Croydon to Mount Isa

September 5:
We have a late start this morning, as we are only going as far as Normanton. We checked into the Normanton caravan park in the centre of town. It's 16 years since we last visited here, and nothing has really changed during that time, even though the number of touring visitors has certainly increased. After shopping and buying some great-priced meat and frozen Barra fillets, we headed to the park's pool. Today’s temperature is 36 degrees. We dined at the Central Hotel, built in the 1890s, just as we did all those years ago, but sadly, the crumbed prawn cutlets are no longer on the menu. Ros opted for chilli garlic prawns, and I had the crumbed Barra. Two fillets, the size of bread and butter plates and several inches thick, meant that nothing else on the plate was touched. 
Distance today: 161 km. Total distance: 4,474 km.
 
September 6:
We left the van at Normanton and checked into a motel at Karumba for the night. We had lunch at the Sunset Tavern, and the Barra was the best I have tasted since Mum used to cook it for us in Port Moresby while we were growing up. Later that day, we went on a two-hour gulf sunset and wildlife tour on the Norman River, which we thoroughly enjoyed. 

The tour was very informative, especially the details on how the Zinc from the Century mine near Lawn Hill is transported to Karumba. The company has installed a 30cm pipe from the mine to the processing plant here in Karumba.

The pipe has been laid under all the river systems for its 370 km journey. The zinc is mixed with water and turned into a slurry, which is then gravity-fed to Karumba. There, the water is removed, filtered, and used to water cattle in the region. The zinc is then processed into pieces the size of a fingernail before being transferred to a shallow-drafted ship that travels out into the Gulf and deposits its load into a supertanker.
The shallow-drafted ship leaving Karumba to deposit its load:

Because the gulf is so shallow, each time the smaller ship deposits its load, the supertanker has to move further out into the gulf. This process continues until the tanker is full.
Distance today: 108 km. Total distance: 4582 km.
 
September 7:
Drove back to Normanton and completed our shopping before spending the rest of the day around the pool.
Distance today: 73 km. Total distance: 4655 km.
 
September 8:
We had planned to camp at Leichhardt Falls, but during the evening at Normanton, the wind picked up and continued to blow today. When we reached Leichhardt Falls, the wind had not abated, and since the area is open, we didn't fancy spending the rest of the day cooped up inside the van.
The falls have now dried up.

We continued to Burketown and camped at the caravan park. The 220 Km from Normanton to Burketown, which was all dirt the last time we travelled over it, now has only 120 Km of dirt.
Distance today: 229 Km. Total distance: 4884 Km.

September 9, 10, 9,10,11:
Today, we headed south to camp on the Gregory River just downstream from the pub. The road from Burketown is likely to be fully tarmacked before the upcoming wet season. The first 15 km is paved, followed by 32 km of dirt, and then a further 33 km of tarmac, with a large stretch probably sealed by the end of the week.
We spent three lovely days camping by the Gregory, with the water flowing past our camp. The days mainly involved climbing in and out of the river whenever we felt the need, which was quite often. There is now a dump point across from the pub. We met a lovely couple from Mount Isa who were camping in their Bushtracker just a short distance upstream from us.
Distance today: 121 km. Total distance: 5005 km.

 

September 12/13: We left Gregory Downs at 8am on our way to Mount Isa. The first 126 km are dirt, with 57 km of bitumen before turning east on the Barkly Highway for the 119 km journey into the Isa. We did a large shop today that will last us for the next few weeks before we arrive in Longreach.

 Did you know... that there is no 'Mount' Isa, which is why the name is 'Mount Isa' and not Mt Isa? Distance today 318 km. Total distance 5323 km.

 

Townsville to Croydon

 August 25:

Today is a rest day, which is a pleasant change. Distance today: 0 km. Total distance: 2,915 km.

August 26:

Today we drove the forty kilometres to Townsville to restock our food supplies. Distance today: 95 km. Total distance: 3,010 km.

August 27:

We set off early this morning on a 12 km return walk at the back of my sister's and Pieter's property to view three of the five tunnels built for the Greensvale to Townsville railway line. Construction began in 1969 and was decommissioned in 1998 after the nickel deposit at Greenvale was depleted. The ore was refined just north of Townsville. Clive Palmer owns the refinery, which now processes nickel ore from Indonesia.

Resident bats:

The third tunnel has caved in:

A view of the Pinnacles during our walk:

Distance today: 0 km; Total distance: 3010 km.

28 August: Last-minute shopping in Townsville before we leave tomorrow to head to Fletcher Creek. Distance today 141 km. Total distance 3,151 km.

29 August: Today we have a relatively short drive to Fletcher Creek. It's 90 km to the Gregory Development Road, where we turned south for the approximately 50 km to Fletcher Creek. We left Hervey Range just after 10 am, following a late breakfast of Swedish pancakes with bacon, fried bananas, and authentic Canadian maple syrup that Pieter's brother had sent him from Canada. Distance today 148 km. Total distance 3,299 km.

 

August 30:
We left Fletcher Creek early on our way to Charters Towers before stopping at Pentland for morning tea, lunch, and refuelling at Hughenden. Met another BT owner who is returning home to Cairns after being away for 12 months. Their handle is the "blue heelers". From Hughenden, we drove north another 60-odd km to Porcupine Gorge National Park. Several days ago, we had made our bookings online to secure site 1, but on arrival, someone was already camped on our spot. After some heated exchanges, during which I was told they would not move from the site, they eventually packed up and headed south to Hughenden. Distance today 370 km. Total distance 3669 km.

 

August 31: We left the campsite at 9am, and it took 20 minutes to walk the 1.1 km trail down to the bottom of the gorge. We spent a couple of hours taking photos and chatting with fellow campers before returning to the campsite. Which took us a further 25 minutes. Distance today 0 km. Total distance 3669 km.

 

September 1:

Today's drive is relatively short. The Kennedy Development Road, north of the National Park turnoff to the Lynd, is now a mix of dirt and bitumen stretches. Our camp for the night isn't listed in any guidebooks and is a true gem. It's on the Einasleigh River about 1 km north of Carpentaria Downs Station. The waterhole extends for over 1 km, but the property's fences on both sides of the crossing limit the camping area. The western side was already occupied by four groups, so we camped on the eastern side alone until we were later joined in the afternoon by two Kedron vans. Today's distance: 240 km. Total distance: 3,909 km.

 

The 43 km from September to Einasleigh was stony with corrugations and had one long A stretch of bitumen through a hilly section. We stopped for a coffee break at Forsyth in the local park. Max, who owns the caravan park and is in his 70s, also comes from Sawtell, where we live. He also delivers mail and goods around the region. The final 50-odd kilometres into Cobbold Gorge, near Robin Hood Station, were through rolling, hilly terrain with many steep creek crossings to negotiate. The road was quite stony and corrugated. We spent the first few hours after arriving doing some washing before heading to the pool for the rest of the afternoon. The pool overlooks the dam. Distance today: 157 km. Total distance: 4066 km.

 

September 3:
We enjoyed the Cobbold Gorge tour, which lasts just over 3 hours. We took the 10am tour, which included a walk to the gorge rim. Along the way, we saw many examples of bush tucker and sampled some of them. Afterwards, it was onto the boat for the gorge trip, with the sides of the gorge towering about 20 metres above us. Distance today 0 km. Total distance 4066 km.

 

September 4:
After leaving Cobbold Gorge, we turned north at Forsyath, heading for Georgetown. There is bitumen at both ends of the road with a large dirt section in the middle. We had morning tea here before stopping to look at the Cumberland Chimney on our way to Croydon. It's 1996 since we last passed this way, and then most of the road was dirt. We are camped in the caravan park, our first in over three weeks since leaving home. My great-grandfather was born in Croydon in the 1800s.
Distance today: 247 km, total distance: 4313 km.

Sawtell to Townsville

Sunday 12th August:
The past week has been spent doing a final shop before packing the van and filling water tanks for our trip. We are setting off for about nine weeks between family commitments. Our original plan was to head west to the Corner Country and Western Queensland. But with temperatures at night still registering in the minuses, we have now decided to head north for some warmth before returning home via the Corner.
Once again, we are stopping at the Yelgun rest area, which is situated 50 kilometres north of Ballina. It's several hours’ drive from our home in Sawtell and really is the only decent stop before tackling the madness of the Gold and Sunshine Coast motorways. Today's distance: 260 km.

Monday, Tuesday 13/14 August:
It never ceases to amaze us just how busy the motorway from Tweed Heads to the Sunshine Coast is. We have travelled it on numerous occasions at different times of the day, yet it's always packed with cars and trucks. For the next few nights, we are camped at the Maryborough Showgrounds. Lovely spot with wide-open spaces and few campers, and for $15 a night, it includes power, water, showers, and toilets.

Maryborough's population is just over 20,000, and the town became a port and a major centre in its early days, which led to the construction of a series of beautiful Victorian buildings. We visited Brennan and Geraghty's Store, which traded from 1871 to 1972. It is now a museum. Upon reaching retirement, the younger of the brothers who ran the store closed up the shop and left all stock and goods on the shelves. The family was known as hoarders, and not a single item was thrown away. There are rolls of toilet paper from the 1920s.

The following photo shows the flood levels recorded on the side of the building. You can just glimpse the Mary River in the background.

Today's distance: 422 km. Total: 682 km.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 15/16/17 August:
Our drive today initially takes us through Childers. The main street features turn-of-the-century buildings, most of which have been classified as heritage sites by the National Trust. Then we head to Gin Gin and Miriam Vale before stopping on the south side of the Calliope River, which is seven kilometres north of the Calliope town turnoff. We spent three lovely days camping here. On two of these days, we travelled into Gladstone to shop and sightsee. We met a lovely couple, Frank and Heather, in their early eighties, who are still travelling and enjoying what Australia has to offer. Distance 430 km. Total distance 1542 km.

Saturday 18 August:
Passing through the township of Calliope, we headed west towards Biloela before turning north to camp at Dululu. The town has a population of just thirty people and one pub. We stayed at the free camp just outside town. Low and behold, Frank and Heather have also turned up. Distance today 185 km. Total distance 1727 km.

Sunday, Monday 19/20 August: Left Dululu, heading north, then turned west onto the Capricorn Highway and stopped at Duaringa to fill our water tanks. The town has a nice rest stop on the eastern side and is listed in the Camps 6 book with a tick. We passed through Dingo before reaching Blackwater, which is billed as the coal capital of Queensland. The town is surrounded by coal mines and has a large facility for loading coal onto trains heading east to the coast. Just west of town, we headed north for twenty-seven kilometres to Bedford Weir. Camping here is for a maximum of seven days, which is free, but you can make a donation if you wish. It's a popular spot for boating, camping, and fishing on the Mackenzie River. The weir has been stocked with various fish including barramundi, saratoga, and yellowbelly. There is also a chance of catching red and blue claw, but with the cooler temperatures currently, there isn’t much on offer. Once again, we have the pleasure of camping near Frank and Heather. Distance today 194 km. Total distance 1921 km.

So far, the Oz-Pig has served us well for both cooking and heating.

Tuesday 21 August:
We left Bedford Weir at 08:00 before fueling up at Blackwater. We retraced our steps to Dingo, where we turned north onto the Fitzroy Development Road. After three hundred and thirty kilometres, we arrived at Nebo and stopped for lunch. We continued further east before turning north at Eaton, and we are now camped at the showgrounds at Finch Hatton, about thirty kilometres west of Mackay and close to Eungella National Park. The showgrounds sit beside the Pioneer River and are surrounded by cane farms. Eungella (pronounced young-gulla) is in the Clarke Range, which at its highest point rises to 1280m. Today's distance 457 km. Total distance 2,378 km.

Wednesday 22 August: We woke up this morning to find that it had rained overnight. It must have been the red wines last night. The cloud cover did not lift until 13:00, so we then decided to drive the twenty-odd kilometres to Eungella, where we stopped at the chalet for lunch. This view shows the chalet with the jump-off point for hang gliders, which is 680m above sea level.

Even though we were early for the suggested times to see Platypuses, we decided to take our chances. After standing quietly and remaining still for about ten minutes, we were fortunate enough to see two of these creatures in the wild. They were quite small, which made photographing them difficult. The one we managed to photograph was constantly followed by a Cormorant, and whenever the Platypus dived, so did the bird. Today's distance: 52 km. Total distance: 2,430 km.

Thursday 23 August:
A lazy start for us this morning with low cloud cover again. The cloud lifted around 11:00, so we set off to visit Finch Hatton Gorge. It's nine kilometres into the gorge from just south of the township of Finch Hatton. We took the 1.6 km walk into Araluen Falls. Distance today 30 km. Total distance 2,460 km.

 

Friday 24th August:

We left at 8:00 this morning to visit my sister and her partner, who live on Hervey's Range, forty kilometres west of Townsville. They have a thirty-acre property where we will stay for the next five days.

  

  Distance today 455Km. Total distance 2915Km.

Caravan and Motorhome Magazine

We have just purchased the latest issue of Caravan and Motorhome magazine, No. 174, and to our surprise, our Ute is featured in the CSM ad for Procan canopies.
 
While we are delighted about this, there was no consultation with us regarding the use of our Ute in their advertisement.

Clearview Towing Mirrors

We previously used a set of these mirrors on our Nissan Patrol. After hearing that Clearview Towing Mirrors had just introduced a new set for the Toyota Landcruiser 70-79 series, we ordered a pair. When you hook up your caravan, all you need to do is pull the mirror head outwards. The mirror extends by another 100mm, allowing you to see clearly down the side of the van. The mirrors are much larger than the standard ones and provide much clearer vision for safer towing. They are built robustly for Australian conditions and will not vibrate when travelling at highway speeds or when overtaken by road trains.

On the Landcruiser 79 series, the Clearview mirrors utilise the existing mirror holes, but on the 76 series, additional bottom holes need to be drilled.