Day Nine Gregory Development Rd to Charters Towers

We intended to stay at Clermont. Had a nice morning tea in a very interesting park in Emerald after being blown away by the agricultural cultivations on the western approaches to the city. This after crossing the scenic and rugged Drummond Range between Alpha and Emerald.

A guy double parked to tell us that he had the same van, three years old and said it has held together nicely and increased in value. He wanted to see if there had been upgrades and there had. Bigger wheels, something else inside.

We arrived at the caravan park in Clermont at 10 past 12. The sign on the office said closed for lunch between 12 and 1. Gates were locked. Sat the three of us in the shade outside the office in the heat while the own looked at us from an upstairs balcony while he smoked two cigarettes and said nothing. We waited another 20 minutes and thought, screw this, lets get to Charters. They have a pool and I bet a much friendlier welcome. (They did)

Long haul up the Gregory Development Rd was okay but scarily narrow when being overtaken by road trains. One eye in the left door mirror for the closest can get to the edge of the tar with the other in the fender right mirror for crashing disaster if the vehicles and carriages touch while backing off on speed to let the bastard past. Manage to anticipate and improving a pull over into layover or parking spots to let them past, getting some friendly thanks over the CB CH 40.

Arrived latest so far, on dusk, at Charters and found a spot we had to back into near a bunch of tented cricket teams, who while drinking enthusiastically managed to stay decorous despite some colourful language and actually went to bed early. Day Ten will be a rest day, as after eleven hours on the road yesterday, needs a break. Oh and the phones are back on an hour before we arrived in Charters. This outage was massive and unprecedented.

Day Seven Landsborough Highway to Blackall, Day Eight Capricorn Hwy to Alpha

Waving good bye to Mitchell we climb out of the Maranoa valley following our first road train. It was huge and was actually going slower than we were. Cross a range at about 500 metres we descend into Morven and leave the Warrego highway for the Landsborough which will take us to Blackall.

Towns are really spaced out here. Nothing until Augathella which is off the Hwy in some hills. Then into the plains towards Tambo, which was small but interesting.

Arrive in Blackall and find the ramshackle but friendly and quaint caravan park tucked away in a laneway in the middle of town. Australia Day and the Troopy is wearing a pair of Australian flags we were given when asked in friendly Mitchell, by the spa owners.

So off to the pub for a meal and watch Azarenko slug it out with Li at the Australian Open. Good tennis. But not before a refreshing swim in the town pool, a delightful 30 artesian degrees. We are ruing the sulfur smells though and imagine it pervading everything by now.

The next day we are devastated to hear from fellow travelers going in the other direction that the stockman hall of fame in Longreach is closed totally for renovations. How can this be? We were going to double back anyway to get to Emerald, so we can the extra 200kms or so and strike out for Alpha via Barcaldine. But not before going to visit the Blackall WoolScour.

I had a vague notion of what a Wool Scour was but M had tagged it as a major tourist attraction. Historical attraction. On the northern outskirts of town in a paddock with a flock of sheep and goats. They even let us take the dog on the tour. Being the off season there was only two of us on the tour. But what a superb collection of century old factory equipment, including steam engines, lathes, wool shears, presses, combs, belts, separators, air dryers, lofts, rail sidings. Two hours went in a flash and had us wanting to come back in the tourist season to see the steam engine in action. The town's effort to save this stuff, renovate it and use it as a tourist attraction is an impressive part of the story and the people of Blackall deserve high praise for their efforts. Well done.

 

Barcaldine is more exposed desert like than Blackall and some sort of workers Utopia according to the tourist literature but the Workers Museum was closed for the off "wet" season so we were not to find out, but did see the unique main street with some groovey pubs and the utterly alien Tree of Knowledge sculpture outside the train station.

The rest of the trip to Alpha was unremarkable except for the utter isolation joining distant towns with very good highway surface.

The Troopy couldn't pull the van weight in those temps (greater than 38 degs) and stay radiator cool, with the aircon on. So we were drinking LOTS of water, including 16 year old poodle Louise.

 

Arrived in Alpha in went to the town swimming pool for a non-sulfurous swim and then chatted before dinner with travelers who were diverting all across queensland to avoid flooded roads and some of the contractor road workers who like most of central queensland had no phones thanks to the massive Telstra outage affecting Optus services in most places thanks to main bearers being cut by floods. I only had VHF/UHF ham gear with me with no local repeaters so despite trying, I was no use for emergency comms far west of the troubles. The rest of us were forced to yarn like the old days for news.

Day Six - Mitchell

Got some good speed up on the Warrego Hwy until we hit the bumps. Undulations that had the rig going up and down rather quickly and uncomfortably. The Caravan Park on the eastern edge of town, right before the upgrading bridge across the Maranoa River, was perfect. Ensuite facilties for each powered caravan spot.

The town was great. Saw the weir. Learned a fair bit about the Loughan family history from the cemetery. Great Steam Train exhibit in the park. And a great historical courtroom that gives all the trial records including depositions on a cattle rustling trial in the early 1900's that remains controversial, and says a lot about the area's early history.

 

But the Artesian Spa, with clear water coming out at a delicious 39 degrees, was soooo relaxing I went to bed like jelly.

Days Four and Five Roma

Pulled into the Big Rig Tourist Park next to the Big Rig Tourist interactive display on the oil and gas history of the Roma district (which was well worth seeing) to find most of the caravan spaces converted into demountable tin cities to house the legions of miners and support industries that boom through so much of western Queensland.

Nice enough spot near the Bungil River Park, but a little crowded compared to the awesome park at St George we had just spent two days at. Town was interesting though, and much bigger than we realized from last trip over a year ago when we stayed on the Highway a block over on the town edge and didn't realize the immensity of the town centre.

Needed the extra day to get the Timing Belt repaired on the 70-series Landcruiser so I dropped it off on the Thursday using the bike carrier and cycled back the 2.3 kms to the park from the huge industrial area on the SW edge of town. The Tourist Park is on the Eastern edge. We did the Bungil River walk, which was terrific, saw the old China Town, Avenue of Heroes and 3D Sculpture in the Cultural Centre. Then carried poor old Louise back through the centre of town, buying a clothes rack on the way.

Car retrieved first rain of the trip was the harbinger of the awful disaster that Ex TC Oswald was about to wreak on Central and Southern Queensland. Heavy rains were forecast for Saturday so we packed up and drove only 87kms west to Mitchell.

Day 3 - Rest day St George

Had a great night's sleep. Van is really comfy when level. At Gunnedah with the Troopy still hitched, the bed was a little head low. Unhitched, and legs out and level, comfy as. And the temps were fine for breezes through the van and a cool sleep. M has a cold though :(

Woke to find a repairer for the Timing Belt warning light. Toyota dealer couldnt fit us in. Went to a really nice mechanic on the other side of St George who also couldnt fit us in, but did fix the passenger wiper for free and very nicely gave us the name of a repairer in Roma, our next stop, who might be able to help. Booked in on Thursday for timing belt and hydraulic lifter kit replacement (insisted it was necessary) which adds about $150 to the total proce, so this repair is already getting pricey. Oh well. The fuel economy is scary too towing such a large van. What did we expect. Butterflies and rainbows. And Lollipops. Little ponies with blue hair. And some stars sprinkled around I suppose. A day in the mechanic isnt out of the question either.

The river cruise wasnt running. We went for a quite warm walk by the river, and we could see why. It's kind of low. Then found the council pool was closed. So we visited the Unique Egg. A unique tourist attraction run by the local gun shop owner. It was great.

Then we met a minor TV personality on the Cobb and Co Pub. Not formally. Just a conversation across some tables. Name came to us later.

Watching first series of Whitechapel now.

Second day - travel to St George on the Balonne River in Queensland

Goodday's travel. Through Narabri and lunch at Moree. Stop at Mungindi and then find a lovely spacious parking camp in St George, Will stay here tomorrow too and see some local sights. And try and replace the timing belt and broken wiper blade arm.

Gunnedah - 1st night on the road

Thank you David and Val in the Elite for sorting us with the screen door, sullage hose, and also Michael for help with the jammed awning.

Got away a bit late after lots of delays with the farm, fences, removals, etc etc. Raining at last, watched the dam fill then departed through rain all the way past Scone.

Day one. Towing happily. Stopped at Scone in the rain.