The Turning Left Tour - Part 1.1: The Red Centre

So, why, having called this The Turning Left Tour, did we Turn Right at Adelaide I hear you ask?Well, having calculated the number of kilometres left to drive, from Adelaide to Darwin via Perth (around 7000 km), and the available time before the birth of our grand-babies in Mackay, we made the momentous decision to avoid Western Australia altogether, and cut straight up from Adelaide through the Red Centre.  Our apologies to Western Australia and we will definitely visit in the future, but will make this our only destination (in other words, no going via Tasmania this time).

Little did we know what a momentous decision this one would be.  After a quick run across Victoria and South Australia (and again apologies for not including all the wonderful places we visited along the way, which of course are all in previous blogs) we took the road north from Port Augusta through Woomera and Coober Pedy to Alice Springs.

Coober Pedy will be remembered mostly for its flies, as well as the moonscape leading in and out of town for several kilometres; muck heaps abound but hopefully there were also lots of opals found along the way.  We found not only flies, but their antidote.  We were told about a cream, which we found in the local IGA - Desert Blend Rosemary and Cedarwood Fly and Insect repellent - which we also found in Alice Springs.  We "donated" our first jar to an interesting Arante woman at Standley Chasm.  We took a cultural walk through the Chasm with her and had lots of interesting discussions along the way about Aboriginal culture and history.  She bemoaned the fact that the she spent so much time doing the "great Australian wave" while taking groups on walks, because of the flies, so I gave her our small pot of magic cream.  It not only works a treat, but mystifies all those around wearing fly nets!

The road (and basically there is only one) going north from Port Augusta should be the Eighth Wonder of the World.  It's so long and so straight, and with a speed limit of 130 km/h, that there are signs along the way warning of "Crest" and "Bend" - no doubt if you weren't paying attention after 50km of straight, then you may be tempted to keep going straight ahead!  Despite our expectations, the road was excellent, and the B-trebles and cattle trucks not a problem at all.  We all seemed to be travelling at around the same speed anyway and we only had one instance of overtaking and being overtaken by a road train.  Sadly, we saw not one wild emu, camel or kangaroo in the whole of the Northern Territory.  We did see 4 dead cattle off to the side of the road early one morning. They must have been hit by a road train during the night; evidently where there are no fences they wander onto the warm road to sleep at night; not a wise decision.  It's a wonder there weren't more of them.  I suppose that the reason we didn't see any wildlife close to the road was the recent rain which had produced a lovely sheen of green on the landscape, so wildlife didn't have to risk their lives by venturing too close to the road for grass.

Using Alice Springs as our base we travelled to both the West and East Macdonnell Ranges.  It's easy to see why the local Aborigines have the caterpillar as their Dreaming.  The beautiful ranges undulate their way west (and east) as far as the eye can see, and were covered with a light coating of green from the recent rain.  Locals commiserated with us for not seeing the "real" Red Centre but everywhere we looked we saw green, and even some early wildflowers encouraged to bloom by the rain.  I simply can't imagine a more beautiful sight than the West Macdonnells and will always remember our time in this part of the Centre with gratitude.  We could so easily have missed out on all the experiences we now so treasure.  We're even laughing at Ray's 2 bike tyre punctures in 2 days from the broken glass along the bike paths in Alice Springs (well, perhaps Ray's not laughing yet, but he will eventually!).

Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) were truly spectacular, but we both feel that Kings Canyon was the top experience for us in the area.  Perhaps it was the eerie sound of a pack of dingoes howling at first light, or too, the privilege of being in an area which has been such a special place for Aboriginal people for such a long time.  Taking a side trip from the Rim Walk into the Garden of Eden, a place of great cultural significance for the Aborigines, we were pleased that the few people who made the trek treated the place with great dignity and not a sound was uttered.  It was an awesome place and deeply moving.

Again, we were fortunate to meet two of the friendliest people you would ever wish to meet, in our G'Day Mate campground in Alice Springs.  She is a quilter (tick) and he is a mechanic (also tick for Ray, and he helped repair our water tank), and all round nice guy.  Unfortunately as with so many friendships made while travelling, we live at different ends of the country, but these two will remain friends, and with the miracle of modern technology, we can communicate easily.  So, one new friend in Tasmania and 2 in Perth - we'll definitely have to continue our peripatetic lifestyle to keep up with them.

Alice Springs is a really interesting place, with lots to see and do (and quite a few good coffee shops too).  I'll never forget sitting outside our favourite coffee shop one morning, next to an Aboriginal man of around 50, and his white wife, with their coffee coloured granddaughter.  She was a real cutie,  dressed in the usual "princess" outfit, wearing a plastic tiara, and very animated.  Apropos of nothing, she leaned over to us at one stage and announced very loudly "I've got nit cream in my hair"!  Well, that's certainly one to treasure; her grandmother explained that the only thing that works for the endemic nits among the kids is Frontline!  I still laugh whenever I think about her!

So many experiences, so many places.  Without going into details, I'll just mention Daly Waters Pub (a fantastic night of music and dancing), Mataranka Springs (a fantastic Italian backpacker who was kind enough to speak kiddie Italian with me), Katherine (a fantastic Woolies - the biggest in Australia with all the travellers going through), our fantastic morning and evening cruise on the Yellow River at Cooinda, and the fantastic Aboriginal art at Jabiru and Ubirr Rock (Kakadu National Park).  Then there's the Camooweal Billabong, Richmond's Krokosaurus, and Pairie honey which, sadly, we have long ago finished, with no hope of a replacement other than returning to Prairie!

Wangi Falls in Litchfield National Park has to be one of the best places we stayed.  We arrived planning for a night or two, and stayed until our power and water started running out - 7 nights!  There's a great campground there, but it's hard to get into.  There's no booking, so people drive around starting around 8am, waiting and hoping for another camper to leave.  Each campsite is separate and surrounded by bush so it's quite private.  I must admit I did feel a little guilty watching the passing parade but with all our awnings out and chairs and tables under them, most people didn't even bother to ask if we were leaving soon.  The Falls themselves were just spectacular and the best part about the area is that, apart from other campers, there's no-one around before about 10 am and again after about 3pm.  During the day, of course, there are hundreds of day-trippers, but we did the Falls walk every morning and then swam in the lagoon before breakfast and then went down again in the afternoon when most people had left.  There were loads of beautiful birds to try and identify, and wallabies of course.  We were even surprised to see a large sow wander through the campground a couple of nights; the Rangers were about to try and trap it as we left.  Not such a frightening sight by day, but it's eerie hearing it snuffling around at night.

So after our Litchfield and Kakadu experiences, it was back south to the Three Ways at Tennant Creek and another Turn Left, and we were headed to Queensland.  The rest, of course, is history, with two beautiful great-grandchildren added to the family in July and August.

The dash across Queensland seems a blur at this stage, but we did travel the Barkly Highway via Camooweal, Cloncurry, Julia Creek, Mt Isa, Hughenden and Charters Towers to Townsville, where we popped out onto the coast for the first time since the Great Ocean Road all those months ago, and saw the welcome sight of the clear blue water of the Great Barrier Reef.

So, after more meanderings down the coast to Sydney, and back, here we are in Kingscliff, northern NSW on the last day of our 18 month adventure.  We've had a week of hedonistic living in one of the best caravan parks in northern NSW, with our large back window facing onto a great beach, with every facility close by, including the best coffee at the Choux Box just across the road.  Unfortunately there's also a Woolies, a gelato place and terrific dress shops to explore, but so far we've managed to resist all but the supermarket, gelato, and coffee!

It's been a great trip - the not so good parts of it have already receded into ancient history - and we arrive back home on 1st December.  We're really looking forward to settling down for a few weeks and enjoying the family and Christmas before we leave on a 10 day sailing trip in NZ, but that's just an aberration and we don't have any further plans until the end of 2015.

So, as the sun sinks slowly in the West, we plan to say goodbye to our trusty motorhome, Raptor.  We've already put an advertisement in Gumtree, and we hope someone just like us will come along and take her away on another odyssey.

Thanks to all of you who have followed our journey over the past 18 months.  We've appreciated your interest and comments and it's been great to hear from so many of you.  The blog statistics tell us that we have readers from as far away as Russia and South America.  Even if we don't know you, we do know that strangers are only friends you haven't met yet!

The Turning Left Tour - Part 1: Tasmania

Retrospective:
1.   Looking back on or dealing with past events or situations:
2.   An exhibition, or compilation showing the development of an artist's work over a period of time.

So, definition No. 1 seems appropriate in this instance, although I'd really like to be able to use No. 2.   Neither of us is an artist, but Ray has taken some fabulous photos over the past 18 months.  Perhaps he can take care of Retrospective No. 2 some time after we get home and has time to sort through his almost 6000 photos!

Apologies to all those places we've visited which don't get a mention here; not from a perspective of being dull or unphotogenic, but simply that I'm aware of not trying the reader's patience!

So, these places are but a few from our 18 month trip.  Please forgive me if your town isn't mentioned (yes, that's you Jan!)

New Norfolk, Tasmania, 32km north west of Hobart.  Not only is New Norfolk beautifully situated on the picturesque Derwent River,  but the town is home to Tasmania's oldest Anglican church, St Matthews (1823), and the oldest hotel, The Bush Inn, trading continuously in the same building since 1815 using the same licence, dated 29 September 1825!  There are numerous beautifully preserved historic houses, oast houses and antique centres.  We particularly enjoyed staying at the caravan park along the river, as the park was so clean and well run, and the managers friendly. and used this as our base on our meanderings around the south east of Tasmania.

Mt Field National Park, 64 km northwest of Hobart.  Mt Field is Tasmania's first National Park.  Despite being so close to Hobart, and so well loved (this is probably the easiest National Park to access), we found the camping ground to be exceptional, and the short walks to Russell Falls, Lady Barron Falls and Horseshoe Falls rewarding, along with wonderful walks through fern and massive mountain swamp gum forests.  On top of all these attractions is a well run Visitor Centre with (blush) the very best chocolate cake I have ever tasted!

Bicheno and Bay of Fires, east coast.  I guess picking these two out is not really fair to the rest of the east coast, but Bicheno (185km north east of Hobart) is undoubtedly the prettiest town along that coast, with sparkling water, a small harbour enclosed by massive rock formations, and lots of magnificent houses.  It's probably the one place I'd consider moving to, if only for its crayfish and scallops and wonderful deli (oh and the nightly penguin parade, the superb ice creams, and coastal walk!)   Red lichen gives all the granitic rocks along that coast a wonderful red/orange sheen, and this is particularly so in the Bay of Fires, where the campsites are all situated along beautiful beaches stretching from Binalong Bay to Eddystone Point, and named for the Aboriginal fires sighted by Captain Tobias Furneaux in 1773.  We were there early in our trip, before summer started and I particularly remember going for an early morning walk along one of the beaches, shoeless, as one does, and having to run back to the motorhome for my shoes as the sand was icy cold!  Needless to say Ray declined the walk and stayed in bed with the diesel heater going.

Stanley, north west coast. Stanley probably wins the prize for the prettiest town in Tasmania, for us anyway.  Stanley's main street is a patchwork of tiny, multicoloured settlers' houses rising up the hill to the small main street, and includes Joe Lyons Cottage, a restored nineteenth century settler's cottage in which Tasmania's only Prime Minister, Joe Lyons, was born in 1879.  Despite the number of times we passed through Stanley on our way east or west, we never managed to find the Cottage open!  Stanley is dominated by The Nut, which towers over the town, and provides a great exercise walk in the morning - almost straight up!  Once on top of the 143 metre Nut there is a walk of several kilometres which begins and ends at the chair lift (just in case you don't fancy walking back down again).   Despite its tiny population (around 500) Stanley boasts some great coffee shops and providores, gift shops and excellent fish and chips - you can't miss Hursey's Seafoods on the way into town; its building is topped by a gigantic crayfish!

Cradle Mountain.  Not including Cradle Mountain in a list of outstanding Tasmanian places would be tantamount to forgetting to mention the Sydney Harbour Bridge in talking of Sydney.  Despite only having walked a few of the tracks (we figure we'll leave the 6-day Overland Track for another lifetime), we've stayed at Cradle Mountain campground a number of times, both with and without family.  We have wonderful memories of the time spent with Katrina and Dave in the warmth and welcome of the camp kitchen, complete with roaring fires and camaraderie with other campers, to the long night crawl at around 20 km/h in the motorhome on a deserted, winding road, with Ingrid in the front seat wallaby spotting for Ray.  We didn't set out to drive this road willingly, but were forced out of a free camp along the road by gunshots and screaming arguments from a local house.  When we finally found a place to stop we fell gratefully into bed, camped right under the "No Camping" sign!

Evandale, Central Tas.  Evandale sits on the banks of the South Esk River, 18 km south of Lauceston.  Apart from its Pennyfarthing Championships in February, it also boasts one of the biggest and best little markets outside Hobart (yes, I know I haven't included the Salamanca Markets; I apologise).  Selling everything from cheap jewellery to expensive antiques, we appreciated the fresh local produce on offer, particularly the wonderful fresh apples, such as Cox's Orange Pippin, which I can't remember tasting since my childhood.  Unfortunately we didn't bank on the supply running out between one market and another; had I known I would have bought every apple on offer!  We also ran into one of Ray's cousins, with her husband.  What are the chances of finding someone you know in a place you frequent so rarely?

Maria Island.  It seems such a long time ago that we arranged a 4-day walking tour on Maria Island, and being so early in the season, we were the only walkers - but with a guide apiece!  What a magnificent island this is.  The whole of the mountainous island is a National Park and has such a checkered and interesting history, from its beginnings as a penitentiary in 1830 to its later incarnation in 1880 as a winery set up by Diego Bernacchi and then a short-lived cement factory.  By1929 all these ventures had failed, leaving the island to farming for another 40 years.  The island abounds in Cape Barren Geese, Wombats and Tassie Pademelons, and the scenery is spectacular.  From the Fossil Cliffs and Painted Cliffs to the 620 metre Bishop and Clerk and 711 metre Mt Maria, there is great walking, swimming,  biking, and bird watching (think the Forty Spotted Pardalote).  We thoroughly enjoyed our guided walk and would certainly recommend it.

Flinders Island.  Perhaps not strictly Tasmania, but needs to be included here.  The island was first colonised at least 35,000 years ago when people made their way across the then-land bridge which is now Bass Strait.  Flinders Island forms part of the State of Tasmania and is the only island in the Furneaux group with more than one permanent settlement (Whitemark with 170 inhabitants and Lady Barron with 130).  The islanders refer to Tasmania as "the Mainland" which can be quite confusing to someone from the Mainland Mainland!  Obviously if you've already read our Flinders blog you will already appreciate this beautiful little island, just 54 kilometres from the north eastern tip of Tasmania.  We spent 3 weeks there in a little "hippie" van, without all the comforts of our Kea, but were blown away by the beauty of the place, from magnificent Strzelecki Peak to the wild beaches and headlands to the north of the island.  Camping here was freeform and fluid - wherever we stopped the night was the campsite, and most of these were on lonely but beautiful beaches.  It was always interesting in the morning to trace the animal tracks on the beaches - mostly wallabies and the occasional wombat!  We were told that if there was someone on "our" beach, just find another one, and that was true.  Only once did we have to find another one!  Apart from 1 lovely campground which was provided with a camper's hut and new showers and toilets (1 of each plus a Disabled), our ablutions consisted of a bucket of (usually cold) water poured over one another, or if we were fortunate, there was a water tank and stand.  On the not so warm mornings I catered to Ray's aversion to cold weather by heating the water in the bucket; such a good woman he has!

There are so many places which I haven't included here: Port Arthur, Sorrel, Smithton, The Edge of the World, St Helens, Deloraine, Bridport, Georgetown, Oatlands, Beaconsfield.  To all these towns I apologise but refer the reader to previous blogs.  Hopefully I've done all these places (and more) justice there.

We couldn't leave Tasmania without mentioning new friends.  We met so many great people in Tasmania and had so many interesting experiences, but the best of all was a chance meeting in the aforementioned New Norfolk campground of a lovely lady from Richmond.  She not only shared her wine and nibbles with us, but later took us in as orphans of the storm when we had to leave our motorhome overnight in Hobart for a service.  It's chance meetings such as this that make life so interesting, and we now converse almost daily (over Scrabble) and will always remain friends.  We're hoping to lure her for a holiday in Brisbane on our return, though think she'll probably prefer to wait until our Climate Change changes - perhaps in March or later??



//Part 2: The Red Centre.

Babies babies babies.........

Sylar Ares Stock, just starting to smile

Paije Alexandrea Klein, dressed in her bear outfit!

Libbee and Super Poppa with Paije

Make the paparazzi go away!
 

Our only picture of Paije-daddy, Wade, and Libbee together

Proud father Chris with Sylar

The beautiful Brittney, partner to Chris and great mother to Sylar

Brittney with Sylar, Libbee with Paije, Super-Nanna and Nanna

All the cousins, Brittney, Chris, Hannah, Libbee and Kelli

Four generations, Mackay, September 2014

Sylar knows a secret but isn't sharing!

Nanna Ingrid with Sylar and Super-Aunty Katrina with Paije

Sylar at bathtime

Super-Poppa and Super-Nanna with a very new Sylar

Smiles of delight and relief all round after Paije's birth

A job well done Libbee

Nanna Ingrid and Paije in hospital

Well, here we are just about to leave Mackay, however reluctantly, after the birth of our first two great-grandchildren, Sylar (b. 9th July, 2014) and Paije (b. 12th August 2014).

We've been granted temporary refugee status by Mackay for the last 6 weeks, having hot-footed it across Queensland to be here for the early weeks of the first two babies of the next generation.  Thanks to a house-sitting stint for cousins Iris and John at their home at Slade Point, we've been able to make the most of our time here, with lots of visits, cuddles and photographs to remember over the next few months.

Katrina, Kelli and Hannah visited from Brisbane 2 weeks ago as well so we managed to update our photos, and herd everyone together for the "4 generations" photo (though the term "herding cats" comes to mind!)

It's gratifying to see everyone getting on with their lives and even in the time we've been here, to see the babies grow and change, and start to respond to those around them.  Think we'll get to know the 1000 kilometres of the Pacific Highway between Brisbane and Mackay pretty well over the next few years - photos just don't cut it!

So, we're on the road again and heading south.  It's high summer here already so we may stop at a beach along the way and dawdle our way back to Brisbane, or we may decide to rush on and keep on going to Sydney to catch up with the family there (and another new baby to admire, a son Duke, to great-niece Nikki and husband Matt).  Whatever we do, we're into the home run now and will be back in Ormiston Springs on 1st December.

We really look forward to getting home and being able to once again eat fresh produce from our own garden, but will also miss life on the road.

There's probably one more blog to be done - a retrospective on the last year and a bit.  That one will require deep thought.

Thanks for reading, and commenting.  It's been lots of fun choosing photos and writing about all the wonderful places we've been, but I promise just one more - some time in the future!

Cape Hillsborough

View to the east from Andrews Point track, over Wedge Island 

Cape Hillsborough beach, in front of camping area

The mob on the Andrews Point walk

Lunch on the rocks, waiting for the tide to drop

Wedge Island is accessible at low tide

C.H Beach just before sunrise

A regular morning sight on the beach - what do they eat?

Sunrise over Wedge Island

Our magnificent walk through the remnant rainforest, Hidden Valley

Brahminy Kite with Sandy Bay in the background

Our intrepid walkers, Sally, Marlene, David, Jan and Graeme. Ray is the one with the camera

Low tide, C.H. beach

What intricate patterns are made by the sand bubbler crabs

Balancing rock - don't walk on the wrong side

So, I know this is going to be slightly out of order, because the Baby Blog should be here, but we're waiting to get the whole family together in a week's time and go mad with the camera, so Cape Hillsborough it must be.

Our wonderful house-sitters, David and Jan, were on their way through Mackay to the annual Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club "do" in the Whitsundays, along with almost-neighbours Graeme and Marlene from Brisbane, so we arranged to meet for a few night's camping at Cape Hillsborough, approximately 50km north of Mackay.

Cape Hillsborough National Park at 1012 ha, is one of the most beautiful parks on the Central Queensland coast.  Lowland vine and rainforest grow along creeks, valleys and hillside gullies.  Rocky hills and headlands support open eucalyptus forest, while patches of low heath survive on exposed slopes.  Large rhyolite boulders scattered over the headlands and beaches are a reminder of volcanic activity millions of years ago.  It has much in common with the Whitsunday islands, which were once joined to the mainland.  The park also has a small but spectacular length of coastline with wide sandy beaches, steep rocky headlands and a dense cover of hoop pines.

It was originally home to the Yulbera people, with many signs of indigenous occupation including archaeological remains of a stone fish trap, stone fireplaces, pieces of ochre apparently brought from other areas, and artefacts such as stone axe heads. James Cook named Cape Hillsborough, Cape Palmerston and Cape Conway during his voyage up the Queensland coast in 1770.  Cape H was named after the Earl of Hillsborough, a member of the English and Irish parliaments.

But apart from all this useful information, Cape Hillsborough campground at the end of the road, is one of the prettiest campgrounds you could find, with many kangaroos lazing around, a birdwatcher's Paradise, and with the beautiful beach just a few steps from your door.

David and Jan took a cabin for 3 nights, we trundled along in our motorhome, Graeme and Marlene arrived in their caravan and Molly and Colin brought along their tent.  A diverse bunch we were and spread out over the park, but thanks to David and Jan's cabin, we had more than enough room for sundowners each evening, which mostly morphed into dinner as well (thanks Jan).  It was a wonderful 3 nights camping, terrific days walking the various trails, and a great catch-up time.  We especially enjoyed the company at sundowners, and while we were able to return to Mackay to dry out, the others were all headed to party central with the Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club (commonly called Shaggers).

For those among you who who have never heard of this organisation, it is a network of people, each a Vice Commodore (there is no Commodore), and with the rule that there are no rules and it was created as a social and assistance network for cruising yachties.  There is a huge shindig every year in the Whitsundays at Gloucester Passage (apart from multiple social events throughout the year in every place where Shaggers gather) and is a great fundraiser for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

We headed back to Mackay and our grand-babies after 3 great days/nights at Cape Hillsborough, and realised that it has been a month now since we became honorary Mackay residents, and another 2 weeks until we leave for our travels towards home.  We're house-sitting cousin Iris and John's house while David and Jan are house-sitting ours, and I think we probably have the better bargain.  We have the run of a beautiful house with huge verandah facing Slade Point "swamp" which is a haven for birds and water birds of all kinds.  In fact the mornings are a cacophony of bird song.

It is only 2 weeks until Favourite Daughter arrives, bringing her 2 Favourite Daughters, to visit the new babies, and then we'll be on our slow way south once again, leaving everyone in Mackay in peace.  John and Iris will be back in their house, Prettiest Daughter is back at work, and Libbee will have possession of her car once again, after kindly lending it to us to save us trundling round town in the motorhome.  It'll be Farewell Mackay and Hello Brisbane.

It's been a wonderful few weeks catch up with the Mackay mob and the biggest regret we'll have on leaving for home will be missing out on the baby milestones of Sylar and Paije.

Red Dust to Rain

Intact skeleton of Kronosaurus queenslandicus, Richmond, Qld

Horseshoe Bay, Bowen, still the prettiest beach around

An emerging icthyosaur, with Canadian researcher who discovered it

Kronosaurus queenslandicus - recreation of 10 metre giant marine reptile

Queensland's biggest windmill (we think)

Lucky it was Sunday - Charters Towers

Comfort Stop, Home Hill, a great overnighter

Morning tea, Grey's Bay, Bowen

Reputed to be the best view of Mt Isa - in the rearview mirror!

We finished the last blog waiting for 6 new tyres to arrive overnight from Townsville, which they duly did.  After a wheel balance we left Mt Isa behind (apologies for the rude caption, but that’s an Australian joke), only to have to return pronto to have the tyres rebalanced – why is it so hard to get it right?  Perhaps we’ll skip that day and start the blog a day later!

We overnighted at an excellent roadside stop with only a couple of other caravans and a ute – lots of road trains during the night but they’re never much of a problem.  It’s surprising what you get used to.

The next town along the way was Julia Creek, which is a very attractive and neat town.  We weren’t in a hurry, so we stopped for a quiet stroll down the street, and found surprisingly good coffee at the local Foodland.  While we were sitting outside sipping, a crocodile of local kindergarteners wound by with their male teacher.  It was a delight seeing such beautiful and beautifully behaved children; I suspect their teacher was the reason.  He had a lovely way with them and we were mightily impressed. 

Even travelling slowly, we reached Richmond that night and stopped at the local caravan park at Lake Fred Tritton.  Richmond is situated on the southern bank of the longest river in Queensland, the Flinders (named after You-Know-Who). The shire itself covers an area roughly the size of Belgium!  Richmond is also well known for its dinosaur and marine fossil heritage.  100 million years ago the area around Richmond was covered by an extensive inland sea approximately forty metres deep.  The warm, shallow and lime-rich sediment was ideal for fossil preservation.  The managers of the caravan park recommended that we have a look at the Kronosaurus Korner, which we passed on the way in, so off we went, not expecting much, but found there a fabulous collection of dinosaur and marine reptile fossils, with a fully equipped preparation facility with a viewing window (pity the poor researchers!)   KK houses Australia’s best-preserved dinosaur and marine reptile fossils.  Visitors are provided with personal audio-guides, so it’s possible to spend as much or as little time as you choose viewing each exhibit. They have a wonderful collection of Icthyosaurs, Kronosaurus, turtles and ammonites.  While I was peering through the lab window one of the Canadian volunteers invited me in to view their work on a baby Ichthyosaurus which they found locally and are lovingly rescuing from its stone tomb.  I’ve changed my mind about Geology – next life I would like to be a Palaeontologist!  We spent the whole afternoon at Krono Korner and will possibly return at some time to try our hand at bone fossicking.

Of course, Richmond is only one part of the triangle of the dinosaur trail, which also incorporates Hughenden and Winton, Hughenden being the home of the Muttaburrasaurus.  Definitely worth another visit.

If you would like any more info, visit www.kronosauruskorner.com.au.

At this stage we were keen to get to Mackay to see our new great-grand bab(ies) – one born 3 weeks earlier and one due next week, so we kept driving.  We stopped at Charters Towers for a break, and to have a look around.  It’s full of beautifully preserved buildings with a One Square Mile heritage walking trail which takes you to all the heritage buildings in town.  We had coffee in the old Stock Exchange Arcade, and were startled to hear a great rending and tearing at the end of the open arcade.  A beautiful old tree had just suddenly given up its life and fallen over, taking a chain wire fence with it.  Lucky it was Sunday morning and there were no cars (or people) in the car park is all I can say!

So from Charters Towers we high tailed it to Home Hill which has provided an interesting “Comfort Stop” for travellers, converting the road running alongside the now disused station into an overnight stop, complete with showers, toilets and camp kitchen.  It’s a very impressive (and cunning) way of getting travellers to stay the night, and no doubt helps the local businesses as well.  Well done Home Hill!

We could have made Mackay the next day, but as we had been driving long days for quite some time, we decided to stop overnight at Prosperpine, only about 1 ½ hours drive from Mackay.  Proserpine also has the wondrous Colour Me Crazy (an Aladdin's cave of treasures), which is always worth an hour or two – an additional incentive to stop.  Unbelievably we experienced the first rain we’ve had since we left Adelaide – and of course I had a line full of washing hanging out!  We were planning on sneaking in to Mackay but Ingrid rang the morning we left and of course we couldn’t keep it a secret!

So here we are for the foreseeable future, waiting for the birth of Libbee and Wade’s baby next Tuesday, and enjoying cuddles with Chris and Brittney’s baby boy, Sylar, as an added bonus.  We hope to be able to help out where needed, and will stay around here for the next month.  There may not be much of general interest to report until we start to head south again in October, but we’ll post whenever something exciting or interesting occurs.

Heading East

Daly Waters Country and Western and Rock 'n Roll singers

View from our table at Camooweal Billabong

About 10% of the Corellas that came to visit late afternoon

Whistling Kite over our heads

Campsite at Barkly Station - excellent - note red dust!

Mount Isa Muck heap

Brolga fun

Pacific Heron waiting patiently for fish

Good old fashioned green budgies - must have been smuggled in

Lazy Pelicans that rarely moved over our 2 days

Egret stalking fish

Tom the Drover tells it like it was

Pacific heron startled by photographer

The view you see in the rear view mirror of Mt Isa.  Some claim it is the best view in town.

Sunset at Camooweal Billabong

Brolga feeding time

Mount Isa housing - close to work!

Pelicans herding together for fish

And then they close the trap

I want some of what he has been on, says Ray

Our mascot Wally - carved in Tassie by an 85 year old

Alone but not lonely in our red dust campsite on a World War II airstrip

Backtracking from our current position in Mt Isa, I note that we finished the last blog at Daly Waters, after a fun evening of drinking, eating and dancing in good company.

From there we headed along the Barkly Highway, again along kilometre after kilometre of arrow-straight roads.  Here there are no suggested speeds (other than the 130 in the NT), but they do warn of Crests and occasional Bends as if they are the devil himself!  The obvious stopping point was the Barkly Homestead, where we spent 2 nights in a beautifully shady campsite (albeit a bit dusty), but with excellent facilities, pool, pub and great coffee!  Getting sufficient exercise "on the road" is difficult, especially when there are no mountains in view, so a pool is a welcome sight, and we've been lucky in this regard just recently.

The lovely couple we met and dined with at Barkly told us of their favourite camping spot at Camooweal Billabong, a short 261 km from the Homestead; a good day's drive when you're not in a hurry.  We found the entrance to the site and managed to nab a prime spot right in front of the billabong, with was teeming with bird life.  We weren't the only ones with the Billabong in mind, and the first night there were dozens of caravans and motorhomes strung out along the waterway.  However, as with all sites, people come and go and by the 3rd night, the campsite was all but deserted - or was that our fault???  On day 2, we walked up into "town" and a kilometre or so west of town to the Drover's Camp.  There we were fortunate to be given a guided tour by Tom, an ex- (or is that retired) Drover, and spent a profitable hour and a half or more learning all there was to know about old-time droving.  As I'd just been reading Hell West and Crooked by Tom Cole, I managed to nod and sound knowledgeable in all the right places.  Tom gave us a detailed lecture in front of a large map of Australia with all the old stock routes and stations detailed, before taking us into the well-equipped shed and yarning about the old days.  A really worthwhile visit we both felt.

Camooweal, meaning Place of Big Winds, lived up to its name on our first day there, with a sudden and fierce dust storm which rushed through and over the billabong, coming and going within 1 minute, but that minute managing to deposit enough red dust both inside the motorhome and out, to plant next season's spuds!  We weren't fast enough getting the windows closed and by the time we had, peace reigned once more!

We sampled the delights of the Pub for a good steak lunch - really the only place in town to eat, although the Post Office sells fruit, veges and some general groceries.  City people complain when they go into the local Post Office and see the myriad junk that now takes over from stamps and service, but it's quaint being able to buy fruit and veges with your stamps!!!

We left Camooweal reluctantly for Mt Isa, stopping for an overnighter at an old WWII airstrip, just 50 km west of Mt Isa.  There was no shortage of room there, and we drove off into the bush, camping in deep red dust, but enjoying the solitude of not being able to see another soul; the stars that night were pretty spectacular too, despite Mt Isa being so close.  The down side to that campground was another film of red dust which added to the airstrip's coating, necessitating a good old clean up and shake out at Mt Isa yesterday.

Our campground at Mt Isa has lovely green grassy sites, and a pool large enough for a decent swim.  We drove up to the Lookout on the first day, and to the Underground Hospital, before parking the motorhome at the Discovery Holiday Park a short drive, or a 40 minute walk from the "Centre" of Mt Isa.

It's always worth poking around places like this, to discover some of the quirky history, such as the Underground Hospital.  It was feared that Mt Isa would be a target of the Japanese after the bombing of Darwin in 1942, so the Hospital Board decided that an underground hospital was needed to handle casualties in the event of attack.  The site was a hill beside the existing hospital, and was built by volunteers from Mt Isa Mines, and equipped with surgical, medical and maternity facilities and even an outpatients depart and operating theatres.  Fortunately it never had to be used, though for the rest of the war and for some years after, it provided a place for a cool and quiet sleep for nurses on night shift.  It fell into disuse and early in the 1950s the entrances were covered with earth.  The facilities was rediscovered in 1977 and although some parts were white ant eaten, and partially collapsed, it was repaired and is now open to the public, alongside the old hospital and an example of a tent house from the 1930s.  The restored 1937 tent house is set up alongside the old hospital and features canvas walls and roof, with a separate tin roof over all, allowing movement of air to cool the house.  It is also filled with "historical" furniture and artefacts most of which were a feature of my own childhood home!!!

Yesterday we took a tour of the Hard Times Mine, a purpose built mine, complete with fuming, roaring and rattling machinery.   Along with another 20 hardy souls we were kitted out in orange paper jumpsuits, steel capped boots and helmets with head lamps, descending in an Alimak Cage to a series of tunnels complete with mining gear from various eras.  Our guide, Tony, an ex-miner and a real people person, brought the mine to life for us with tales both good and bad of mining life and characters.  We even had coffee in the crib room while blasting took place further down the mine - or at least the boom and crash sounds of blasting sounded, reminding us all of why none of us had ever become miners!  A dark and dangerous job indeed.  However, a worth while visit and a couple of hours well spent.  Tony even gave us a lift back to the caravan park afterwards - a 5 minute drive for him, but a 30 minute trudge uphill in the afternoon sun for us - and we were very grateful indeed.

Returning from our late afternoon swim, Ray noticed that one of our front tyres was so badly worn that the inner part of it had wire showing, so after many phone calls this morning, we have located new tyres which have been promised for overnight delivery tonight.  With any luck we'll be back on the road tomorrow afternoon, and with great-grandchild No. 2 promising to arrive a week earlier than anticipated, we are keen to get to Mackay in double-quick time.

Keep your fingers crossed that (1) the tyres arrive tomorrow, as promised and (2) that the current tyre hangs in long enough for the 2 km drive to Bridgestone!!!