It’s been a while between coffees so go and boil the billy and I’ll wait till your back with your coffee.

Sunset camp between Normanton & Cloncurry

Well we left Atherton & headed south west but first we needed to climb out of Atherton & into another head wind. Winding our way across the ridges of the mountains to Ravenshoe the wind gusts where so strong that at one stage we thought we would be blown off the side of one of those ridges as there were steep declines both sides of the road.  Just before Ravenshoe there was a wind farm so we stopped to check it out, there was 20 wind generators & yes they are noisy, it was even windier behind those big fans & freezing cold so a few photos & back in the car.

When we left Atherton I didn’t top up the water tanks because we would be climbing most of the day this was a mistake as when we stopped for lunch we discovered the tanks were nearly empty. We had 20 litres on the roof of the car so that helped but some of the towns we went through we couldn’t get water which created some concern for a while.

trying to catch tea

We stopped at Georgetown where we got water & fuel & then found a free stay 30ks up the road which was on a billabong a beautiful spot off the road & quite. Josh had his first night in a swag which mum wasn’t too happy about but he survived the night, so did mum J 

1st night in swag

We left there & headed off to Normanton for lunch that day where the kids went off for a walk without us & they found a crocodile in the main street, they got too close to the croc & it got a hold of Clare. Josh & Kirsty jumped on the beast so they could rescue Clare from the jaws of that fierce beast, she was so lucky that she has a caring brother & sister. Then we had lunch (crocJ) & headed towards another free camp for the night.

A stop over at Cloncurry for mother’s day, in a half attempt at a van park, there we had a roast lamb in the Webber for tea that night. Fuelling up the next day we were off to Mt Isa, the drive to Isa from Cloncurry is just fantastic the difference in the terrain & the colours in the rock are great. As we were getting closer to Isa there is a mountain range in front of us which the road winds its way through the range a spectacular drive. Arriving in Isa we booked into a van park & that afternoon I went around town looking for work. By the Wednesday I had found a job on the tools for 6 weeks, (doesn’t look like we are going to get out of Queensland just yet) Kirsty found work 2 days later & Josh got his first job a week later. So we are here till the first week of July where we will then head off to Alice Springs & we could possibly get into another state.

Not sure if they are trying to hold the jaws open or push them closed

Actual size of croc

Paronella Park



Main Castle

Back tracking from Babinda to Innisfail we stocked up on food & fuel again ( these kids eat all the time) then headed south to Paronella Park which is a property that Jose Paronella developed in the 1930s. After acquiring the property with the main feature a water fall that flows under the old Bruce highway he moved dirt, gravel & sand from the lower part of the property then built all the buildings (castles) over several years by hand. He was a real entrepreneur for his time; it was all about making money so he could go back to Spain & bring back his wife to be. Check out the web for more details it is really worth a visit. From there we drove to Milla Milla falls (which means lots of water) were Josh & Clare went for a swim, I swam there 2 years ago so I knew how cold the water was so I let them experience it this timeJ , Josh swam out under the falls where the cold water takes your breath away , it’s a beautiful spot. The 50km drive up to there was a very steep incline at one point the cruiser was back to first gear ( I knew we fed  the kids too much) the poor thing worked hard that day we stopped in Atherton for lunch & a quick look around then drove 12 km down the road to a free stay, as it is a long weekend we planned to stay there if it wasn’t too busy & do a few day trips. Not a lot to report as it is a lay week some short trips, site seeing & a trip down to Cairns (leaving the van behind). We spent Wednesday out on Green Island snorkling & relaxing on the beach ( we need it ).

The Bolders

Water Fall from picnic area



Milla Milla Falls

We have had to make an important decision as to not go to the Cape as the roads are still closed & it could be a few weeks before we can get through this would put a big dent into the time we have to going right the way round this wasn’t an easy decision as most of you know this was at the top of our bucket list for a number of years. So expect an invite to do a trip to the Cape in the coming years. So on Friday we will be heading across the Savannah way to Normanton then down to Cloncurry, Phone & internet service are scarce out there so keep the kettle boiled & cup at hand.

The trip so far

The trip so far, so grab a coffee, a comfy seat, blanket if you need it & enjoy.

Charleville

A two day stay at Charleville in a caravan park, we visited the weather station for a tour & watched the weather balloon inflate & be released. We then went & watched the computer track the balloon where the data was being collected & processed so that the weather can then be released to the public. This is a must as the information that is collected is unbelievable. We then travelled to Quilpie & checked out other camping areas that our van possibly shouldn’t have gone on those dirt tracks. J

                              Quilpie             

We spent 5 days at Quilpie on the side of a causeway, the water was flowing fast over the causeway & the fish were jumping up & over into the deeper water. Josh caught around 20 small fish in his hat, that kept him busy for awhile. We climbed Table Top & Baldy Rock which the views were great, swam at the local pool & met a lot of locals who were very friendly & welcoming. We then drove to Windorah & crossed Coopers Creek.

                                                                                                                   Windorah

On our way to Windorah there was water over the road in several places & around 200 metres of channel country, a low level bridge was covered with 12 inches of water. Coopers Creek was flowing quite quickly so the kids got photos on the tyres near the bridge. We stayed in the caravan park in town, cranked up the a/c as the temp was about 40 deg. Then we set the cruiser up for the trip to Birdsville the next day the van was left in the van park.

Birdsville

We drove out of Windorah at sun rise for the 400km trip to Birdsville lots of wild life along the road, after 120ks we hit dirt road, Kylie was driving so I hung out the window & took a photo of the dust behind us. We turned off to head towards Haddon’s Corner, the road was being graded. The next thing we got a rock through the tread of the LH rear tyre yep not much luck with tyres, so we did a tyre swap & decided to head towards Birdsville since that tyre was buggered ( J 3- K 1)J We stopped for a break at Deon’s lookout, by now it was over 40deg & the flies were unbelievable. After a 7 hour trip we made it to Birdsville, set up the tent at the caravan park (ouch $$) then cooled down at the pub in the a/c. The next morning we drove out to Big & Little Red sand dunes.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Little Red

An hour’s drive out to the dunes we crossed several small dunes because there was a detour due to water that had cut off the track to the main dunes. Well, there is Little Red as we looked up the sand dune nearing the top was a lip & then a quick turn right, shall we walk up first? Nope I gunned the cruiser H2 got to the lip & bogged down to the diffs the excitement in the car was pleasant J I grabbed reverse & drove back down cool as cucumbers, got a bit more of a run up not as far back as Birdsville but close, hit the bottom of the dune in L3 full noise (Batman would have liked our smoke screen) hit the lip grabbed L2 &&& we’re on top of Little Red no sweat. After some photos & a look around we were the 1^st there that morning. Hey let’s check out Big Red!!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Big Red 

We came to a T intersection in the track, left to go across the Simpson Desert, right to Big Red, let’s go right. Looking up at the dune there are 3 tracks, the left looks like it goes vertical, right not as steep but longer, third is definitely chicken run, so the run up begins,  L3 noise & smoke (the noise was from the engine, not passengers screaming I think) a quiet voice from the passenger seat says you are going to the right??J

So we hit the right track (opposed to the wrong track) up & around the top this time there was laughter as we came over the top there was someone camped there, oops, good morning & we kept going. The kids were off up & down sand dunes, the views were spectacular there is so much water & bird life out there it is incredible. We watched some others try the left track but it was too boggy. We made our way back to Birdsville for lunch with the flies, checked out the Diamantina river as it was in flood the river rose while we were there about a metre. We had tea that night at the pub & left at dawn the next morning for Windorah.

Windorah

We met John & Janet at the van park who were from Longreach (we would meet up with them again). We saw a purple land cruiser that a German couple where driving around Australia filming a documentary on our country.  We also went out to Windorah sand dunes for sunset the kids rolled down the dunes  red sand & sweaty kids mix really well. The Sunday the kids ended up at the Windorah Family Fun Day this was an all day event, they teamed up with one of the local larrikins Dicko. The kids had a ball playing the team events, at the end of each event points were awarded & totalled at the end of the day. Because they were the tourists their teams name was the IRA country humour so the points were added up after some lengthy discussions & maybe a few beers & the IRA came in as the winners I think they had to many beers so they were awarded with trophies & were invited back next year (stay tuned for that). We finished up that night after 8pm we had planned on leaving earlier that day so we stayed another night. You have to be flexible with your schedule things change all the time.

Jundah

Dicko had invited us to the cattle station he was working on, on the Monday, so the kids could help with the cattle. We arrived at the station where the yards were full of cattle looks like he knew he was getting helpJ Josh & I got in the yards & moved the cattle through the race HA HA where’s Josh? A cow put him up the fence he was ok but he kept his eye on what they were doing after that. I was in a small yard before lunch & some of the cattle were a bit toey next thing I know a cow is looking me up & down her head is down I’m running for the fence I don’t think my feet touched the railings but I was on top pretty quick then I hear kylie laughing outside the yards she said that was close you nearly had a horn in your butt, I said I’m 40 something & not about to let that happen J. After lunch we got the calves in the race dehorned, crouched, branded & tagged, this was a great experience for all of us, the kids love talking about that day.  We had put about 200 cattle & 43 calves through the race. Thanks to Dicko & Leanne for a great day, we finished at 3:30pm & drove to Longreach that was a big day we drove into a head wind all the way I had to get off the road for a road train & nearly got bogged, the car & van were covered in mud they looked good.

Longreach

We stayed on the Thompson River 5ks out of Longreach for 7 days I worked for 2 ½ painting at a cafe in the centre of town. Josh got 2 yellow belly fish off some other campers then they showed him how to fillet them he & Kylie battered & cooked them that night for tea. We caught up with John & Janet where we went to their house for tea one night we all had a great time Janet spoilt the kids which they accepted quite well it was strange being in a house with so much room thanks for your hopitaity it was a night to remember. There were a lot of people we met at the river it was usually an hour walk to the toilets it was only a 100 metres away as you had to stop & have a chat to everyone there & back. The day before we left Longreach we met Ken & Deidre from the central coast in NSW we hit it off straight away & we spent the next week travelling with them both. We are now heading to Winton.

Winton

We headed off to Winton after we fuelled up & topped up the water tanks we sort of had a side/tail wind the plains winds are deceiving as you can’t see where it is coming from so going was tuff around an hour into the trip we stopped at a rest area for lunch as we pulled in behind a van which ended up being Ken & Deidre a quick catch up & lunch. When we got to Winton we made our way to long water hole camp ground where we found Wayne & Wendy already set up & Ken & Deidre set up close by. There were some great yarns the next few nights at that camp. This was the start of our travelling adventure with Ken & Deidre. The next day we visited Age of Dinosaurs which was a great day it is amazing that Australia has so many dinosaur fossils. We had a look around Winton then it was time to move onto Hughenden.

Hughenden

Hughenden was a one night stop over the Finders River was so clear we all ended up playing in the river for a few hours. The next morning Ken & Deidre headed off to Porcupine Gorge where we would meet up later that day. The walk down to the bottom of the Gorge was 1km straight down lots of stairs, when we got down to the water it was crystal clear it is amazing after seeing Brisbane Rivers how good a clear river looks. We swam for a couple of hours some sun burn started to show up, then the walk back up the Gorge started. The Gorge is in a NP so there weren’t any other walks unless it was back down the Gorge so the vote was to move on the next day. Back into Hughenden then to a free stay 90 k out of Charters Towers which was between the highway & a railway line. We washed clothes & had a fire between the vans not a lot of noise but more than we are used to.

Charters Towers

At Charters we stayed in a van park stocked up on food & fuel the kids swam in the pool & there was a jumping balloon there so that kept them busy for a while. From there we went to Townsville & found a free stay on the beach called Saunders Beach back in humidity we haven’t missed that. On the Tuesday our travelling buddies decided to move on, even though we had only been travelling together for a week we had experienced so much together, at least we know we will see them again soon.

Babinda

We left Saunders Beach & headed north 4 days in one place we had itchy feet. We stopped for a break at a NP & decided to go on a bush walk to a water fall about a km into the walk we hear Josh um hey I’ve cut my finger looking around there was blood everywhere yep that’s a cut alright so back to the van he picked up a fig & cut it in half while he was walking & quite a bit of his finger, a cleanup & off to Ingham hospital where 4 hours & 4 stitches later we’re off to find somewhere to camp the night. Kennedy Store was the choice it’s a free camp if you buy something from the store ;)? The store is between a rail line & highway (just between) & on a rail crossing, the first train was exciting & oops a quick shower after, there was only one other train that night & he didn’t sound his horn at the crossing. Off the next morning & rain has set in, a stop a Tully very wet as usual then to Josephine falls for a walk no swim as Josh was a little sore, so onto Babinda to camp at a free stay, this was for only 1 night there was a party. An important lesson when free camping, stay 50ks from a town or if it doesn’t feel right don’t stay, we weren’t in any danger but discernment is vital. So the next morning we went up to Babinda Boulders set up camp & went down to the swimming area the water was unbelievably cold so it was a quick swim & wash off. The night there was much quieter. Bush walks the next day & another swim, we left the next day a one nighter back down at Babinda so Kylie could work then we were off to our next location so stay turned, go & wash up your coffee cup so it is ready for the next postJ

 

Morven

                                                             Rabbit proof gate

                 Kerosene shack, cans were squashed then used to build walls & roof

The first week of our trip had it's challanges, the first night was at Oakey Creek near Bowensville very windy so there wasn't any cloud or moon & we were on flat land with no trees so the sky was just brilliant with stars . We then moved onto Judds Lagoon near Yuleda 3 days of rain but a beautiful spot, there are 2 local ducks there that are very freindly & the fishing was very good if you were a local :).We then went to Roma to refuel,food,water,a new battery for the caravan then after lunch we found ourselves at Amby & set up for the night behind the old hotel this was our first cold night in the van it was 14deg which was a bit of a shock after being in 20+ deg nights. The next morning we went to the weir just outside Mitchell a massive 20 km drive where we stayed for 2 nights another great spot, practice fishing again my casting is a lot better with all the practice. We are at Morven at the recreational grounds for 1 night so Kylie can catch up on work there is power & hot showers here so that will be nicer than showering out of a bucket. We had a look at the rabbit proof gate that they have here as part of there heritage display there is no fence just the gate don't worry it was closed so those waskling wabbits have to stay on the other side.

Judds Lagoon

Judds Lagoon we stayed here for 4 nights we had 3 days of rain which made us relax.

Final days before departure

What else can we say, these have been the most stressful days we have endured so far.  We had internet problems and so were unable to advertise Kirsty's car for sale, panic time but alas, we need not have worried, we advertised it on gumtree at 7am on Tuesday nearly 2 weeks before departure date thinking that hopefully we would be able to sell it before we leave, it was sold within 3 hours!!!! leaving us with the enviable task of myself still working, Kirsty working 2 jobs (including opens at 6am and closes at 11pm at different jobs)  and getting kids to school, I still don't know how we pulled it off but we did.  John finished work on the Tuesday before we left, he spent every waking moment doing those final repairs and adjustments to both the car and van, finishing 1 job only to remember 2 more that needed doing. We have to give a huge thank you to Jim and Karen for putting us up for a week and to the Bray Family for 3 weeks we could not have done it without your awesome hospitality, thanks heaps guys.