CHARTERS TOWERS/HUGHENDEN

Dear all,

Left Charters Towers yesterday and drove the 280 kms to Hughenden. It got drier and dustier with every kilometer. It's been surprising in that we haven't seen any live animals other than feral cats so far on our trip. The cats are all tabbies and very lean in appearance. We've seen lots and lots of dead kangaroos and dead pigs, and the further west we go, the road trains are getting bigger.





We arrived Hughenden about 2pm, set up camp and went off to explore. Well, we were back before we knew it .... you could shoot a gun down the main street and not hit anyone. This morning, did some washing (only 3 machines in this caravan park so it was a bit of a wait ... it's $3 to use a machine. Fuel here is $1.40 a litre.




Hughenden is world famous for its dinosaurs and fossils (take a look at the litter bin at the top!) It started in the mid-1800s as sheep country but over the years with the drought, it is more cattle now, although a lot have left their properties due to the drought. There is a gorge that is popular to visit called Porcupine Gorge, but it's 63 kms from town - not for us.



The Flinders Visitors Centre is excellent and we spent quite some time there. There is a dinosaur skeleton found on a property here and lots of fossils of fish, bivalves, etc. where the inland sea was millions of years ago. Of course, we had to see the Coolabah Tree which was marked by the Lansborough party in their quest to find the ill-fated Burke and Wills party. Here's a photo:



So ... tomorrow we leave for Julia Creek, about 260 kms from Hughenden.



Today it was really hot - 29 degrees - and really windy, from the west. The locals say that at this time of year, they would normally wear 2 jumpers and a jacket with their ugg boots. It gets cold at night but that's ok ... we don't go anywhere!

PS. There is a dog in the back of the ute ... double click on the photo to make it larger.

Love to all xxoo

CLERMONT/BELYANDO CROSSING/CHARTERS TOWERS

Dear all,

Weather fantastic .... 25 or 26 every day; cold nights though.

Charters Towers is a very sophisticated nice town built on gold mining, and now mining other metals here, and there are a lot of cattle properties. We arrived last Thursday after leaving Clermont, and Belyando River Crossing where we were going to stay but decided it was not an option once we saw it. It was just a dust bowl, a truck stop full of rough and tough blokes and road trains full of cattle!!! So we kept on going to here.

The main attractions here are the city centre and its really nice old buildings and what they have done to them. They aren't just empty buildings, they have actual businesses and govt departments occupying them. You can go in and have a look around most and they have set up scenes of the original people and happenings. They have just done a good job in beautifying the cbd and the town is classified by the National Trust.

The good news is that they have a big dam 17 kms out of town called the Burdekin Dam. When they had the floods in January this year, it has apparently washed down saltwater crocs from above Ingham, would you believe. They have seen 2 salties in the dam in the last 3 weeks - one about 20 feet long and the other about 15 feet long. They washed down with the flood waters, and got to this dam wall, and there they stay. It has put an end to swimming and fishing and all that stuff, and we don't know what they will do. They can apparently adapt to fresh water quite well.

From here we leave Thursday and go to Hughenden, then Julia Creek, and then we have to go to Mt. Isa out of context to get our awning fixed (a slide broke and needs replacing and Mt. Isa is the closest place). Then we'll go north to Gulf of Carpentaria.

Photos above:
Sign for Game Chillers at Clermont
Cattle Station outside Charters Towers
Charters Towers from Tower Hill
Copper "headstones" at the Copperfield cemetery
"Salties" in the Burdekin
Flood Indicator at Burdekin River
Game Chillers at Clermont
"Shoe" tree at Clermont
Shut the gate sign at Charters Towers airport
Burdekin River bridge
Piano tree at Clermont
The Imperial, pub at Ravenswood

P.S.
Forgot to mention:

Photo of Ken with Bill: Old Bill is a gorgeous man we met in the pub at Rolleston. He met and married the barmaid 52 yrs ago but he lost her 6 yrs back. He is such a nice man.

Photo of Corrugated Cafe: Long gone!!

xx

ROMA/ROLLESTON/CLERMONT

Hi,

Left Dalby at 9:30 am and arrived Roma at 3. Rosemary and Paul were already set up and we went to the Club Hotel for dinner. Typical country pub with kids by the dozens!

Freezing night but woke to a nice sunny day. Rosemary showed us a shop in Roma that should be on a tourist map. It would be the size of DJ's or Myers ground floor and is filled to the ceiling with stuff. They sell absolutely anything and everything you want. They must have 10,000 rolls of fabric! There are saucepans, cutlery, china, buttons, plastic, etc. etc. The aisles are packed to the rafters - I'd hate to be in there if there was a fire. (Incidentally, Rose and I bought stuff in there for our caravans!!)

We spent the afternoon at the Bowls Club with the local characters - and gee, they are real characters.

Left early morning for the 270 km drive to Rolleston. By the way, fuel is 134.9 and expected to get dearer the further we travel.

Rolleston - well, what can we say. There's nothing there but a small pub, a few houses, and the caravan park. Every house had a wreck or wrecks in the yard. Every 5-10 mins a road train went through filled with cattle. It was another freezing night in the caravan and the Amenities block could do with a spruce up - if you know what I mean!! Rolleston caters for miners who mine all around the area. Before the mining companies can start their exploration, the indigenous people must, by law, walk the area looking for sacred sites. If found, the mining company must negotiate with them and if none found, the mining companies move in.

Left this morning (Tuesday) for Clermont which is the home of the Blair Athol Mine. Clermont looks much more prosperous than Rolleston and not a bad place, actually. On the main road there are 2 wild game fridge containers on the side of the road where the pig/kangaroo shooters put the animals they have shot. Tomorrow I'll take a photo and put it here. (I took one today but it didn't come out - new camera!!)

Here for 2 nights before heading further north. Will keep in touch.

Love to all. xoxo

ARRIVED DALBY

Dear All,

Here we are in Dalby. Uneventful trip from Kirra Caravan Park to here. It was an absolutely beautiful day at Coolangatta and we were a bit sad to have to leave, but now we're on the road with new adventures ahead.

The trip over the Great Divide was a bit of a drag on the car but once we were over at Toowoomba, the scenery of the Darling Downs opened up to beautiful green paddocks ... quite a bit different to the last time we were here when it was nothing but brown grass and so very dry.

We have bought a new video camera but you need a university degree to operate it! (I hope I can master it before the trip is over!!)

We have an ensuite site here at the Dalby Tourist Park which is full tonight, mainly Victorians and Sth Australians.

We've had our first drama - while putting out the awning, one of the arms snapped and, after many phone calls, found that we can't have it fixed until Mt Isa. We may, therefore, need to change our trip to be in Mt Isa a little earlier than planned. It's not a major drama but a set-back just the same.

We will be having dinner out tonight - probably at the Club or pub. It has been so very cold but we have the airconditioning to keep us warm at night (and a couple of reds before bed!!)

Love to all and don't forget to email us from time to time.

xx
PS. Don't pay any attention to the date on our blog. This is added automatically and is incorrect but I don't know how to change it!! Any help would be gratefully received!!