Lunch with the Family

Tuesday 22nd July.

We left our "Site Occupied" sign plus our chairs and outside table smack in the middle of our site then drove the motorhome into town to do a few chores. Then out to Stephen's house where we were also met up with Gavin's daughter Stacey and Stephen's best mate Mark who had only just arrived on a flight from Melbourne. We all had lunch and a drink to celebrate Stephen's life.

Gail and I departed late afternoon as Barb and Frank had more appointments in town.

Unplanned stop over Mount Isa

Monday 21st July.

On the road by 8:30am. With only 60 km's to Mount Isa we firstly caught up with our shopping etc then made contact with Barb & Frank only to find that they were just leaving the solicitor's office in town and were only a block away from where we had parked. They came to us and we all had a cup of tea in the motorhome while catching up on all the details.

We also caught up with Caroline and Gavin, Stephen's sister and brother.

Having established where they were staying in Stephen's house we arranged to go there tomorrow for lunch. Next step was to find a suitable caravan park and book in.

We chose the Sunset C.P. as we have stayed there on previous visits, however on arrival a big sign out front said "No Vacancies". Not to be tharwted by this I went in and gave them the sad story that we had always stayed there and we were only here at short notice because of the events of the last few days. Somehow the owner miraculously found a couple of sites, one of which suited us fine.

Absolute Rest Day

Sunday 20th July.

Very little activity today other than to rethink and plan the next couple of weeks travel etc.

Sad News Day

Saturday 19th July.

A day we would rather forget..

Our latest travel plan was to stop at Mount Isa only long enough to stock up with food etc then move on a further 65 km's to a highly recommended camp spot beside Coorella Lake.

We were aware that our close friends Barbara & Frank have their son Stephen working in the mines in Mount Isa. Stephen had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer late last year and had been in and out of hospital on a few occasions since then. Despite his illness he had managed to tick off a number of items on his bucket list both within Australia and overseas with his mate Mark from Melbourne.

We thought it only right that as we were passing through Mount Isa to make contact with Stephen and see how things were going. We firstly had to phone his parents in Melbourne to get Stephen's phone number or address. Gail made the call to Frank only to find that they both are currently in Mount Isa, as Stephen had passed away last Thursday, the 17th July.

This was an enormous shock to us as we have been neighbours and friends for 49 years and Stephen is roughly Colin's age, having turned fifty last February.

Naturally we revised our travel plans to stay in Mount Isa so that we can attend the funeral which is next Thursday. At this point in time there is little we can do to lend assistance to Barb and Frank as they are in the midst of making all the necessary arrangements in relation to the funeral, his house, car and two large dogs. We will move on in to Mount Isa on Monday morning, catch up with them, then book into a caravan park until after the funeral.

The rest of today is quite frankly a blur. This should not happen to any parent.

WW11 Airstrip

Friday 18th July.

There was no hurry for us to get away this morning so we had ample time to pack the

Sat remaining things up. A short stop in the town of Camooweal to fill up with water etc then it was on the road heading towards our next planned stopover at the WWII Airstrip free camping area which is only about 140 km's East.

On arrival at this spot we found a very extensive network of dirt tracks leading away from the highway to a very large number of great camping spots in the small scrub. The remnants of an airstrip could be quite easily picked out as the absence of most shrubs made it quite obvious.

We counted about 15 other caravans and Motorhomes already settled in to their chosen spots.

Beside the highway there are chemical toilets, covered picnic tables and a number of open fireplaces with plenty of nice dry wood available. As we mostly carry a limited supply of our own firewood we decided to light our own fire at our campsite and cook dinner tonight over the fire.

Strange creatures aren't we ! The indigenous people would love to have some of the creature comforts that we the "whities" travel all around the country with, but frequently choose to revert back to the basics and cook on an open fire.

Mass Exodus - are we on the nose?

Thursday 17th July.

Awoke again this morning just prior to daybreak by our little feathered friends outside the window at roughly 7:00 am. It would appear our bodies are still adjusting to the half hour time adjustment between Queensland and the Northern Territory. As we crossed from NT into Qld on Tuesday which is only 13 km's west of here, we had to advance our clocks the half hour difference.

Unfortunately it is quite windy this morning, ideal though to do the washing we need to do.

On stepping outside the motorhome around 7:30 am it was as though there was something about to happen that we were not aware of as almost the entire area was devoid of caravans etc.

Theoretically there is a 48 hour limit camping here but when we arrived on Tuesday we noticed that quite a few were set up as though they were here for a month with fireplaces built, outside shower tents, clothes lines and all the extras to make the "camping" experience special.

Maybe they just all arrived on the same day and therefore had departed after a couple of days.

We on the other hand are spending three nights here and will move on tomorrow towards Mount Isa. We had a lovely campfire of our own last night while the weather was still quite warm - why not, we have the fireplace and sufficient wood that we have been carting half way around the country.

We have not been on power nor had the generator running since we departed Mataranka last Sunday which has been a good test of our auxiliary batteries and our management of the water we carry. When camping such as we have been over the last 5 days we only shower every second morning in order to minimize our water consumption. On alternate days we simply "top and tail" as Gail calls it. Our 100 litre main fresh water tank only reached empty mid afternoon today so we consider that to be pretty good. In addition to the main water tank we carry another 40 litres for emergency use only. As we leave here tomorrow morning we can fill our tank up "in "town" and also visit the dump point to empty our toilet. The fresh water and dump point are provided as an incentive for travellers to stop here and spend a dollar or two which no doubt keeps small settlements such as Camooweal alive.

Unlimited Bird Life.

Wednesday 16th July.

We had intended to catch up on some housekeeping and hand washing today but our new found neighbours had so many stories of their travels to tell that before we knew it was time for a walk into Camooweal which turned out to be about 10 minutes beside the river and lagoon then another 10 minutes beside the highway. The four of us all went on this walk, stopping at the pub for a cool drink and a quick look around the very small settlement they call a town.

Our campsite is absolutely magnificent as we have parked parallel to the lagoon, right beside it with the dining area table facing the water. The variety of bird life on the lagoon is amazing. So far we have seen; Egrets, Spoonbills, Pelicans, Brolgas, ducks of various varieties, Cockateils, Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Budgies the odd eagle and of course the ever present Whistling Kites. There are also tiny Zebra Finch's which flutter in and out of the branches of an overhanging tree right beside our bedroom window. In fact we were awoken this morning just prior to sunrise by the combined twittering of several dozen of them right beside our head. They departed once it was daylight so we were wide awake in time to witness a most spectacular sunrise over the lagoon. Honestly it was as good as Yellow Waters in Kakadu National Park out of Darwin.

We counted 41 other campers here, mostly in caravans but about a dozen other Motorhomes.

The sunset to the west was just as spectacular as the sunrise, followed by the most brilliant array of stars in all directions we have seen to date. The remoteness combined with the absence of lights seemed to make the sky twice as bright so it was easy to pick out the various constellations and stars. The Milky Way was even quite bright. It is just such a shame that it is not possible to capture this on our simple cameras.