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| Cairns waterfront |
Of course, it rained on our way to the UNDARA LAVA TUBES but next day when we stopped for lunch at Georgetown we’d finally found the Australia with blue skies and warm/hot temperatures.
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| A concrete replica of a large crocodile |
Overnight at CROYDON then on to NORMANTON for a couple of nights. Not a lot here so then 70km on to KARUMBA, a fishing holiday place. Some people spend up to 4 months here but 4 nights was enough for us. John and Des went on a charter boat and brought home some fish. We had a beer at the Hotel and watched the setting sun over the landless horizon.
Then a fairly long drive, about 420km, to GREGORY DOWNS, another bush camp right beside the refreshing, croc free, Gregory River. Lit a camp fire and met up with a Whakatane couple, Ian and Janet, who were waiting for frig parts - been there, done that!
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| If a road train appears you give him the road - all of it! |
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| Road to Lawn Green National Park |
Next day to LAWN HILL NATIONAL PARK, a beautiful gorge area, but a pretty rough 90km road into it. Very good gravel road up to where the local mine maintains the road but after that it was pretty rough. Part of our hydraulic jack fell off and also a stone hit a drain outlet on our water tanks and we lost all our water. A stone broke Glenys and Des’s waste water pipe and their TV took on a funny angle. Our frig door shelves also broke (still usable) and tops unscrewed off bottles and jars. It’s a tough country but, we’ve been told, to see the real Australia you’ve got to get of the bitumen.
ROSEGREEN CATTLE STATION was our next stop, the homestead is 14km off the highway.
They have two girls Whitney, 8, and Madison 6. Fiona is on the farm during the tourist season and is the tourist guide and helps in all areas. Judith home schools and we sat in on the “School of the Air” lessons which only last 1/2 hour through telephone conference calls run from Mt Isa. Judith tries to finish school lessons by 1pm.
The area is very dry with no rain since January and even then it was less than normal. The third dry year in a row. Some of the paddocks were bare earth. Larner and Judith Sugden-Smith run the property but times are tough and Larner is working off farm and only home one week out of three.
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| School of the Air classroom |
They now have bore water which makes life easier but they need the wind to blow so the windmills will turn to draw the water up.
The homestead was built in 1937 mainly of corrugated iron, inside and out. Believe me girls, we’d find it very hard to cope with. Worn flooring, open cupboards for clothing, etc. Judith was delighted that one guest last year built her a large open pantry. They have a lovely dining room though and the hospitality in this home was overwhelming.
The homestead was built in 1937 mainly of corrugated iron, inside and out. Believe me girls, we’d find it very hard to cope with. Worn flooring, open cupboards for clothing, etc. Judith was delighted that one guest last year built her a large open pantry. They have a lovely dining room though and the hospitality in this home was overwhelming. 
The family also own an adjoining similar sized property Yambungan, and while there we saw the young cattle being branded, injected, ears clipped, castrated and de-horned - a sobering experience! The morning tea hospitality was amazing with muffins, cakes, coffee etc coming out of the kitchen. But you should have seen the volumes of derelict equipment surrounding the homestead - there were acres of it with cattle in amongst it. Nothing rusts in this area and some of the old tractors were in great condition except for the tyres. A restorers dream.
It was a great to experience this lifestyle and gave us an insight into how hard and tough this country is.
Judith under estimates the value of her hospitality and we did not agree with her invoice – even twice as much would not have been too much – so we all gave extra. Hopefully this side of their business will grow from word of mouth and also I was able to show them how to set up a website which should bring in more tourists. No flies at either station!
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| Driving to Mt Isa |
So from Rosegreen to MT ISA, via Cloncurry where we visited the Royal Flying Doctor museum.
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| Margaret, John and Des all rigged up for our mine experience |
Watched the All Blacks beat Australia for the Tri Nations - free to air - a bonus.
Today, Sunday, John and Des and I did a very good mine tour. It’s a very real ‘mock’ mine and our guide was a N Zer who has worked in the mine for the last 30 years.
It’s very hot here, 33 deg C. No flies here! No mozzies! I’ve stopped scratching at last after being bitten all along the coast.
Diesel $1.11 with Coles 4c discount.
Sept 6 we left Mt Isa after having caravan wheel stud fixed and drove to WINTON via Cloncurry, McKinlay and Kynuna. After Cloncurry the roads were very straight, after Kynuna the countryside turned from dry and brown to lush green scattered with wildflowers, mainly yellow - such a contrast and amazing what a bit of rain will do. We saw our first little fat lambs today.
Winton is where Banjo Paterson wrote ''Waltzing Mathilda''. The town has a very good “high tech” centre dedicated to it. When we booked into the camping ground Glenys and I were very pleased to hear there was a dinner that night of roast beef, lasagne and 4 veges for $11 ea. Then Graham Rodger, a country and western singer, entertained us for a couple of hours under the stars, all for a gold coin donation.
The land around here is very flat and not many trees. The straight roads just go on and on into the distance sometimes going over a crest and then it's just the same to another crest. Very few animals today, 104km before we saw some sheep, some white and fat and some dirty brown and skinny.
LONGREACH
Camped at Gunnerdoo CP. Entertainment tonight beside the camp fire was a very good bush poet, gold coin donation.
The Qantas Founders Museum had a lot of the first planes they had flown but the most interesting was the 747 which we went through. It was built in 1979 and due for decommissioning and for Qantas 82nd birthday it was flown to Longreach. It will never leave again unless they widen the runway as it needs 4 engines to take off. It had to land with only the 2 inside engines running because the outside engines would have picked up all the dirt and stones and clogged the engines as they were over the outside edge of the runway. It was a major feat as the normal length runway required to land a 747 is 11,000ft and there was only 6,000 here but the pilot pulled it up in 4,000ft by using reverse thrust before touching down.
Inside they had used perspex in places so we could see where the black box and voice recorder are stored and had a good look through the plane.
Left Des and Glenys for a while as we’re going different ways and we travelled to BOULIA where we visited the Min Min Encounter. Min Min’s are mysterious lights. There are various theories but everyone who encounters one is frightened. The display had amazing atmosphere with “locals” telling their stories. The “locals” were dummies but their faces moved and each room had a different story to tell.
The drive here was quite spectacular with many wildflowers and colourful landscapes.
Then we headed to BEDOURIE where we went to the annual horse races (only stayed for one race as the flies and dust were too much for us - first day I’ve worn my fly net). I don’t think I could do this trip with just a tent - the flies and heat would be too much and it’s lovely to have a fly proof air-conditioned caravan and landcruiser.
BIRDSVILLE TRACK
The Birdsville Track is over 500kms of dirt road with an overnight stop at MANGERANNIE Roadhouse after 320km. Talk about the back of beyond. The flies all along the Track were on you the minute you stepped out of the Landcruiser or caravan and it was a rush to get from one vehicle to the other. We wore our fly nets over our hats always when outside. The saving grace at the Mangerannie Roadhouse was a hot artesian bushpool.
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| Sunrise at Mungerannie |
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| Hot pools at Mangerannie |
The Birdsville Track travels through the Strzelecki and Sturt Stony Desert then through cattle stations to Marree. The road was in good condition as it had been graded for the Birdsville races which were held a couple of weeks before. We averaged 60kph first day. On the second day we cruised at 80kph but still couldn't get away from the flies - they were out in force at LEIGH CREEK too. It was well worth the drive to experience the real outback and to see just how barren the outback is. It has a beauty of it’s own with the colours and how the landscape can change so often. Close to the end of the Track it was lovely to see some hills after miles of flat to slightly undulating land.
A mighty drive, says John.
Leigh Creek is a coal mining town which was relocated a few years ago as the original town was right on top of coal. We were very lucky to be able to do a bus tour of the opencast mine. A huge hole, 400 metres deep, which they backfill as they go. The coal is transported to Port Augusta by a daily train almost 3km long.
Leigh Creek gets only 5 inches of rain each year and of course it had to rain when we were there.
We spent a great few days with Smillie and Grant Henderson at WILPENA POUND NATIONAL PARK in the Flinders Ranges, a spectacular range of hills with good walking tracks and views. We were lucky to see it green as it can suffer from drought. Lots of derelict small stone cottages in the area. 
One evening, from a good vantage point, we were lucky to see the setting sun in the west at 6.15pm and a few minutes later in the east we watched the full moon rising.
A highlight for the four of us was that we did a full day 4WD tag-a-long tour through Arkaba Station, a 65,000 acre sheep station. First time John had used the low reduction gearbox and he had a lot of fun. Rough tracks, steep ups and downs, bit of watery mud to play in - what more could a boy ask for! Smillie and I, from the back seat, helped with the driving while Grant's interpretation kept us amused.
Evenings were spent around the camp fire swapping tales. Very cold nights, 6degC mornings, lovely days, not many flies and lots of laughs.
BROKEN HILL
Silver City, it's nicknamed, because of the silver, lead and zinc mine here. The landscape on the south side of the town is dominated by the huge piles of tailings or overburden of the mine. 800 men have died working in the mines here from various causes since the mid 1880's but only one fatality in 2002 and 1992 so conditions have improved.
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| Memorial to the men who have lost their lives mining at Mt Isa |
Population over 20,000. Flies not a problem!
Broken Hill has an amazing lot of galleries with some superb paintings. Must get my paintbrush out!
We did a day drive to Menindee but it was disappointing. We expected to see quite a lot of horticulture but only saw a few grape vines. Lake Menindee, 24 x 14 miles, has been dry for several years, in fact a local farmer has been grazing his stock there. The flies were bad here. The camp and recreation area at Copi Hollow by a lake was nice with green grass to the lake.
Drove out to Silverton, just north of Broken Hill, where the Mad Max films were made. An almost ghost town with a few buildings scattered around the landscape. Of course there was the mandatory hotel where we bought a pie for lunch. |
| The surrounding land is very flat |
