it wasn't far! The tent was still in one piece but had begun to cave in on one side so Vinnie found every peg and rope he could muster to anchor it down. It will probably take us twice as long to pack up in the morning with all the pegs that will have to be removed!!

We're off along the Strzelecki track tomorrow, 520km on a dirt road, the condition of which is unknown. We may have to have a bush camp along the way, depending on how long it takes to get to Innamincka. We hope to be in Tibooburra in time to vote next Saturday. Until then we will most likely be out of contact.

Aroona Dam

Dusty windswept Coober Pedy

The road south was straight, easy driving but dead boring! As we got closer to the South Australian border, the landscape became more a moonscape with little vegetation. Closer to Coober Pedy after 8 hours driving, we became more interested in the mounds of dirt we assumed were mullock heaps. The warning signs were a tad worrying. Don't think I'll be noodling (fossicking) here!!

We eventually found the caravan park and even though we'd booked a site for 3 nights a few days ago, we seemed to be put in the less than optimal overflow area. Vinnie was unimpressed with the camp kitchen as most of the barbecues were not operating and the showers were the smallest I've seen since boarding school! And 20c a shower would you believe! We decided not to put up the annex - big mistake, we both spent the rest of the night cursing about lost implements & "Where did you put that Julie?!" The caravan park was supposed to be a Big 4 but we won't be returning here in a hurry(in fact I'm not keen to return to CP at all, but it does have to be experienced!).

We had been told to do the town tour which includes a mine tour with a bit of the history as well so we headed out on a mini bus early the next morning. Our tour guide Rudi, was a European miner, who arrived in 1962 and will be carried out in a box, so he says "But I'm not in a hurry, at 72 I'm keen to hang around a bit longer" He told us that he didn't strike it rich otherwise he wouldn't be still working!! There are 45 nationalities in CP, quite an interesting mix of people with all opal dealings being carried out in cash. Miners don't really trust each other. Prospectors are allowed to dig anywhere outside the town as long as they have a permit which becomes null & void after 12 months. They don't have to repatriate their claim hence the thousands of mounds of dirt next to holes with a depth of 22m!! We finished the tour with a visit to an old mine and the obligatory opal shop. You guessed it, I couldn't resist supplementing my earring collection, particularly as I had lost a pair when we had dinner in the desert.

Coober Pedy is an environmental disaster. There is junk everwhere and no one seems to give a rats about the amount of old equipment and rubbish in the town. Vinnie can't believe how authorities have allowed the dangerous mining shafts to be left in the open and what irks him even more is the fact that all deals are done in cash - no tax!!

We're always keen to get on the bikes after a long trip so we headed into town to stock up with supplies for the perceived lack of supermarkets in the wilderness ahead. We also managed a beverage or 2 at the local watering hole. On the way home carryong bags of groceries, we nearly got blown off our bikes! Glad we didn't have to ride far. We put up the annex because the wind was buffeting the tent & we hoped it would not turn into a dust storm. My hair felt like straw and a fine layer of dust seem to cover everything. During the night it rained and I think I was actually quite pleased as it meant that there would be less dust.

Even though we wanted to see the Painted Desert, it was a 400km return trip so we decided we'd do it when we next visit Oodnadatta. We drove out to the Breakaways, a mountain range of rocks about 30km from town. It was blowing a gale & we weren't keen to do any walking because it was so unpleasant. We drove back into town following a group of locals who were walking, jogging,riding the 30km into town to raise funds for a local playground. We gave them a donation, what an effort. The way the wind was blowing they would feel like they'd covered twice that distance.

We visited "Faye's House" an open house which was a dug out chipped out of sandstone by one of the first female miners in the town. She and a few other women who joined her later, used a pick to dig the rooms out. The advantage of living underground is the constant temperature of between 20-24C all year round. Faye no longer lives there and for the miserly cost of $5, the caretaker will take you for a tour and tell some anecdotes as well. Pumpkin soup was bubbling on the stove as we were shown through the house.

We will probably be out of range for the next 4 or 5 days as we travel to Innamincka and up to Cameron's Corner - with perhaps a bush camp along the way, Vinnie has been saving his firewood for this leg of the journey. Tomorrow we have our flight over Lake Eyre so we are really looking forward to that. Hope this wind drops, or it won't be very pleasant flying in a small plane!!

Rocks, The Rock and more rocks

We arrived at Ayer's Rock resort in the early afternoon to set up on our little green patch of turf. The Browns were in a separate part of the park so they planned to drive their vehicle over to prepare dinner. We were 200m from the amenities (again) and the camp kitchen was very basic, not even any hot water for washing up, so much for the "resort" label! We decided it was too late to go out viewing the rock and planned to ride out (weather permitting) then ride around Uluru a distance of around 40km.

We couldn't believe how cold it was, the wind was quite gusty and we rugged up so we could be comfortable enough to cook outside. Lucky for me I was able to blog inside the tent!! It ended up being too cold to eat outside so we cleared the annex and had a cosy dinner inside. Vinnie had organised to hire a fire recepticle (half a 44gallon drum) so we sat around the fire to try and keep warm.

Thankfully, the next day dawned calm and a little warmer as we prepared to ride out to Uluru. The great thing about bikes is that you get to see things for much longer so we saw lots of the rock as we pedalled closer. We had decided to ride around the rock rather than climb it out of respect for the local pitjantjara (not sure of the spelling!) people . It really is a beautiful and haunting place. We enjoyed riding around it and probably got photos from 45 different angles!! Zelinda decided to climb it and said her legs were jelly when she got back from the 2 hour climb. She said it was a really tough climb, so she opted not to ride back to camp. By the time we got back we had ridden 55km. It was Vinnie's turn to cook so we prepared for dinner, Uluru Ragout he said, not to be confused with King's Canyon vegie ragout! We were able to eat al fresco as the temperature had risen slightly inversely proportional to the wind velocity!

Our final day in the centre and we planned to do it in style. We traversed the hollows and rocks of the Olgas, viewed the wonderful display of wildflowers growing on the track, and completed the day with the Sounds of Silence Dinner in the Desert.

The Olgas were interesting as they seem to be made up of conglomerate rock with lots of different textures. We scrambled up rocks, slid over rocks, marvelled at rocks, tripped over rocks, gazed at rocks and sat on rocks. I would love to have a path made of rocks at home but Vinnie said we couldn't fit them in.

Dinner in the desert was awesome. We arrived at sunset and toasted the rock. Then we watched as the sun slowly set to see the many different hues on the horizon. Simply stunning. The food was delicious and we sat at a table with Brits, French and Czechs. Dinner conversation was stimulating and it was a wonderful way to farewell the centre and the part of our holiday shared with Charlie & Zelinda. They were, as always, great company and we did everything we wanted to do and more.

We have a long haul to Coober Pedy tomorrow, over 700km, so we hit the sack after saying our goodbyes.

Kings Creek Station - an interesting story

Don't you love the Land Rovers? They are parked in front of King's Ck Station . There were about 15 of them and they had travelled along the Canning Stock Route.

The owner of King's Ck Station, Ian Conway is an amazing bloke. We heard his story in a presentation on the last night we were there. He calls himself a"white blackfella". Born of an indigenous mother and a part aboriginal father, who was a stockman working for Sir Sidney Kidman, he hardly saw his father and his mother died when he was quite young. He was raised mainly by his aboriginal grandmother. In short he had a pretty tough life but was keen to make things better for the local aboriginal people. He opened up the station in the early 80s and took his family out to nothing.....They went back to Alice and returned when he had built a shelter to live in! It was a pretty unforgiving environment but his wife survived (don't think I would!) and he eventually built up the station where he traps camels and sells them to the Morrocans among others!

He set up a trust where local indigenous kids are selected and sent to boarding school in Adelaide - some of you may have seen him on Australian Story. We were impressed, I really enjoyed hearing his story.

We continued to explore Kings Canyon and enjoyed more sumptuous cooking - don't think I'll lose any weight on this trip - thank goodness for walking and bike riding!

Kings Canyon - simply breathtaking

Yes we are still alive, we've just been really outback at Kings Creek Station without any signal for anything...even Telstra!

On from Alice we travelled and Vince was keen to take the road less travelled so we headed for the dirt. We were keen to view the Henbury Craters, where some thousands of years ago meteorites landed on Earth and formed gigantic craters. It was incredible to view except the wind was blowing a gale & it was bitterly cold so we decided to continue to Kings Ck Station and set up camp.

When we arrived at camp it wasn't what we had expected but we had a shelter to do our cooking and washing up and we had a "lush" grassed site amongst the red sand. It had potential to be a great bush camp, even though it was a 200m dash to the amenities! The blokes went out foraging for firewood as Vinnie was determined to have a campfire. We used our bikes to travel to and from the ablutions as they were quite a distance from the campsite. The plan was to travel 40km to the Canyon and complete the four hour rim walk the following day. Charlie cooked a superb meal and we,quite rightly, "ate like Kings" - although the canyon wasn't named after a king but a regular person who sponsored one of the early explorers of the region.

It was a cold night and we were determined to stay in our tent until the sun warmed it the next morning so we set out later in the morning after we had thawed out and eaten a king's breakfast!

The Canyon was stunning, absolutely amazing. I'm running out of adjectives! The rim walk began with a steep climb up some steps which had me reaching for my puffer and the rest of us stopping to catch our breath. The rock formations changed at every turn and we were amazed to learn that tourists only began to come here in the 1960s. The local aborigines, the luritja people, saw the first white people in the 1890s. The story of the growth of tourism is quite an interesting tale but would take quite some time to tell so I'll wait till we return home.

We were all awe-struck with the beauty of the area and were pleased that we had booked a 4 night stay. Vinnie was anxious about fuel as the diesel pump at the King's Canyon Resort had broken down and no diesel was available. Fortunately we were carrying 40L of diesel so it wasn't an emergency. Thanks goodness for Vinnie's foresight and planning, however we didn't end up needing it because the pumps were fixed the next day.

The next day we awoke to find frost on the tent. That early morning dash to the ablutions was put off as long as possible!! Thank goodness for the sub-zero sleeping bags Ben!

Zelinda had hired a bike for a week while we were in Alice so we decided to ride the 40km return journey to Simpsons Gap. It had warmed up so we bared our legs and set off. It was a pleasant ride and we enjoyed reading the history both indigenous and white on the well posted track. We headed back to camp for some reading and an early shower before the temperature dropped.

Friends & family, thanks for your comments both on the blog and emails. Matt, I hope you're keeping the class up to date and that you're learning lots with Mrs Sanderson while I'm away.

Cheers to all.

McDonnell Ranges - wow

The last couple of days have been spent exploring the West McDonnell Ranges. These ancient wonders are simply magnificent. We set out yesterday prepared for a long walk and hoped for some wildflowers and photo opportunities, we weren't disappointed. The 160km drive out was picturesque to say the least and allowed the Browns to orientate themselves into the red centre. The sign at the entrance to the four hour walk had us a little concerned but the fellas reckoned they had it under control & we could figure a way back that allowed us to stay dry....we were not keen to get our toes wet let alone other body parts!

We continued over rocky terrain and Charlie set a cracking pace. The weather was cool and overcast and we walked over some challenging rocks and slate. We passed a couple of rangers who assured us we wouldn't get to do the circuit because the waterhole at the end was neck deep. The blokes were disappointed as we had to retrace our steps covering the same ground. It was a four hour walk and we were quite stuffed by the end. Muscles were screaming but we had to "dig down deep and pull out a big one" as Vinnie is fond of saying to do the extra 40 minute walk to actually see Ormiston Gorge. We got some great pics.

We were exhausted by the time we got back to town and we almost had to be "crow- barred" out of the car as muscles seized up!

Vinnie & I had contacted Tania Bekker, an engineer Vinnie used to work with in Lismore in the nineties and had been invited to her place for dinner. Unfortunately I was a party pooper as I was so weary and we left after a tasty dinner (so lovely to actually sit at a table & not eat off your lap!). We slept well. I buried myself in my sleeping bag because it was freezing.

I had to dig in my bag for my gloves & beanie, it was so cold this morning. Charlie cooked up a great bushwalker's breakfast of bacon & eggs and we headed out towards our next destination of "Big Hole at Ellery Creek". This time we packed a lunch & planned to boil the billy in between walks. The walk was not as difficult as yesterday, which is just as well because calf muscles were letting us know they didn't like climbing again! It didn't matter where we looked, the scenery was amazing.

We drove back into Alice and gathered supplies. Zelinda hired a bike so we plan to ride out to Simpsons Gap tomorrow, a return trip of 44km. We'll then pack up and get organised for the next part of our journey around the centre - King's Canyon a 300km trip part of which is on dirt. I am unsure of whether I'll get signal out there so I don't know when I'll be able to blog again. Thanks to those of you who send texts or write on the blog. It's pleasing to know someone is reading about our travels!

In the desert

Alice is looking amazing at the moment. A profusion of wildflowers and desert plants around the town and some wonderful birdlife. Vinnie keeps complaining how the birds are keeping him awake in the morning when he doesn't really need to be awake!!

We cycled out to the Desert park and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of getting to know the desert environment and the animals and plants of the region. We saw and heard some amazing birds and animals and the animal lover in Vinnie was in heaven. We stayed much longer than we had planned, so we decided to lash out & go to the Club for tea ( wouldn't have anything to do with the Bledisloe Cup would it?) I guess I've been spoiled over the past weeks by Vinnie's cooking, because after waiting in line for half an hour to place our order, it wasn't worth waiting for. It was one of the worst meals we've both eaten. And the Rugby result didn't improve things at all.

The weather here remains bleak, cold and quite windy. The Browns arrived to 11C and were quite surprised at how cold it was, they said it was warmer at home! We did a few jobs in town, picked up Charlie & Zelinda from the airport & ent back to the caravan park. We were sad to hear that Bob Delaney died. Vale Bob, a wonderful husband, father, teacher & mate. Zelinda had visitied him in hospital on Friday night before leaving, not realising how close he was to the end. Our thoughts are with his family.

Tomorrow we are driving out to the West McDonnell Ranges for some walking. We're all looking forward to that. Hope the weather improves.

Alice, here we come.

Cycling around the Isa was a great way to explore the area. On the last day we were there, we rode out towards Duchess on a dirt road. It was a pleasant ride & we finished off with a coffee and the customary visit to the supermarket for supplies. We met some great people in the caravan park and learnt a lot about life on the road as well as some places to visit on future trips.

The temperature was increasing and we decided to do an overnight stay in Tennant Creek so we booked a cabin.

It was a long drive but quite a good trip once we passed Camooweal because to my delight the speed limit in NT was 130km/h! That was until we saw the petrol gauge drop very quickly & Vinnie reckoned we might not have enough fuel to get us to the next petrol station! Ok, Jules Brabham had to lift the foot.....we quickly learned to follow our fuel consumption very closely as it was a long time between stops.

Tennant Creek was interesting, but at 35C, we weren't keen to stay too long.

The Devil's Marbles 100km south of Tennent Creek, was a wonderful spot & we decided we'd love to come back and do a bush camp here.

On to Alice and the sky was looking gloomy. The road was excellent and we passed lots of caravans heading north. The temperature was dropping.

It had to happen, our first set up in the rain. The Oztent went up quickly and then it poured. I went scambling for my thermals as the temperature dropped to 18C. What a contrast to the previous evening! We postponed our cycle into town and made camp for the night.

Thanks to those of you who have posted a comment. Much appreciated!

Exploring the Isa

With four nights in the Argylla Caravan Park, we've been able to do some reading relaxing and exploring. Isa reminds us both of Broken Hill, quite industrial, a little unkempt, with industries next door to houses and only 2 or 3 streets from the main part of town.

We visited the underground hospital museum which was set up during WWII, because of the threat of Japanese Invasion. Fortunately it was never needed, but with the financial assistance of Mt Isa Mines, was restored and made into a historical museum.

Today we pedalled out to Lake Mundoora, a 50km round trip & blew away some of the travelling cobwebs. It is the town water supply, no camping or fishing but some great picnic areas. Unfortunately it has fallen victim to blue-green algae & a mosquito danger!!

We're running a day behind our schedule but plan to pick up the day at Tennant Creek - we'd planned 2 nights there but travellers tell us it's not a real good place to stay so we'll do an overnight cabin stay and have 2 big travelling days & head to Alice. It might be a while before I can update the blog!

Burke &Wills country - Boulia Mt Isa

After unloading a fistful of dollars to view all the museums & sights of Longreach - oops blew the budget, we left the thriving metropolis of Ilfracombe & headed through to Boulia. I will say that we enjoyed the Qantas museum and particularly the guided tour of the Boeing 707 which had an interesting history. Born in the 1960s, it flew the Queen, the Beatles to Australia and belonged to the Sultan of Arabia before ending up in a scrap yard in the north of England. It was rescued and restored at some ginormous cost to Qantas and the Australian Government and returned as a museum piece. It is still in working order but I think they're running out of pilots qualified to fly it!! We were not allowed to take photos of the inside because no infidel is permitted to view where the Arab leader was seated....!? Imagine Vinnie's response to that!! I did take a photo of him waving where the Beatles stood.

We thought it was a reasonably easy drive through to Boulia & we took our time to view the (free) sights of Winton & have lunch before driving to Boulia, imagine our surprise when we discovered it was 360km to Boulia not 160 like Vinnie had thought! Lucky we had booked the last motel room at the caravan park so we didn't have to worry about setting up for an overnight camp. The road to Boulia was interesting with the landscape constantly changing and we were glad to have taken the road less travelled. We passed little traffic, luckily as it was a single track bitumen road. We did pass a hardy cyclist though, riding a single speed bike heading to Alice. He would have ridden 160km to Middleton that day with only peanuts to eat!!

The Middleton Pub was a classic, the lounge really was the lounge of the people living there!! The publican had a whinge about the multi bucks caravans pulling in to camp over the road & not bothering to have a beer at the pub. Vinnie reckons he needed a marketing manager, beer on tap and I would add a cleaner to that list!! Worth the stop. Yes he was a friendly chap!

Boulia was a village with one pub and an expansive caravan park with a neat but tiny motel room. Vinnie cooked up a tasty steak on the camp stove & we then headed into town to the pub to chat with some locals (it was Saturday night after all!).

Vinnie has been reading the book "Dig", which is the story of Burke & Wills and he has really enjoyed pointing out places of interest and rivers that they named on their travels. He says I have to read the book before we follow their trail from the other end near Innamincka. This tree (not the DigTree) is a waddi tree and was a corroboree tree for the local pitta pitta tribe.

We only had a 300km trip to the Isa so it was an easy day & we set up with little fuss, pulled the bikes off the roof & pedalled in to have a look around town.

Longreach, roadtrains &4WDs

Outback Oz, wide open spaces, road trains, 4WD towing behemoth caravans and lots of roadkill! A chat around the campfire at Mitchell and a recomendation for a caravan park outside of Longreach landed us in a little place called Ilfracombe. We were wedged into a tiny tent site, the second last one available so setting up proved a challenge (more than the usual!).

We had rung and booked earlier in the day luckily so after a long drive with a stopover at the Barcaldine workers heritage centre we were glad of a place to stay & set up for 3 nights. It was our first set up of the annexe and even though it was quite cool, Vinnie managed to work up a sweat! All energy expended, we opted for tea at the pub. What a classic aussie pub - it's called the Wellshot Hotel!

Today it was windy and cold (where is the sun we kept asking ourselves & what happened to the pleasant winter temperatures?) We drove the 27km into Longreach and promised ourselves we'd ride in tomorrow. The Stockman's Hall of Fame is every bit as good as we thought it would be and Vinnie spent ages reading every piece of history he could find.

It has been a lot of fun meeting fellow travellers and hearing their stories. There are certainly some characters on the road. Heard a sad story this morning, two couples towing vans heading for the same places we plan to go had a great trip until one of the couples had an accident and wrote off their car and caravan on the Boulia to Mt Isa Rd - the same road we plan to travel. Boys - don't tell Nanna....

Love to hear from anyone. What's going on in your world? So glad we can avoid most of the election hype....