Qo Queensland
The first leg of out epic journey to Queensland saw us
complete a 530km drive from Daly Waters to Barkly Homestead. Before long we had
left the northern savannah country and into the grasslands and low scrub near
Newcastle Waters. Fuel was going to be
steep wherever we went and we topped up at Three Ways for a mere $1.89 which
was pretty good compared to the $1.99.9 at Barkly Homestead. We stayed the night at Barkly Homestead which
was a pretty neat and tidy place before heading off to Mt Isa.
Lorrikeets at Daly Waters
The 180km to the Qld border was a lot of not much but a good
road. Before long we had crossed the border 15km from the small town of
Camooweal. Then onto Mt Isa, where the country became quite hilly for the
last 60km. Mt Isa is similar to
Kalgoorlie in lots of ways, Big mines and the town built around it. It is a full on industrial town with a huge
power station smack in the middle of town and everything looked pretty busy.
Being in Queensland there was also lots of rugby shorts and because it is
supposed to be cold here at the moment plenty of flannelette and the blokes
were similarly dressed.....
On Sunday morning we pushed on to Hughenden 530km away. The
surrounding countryside changed from the ragged ranges to prime grazing country as we passed through
Cloncurry and stopped at the lovely town of Julia Creek. The main street looked
a treat with undercover parking and murals celebrating the towns history. After
Julia Creek we passed through Richmond and saw the Kronosaurus replica. Finally we reached Hughenden after a long,
long day.
Julia Creek main street
Jordy with dinosaur in Richmond
The next morning we explored the town, Will and Kurt enjoyed the skate park
as well as the town pool with Jordy where they all enjoyed the car tube tyres. At the tourist centre there was a museum that
had the skeleton of a Muttabuttasaurus found down the road at Muttaburra. The town also had a huge windmill to recognise
it’s connections with the Great Artesian Basin which gives the grazing
properties a reliable water supply.
Muttaburrasaurus in Hughenden
Kurt and cool sculpture in Hughenden.
One must mention the Queensland roads. Don’t believe all of
the terrible things you hear about them. Believe about 98% of what you hear. They
are very average, but in fairness it is a big state with lots of roads, lots of
floods and big road trains which take their toll.
Finally we pushed on to Charters Towers, an old gold town which reminded us a bit of
Ballarat with it’s old buildings and parks. We decided to spend an extra day in Charters
Towers and loved the buildings, the history and the general feel of the place. Charters Towers left us with the impression
that it is a very liveable large country town. Quite simply it has cheap character housing
compared to Albany, good education available – with 3 private boarding schools,
cheap beef, cheap diesel, cheap beer, a great climate and barramundi within
close reach. Sounds good! Whilst in the park we discovered an oven, something we have not seen for 10 weeks so Chrissy baked cakes to everybody's delight and we had a roast to finish off our stay.
Charters Towers
Stock Exchange Arcade in Charters Towers
We also played a few holes of golf as we were staying next door
to the local golf course - Will attached
himself to Jim like a cling-on on the starboard bow (Startrek analogy,) and mentioned it every 37 seconds for 24 hours
until he gave in. Golf was fun, playing five holes in the 33 degree heat on the
very nice C-Towers course. Jim showed that he still has it completing the five
holes in 14 strokes due to looking for everyone else’s balls and giving tuition and advice.
New strings for Jordy’s guitar, at last!!!! American Pie is now sounding sensational.
Inside the Waverley Hotel, a classic Queensland pub.
A furry friend
Roast Lamb in Charters Towers, Have oven, will bake.
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