The Final Leg - Homeward Bound.

Monday 15th September.

We departed Cambewarra about 12:30pm yesterday, heading for the Hume Highway via Kangaroo Valley and Mittagong. An uneventful trip with only light traffic saw us arrive at Bullahdelah around 6:30 pm where we had decided to stop for the night beside the Myall River. Although it was dark upon our arrival we found a nice level overnight parking spot without any difficulty.

We departed Bullahdelah around 9:00am. With only 60 km's left to Hallidays Point we arrived home shortly before 10:00am.

Now a few facts and figures relative to our great trip in the motorhome.

Distance travelled. 12,337 km's.

Average diesel consumption. 13.8 litres per 100 km's.

Average cost per litre for diesel. 168.4 cents / litre.

Most expensive diesel. 204.0 cents / litre. (Kulgerra NT)

Least expensive diesel. 151.9 cents / litre. (Gin Gin QLD)

Nights away. 146

Number of different overnight locations. 55

Number of Free Camping Nights.   81 (55% of total)

Most Expensive Caravan Park. $43.50 p/n. (Lee Point, Darwin)

Overall Accommodation cost per night. $15.10

The Penultimate Leg.

Wednesday 10th to Sunday 14th September.

We departed Penrith around 12:30 bound for Cambewarra via Hume Highway, Mittagong and Kangaroo Valley arriving at 3:30pm in time to go and see Lachlan play basketball.

We all went out for dinner to an Indian restaurant to celebrate Colin's 50th birthday which was yesterday. Gail is assisting Carol with preparation for his birthday party on Saturday.

Carol kindly loaned us her car so we were able to go into Nowra and buy the ingredients to make Gail's speciality for the party - sausage rolls. I also helped by doing a small painting job.

Our intention is to depart Cambewarra on Sunday sometime with an overnight stopover along the way, arriving home sometime Monday afternoon.

Colin had an absolutely fantastic 50th birthday party on Saturday night where he had friends in attendance from various phases of his life since living in NSW. A great time was had by all and it was terrific that Gail & I were able to catch up with so many of his friends, both old and new.

Watch this space for a summary of our trip which will be compiled after we arrive home.

Penrith Family Reunion.

Friday 5th to Wednesday 10th September.

We arrived at Penrith around 2:00pm to be greeted by Ian who directed us into the rear yard where we could park the motorhome and connect to 240 volt power for our five, day stay there.

We also received an enthusiastic greeting from our dog Velvet who looked as though she had been totally spoiled during her stay with Rogue and Logan. She apparently shared their kennels during her stay prompting us that now would be the best time to buy her own kennel as soon as we reach home.

We spent quite a bit of timed catching up, including a day trip to Akuna Bay where Ian and Tracy have their boat moored. The weather was lousy so we spent most of the time there under cover on the boat.

It was great to see everyone and to see how much Kelsey has grown and developed her own happy personality.

I also managed a short visit to the Winnebago factory at Emu Plains to purchase a set of tyre valve extensions which Ian helped to fit the following morning. To simplify this task we removed the outer rear wheel while parked on their front driveway.

Picturesque Putty Road

Thursday 4th September.

We appear to be clear of the rain (and snow) now as our route takes us further south through Scone, Aberdeen, Muswellbrook and Singleton where we branched off from the New England Highway onto the Putty Road. This road will take us through some beautiful varied scenery, winding roads, flat pasture land via Howes Valley and Colo to Windsor, a distance of some 175 km's in total from start to finish

However our overnight stop for today is at the Grey Gums Cafe about halfway along the Putty Road. Grey Gums Cafe is a popular stopping point for motor cyclists traversing the winding hills of the Putty Road, where they are well catered for with toilets, food and coffee. They also offer free overnight camping away from the road for travellers such as us.

In return for this great hospitality we are having fish and chips from the cafe for dinner.

Tomorrow we travel via Windsor to Penrith for a few days with the Redman family and to be re-united with our Grand Daughters, our beautiful Great Grandaughter Kelsey and of of course mans' best friend Velvet.

Would You Believe SNOW.

Wednesday 3rd September.

Upon waking up around 7:00am we discovered we were in the midst of a full drop of snow. The surrounding grass, trees, fences and picnic shelter roofs were all covered by a thick blanket of powder snow. What a magnificent sight. I dressed quickly and went outside to take photos etc. The snow was still falling, enough to make me quite wet by the time I came back inside the motorhome where the outside temperature was showing zero degrees.

We had a quick cup of tea to warm up then extracted ourselves from the camp with no difficulties.

During our progression down the mountain and back to the New England Highway we passed more snow and some lovely photo opportunities before dropping below about 900 metres and the snow line.

As Tamworth is only about 60 km's away we decided to go there for breakfast at McDonalds, arriving around 9:30am. We then checked out all the shops in the CBD of Tamworth where the sun was actually shining now and quite pleasant.

The afternoon travel continued on the New England Highway to about 20 km's north of Scone where we set up for overnight at Burning Mountain.

Sometimes, the quiet corners of a state hold the biggest surprises. Burning Mountain Nature Reserve is tucked away off New England Highway, but make the stop in your car and what you’ll discover is an ancient phenomenon right beneath your feet.

Apparently there are only three naturally burning coal seams in the world – including this one.

Into the Wet Weather

Tuesday 2nd September.

Moving further southward we encountered a fair amount of rain in our travelling today. If we thought we have gone as high as we could yesterday we were to be proved wrong. We stopped briefly in Armidale (elevation 980 metres) on the Northern Tablelands where the biting winds drove us into the warmth of several shopping centres purely to escape the cold. During the afternoon as we progressed towards Tamworth we ran into several very heavy sleet storms making visibility extremely difficult, but due to the nature of the terrain we were unable to pull over and let the storm pass us by. Speed was down to about 45 km/h with windscreen wipers going flat chat.

Our destination for this afternoon was Hanging Rock, ( not to be confused with Hanging Rock, a locality in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales).

Hanging Rock is a gold mining village and also rock face on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales. This former gold mining town is situated about 10 km south east of Nundle. The village is part of the Tamworth Regional Council district. Hanging Rock’s elevation is about 1100 m. Due to the high altitude of the village, Hanging Rock and the surrounding mountains can occasionally receive a snow fall on the coldest of winter days. Hanging Rock had a population of 195 people.

Just east from Hanging Rock, Sheba Dams (No 1 and 2) were built by hand in 1888 to store water for sluicing gold. Now they are just a pretty spot to picnic, camp, and fish for trout.

This was our planned camp area at an elevation of 1,150 metres.

Light rain continued to fall throughout the late afternoon and evening limiting our ability to throw a fishing line in. The access road was quite wet and slushy but firm enough not to be of concern should the rain continue throughout the night.

During the night we heard what we thought to be the pitter patter of light rain.

The Scenic Route

Monday 1st September.

Up at 7:00am this morning, a quick breakfast then I drove the rental car back to Thrifty depot at the airport. All checked in ok, then onto an express bus back to 27th Avenue and a short walk to the Tourist Park.

We had packed everything away in readiness to leave before I took the car back, so upon my return Gail was waiting and ready to leave.

Having previously decided to take the inland route south from the Gold Coast we had already setup the GPS to take us to Kyogle first then onto Casino etc. However we needed to fill the Iveco with diesel before we hit the motorway so ignored the first few instructions from the GPS in order to find a service station. Would you believe there were no fuel outlets anywhere on our proposed route to clear the Burleigh Heads area via Reedy Creek road.

We ended up doing about 15 km's basically in circles on and off the motorway, down through Currumbin Valley and several other obscure locations just north of the NSW/QLD border before we eventually turned the blasted GPS off until we found a place to fill up. Having accomplished this long winded feat we turned the GPS back on to get directions to Kyogle.

Have you ever travelled to Murwillembah from the Currumbin area ? Well don't bother, it is the windiest, narrowest, up and down goat track of a road you would ever expect to find in such a populated area. Having finally reached there our not so nice GPS gave us directions to Kyogle.

We are both certain that we traversed the entire length of the Great Dividing Range, fortunately having the anguish and pain reduced somewhat by the fact that we were traversing through some of the nicest scenery imaginable. After what seemed like an eternity we reached Murwillembah only to find that we could have travelled via the Pacific Motorway then branched off direct to Murwillembah . Oh well, it was a lovely drive...

From Murwillembah to Kyogle was exactly the same type of country, seems like the Great Dividing Range has been extended for our enjoyment.

After all this excitement we decided to have lunch in Kyogle at a very nice bakery.

Then on towards Casino, and yes you guessed it, the Great Dividing Range was still there snaking ever southward for our continued enjoyment, climbing ever and ever higher as we progressed.

At 550 metres altitude we thought that was about as high as we would go.

Wrong, greater heights awaited us as we pressed on towards Tenterfield. At one stage we almost stopped to crack a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the change back to a nice undulating, cruise control friendly road. Our excitement was short lived as back came the GDR to offer us even more beautiful green scenery now at an altitude of 760 metres. Our progression through Tenterfield on towards Glen Innes took us even higher until at 1050 metres we appear to have topped out but obviously we are still on the GDR where we have finally stopped at 5:15pm at a nice camping area beside a small river in the company of four other happy hill billies.

Sunday Lunch at the Beach

Sunday 31st August.

Another lovely sunny day with temperature in the mid 20's, so we caught up on some reading for an hour or so until it was time to head off to meet Carol Mac for lunch at the Currumbin Vikings Surf Life Saving Club. Carol had booked a table beside the window with a great view back towards Surfers. The lunch was very nice and gave Gail and Carol the opportunity to catch up.

After a long relaxing lunch we returned to the tourist park and packed away the non essential items ready for our departure tomorrow morning. We watched a very funny, but naughty movie on TV called "Meet The Millers" with Jennifer Anniston.

Carrara Markets

Saturday 30th August.

Market day at Carrara is a weekend institution on the Gold Coast and a must do activity. The extent of the stalls is amazing, selling all sorts of goodies at quite reasonable prices. I bought a T Shirt and a "head sock" which is a type of stretchy bandana to wear under my motor cycle helmet for comfort and also to stop my ears being torn off every time I remove my Aldi helmet.

Gail picked up some makeup at very good prices and a top.

Watched the last round matches of the AFL during the late afternoon and evening.

The Long Walk

Friday 29th August.

One of our favourite walks is here at Burleigh Heads. There are a series of walking tracks between Tallebudgera Creek and the beach at Burleigh, then into the shopping centre. The lower track which follows the cliff line through the National Park overlooks the pounding surf below. This is the pick of these walks however on this ocassion this track was closed due to a serious rock fall caused by the recent very heavy rain.

The alternative walk via the top track involves a lot more initial uphill, then a series of stairs at the end of the walk down to the beach at Burleigh. Gail did exceptionally well as this would have been the toughest walk she has done since injuring her back 8 months back.

Today is a public holiday on the Gold Coast as their annual show is on, but most of the touristy shops in Burleigh were open along with all the eateries.

We had brunch at "The Pantry" cafe where the food is always terrific. I had eggs Benedict and Gail had Swiss Waffles with maple syrup and ice cream. The walk back via the same route was taken a little more easily as we both felt weighted down with the food.

Did a bit of washing during the afternoon then went to the Tweed Heads "Twin Towns" club for dinner.

Day Out to Brisbane

Thursday 28th August.

We drove into Brisbane today, specifically to visit a shop whose specialty is mastectomy bras and swimsuits which Gail needs to replace. The lady who owns and operates "Spirit Of Life" is recognised Australia wide as the best in the business with the greatest range available.

The GPS was absolutely critical in guiding our way to Ramsgate where the shop is located.

Tamborine Mountain

Wednesday 27th August.

We met Carol Mac and her mother at Paradise Point for morning tea at a nice little sidewalk cafe.

Carol's mum is getting a bit forgetful and prefers not to be away from her home for too long so the short break for morning tea suited her. It also gave us the opportunity to have a good chat with Carol who we have not seen since our last visit to the Gold Coast last year.

After we left them Gail and I drove to Tamborine Mountain in the hinterland area. To make a round trip of this drive we went via Nerang, then returned via Oxenford. This is very much a tourist Mecca with all sorts of shopping outlets aimed directly at the tourist trade. We had lunch at a Subway.

Retail Therapy

Tuesday 26th August.

First thing this morning I caught the bus to Coolangatta airport to pick up a rental car from Thrifty.

The airport facility is the easiest and best place for me to get to.

We have rented a small compact, 5 door automatic Nissan Micra for 6 days which will give us greater flexibility to do the things we have planned for this week.

A visit to Harbour Town and Pacific Fair shopping centres gave us a shot of some retail therapy.

Back into The Rat Race

Monday 25th August.

On the road by 7:30am this morning as we have a couple of appointments to meet this morning on our way to Tallebudgera. The first around 8:30 was to meet up with the PM Lubricants guy just east of Ipswich, to collect the PM800 addative, then onto Roamsafe to have a better security door fitted. A bit of a hickup in relation to the PM Lubricants, however it will be delivered to us at the tourist park during the week at no cost for the delivery. It was then on to Wongawallan where the new security door was fitted within an hour, allowing us to proceed on to Tallebudgera.

After looking at several potential sites we selected site 135 in second avenue which best suited us.

We had a reasonable easy afternoon, having been on the road early and negotiated the early morning peak traffic on both the Logan and Pacific motorways.

Where the H... Is Marburg

Sunday 24th August.

A bit of rain overnight but not enough to prevent us from walking back into the small village of Marburg. Not much open this morning except for the newsagent and an antique dealer who had a massive amount of paraphernalia both in and outside of his premises.

There are a couple of trotters training on the track today. They appear to have quite a strong harness club here in Marburg with a group of volunteers arriving to scrape the sandy track back to a nice smooth surface. A couple of flat bed contraptions simply towed behind a couple of 4WD's.

A Day At The Trots.

Saturday 23rd August.

Back onto the Warrego Highway eastward towards Toowoomba which we took a wide circle around. This is a very large city with a population of around 165,000.

Leaving Toowoomba there is an extremely steep hill winding down from the high elevation of Toowoomba, so low gear in manual was engaged so as to keep off the brakes as much as possible. We plan to stop for two nights at our next overnight stop which will allow us a relatively short drive on Monday morning to meet up with a guy from PM Lubricants to collect some diesel addative PM800 which we use in both the motorhome and the Citroen. Then on to Tallebudgera for a week at our favourite caravan spot beside the Tallebudgera inlet.

During our stay here on the Gold Coast we intend to catch up with some caravaning friends and also with Carol Mac.

We checked on a recommended camping spot about 20 km's east of Toowoomba but decided that as it was right beside the highway this was not an ideal place to spend a full day tomorrow.

Our selected spot was reached further along the Warrego Highway at a place called Marburg. The showgrounds are located about 1 km south of the highway where power and water hookup are available. Having spent the last 31 nights "freedom camping" we felt that it was about time for the luxury of power and water in a nice setting. Upon arrival at the showgrounds mid afternoon we discovered an added bonus. For the $18 per day charge we also had a trotting meeting in progress which we could attend at no further cost.

After settling in on a nice grass site and seeing the caretaker we walked across to the trots meeting in time to see the last three races. They had two bookies, a kiosk and bar. I had two bets on the last two races and collected in both of them with a first place then a third place on the last race of the day. After dark there was a dance in the hall at the showgrounds which did not disturb us from watching the footy on TV.

Wet and Miserable

Friday 22nd August.

A fair amount of overnight light rain followed by a miserable day - our first really such day.

Consequently the day was mostly filled in with reading and some TV. I rigged a small shelter for the generator which ran for most of the day.

This camp area is extremely spacious so all the camps are fairly spread out. It is very pleasing to find that there are a lot of local councils who are providing such areas for travellers. The council man was here first thing this morning cleaning the toilet blocks and was followed by the J.R. Richards rubbish removal truck to empty the two strategically placed dump bins.

Friday night footy saw Carlton go down to Port Adelaide who are shaping up as a serious contender in the finals.

Oakey Creek

Thursday 21st August.

Time to move on from Warra where we have spent the last two nights in very pleasant surroundings. Roughly 45 km's east on the Warrego Highway to Dalby in the centre of the cotton and wheat belt. The cotton has all been harvested and ready for new planting in the extremely large paddocks bounding the highway on both sides. We noticed a couple of large cotton processing plants as we travelled along, presumably either taking a breather from recent ginning activity or currently in the midst of it. The wheat appears to be an alternative crop grown in between the more major cotton crops as the wheat fields are nowhere near as extensive as the cotton.

We parked in Dalby to do some food shopping at Coles, also topped up with diesel which at 153.9 cents per litre was the second cheapest we have encountered on the whole trip over the last four months. Also filled one of the LPG gas cylinders, as we have been using a fair amount of gas due to the continuous run of free camping with no mains power other than when we run the generator.

After lunch we continued east on the Warrego Highway a further 40 or so km's then turned right off the highway for about another 5 km's to our next overnight stop. Oakley Creek Recreation Park is a lovely large open grassed area with toilets beside the Oakey Creek which is a tributary of the Condamine river. Once again we found quite a few caravans, motorhomes and fifth wheelers spread around the exceptionally large camping area already settled in. This seems to be the case with the nicer rest / camp areas as word of mouth is definitely the best means of gaining knowledge and information relating to the better "freebies" while on the road.

As we are parked on nice green grass I took the opportunity to crawl around under the motorhome to do some checking and maintenance during the afternoon in the pleasant sunshine while Gail found the most sheltered side of the motorhome to sit and catch up on some reading.

Historic Warra Hotel

Wednesday 20th August.

The washing we completed yesterday dried by about 5:30.

We went for a walk around the "town" which is little more than a dozen or so houses, no shops of any description with only the Warra hotel catering to locals and others.

The adjacent railway line is quite busy with coal trucks heading east every four or five hours.

We wandered across to the hotel late afternoon and sat up to the public bar with a couple of local guys and another couple from far North Queensland. The young barmaid told us of the history of Warra which was once a thriving community until virtually the whole town was wiped out by fire many years back and certainly not in her time. The heritage listed hotel was the only survivor but as there were no residents for years it quickly fell into disrepair. It is such a lovely two storey building it is pleasing to see that it is now being restored. During the hour or so we spent over a drink or two there were a number of locals who dropped in purely to purchase take away six packs and bottles.

Warra - On The Move

Tuesday 19th August.

Initially we had intended to stay on here and possibly take advantage of the free power if and when it was restored, but mid morning the council workers posted a notice on the power poles advising that power would not be restored until Wednesday or Thursday. As we wanted to do some washing we decided to move on to a more suitable location and hopefully better weather as the sky was starting to clear.

A further 50 km's on we arrived at the small town of Warra where a very nice overnight rest facility is set up beside the historic school, police lockup and railway station. The station complex has nice clean toilets, an electric barbecue with fresh water taps available in the park area. Ther is a very old hotel adjacent which is currently undergoing restoration but opens Wednesday to Saturday at 2:00 pm. As it was just after 12 o'clock we were the first arrivals and had the pick of available spots.

The clouds have cleared away with a bit of a breeze still so we settled in beside the cover of the railway station which gave us a degree of privacy and a place to put up our clothes line and with a water tap right beside us.

During the rest of the afternoon a further 5 travellers arrived and settled in.

Free power - not to be.

Monday 18th August.

We appear to have mastered short travel days as today we travelled only a further 60 km's to Chinchilla, then out to Chinchilla Weir to a rest area we have been hearing a lot about.

Upon our arrival the weather has turned quite overcast and windy and not at all pleasant.

Despite there being a number of others occupying the better spots beside the weir we settled on a nice spot in the open and within reach of a power pole where FREE mains power is available. Yes, you read correctly, the local council have provided about 18 power outlets spread over three power poles around the area. As it was just after lunch time our very first duty was to boil the jug using this free power. No sooner had we boiled the jug and made coffee came a knock on the door from another camper enquiring if we had plugged in an electric kettle or jug. The power had suddenly gone off and they were pointing the finger at us until I told them that had we been the cause of the power failure then our jug would not have taken the time to boil. I armed myself with my 240 volt tester and proceeded to do the rounds of all the power poles only to find that power was non existent at all poles and outlets. They finally agreed that we were not the problem. I got onto the Internet, found the local power company and phoned them only to find out that due to the high winds power was out to the entire Chinchilla and surrounding district and not expected to be restored until at least tomorrow. Apologies from all and sundry were forthcoming. 

Being a miserable day we confined ourselves indoors.

Miles and CSG

Sunday 17th August.

Daylight this morning revealed a number of quite large puddles in the immediate vicinity but these soon soaked in and disappeared under the clear blue skies.

Something we have noticed here in Miles is the massive development taking place in the form of housing and all forms of accommodation. There is a very large development currently taking place in town in the form of a housing estate where once used to be farms. The large number of mine vehicles in and around town gives a clue to the reason for this huge expansion.

Yep, you guessed it, Coal Seam Gas mining, better known as CSG.

The Queensland Western Downs is part of a broader region that is on the cusp of a $180 billion energy industry emerging from the resource rich Surat Basin Energy province. The region has over 60 major projects either in operation or scheduled for commissioning by 2020, creating an estimated 12,500 jobs.

The Miles Project, managed by Australian Pacific LNG brings together a joint venture between three industry leaders in the fields of coal seam gas and liquefied natural gas production – Origin (37.5%), Australia's largest integrated energy company.

ConocoPhillips (37.5%) an American company, one of the world's largest CSG operators with over 25 years experience.

and Sinopec (25%). One of China's largest petroleum products suppliers and natural gas producers.

Origin is responsible for construction and operation of the Project's gas fields and main gas transmission pipelines.

ConocoPhillips is responsible for the construction and operation of the Project's LNG facility.

Sinopec joined the Project in 2011 as both the foundation customer and part equity owner.

Miles is bracing for a population explosion after Western Downs Regional Council approved a controversial 3000-bed camp in 2013 for the town.

Much of the above information was gained from the town's interactive information centre, supported by the power of the Internet.

Welcome to Winter

Saturday 16th August.

Mostly drizzle rain overnight with one very heavy shower which I apparently slept through according to Gail. A cloud filled sky, our first for quite some time lasted throughout most of the day but did not prevent us from a walk into town. Fortunately we are no longer in the black soil regions where parking on unsealed ground can be disasterous. The soil is here is mostly sandy loam where any overnight buildup can quickly soak in - at least that's what we hope for.

A number of other travellers have chosen to prop here so in the unlikely event we become bogged we will have some 4WD help available.

Well the anticipated rain came about 7:00pm to such an extent that for a while the thunder heads blocked out our satellite signal and interrupted our TV viewing of the AFL match. No problem.

With the rain came cooler temperatures but we are quite dry and snug inside the motorhome.

Flood Records

Friday 15th August.

After making a false start from Theodore I realised after reaching the edge of town that it would be a good idea to refill with diesel before we tackled the Leichardt Highway. We are now heading south again, stopped to boil the kettle at Taroom, a small town which was also very badly effected by the floods in 2010. There is a most unusual flood level marker erected beside the river on the edge of town. This marker, one of a series of such markers between here and Theodore.

The discs in the middle of this photo indicate the 2010 flood level, with the top set indicating the 1890 floods, 8.7 metres, an Australian record. The flood levels were so bad in this area during 2010 that at one stage the Leichardt Highway was cut for a period of three weeks.

Continuing on the Leichardt Highway we reached Miles, a fair sized town on the junction of the Warrego Highway. The Warrego extends south east to Toowoomba via Dalby.

Miles boasts a nice large rest area amongst the trees beside the river. We carefully chose a spot to camp here as we have just encountered our first rain drops for about 14 weeks and the forecast is for heavy rain over the next two or three days. In view of the foregoing concerning floods in this area we have no desire to float away in the middle of the night so our selected site is well above the river level.

Theodore Survived

Thursday 14th August.

A relatively quite day in camp. Caught up with some washing, a walk into town with coffee and cake in a lovely antique shop incorporating the coffee shop.

Theodore was badly effected by the disastrous Queensland floods in 2010, with flood waters from the Dawson River exceeding four metres above ground level on four occasions during that year. The worst of these floods was on 28th December 2010 when the river peaked at just under four and a half metres and the entire town of 350 was evacuated, mostly by helicopter.

I dropped our crab nets into the river last night but alas I fear we are no longer in Redclaw country as I baited the traps with potato and carrot (as Redclaw are vegetarians), all to no avail. 

I remember as a kid when I used to fish for yabbies in the Merri Creek at Brunswick with a line and meat for bait that we always managed to catch some which we released because we had no idea what to do with them. Maybe as we are now much further south I should revert to using meat in the traps. Watch this space for results....

There's Gold in them Thar Hills

Wednesday 13th August.

Another day, another new road to traverse. This time heading further north west from Eidsvold to Cracow to Theodore, a distance of approx. 160 km. Cracow is little more than a locality except for the huge mine operation and adjoining workers temporary portable village. We later enquired in Theodore and found out that the mine is a gold mine, reopened in the last 3 years utilising modern techniques and extracting some 180,000 ounces a year. Not a bad return for a mine that was considered to have been mined out years ago.

Theodore is a small town on the Dawson River with a lovely park on the river doubling as an RV friendly camp ground. Another quite busy spot with all vehicles parked alongside the made road beside the river. A nice toilet block with coin operated hot showers ($1), electric BBQ's (free) and ample town water taps around the park.

Almost a Full Circle

Tuesday 12th August.

An enterprising guy with a mobile coffee and snacks van sets himself at the entrance to this rest area each morning, mainly catering to the passing motorist. However as a special treat I was up early and walked across to get a couple of cappuccino's and bring them back to Gail who was now up and showered. Travel today was a very mixed bag as we first headed east to Bundaberg and a visit to the Bundaberg Distillery. So we are literally on the east coast having traversed the entire west to east of Queensland over the past three weeks or so.

From Bundaberg it was then south to Childers, location of the disastrous back packers hotel fire some years back where a number of overseas back packers lost their lives in the ill equipt converted hotel. Our track then took us south west via Biggenden then back onto the Burnett Highway and north west via Gayndah, Mundubbera to Eidsvold. We had previously stayed at a great camp area on the Burnett River so this was our intended stop for tonight. However upon arrival we discovered that this area is now controlled by the Queensland National Parks who had introduced a fee for camping here. This in itself is not a problem for us however they have made it impossible to register and pay for the casual traveller. The only way to obtain a permit to camp is to either phone a 9 to 4:30pm phone number or apply on the Internet. OK that's reasonable except that there is no mobile coverage in this area. Further there is no facility in the nearby town of Eidsvold (6 km) to make payment the next day. A very large warning sign advising that there is a $1500 fine was all that we needed to decide they could jam this spot, so we drove north another 15 km's to another area known as Ceratodus. It was now almost dark so we were fortunate to be able to find a spot in the overcrowded rest area. I wonder why the last place was empty and this one has in excess of 20 other vans and Motorhomes.

If it seems as though we have come almost the full circle from where we were last Saturday, then that is exactly the situation. Mind you though we have seem some great scenery and routes we have not been on previously. A huge travel day in terms of distance covered; 327 km's.

Solar Service

Monday 11th August.

This morning the motorhome is booked in for some routine maintenance work. Our intention was to spend this time looking over the town of Gin Gin including breakfast at a lovely country bakery we saw as we arrived yesterday. Wrong - today is a declared public holiday in this area known as Wide Bay and the holiday is to allow the locals to attend "The Ekka" in Brisbane which is their version of the annual show.

There are some lovely gardens along the main street with plenty of shady tables and chairs etc. This has given us the opportunity to do some reading and generally relax while waiting to collect the motorhome. We will stay at the same place as last night, so virtually no travel today.

Gin Gin Stopover

Sunday 10th August.

We have now reached the Bruce Highway, Highway 1. A very easy travelling day today as we only want to go as far as Gin Gin, a distance of only 165 km's. On days like this we make the most of our travel schedule and have plenty of short breaks to actually get out, stretch our legs, admire the surroundings and smell the flowers.

Arrived in Gin Gin around 1:30pm in time to watch some AFL footy on TV during the afternoon.

Since leaving Mount Isa over two weeks ago we have continuously camped out each night at some great locations. After we complete our special little mission within the next day or two we intend to move away from the Bruce Highway and head in a south westerly direction which will get us back into the type of country we prefer as opposed to the coastal towns.

Multiple Highway Day

Saturday 9th August.

The local women of the Lionesses Club put on a Breakfast In The Park here every Saturday morning, so we decided this sounded like a good thing to do to support the local community.

Bacon and egg muffin, juice and tea or coffee for $5 per person was very popular, not only with those staying here at this lovely camp area but also a number of locals.

After this great start to the day we moved on after topping up with fresh water tank and emptying the black water cassette.

First along the Capricorn Highway, followed by a short stint on the Leichardt Highway, then on to the Burnett Highway to Biloela. After a break around lunch time in Biloela it was onto the Dawson Highway and a further 102 km's to Calliope where we were to spend the night at another great camp area located beside the Calliope River. This was another very popular area to camp with a maximum allowed of 48 hours which is the norm. We have spoken to a number of Rangers re this and been advised that you can actually stay a bit longer as long as you are doing the right thing in particular with regards to your rubbish disposal etc. The 48 hour notice is designed so that if needed the authorities have the power to move troublesome people along.

We have been progressively making our way eastward as we have a very special mission to complete on the Coast a little further south.

Hot showers Heaven

Friday 8th August.

A nice long walk mid morning to the one and only shop (apart from service stations) where we purchased a local pie, jelly cake and cappuccino for lunch. The pie was one of the nicest, apparently made in Rockhampton and delivered here daily.

We also discovered a mobile coffee and snacks trailer right at the camping area, operated by an enterprising local who goes there every day during the week. The equipment for heating food and making hot drinks was powered by a HUGE 15Kva diesel generator which took up the entire tray of the Landcruiser ute which towed the food trailer.

The hot showers located adjacent to the toilet block are great - heaps of piping hot water in a lovely clean environment. Consequently we both had one of the longest showers we have had over the last 17 days, the number of consecutive days we have free camped and therefore needed to conserve our fresh water usage. Showers in the motorhome under these conditions are generally limited to a quick splash and dash every second day.

Day Of The Ecopot

Thursday 7th August.

A large number have moved on this morning so we have moved to a nicer spot beside the gardens and with green grass at our door - a first for some time and quite a change from the constant red earth. We caught up with hand washing then spent some time reading in the sun. It was also an opportunity to make some phone calls and to plan our next move - which in all probability will suffer further changes as we move along. Another pleasant happy hour with our immediate neighbours followed by our very first dinner prepared in our recently purchased Ecopot. (Look it up on the Internet)

Green Grass .... At Last

Wednesday 6th August.

Continuing east we made a short stop at Emerald, then on through Blackwater ending today's travel at the small settlement of Duaringa. This is a spot where we have stopped previously in one of our many travels around outback Queensland. The camp area is a lovely green area surrounding a very large pond with waterfalls, water lilies and plenty of greenery. There are hot showers within the toilet block with only a donation requested for staying here for up to three nights. Naturally it is a very popular spot but we were able to find a suitable spot for tonight. Today we covered 384 km's which is large for our current pattern of travel. So much to see, so many small towns to visit and so little time !

Not The Battle Of ................

Tuesday 5th August.

From Longreach it was then east to Barcaldine where we joined the Capricorn Highway, still heading east towards Emerald.

At a small town called Jerico we discovered a lovely camp area beside the river with town water available and a nice toilet block with showers. So.... We decided this was far enough for today after only 203 km's. We met two lovely couples who were parked either side of us, one from Canberra, the others from near Bundaberg. Over lengthy conversations I was able to get a fix for a problem I have of how to easily check tyre pressures on our rear tandem wheels. One of these gents operates a trucking business in Canberra and was very familiar with the problem as a number of his trucks have the same problem. This has been a source of annoyance for some time now. 

It now comes down to purchasing flexible valve extensions which can be attached to the difficult valves, then mounted within the wheel rim of the outer wheel.

Captain Starlight Rides Again

Monday 4th August.

The short run into Longreach had us there by 9:30am where our first visit was to the post office to collect our mail and the Ecopot parcel which had been sent ahead for us to collect upon our arrival.

We had purchased this Ecopot off Gumtree from a guy in South Australia at an exceptionally good price so the additional cost of postage to Longreach was of no concern.

We then to went to the "Outback Shop" operated by Kinnon and Co. This company is an institution in Longreach as apart from having one of the best shops, (built in a very old ex hotel building) selling everything related to the outback. They also operate the Cobb & Co. Stagecoach rides and camp-outs from the stagecoach as well as the dinner cruise on the Thompson River. We have done these excursions on previous visits to Longreach as well as the Stockman's Hall Of Fame.

However on this occasion we decided to do a show at the Kinnon & Co. shop which had been recommended to us by several travellers we had met in recent weeks.

The live show which was conducted in the large yard at the rear of their premises centered around the legend of Harry Renford, better known as Captain Starlight.

There were only three characters in the show but the one hour show was one of the best value for money events we have attended for a long time. It was hilarious from start to finish and involved all sorts of farm animals including dogs, roosters, a pig, a cow, a donkey and several horses including one horse with its tail where it's head should be! Ask us about this sometime.

Lunch at the Merino bakery then it was a short drive of about 9 km's out to a camp spot beside the river which once again had been recommended by fellow travellers. This location was nowhere near as crowded as our usual spot adjacent to the old highway just north of town. Upon arrival there mid-afternoon we found only two other camps already set up. The previously mentioned spot generally hosts up to 50 plus vans and Motorhomes each night so this was a welcome change.

Overnight I dropped our two crab nets into the murky brown water and was rewarded the next morning with one very large Redclaw, which was returned to the river.

Landsborough Highway

Sunday 3rd August.

Today's travels took us from Winton, south east on the Landsborough Highway for a distance of 165 km's where we stopped at a nice rest area called Macsland which is only 24 km's from Longreach.

This was a large area just off the highway with good facilities and some shade. We were able to settle quite a bit back from the noisy highway in the scrub away from any lights so once again we had a magical view of the sky once it became dark.

Still Waltzing

Saturday 2nd August.

We have decided to stay here until Sunday morning then move on to a rest area about 25 km's west of Longreach - our next multi day stop. The Sunday night freebie will allow us to arrive in Longreach mid Monday morning so that we can collect our mail from the post office before moving out to the Thompson River campsite some 4 km's out of town.

We have been able to keep up with the AFL footy matches, Carlton going down to Fremantle by only 5 points on Thursday night and the Sydney Swans defeating Essendon Bombers last night by 22 points. The V8 Supercars are also on this weekend so we will be able to watch them later on.

A couple who had camped beside us a week ago at Corella Lake have just arrived here and noticed our distinctive Ulysses logo on the back of the motorhome, so happy hour tonight will be shared with them.

Waltzing Matilda Country

Friday 1st August.

Today we traversed a road that we have not been on previously. Heading directly south from Julia Creek a secondary road 116 km's in length terminates at the Landsborough Higway, 3 km's east of Kynuna. At this point we turned to the east with Winton 155 km's on.

Winton is located in Central Western Queensland, 472 km's south-east of Mount Isa and 180 km's north-west of Longreach. Winton has a rich history with links to the Great Shearers' Strike, Waltzing Matilda and Qantas, but today the town is almost as well known for something far more ancient.....dinosaurs. The first official dinosaur discovery in the Winton Shire was made in 1962 - a fossilised footprint, with the site later revealing a stampede with over 3.300 footprints.

In 1999 the largest dinosaur found in Australia, a 20-30 ton Sauropod, nicknamed 'Elliot'.

The diverse landscapes with rolling Mitchell Grass Downs suddenly interrupted by Mesa formations, starkly beautiful red earth and spinifex country, Channel Country, undulating plains as far as the eye can see with a myriad of dry channels, waiting for the wet season.

After spending some time looking around town, lunch at the bakery we decided to head out of town about 2 km's to a very extensive camping area known as "The Long Waterhole". This area is defined as the town common consequently there are a large number of cattle and horses grazing and watering from the waterhole. Most of these animals are owned by townsfolk and are literally free roaming. Because of the permanent waterhole they do not stray far. It is also known widely by the Grey Nomad fraternity as a great spot to camp for a day or two.

At The Creek.

Thursday 31st July.

Situated 75 km's south east of Julia Creek near Nelia on the open downs country is the Proa Redclaw farm. This interesting farm is a 17,000 acre grazing property running sheep and cattle, and Redclaw since 1999 when the owners started building above ground ponds.

Today they have 1.2 hectares of water area in 12 ponds filled by Artesian water, some containing up to 16,000 Redclaw also known in some circles as Champagne Lobster.

Another interesting fact that we learned while visiting the Julia Creek information centre (better known as "At The Creek") is that all groundwater to the north of Julia Creek flows to the north ending up in the Gulf Of Carpentaria, whereas groundwater to the south of the town flows to the south ultimately into Lake Eyre. Considering that the area is relatively flat for a hundred or so kilometres in all directions we found this to be a fascinating fact.

Day 2, Julia Creek.

Wednesday 30th July.

After doing some hand washing this morning we walked into town, had a coffee, replaced my crab nets and purchased a couple of souvenirs. On our return to the camp area we completely emptied the rear locker and reorganised the contents, placing the least used items on the bottom. This was a job that has needed doing for some time. The end result is a much more "user friendly" storage.

Happy hour under the shade of the trees beside the lagoon with new found friends rounded out another perfect day.

Julia Creek & McKinley Shire.

Tuesday 29th July.

The RV Friendly camp area is located just a short walk from town, beside a lovely man-made lagoon which is periodically topped up from an artesian bore upstream some 300 metres and adjacent to the creek. The maximum stay here is four nights, monitored by the camp host who is appointed by the local council. This is a voluntary position but carries with it a number of "perks" supplied by local traders. Eg. A free dinner twice a week at one of the two hotels, free admission to the Julia Creek Dunart display at the info centre, discounted fuel etc etc.

Most volunteer camp hosts are people like ourselves travelling through the McKinley Shire and they generally stay for two or three weeks then move on.

There are six as new bicycles and helmets available at the camp which we are permitted to borrow to ride into town. Bear in mind this is all free, a great initiative by the local council as everyone in the town benefits from the dollars we spend in town on groceries, fuel, drinks etc. The local stores are extremely well stocked with a very wide range of everything. The hardware store is like a mini Bunnings or Masters. I was able to replace my lost opera house crab net, complete with floats and line.

The population of the McKinlay shire which has only four towns is ; Nelia (10), McKinlay (20), Kynuna (20) and Julia Creek (500). McKinley is best known for its Walkabout Creek Hotel, made famous in the film Crocodile Dundee. Julia Creek obviously relies heavily on tourists stopping and lingering for a while - hence the consideration to provide alternative accomodation from the caravan park. They all work in together which is quite unusual to find as more often than not caravan parks tend to object to tourists camping in their locality for free. This is definitely a win - win situation for everyone.

There is a very modern information centre, with an auditorium screening short films on such subjects as; the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) and it's relevance to this arid area. The cattle industry is also showcased. To comprehend the sheer volume of water available from the GAB consider this.

One property within the McKinley shire sunk a bore in 1901, measuring the flow at that time at one million gallons per day without the assistance of any pumps. Sub-terrainean pressure being the only means of pushing the water to the surface once a bore is established. In 2001 the same bore still measured a flow of one million gallons per day.

Another feature of the displays is the very special marsupial, the Julia Creek Dunnart. This tiny mouse like creature is only found in the Mitchell grass downs of North West Queensland. 

With a body length of 100-120mm and tail length of 90-100mm the Julia Creek Dunnart can be distinguished from rats and mice by its size. Unlike rodents, Dunnarts have pointy noses, large rounded ears and dog-like teeth.

An aspect of the Julia Creek Dunnart's habitat that may be essential to its survival in this harsh environment is black soil, where cracks up to 70cms deep develop as the dry season progresses.

Julia Creek Dunnarts shelter in these cracks to escape the extreme daytime temperatures then emerge at night to hunt insects and small reptiles.

There is a live Dunnart display here with viewing twice daily during feeding at 10:00 and 2:00pm.

The species is currently listed as endangered, so it was a real thrill to be able to see one.

All of the displays are very professionally done using the latest audio visual aids.

Just in case you have'nt noticed so far, Gail and I rate Julia Creek as one of the friendliest, nicest small towns we have ever visited in our travels. It just goes to show that there are many hidden gems in the outback waiting to be discovered. Julia Creek may be a little off the well trodden winter treck to the north but believe me, the reward for effort is outstanding.

We intend to stay here beside the lagoon, utilising our permit of 4 nights, where we have met the nicest people.

Julia Creek.

Monday 28th July.

Time to move on after our three night stay at Corella Lake (also known as Clem Walton Park).

We are in no particular hurry so we took our time packing everything away. We also pumped some fresh water from the lake into our water tank. This was accomplished by holding our 12volt bilge pump in knee deep clear water with the hose connected and powered by our battery booster pack.

This water will be used mainly for showering, clothes washing and toilet flushing. Although it is clear enough for drinking after filtering and boiling.

We moved on to Cloncurry where we spent an hour or so. Some shopping at a Woolies supermarket, lunch at a beaut bakery, and topped up our 10 litre jerrycan with unleaded for the Honda generator.

It was then on to Julia Creek about another 130 km's east from Cloncurry.

On arrival at Julia Creek we were amazed to find a camp host was there to greet all new arrivals at the free camping area beside the river. He explained that he was a volunteer and went on to point out suitable camp sites that were still available. We were also informed that the nearby caravan park hosted a dinner every Monday night for $10 per person with a courtesy bus to pick us up from the camp area and take us back to the caravan park. It appears that the local council controls both the caravan park and the RV Friendly free camp area. They have taken the initiative to do this each week with profits going back into one of the non profit organisations within the town who take it in turns to provide the meal. We even had entertainment provided.

It was a case of take your own chairs, plates, cutlery and drinks. The night was so popular that the mini bus had to make four trips each way from the camp area to the dinner at the caravan park.

Red Claw, Roos and Crocs.

Sunday 27th July.

Success this time with three decent sized red claw in the net which were dropped into boiling water for a minute or so then de tailed, shelled and placed in the fridge ready for a nice crayfish sandwich for lunch. Another great morning with the sun quite hot so any outdoor activity was best confined to the shade of the awning or sheltered against the shady side of the motorhome.

One of our immediate neighbours moved on this morning but their vacated spot was taken up by a new arrival within an hour. This couple had a boat on the roof of their vehicle which I gave them a hand to unload. I was in turn invited to go out on the lake late afternoon to set some crab nets for red claw crayfish. We motored around the edge of the lake away from any sign of humans only to come across fresh water crocodiles basking on the waters edge. We were quite surprised at the size of these freshies. The smallest one was about two metres but of the eight were saw in total at least half of them were over 2 1/2 metres with one big one at about 3 metres. Fortunately I had my camera with me and was able to get some great photos. We set three nets in this area and then motored to the dam wall where I dropped my one and only net in only to see it sink and drag the float below the surface. Heavens knows how deep the water was but suffice to say it disappeared like the Titanic. Oh well, I won't need to check it in the morning.

We had another great fire tonight sitting under the stars.

Swans denied 13 consecutive wins.

Saturday 26th July.

First thing this morning I checked our crab net only to find that nothing had ventured in.

We went for a walk around the area and talked to a lot of people en route. We also had a visit from a lady who was camped with her husband about 200 metres away. She enquired if our satellite TV was working ok as they were having problems getting their's operating. I paid them a visit and together we were able to resolve their problem. 

Set our crab net again to leave overnight in the lake.

Watched the Swans play Hawthorn but unfortunately the Hawks stopped the Swans run of 12 consecutive wins.

Beautiful Corella Lake

Friday 25th July.

We were only about 10 km's from where we were heading for last night so the trip to Corella Lake only took a few minutes. This location has been recommended by a number of people and we were not disappointed. The lake is quite large with a winding track of about 1 km following the waterline to the camping areas. There are a number of inlets around the northern shore, a number of them only accessible to 4WD's. We located a nice level spot right at the waters edge with a couple of other campers nearby and proceeded to set up our own camp. I took the opportunity to bait up our crab net and drop it into the lake beside us.

Around 4:00pm we lit a nice fire which we later used to cook our dinner of sausages and mushroom sauce. The remoteness of this location makes it an ideal location to view the night sky so we spent an hour or so after dark star gazing.

Farewell Stephen R.

Thursday 24th July.

We checked out of the caravan park this morning, drove into town and parked the motorhome at our favourite parking lot while we went to Bunnings and Jaycar. Filled an empty gas cylinder at the caravan park prior to departure at the best price so far - only $13.10

Around 2:00pm we drove out to the Sunset Lawn Cemetery and parked under a huge shady tree, then got changed into respectable clothes to attend Stephen' funeral.

About 1/2 an hour later dozens of vehicles started to arrive, most 4WD Utes driven by Stephen's workmates from the Xtrata mines. Barbara's brother Rodney has arrived in Mount Isa this morning having flown up from Melbourne for the funeral. There were also a large number of people from the Mount Isa Bowls club where Stephen had been a very active member for the six years he had been in Mount Isa. Our best guess is that there were approximately 100 in attendance for the service which was held under an avenue of shady trees leading into the lawn cemetery.

The coffin was placed on a trolley in the centre of the roadway with a lectern to the side and 30 or so chairs in rows facing the coffin.

Stephen was an avid supporter of the Richmond Tigers so a Tigers AFL jumper was draped over the end of the coffin. Several people including his boss, the president of the Bowls Club and Caroline gave a short talk on his involvement with the local community and his dedication to his job as a superintendent in charge of the lead/zinc plant here at Mount Isa.

It was a lovely service and as the hearse containing the coffin moved off slowly into the sunset the Tigers theme song filled the air.

We then adjourned to the bowls Club for drinks and eats. The room was decorated in yellow and black (Richmonds colours for the uninitiated) with helium filled balloons of the same colours filling the ceiling space.

There is a section of the bar bearing a large sign "Steve Rooney's Sportsmen's Bar", with the Tigers logo and the words "Go the mighty Richmond Tigers".

Gail and I were invited to assemble in the centre of the bowls rinks with family and close friends to release dozens of these balloons while all the others circled the entire playing area. This ceremony was accompanied by the Tigers theme song played over the arena PA system.

It was truly a beautiful send off to a young man who had definitely left his mark in Mount Isa.

We departed Mount Isa direct from the wake heading east toward Cloncurry.

Darkness overtook us before we reached our planned overnight stop so we decided to pull into the Fountain Springs rest area. Wow - where odd all these vans and Motorhomes come from ?.

The large area adjacent to the highway was clock a block however we managed to weezle our way in to a spot for overnight.

Lucky Gift Day

Wednesday 23rd July.

Did some washing, tidied up a few cupboards, the went for a walk around the local neighbourhood.

We met a lovely lady who is a permanent resident in the caravan park who gave us a perfectly good electric hand mixer and carving knife which she said she had no further use for. It was only a few days ago that Gail was doing some cooking and said she wished she had an electric mixer..